The Familiar Strange

Education Podcasts

The Familiar Strange is a podcast about doing anthropology: that is, about listening, looking, trying out, and being with, in pursuit of uncommon knowledge about humans and culture. Find show notes, plus our blog about anthropology's role in the world, at https://www.thefamiliarstrange.com. Twitter: @tfsTweets. FB: facebook.com/thefamiliarstrange. Instagram: @thefamiliarstrange. Brought to you by your familiar strangers: Ian Pollock, Jodie-Lee Trembath, Julia Brown, Simon Theobald, Kylie Wong Dolan; produced by Deanna Catto and Matthew Phung, and with support from the Australian Anthropological Society, the Australian National University’s Schools of Culture, History and Language and Archeology and Anthropology, and the Australian Centre for Public Awareness of Science, and produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association. We acknowledge and celebrate the first Australians on whose traditional lands we record this podcast, and pay our respects to the elders of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, past, present, and emerging.

The Familiar Strange is a podcast about doing anthropology: that is, about listening, looking, trying out, and being with, in pursuit of uncommon knowledge about humans and culture. Find show notes, plus our blog about anthropology's role in the world, at https://www.thefamiliarstrange.com. Twitter: @tfsTweets. FB: facebook.com/thefamiliarstrange. Instagram: @thefamiliarstrange. Brought to you by your familiar strangers: Ian Pollock, Jodie-Lee Trembath, Julia Brown, Simon Theobald, Kylie Wong Dolan; produced by Deanna Catto and Matthew Phung, and with support from the Australian Anthropological Society, the Australian National University’s Schools of Culture, History and Language and Archeology and Anthropology, and the Australian Centre for Public Awareness of Science, and produced in collaboration with the American Anthropological Association. We acknowledge and celebrate the first Australians on whose traditional lands we record this podcast, and pay our respects to the elders of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, past, present, and emerging.

Location:

Australia

Genres:

Education Podcasts

Exploration

Description:

Twitter:

@tfsTweets

Language:

English

Website:

http://www.thefamiliarstrange.com/

Email:

submissions@thefamiliarstrange.com

Episodes

Ep #75 The Anthropologists Perspective on Nomadland & Commodified Mothers: This Month of TFS

5/16/2021

This month familiar stranger Tim kicks us off by pondering the ethnographic and anthropological nature of the award winning film Nomadland directed by Chloé Zhao. The strangers discuss the almost anthropological origins of the film and other similar works that deal with the precariat or nomads the movie is based around. The strangers then dive into the origins of Mother’s Day and the subsequent commodification of the day itself. They discuss some of the positives and contrast it with a...

Duration:00:39:01

Ep #74 Colonialism & Monsters: Yasmine Musharbash on Monster Anthropology & Social Transformation

5/2/2021

This week Clair brings you an interview with Dr Yasmine Musharbash! Dr. Yasmine Musharbash is a senior lecturer at the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University. Her fieldwork is based in central Australia, and primarily centred on the Yuendumu, an Aboriginal community about three hours northwest of Alice Springs. Over the years, her research has branched out in an impressive variety of directions, including social relations and personhood of the Warlpiri...

Duration:00:52:02

Ep #73 Corporate Clapbacks and Twisting Traditions: This Month on TFS

4/18/2021

This week we bring you another panel in our new format! This time, we’re diving into the conflict between Amazon and its workers in Alabama trying to form a union. Clair raises the topic of “corporate sassiness” and how we have started to attribute personalities and personhood to the social media presences of these gigantic companies. What do you think about companies “clapping back” at people on their social media platforms? Does it play a role in how you consume certain products? Next,...

Duration:00:20:18

Ep #72 Weaponized Photography & Sex Work: Camille Waring on Online Intimacy & Lens Based Violence

4/4/2021

Before we dive into today’s episode we’d just like to add a content warning for this episode for sexual assault. This week, Familiar Stranger Carolyn sits down with Camille Waring from the University of Westminster. Camille is currently doing her PhD on online representations of sex workers and how photography is being used against marginalized communities. Throughout this chat, Carolyn dives into the meanings of photography today, what the actual act of taking a photograph means for people...

Duration:00:40:55

Ep #71 Entrepreneurism in Academia and Ethics on The Ground: This Month of TFS

3/21/2021

This week on TFS, the Strangers continue with our new panel format and dive deeper into the topics of entrepreneurism and ethics. They talk about how universities and by extension academia is becoming more and more business-like with academics having to “build their brands” in order to find success. The conversation then shifts to discuss the current ethical framework of Anthropology. The Strangers share their experiences with fieldwork ethics and how modern anthropology has started to...

Duration:00:26:58

Ep# 70 Familial Ties and Family Debts: Susan Ellison on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Bolivia

3/7/2021

This week we bring you an interview with Dr Susan Ellison from Wellesley College. In this interview, Familiar Stranger Alex asks about her experiences working in the city of El Alto and the neighbouring town of La Paz. Alex and Susan discuss Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and how it exists as a second space for conflict resolution for Bolivians and their families. They also discuss how foreign aid adds a layer of complexities to the frameworks already present in Bolivia and potential...

Duration:00:49:54

Ep #69 An Anthropologist's Guide To The US Elections: This Month on TFS

2/21/2021

Hello and Welcome back to The Familiar Strange! We are so happy to be back and we can’t wait to keep talking strange with you all! We’re kicking off this new season with a panel with Familiar Strangers, Alex D’aloia, Carolyn West, Timothy Johnston and Simon Theobald. We’re trying out a new format for panels this season, so make sure you reach out and tell us what you think. In this panel episode, we dive back into 2020 and the US elections. The Strangers discuss what we as anthropologists...

Duration:00:18:20

Part 1:Theory as reproduction:reflections on the history of doing feminist anthropology in Australia

12/27/2020

In this very special collaboration, TFS would like to present a two part roundtable we recorded at 2019’s AAS conference! It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to gather again and talk all things anthropology this year, but we hope that this might be enough to whet your appetite for more things to come in 2021! A big thank you to Dr Benjamin Hegatry, Dr Carly Schuster and Dr Shiori Shakuto for their hard work in putting together this roundtable discussion. We hope you enjoy! Roundtable...

Duration:02:11:38

Part 2:Theory as reproduction:reflections on the history of doing feminist anthropology in Australia

12/27/2020

This is part 2 of the wonderful roundtable we recorded at 2019's AAS conference! k4g9t9jy

Duration:00:58:41

End of 2020: A Message From TFS

12/13/2020

The end of 2020 is in sight! What a year it has been for all of us. The team at TFS would like to say thank you to all our listeners this year and to everyone who has listened in to our podcasts and read the blog this year! We are taking a short season break and we will return with some new and improved content in February 2021! But keep an ear out for some special content we recorded last year at the AAS before the year is out! Head over to our website for more links to some cool things...

Duration:00:02:26

#68:Landing On The Earth; Ashley Carruthers On Organic Farming And Cycling In Vietnam

11/29/2020

This week, we bring you an interview with Dr. Ashley Carruthers. Ashley is a lecturer of anthropology at the Australian National University’s School of Archaeology and Anthropology. His research interests include migration, mobilities, rural-urban relationships, networks and infrastructures, farming, organic agriculture, bicycles, and he has conducted in-depth fieldwork in Vietnam. It’s also Familiar Stranger Clair’s first interview! We hope you enjoy it! In this interview we talked about an...

Duration:00:49:32

Special Episode: The Familiar Strange & All Things Myanmar with Myanmar Musings!

11/18/2020

Surprise! We are so pleased to show you all a collaborative project we did with our friends and yours at Myanmar Musings! In this very special episode, Familiar Stranger Alex D’Aloia sat down with Luke Corbin, Anthea Snowsill, Michael Dunford and Dinith Adikari to discuss all things Myanmar. Join us as we explore the tea shops of downtown Yangoon all the way to the mountains of the Northern Shan state. We talk about masculinity, ethnicity and agricultural practises. It was such a pleasure to...

Duration:01:56:38

Face Ownership, Identity Politics, Election Spectacle & Curated Preferences

11/15/2020

On this week’s panel, we feature the president of the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, Hanne Worsoe and Dinith Adikari who is a PhD candidate from the Australian National University. Hanne kicks us off [1:37] by discussing a recent article by Judith Butler about the recent US election. She asks us to consider how identity politics has come into play more and more, not only in the US election, but also in Australia’s elections. How important do you think identity is when it...

Duration:00:11:22

Ep #66 Method Adaptations, Big Bugs & aguaje: Diana Tung on Doing Fieldwork During Covid-19

11/1/2020

“How much time do you actually need to spend with someone to “accurately” represent their lives?” This week, we bring you an interview with Diana Tung who is currently doing her field work in the city of Iquitos in Peru. This is also executive producer Matt’s first interview! Diana discusses all things fieldwork and how things have changed since we have experienced a global pandemic. We talk about how she has had to adapt her methods and how very different things are when compared to the...

Duration:00:33:37

Ep#65 The Social Dilemma, Corpo-Humans, Buying Nothing & Localised Colonialism

10/18/2020

This week we bring you a panel with Anthea Snowsill who is currently doing her research with the Intha people of Myanmar. In this panel We’d also introduce our newest Familiar Stranger, Carolyn West. Welcome to the team Carolyn! Carolyn [1:25] kicks us off by discussing the recent documentary The Social Dilemma. She asks us to consider if social media and the global nature of the internet has created more separation and polarisation. What do you think? Has the internet changed how you debate...

Duration:00:25:53

#64 "Can I speak to the manager": Caitlin Setnicar on customer abuse, ThinkPlace & cartoons

10/4/2020

'The reasons why uniforms exist is for various reasons. Among them is to visually identify a staff member, which is a functional reason - a really practical reason, rather. It's also to take away any outside... personality that can come through on the person's body.' This episode, Caitlin Setnicar, Australian National University anthropology graduate with First Class Honours (2018) and current Business Designer at ThinkPlace, chats with Dee. They unpack customer service abuse and the many...

Duration:00:49:15

#63 Culture Shock, Storytelling, Pungent Masculinity & Rule Based Imagination

9/20/2020

For the panel this week we welcome Luke Corbin from Myanmar Musings and Familiar Strange alumnus Jodie Lee Trembath! Simon starts us off [1:31] by discussing his recent culture shock in moving to Germany from Australia. Simon thought that experiences with fieldwork and working with other cultures would have prepared him better for a rapid transition to another culture. The Strangers offered some other perspectives about culture shock and their own experiences. What about you? when you went...

Duration:00:23:52

Anthropology in the “real world”: A Roundtable Discussion About Applied Anthropology

9/6/2020

This week we bring you a very very special episode! Last year we partnered with the Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, or ANSA for short and recorded their roundtable at the AAS held at the Australian National University! The roundtable discussion featured the likes of Dr Marcus Barber, Dr Sophie Chao, Dr Jayne Curnow, Dr Derek Elias, Dr Bronwyn Hall and Leslie Pyne and was hosted by ANSA president Dr Hanna Jagtenberg. All of whom have a wide array of experiences as...

Duration:00:50:15

#62 Job Fantasies, Working With Others, Extractive Calls & Reciprocity Revisited

8/23/2020

This week we bring you another zoom panel! Featuring Mike Dunford who is a Phd candidate in anthropology at the Australian National University and Sophie Chao who you might remember from our last panel and her interview on her work with the Marind People. To kick us off Alex [1:39] reflects on how we have to be performative in some ways to achieve what we want. Alex is in the process of applying for academic jobs and apparently “running a microbrewery that makes beer and liqueurs” and...

Duration:01:16:34

#61 Switching Hats: Sverre Molland On Anti-Trafficking Initiatives In The Mekong Region

8/9/2020

A content warning before this interview. Today’s topic centres around human trafficking activites in the Mekong reagion and our guest does mention some of the physical abuse that does take place in these situations. “I’m still to this day, very supportive of the UN if I’m going to put my policy hat on if you like” This week, we bring you an interview with Dr Sverre Molland who is currently head of Discipline in ANU’s Anthropology and Archaeology department. He is also on Alex’s PhD...

Duration:00:41:59