Well, that wraps up Finals Week – for most Americans, anyway. If you’re finally sitting down to catch up on some of the things you might have missed, I’ve got you covered. If you have any news or blogs that you’d like me to share next week, hit my inbox at richard.powis@gmail.com or on Twitter @dtpowis.
On y va!
If you read anything, I highly recommend that you read this: What does global attention “do” for the tragedies that befall humanity? Zeynep Tufekci excellently analyzes #BringBackOurGirls and the powers – both good and bad – of attention. (Medium)
Are anthropologists the hipsters of academia? Our own guest blogger Alex Posecznick tackles the question, first by defining “hipster” and then by drawing parallels between the key features of hipsters and anthropologists. (Savage Minds: Part One, Two, & Three)
In case you missed it, I posted an infographic earlier this week that lists some very well-known people that you may not have realized have backgrounds in anthropology. In that post, I asked for suggestions of “lesser-known high-impact people” that I can list in a second infographic (and have since seen an overwhelming response). (Savage Minds)
Check out this incredible performance of poetry on what it is to be transgender. The author remarks, “I am not trapped in my body. I am trapped in other people’s perceptions of my body.” (Policy Mic)
This whole week, every article at Allegra Lab has been dedicated to the global practice of Islam, with the hashtag #ANTHROISLAM. Here’s the first post in the series, just to get your feet wet. (Allegra Lab)
Guest blogger Orisanmi Burton wrote about his encounter with Sky Watch, a mobile surveillance unit, and speculates on its purpose. (Anthropoliteia)
In the latest Commonplaces, Ian Whitmarsh writes about the relationship between the heart, health, and love. (Somatosphere)
Did you honor the Stormtroopers this past Sunday, May the 4th (be with you)? (The Geek Anthropologist)
danah boyd wrote on the misconceptions of online sexual predators. (Psychology Today)
Robert Martin wrote on why midwives are needed, from an evolutionary standpoint. (Psychology Today)
Robert Martin was also interviewed about breast feeding from an evolutionary perpective. (YouTube)
David Graeber was interviewed by PBS about his article, “Bullshit Jobs,” in which he poses the question: Are you paid to look busy? (PBS)
Paul Stoller is back this week, and he’s tired of bull-headed right-wing and upper-class ideologies. (HuffPo)
These three universities are stepping up to combat sexual assault on their campuses. (Inside Higher Ed)
Perhaps academics need to learn “deskside manner.” (Slate)
Turns out that those who have been engaged during college do better in their careers in the future. Ya don’t say. (New York Times)
A sense of thriving in one’s life after college, it turns out, doesn’t seem to have a relationship with the ranking of the college that one attended. (NPR)
I’ve always loved Top Gear (UK), particularly when Jeremy Clarkson is not being a xenophobe, but it seems he’s really gone overboard lately; some would like to see Top Gear canceled for its colonialist rhetoric, among other things. (Africa is a Country)
Speaking of racist British guys, hold on to your hats: Nicholas Wade has a new book out. (Savage Minds)
The All-American Bro is an overemphasis on heterosexuality in homosocial relationships, but only because the acceptance of homosexuality is on the rise. (Pacific Standard)
The Cleveland Spiders did more for the separation of church and state than the Scopes trial ever did. (Live Like Dirt)
San Francisco General Hospital, while not particularly state-of-the-art, is probably the safest place in California to give birth. (New York Times)
San Francisco now has an unofficial crack pipe distribution program. (VICE)