If you’re alive in 2022 you’ve probably heard of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Whether you’re an active trader, just dabble, or think you’d never touch the stuff, cryptocurrency raises a fascinating challenge to the question of what is money? And how can technology fundamentally reshape how we engage in finance and social life? Is crypto a revolution?

If you're listening to this episode in early 2022, then you're probably well aware of the ongoing inflation and commodity price increases both in the United States and globally. You know, money and finance are often the table stakes of how we think about navigating life today. That can both be part of the background or very much in the foreground of our minds, depending on how things are going. And as we wrestle with economic uncertainty in the wake of war, a changing climate and geopolitical shifts things can feel bleak. But at these moments, it's important to stay curious and ask where and how are we trying to make things better? And this is a bit about where that revolutionary technology part just might come in.

Mick Morucci is a crypto-anthropologist, Bitcoin expert and the co-founder of geyser.fund, and NFT social discovery platform. He’s also a prolific writer and publishes regularly on Bitcoin, block chain technologies and NFTs.

In this episode we explore:
- the cultural and financial origins of Bitcoin
- what is a blockchain
- money as information and story
- open source technologies
- why decentralization matters
- privacy and surveillance
and more!

https://www.mickmorucci.com/
https://geyser.fund/

Check out some of Mick's writing:
Bitcoin as a Divine Idea - https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-as-a-divine-idea
Why Anthropologists are More Interested in Bitcoin than Economists - https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/anthropologists-are-interested-in-bitcoin
The Social Experience of NFT Art - https://forefront.news/blog/feat-mick-social-experience-of-nft

Episode produced by Adam Gamwell

It's a common truism that history is often written by the victors, but it is equally true that the actual story is more complicated. One of the most poignant examples of this is the "discovery" of the new world by Christopher Columbus.

So today I am super excited to have author Andrew Rowen back on the podcast. Andrew caught our attention back in 2017 for his book encounters, "Unforeseen 1492 Retold", which rather than another single sided story is a bicultural retelling that portrays the life stories of both Columbus and the Taíno chieftains from their youth to their encounters during the invasions of 1492.

Andrew is back to talk about the sequel "Columbus and Caonabó 1493 to 1498 Retold". In this episode, we explore Andrew's rationale for producing a bicultural series of novels and choosing historical fiction over historical nonfiction in order to bring to life the context thought processes and perspectives of people present at the time in the 15th century.

This also meant writing in a way that doesn't prescribe how events would turn out because of course, folks in the 15th century had no idea what was going to happen. The 1493 to 1498 epoch also entailed some of the most challenging aspects to explore such as the growing discontent between Taíno chieftans and Spaniards, Columbus' continual insistence on enslavement, the role of disease and sickness in cross-cultural encounters and the political machinations of queen Isabella and king Ferdinand. This episode has a bit of everything, you know, whether you're interested in the world of the 15th century and, or you're curious about the process of writing historical fiction, including how to do archival and on-site research and do character development in ways that make sense with the research that you're finding and the challenges of telling bicultural histories in respectful and honest ways.

Website: AndrewRowen.com
Facebook: @andrewsrowen

Production: Adam Gamwell
Editing: Craig Stanton
Music: Crackle and Chop, Epidemic Sounds

Have you wondered why fantasy stories mostly are just copies of Medieval Europe? Why pop culture has been so obsessed with zombies? Or why Black Panther and the Falcon and the Winter Soldier seemed to hit the right chord at the right time for American conversations on race? To answer these questions, we're diving into world building, the process of creating realized worlds for (mostly) fictional stories and how anthropology could literally change the game.

On this episode Astrid Countee joins Adam Gamwell to co-host a conversation with the very dynamic duo of biological anthropologist/archaeologist Kyra Wellstrom and cultural anthropologist Michael Kilman. Kyra and Michael are educators and authors, and their latest book caught our attention because it does two things at once. First, it serves as an introductory textbook for anthropology students, digging into key ideas like culture, ritual, food, power and death. But second, it’s premised around how to use anthropology for building better world for game design, fiction writing, and filmmaking.

Building a better worlds is about creating more authentic characters based on actual science and data on culture. Thus the book is both an introductory text for anthropology students and creators.

Production: Adam Gamwell
Music:
Take 2 - Pro Rees
A Nifty Piece of Work - New Fools
Ragtime - peerless

Charles Foster set out to answer one of the most perplexing questions of all - what sort of creatures are we humans? - in one of the most unique ways possible: immersing himself in experiences that evoke three central epochs in the development of consciousness - the upper Paleolithic, around 40k years ago, the neolithic, around 10k years ago when humans invented/stumbled upon and couldn’t get out of agriculture, and the Enlightenment, which ushered in the scientific revolution in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Interested in checking out Charles' new book Being a Human: Adventures in 40,000 years of Consciousness? We've got copies to give away!

Music: Epidemic Sounds
Intro - Jazz Bars - Dusty Decks
Outro - Up & Down - Toby Tranter

Editing: Craig Stanton
Research: Kiera Myles
Production: Adam Gamwell

This Anthro Life turned 8 years old in October 2021. That's a long time for a podcast. When recently invited to share what I've been working on for a newsletter, TAL's 8th birthday got me thinking about what I've learned working between anthropology and podcasting for almost a decade.

I've fancied myself a public anthropologist for a while, but it has been podcasting, and working in an unusual medium (for anthropology) that has taught me some of the most important lessons for what public anthropology actually is.

Music - Epidemic Sounds
Lenzer - A Fork Fight
Yomoti - Fansi Pan

It's not everyday I get to talk with other anthropology podcasters, and even more infrequently that I get to talk with undergraduate anthropology podcasters. I'm joined on the show today by Gabriella Campbell, Gabriella is a senior at University of California Santa Barbara where she focuses on forensic anthropology, both contemporary and ancient. She's also the creator and host of That Anthro Podcast, a weekly interview show that explores the world of bioarchaeology, bones, forensics and more. Gabriella and I dig into what it's like to work in forensics while learning the trade. This includes some crucial and fascinating forensic recovery work she’s doing in response to the Monteceto mudslides.

We dig into:
- Applying forensic anthropology to the Montecito mudslides
- Contemporary forensics vs ancient forensics
- How to teach anthro earlier in kids' education, early education projects
- On podcasting, creativity and learning to trust our instincts
- Advice for undergrads - from an undergrad

Check out:
That Anthro Podcast
That Anthro Podcast Instagram

Music:
Duracell - Jontha Links
Epidemic Sounds
Episode Art: Adam Gamwell

Applying forensic anthropology to the Montecito mudslides

Contemporary forensics vs ancient forensics

How to teach anthro earlier in kids' education, early education projects

On podcasting, creativity and learning to trust our instincts

Advice for undergrads - from an undergrad

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A job search strategy is essential, but what if you don’t even know what to look for or what you want to do? A career plan is something you can do before job searching to define the kind of work you want to do and how to engage with like minded people, so you’ve got opportunities and pathways to work you’ll find fulfilling and meaningful, regardless of industry.

While some old-school academics might see creating a career plan as selling out, Career Coach and Strategist Amy Santee and Design + Business Anthropologist Adam Gamwell, say you’re selling yourself short if you don’t. In this seminar we’ll share stories from our experiences and walk you through creating your own plan across defining your values, mapping your journey, finding your people and trying your voice.

Whether you’re a student and looking for your first job, a mid career professor or industry insider and curious about what else is out there, a career plan is relevant for anyone.

We’ll dig into defining your values as a starting point, mapping a vision of your future by looking at your past, how to take action on your plan, and learning to trust your intuition as much as the data you gather. Today's episode is a slice from a workshop series Adam Gamwell put together with Prof Jonathan Anjaria of Brandeis University.

Amy Santee Career Coaching
Amy's LinkedIn
Jon Anjaria
Brandeis University Anthropology

Episode production and art: Adam Gamwell
Music Epidemic Sounds:
Sweet Talk - Tyra Chanty
Zanzibar - Jones Meadow

Dr. Meena Kaushik takes us through her story from the revolutionary idea in the late 1970s of applying semiotics to brand and market research to founding Quantum, which today is a global enterprise research organization in seven countries, through how they have digitally adapted insights research in the face of COVID.
Meena Kaushik started her journey as an academic studying the symbolism of death rituals in Hinduism. She conducted extensive fieldwork amongst the Doms of Varanasi, a low caste community working in the city’s cremation grounds, for her Ph.D. in Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics.
She ventured into qualitative market research by accident and fell in love. Her training in ethnography deepened how consumer behaviour, consumer culture and consumer psyche were being understood in India in the mid to late 1980s.
A consulting stint with the Indian Market Research Bureau soon became a full fledged position and she helped found the qualitative division at MARG as a Director of Qualitative Research. Kaushik adapted anthropological methods, semiotics, and social psychology to qualitative market research problems in India, giving qualitative approaches a credibility they’d never had in the past.
In 1990 she founded Quantum Consumer Solutions with Srilekha Agarwal and Meera Vasudevan, Asia’s first purely qualitative research firm. Today Quantum has operations in seven countries with 220 employees.
TAL spoke to Dr. Kaushik about the birth of this new “qualitative consciousness” in post-liberalization India, and how to create value for qualitative insights in industries that have been traditionally dominated by numbers.
We dig into:

How she brought anthropologist and qualitative insights to market research in India
Fairness and Skin Lightening Creams: How interdisciplinary social science can get a company to reframe brands around empowerment
Acknowledge privileges, like the cultural preference for lighter skin, without ignoring or pandering to it
Why we should be talking about insights research rather than qualitative research, and how her company has adapted to digital ethnography and new forms of research since COVID rocked the world
Digital ethnography methods to create a “semiosphere” > a holistic view of how people make meaning in their lives
Advice for transitioning into market research, skills agencies look for
Adapting from research as an output to design strategy, offering solutions on top of research insights
Commodities and the crisis of meaning: Why it’s essential for brands to have higher meaning and purpose in the lives of consumers

TAL Correspondent and this episode's host: Madhuri Karak is Community Engagement Lead at Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment, managing a virtual learning platform for practitioners blending behavioral insights with design thinking to solve our biggest environmental challenges. She is currently a Mellon - American Council of Learned Societies Public Fellow and has a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology. You can find more of her work here.
Organization: https://www.quantumcs.com
Interview w/Kaushik: https://wow.outlookbusiness.com/meena-kaushik/

Credits
Production: Madhuri Karak and Adam Gamwell
Music: Zanzibar - Jones Meadow, Epidemic Sounds
Art: Adam Gamwell

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Phil Surles is a cultural anthropologist and consultant who focuses on branding. He works with companies to change their culture for the better and focuses on integrating anthropology into industry. From art school to anthropology to industry Phil discusses how he combined all of his passions into his consulting work. Phil, Astrid, and Adam discuss what it means to be an anthropologist working in industry and ethical issues that may arise. Phil is also working on a new platform called Mindshare where businesses can tap into the expertise of human scientists for expert interviews, consulting and more.

On today’s Episode

How to study anthropology with the intention of going into industry, not academia

To intervene or not intervene-- the anthropologists ethical dilemma

How anthropologists can bring their ethics and methodology to industry and change it for the better

What is a public intellectual and how does it relate to thought leadership and activism


Where to Find Phil Surles:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mindshare

Episode Credits
Music (Epidemic Sounds)
Intro: Embody by Ballpoint
Outro: Tried in Fire by Ballpoint
Episode art- Sara Schmieder
Production- Sara Schmieder, Elizabeth Smyth, and Adam Gamwell

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