I’m currently participating and observing a family on vacation just outside of Macon, Georgia. I even gambled on last night’s NASCAR race (and won). Anyway, I was able to sneak away to provide this Digest of articles from the past week that I think you should read. If you have or write a blog or article that you’d like me to check out for next week’s Digest, please let me know by email (richard.powis@gmail.com) or on Twitter at @dtpowis.

Alright, y’all. 

Stories by anthropologists:

If you read one thing in this Digest, check out Emma Louise Backe’s excellent exploration of fantasy and women’s bodies. (The Geek Anthropologist)

Nick Mizer is back with his third installment on scholarly hipsters and geeks. (The Geek Anthropologist)

Ekaterina Anderson and Maria Cecilia Dedios find out what Elizabeth Watkins is reading. (Somatosphere)

Matthew Timothy Bradley wrote on data that suggests that child soldiers can suffer health problems for life. (New Scientist)

Miia Halme Tuomisaari talks with Carole McGranahan about the CIA. (Allegra Lab)

Patrick Clarkin takes a look at Gandhi at the intersection of celibacy and transcendence. (Patrick F. Clarkin, Ph.D.)

Nick Wong and Stuart Davis wrote on São Gonçalo, the city in Rio de Janeiro’s shadow, in the context of the World Cup. (Anthropoliteia)

Stories about anthropology: 

Ethnographic filmmaker Robert Gardner has died this week. (New York Times)

Suburban development is threatening the prehistoric archaeology near St. Louis. (Al Jazeera)

Stories for anthropologists:

This survey points to benefits and risks associated with the use of social media by academics. (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Tara Fannon deconstructed masculinities in the film, “Unbreakable.” (Masculinities 101)

Jacqueline Keeler wrote on white America’s defense of racist mascots. (Salon)

Ta-Nehisi Coates has provided a bibliography of foundational literature for his case for reparations. (The Atlantic)

Slut-shaming hurts all women. (In These Times)

So-called “out-of-wedlock” childbirth is the norm for Millennials. (Slate)

“Da Sweet Blood of Jesus” is Spike Lee’s newest joint, and it’s about an anthropologist who is stabbed by a “cursed African artifact.” Yep. (Grantland)

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg explains how slang becomes a slur, particularly in the case of the Washington R******s. (The Atlantic)

Why are all the cartoon mothers dead? (The Atlantic)

Women who have children older may live longer. (NPR)

Due to a major shortage, the UK is importing American sperm. (TIME)

Facebook unethically manipulated users’ emotions for the purposed of an experiment. (Slate)

Journalist Esther Honig asked designers all over the world to “make her beautiful” according to the standards of their region, using Photoshop. (The Atlantic)

As it turns out, selling condoms in Ethiopia may encourage their use more than just giving them away for free. (Al Jazeera)