From the archive. An anthropologist offers a lens on how losses from war dramatically alter a family—and a society. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/anth...

From the archive. Fifty years on, Vietnam is still reckoning with the long-term ecological toll of U.S. warfare—a grim warning as Israel and Russia unleash similar destruction in Gaza and Ukraine. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/viet...

From the archive. An anthropologist investigates how archaeology helped the U.S. colonize the Panama Canal Zone—just as the current U.S. government threatens to retake it. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. An anthropologist discovers diasporic flights—including her own—that begin at and return to the waters of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/kore...

From the archive. In the Sikkim and Kalimpong Himalayas in Northeast India, supply chains are often interrupted by changing monsoon systems that damage highways. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/indi...

From the archive. An evolutionary anthropologist details seasonal changes among foraging communities—and distills how the fixed political structures of industrialized societies are an outlier in human history. Read more: www.sapiens.org/biology/fora...

As 2025 comes to a close, the SAPIENS editorial team offers 10 standout pieces that capture the spirit of what the magazine has always sought to do: illuminate what it means to be human. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/best...

I'm so very pleased by this "best of 2025" honor. Thank you, @sapiens.org, for all you have done. I wish you were sticking around, as we need public scholarship now more than ever. But your archive lives on, and I hope it will be a resource for many years to come.

From the archive. A linguistic anthropologist explores the queer Ballroom scene in San Juan—and how performers are incorporating critiques of colonialism into the art form. Read more: www.sapiens.org/language/pue...

“Scientists must walk a fine line between silence and sensationalism when they share their conclusions with society. Archaeologists, in particular, should create space for both evidence and imagination.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. An archaeologist who studies past farming practices in the north coast of Peru argues these offer models for navigating current climate crises. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

SAPIENS’ 2025 poet-in-residence situates her listening in Kashmir and Germany during and after her fieldwork, contextualizing her contributions to SAPIENS this year. Read the full poem: www.sapiens.org/culture/list...

From the archive. A poet-anthropologist listens to an accidental field recording from Kashmir: What might be dismissed as noise becomes a way to unsettle the settled—making audible dispossession and theft, stealth and refusal. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/earw...

“The earliest clear written reference to a ‘Women’s Kingdom’ appears in the mid-5th century, when it was listed among exotic goods exchanged in diplomatic contacts. ... Could Gurugyam, and the female in M2, offer material traces of such a kingdom?” Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

An anthropologist explores how a phone call home may seem simple but carries layers of meaning for migrating nurses and their families in India. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/mobi...

“Contrary to official claims, I never heard any trans women say the programs ‘corrected’ their gender identity.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tran...

From the archive. After Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election win, an anthropologist set out across the U.S. to understand the nation’s deepening divides. In the new book Something Between Us, he grapples with these rifts and how to repair them. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/some...

From the archive. An archaeologist explains his team’s insights into how Quina scrapers in southwest China overturn long-standing assumptions about the region’s humans more than 50,000 years ago. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

“The earliest clear written reference to a ‘Women’s Kingdom’ appears in the mid-5th century, when it was listed among exotic goods exchanged in diplomatic contacts. ... Could Gurugyam, and the female in M2, offer material traces of such a kingdom?” Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. An archaeologist considers whether students should learn from antiquities looted from Iraq. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. Amid a goddess worship revival, some feminists are revering the mother of Jesus as a deity, defying Christian doctrines and confronting the use of Mary as a handmaiden of patriarchy. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/virg...

“Contrary to official claims, I never heard any trans women say the programs “corrected” their gender identity.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tran...

From the archive. Traveling Treasures is a new project led by a team of anthropologists that puts Liberians directly in touch with their dispersed cultural heritage through immersive technologies designed to bridge continents and histories. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/virt...

From the archive. Facing an increasing aging population and other societal shifts, people are looking beyond traditional family-based mortuary practices. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/japa...

From the archive. Utterances like “um,” “wow,” and “mm-hmm” aren’t garbage, they keep conversations flowing. Read more: www.sapiens.org/language/lin...

From the archive. A Tanzanian historian and poet conjures alternative engagements with Black African women who were marginalized by violent colonial histories and imprisoned in the archives. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/imag...

From the archive. An anthropologist reckons with how digital media has changed youth gang culture dynamics—and what can be done to combat the spread of deadly rumors. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/soci...

From the archive. An archaeologist explains how generative artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape our views of ancient people, arguing that a critical perspective is needed to use this technical innovation and avoid misrepresentations. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. Using an ancient Arabic poetic form, a poet-archaeologist from Florida cycles through feelings of entrapment growing up queer in the U.S. South. But in the end, they celebrate love for this place—and that “most of us are breathing. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/tall...

“Anti-natalists have a wide range of motivations, often related to the broader social, political, and economic circumstances that shape their understandings of reproductive choice, parenthood, and the future.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/japa...

From the archive. An anthropologist plunges into the world of Patagonian heavy metal music in Argentina to explore how the genre relates to language and cultural revitalization. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/pata...

From the archive. A group of forensic anthropologists argues their field must reject the myth of pure objectivity and challenge systemic inequities through advocacy and activism. Read more: www.sapiens.org/biology/fore...

From the archive. Using an original poetic form, a poet chips away at a difficult history—becoming an agent of her own remaking and more than just an estranged daughter. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/debi...

“Migratory behavior may come and go throughout the deep history of an animal species. ... [C]onservation efforts should ... understand the ecological conditions that spur or deter spectacular migrations.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. An archaeologist reflects on the role of fiction, such as The Clan of the Cave Bear, to imagine the deep past—and inspire future generations of archaeologists. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. A poet of the Indigenous Lepcha community of the Eastern Himalayas is looking to find herself as she grapples with the legacy of writings and material that speak “about” her community. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/look...

A poet and aspiring anthropologist in Indonesia reflects on the values reflected in rice cultivation in a traditional village in Southern Banten, West Java, Indonesia. Read the full poem: www.sapiens.org/culture/padi...

From the archive. The Roti Collective, a community-based research project, explores the layered histories that brought a flatbread from the Indian subcontinent around the world. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/roti...

From the archive. New analyses from Iron Age burials reveal that women remained in their natal communities and provided the key to kinship. The findings offer essential clues about gender roles and social structures in ancient Europe. Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

“Migratory behavior may come and go throughout the deep history of an animal species. ... [C]onservation efforts should ... understand the ecological conditions that spur or deter spectacular migrations.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/archaeology/...

From the archive. Along mountain pilgrimages, two anthropologists learn how an Indigenous Mesoamerican religion helps people practice a reciprocal relationship with the Earth. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/nahu...

A poet and aspiring anthropologist in Indonesia reflects on the values reflected in rice cultivation in a traditional village in Southern Banten, West Java, Indonesia. Read the full poem: www.sapiens.org/culture/padi...

From the archive.The speaker in this broken sonnet form utters disobedience for structures that extract care in the Anthropocene. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/brok...

“These layered histories of how seals were used, imagined, and storied in Orkney continue to shape arguments over how they are treated today.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/seal...

From the archive. When activist and anthropologist Graeber died unexpectedly in 2020, scholars gathered to mourn him. Contributors to a resulting volume, As If Already Free, reflect on his legacy. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/davi...

An anthropologist-poet listens to echoes of laughter and other sounds of crossings in Kashmir. Read the full poem: www.sapiens.org/culture/soun...

“As a medical anthropologist, I’m fascinated by the political, economic, and social networks that have transformed humble bird’s nests into one of the most expensive animal products in the world.” Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/edib...

From the archive. On Rusinga Island, a grassroots group is celebrating the field assistants who helped find famous fossils and inspiring future generations to study science and ancient history. Read more: www.sapiens.org/culture/loca...