Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? – SAPIENS
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Table of contents
Introduction
Why Write for the Public?
What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication
How to Write a Pitch
How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure
How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style
Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms
Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists
Cultivating the Craft of Writing
Table of contents
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Introduction
Why Write for the Public?
What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication
How to Write a Pitch
How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure
How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style
Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms
Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists
Cultivating the Craft of Writing
Announcement<br>After ten years of exploring humanity in all its diversity, SAPIENS has concluded its publishing chapter.
While the magazine has closed, its living archive endures—open to all and preserving the many ideas, voices, and discoveries that deepen our understanding of what it means to be human.
essay /<br>Letters
Best of SAPIENS 2025
In SAPIENS’ final year of publishing new stories, the magazine honors 10 standout contributions that carried anthropology into the hearts and minds of readers worldwide.
essay /<br>Stranger Lands
Unearthing What Archaeologists Can and Cannot Know
Julia Granato
An archaeologist studying 1,000-year-old dog burials reflects on the need for imagination in archaeology.
poem /<br>Wayfinding
Listening Against the Threshold of Pain
Uzma Falak
SAPIENS’ 2025 poet-in-residence situates her listening in Kashmir and Germany during and after her fieldwork, contextualizing her contributions to SAPIENS this year.
essay /<br>Identities
The Tomb That Told of a Women’s Kingdom
Meixu Ye
An archaeologist unspools the story of a female leader buried over 1,000 years ago on the Tibetan Plateau.
essay /<br>Identities
In Malaysia, Muslim Trans Women Find Their Own Paths
Gréta Tímea Biró
An anthropologist traces how transgender women navigate state-sponsored religious programs aimed at “rehabilitating” LGBTQ+ Muslims.
essay /<br>Phenomenon
In Japan, the Philosophical Stance Against Having Children
Jack Jiang
An anthropologist delves beyond simplistic portrayals of the anti-natalist movement to understand what motivates its adherents.
essay /<br>Unearthed
Do Africa’s Mass Animal Migrations Extend Into Deep Time?
Alex Bertacchi
Isotopes in fossil teeth suggest ancient animals traveled less than once thought—making researchers rethink past human societies and future conservation.
poem /<br>Reflections
Padi Nyawa Urang
Ara Djati
A poet and aspiring anthropologist in Indonesia reflects on the values reflected in rice cultivation in a traditional village in Lebak, Banten, Indonesia.
essay /<br>In Flux
Connections and Conflicts With Seals in a Scottish Archipelago
Camellia Biswas
An environmental anthropologist investigates deep-time, mythical, and contemporary relations between seals and Orkney Islanders.
poem /<br>Borderlands
Sounding the Border
Uzma Falak
An anthropologist-poet listens to echoes of laughter and other sounds of crossings in Kashmir.
essay /<br>Phenomenon
How Bird’s Nests Become Markers of Vitality and Status
Gideon Lasco
An anthropologist explores how nests made from the saliva of swiftlets—long valued within some Asian medicinal and culinary traditions—have reached a growing global market.
essay /<br>Origins
90 Years Since Its Discovery, a Stone Age Human Still Holds Lessons
Emma Bird
A paleoanthropologist reflects on England’s oldest human cranium—and what its changing interpretations say about science.
essay /<br>In Flux
Following the Life of an Abandoned Bull in Nepal
Xena White
A visual anthropologist explores how divine cattle collide with urban realities in Kathmandu, revealing contradictions between ancient values and contemporary lifeways.
essay /<br>Standpoints
Black, Pregnant, and Always Vigilant
Samara Linton
A former National Health Service doctor and multidisciplinary scholar explores how Black women in the U.K. manage reproductive risks and anxieties.
essay /<br>Field Notes
The Sacred Heartbeat at Houston Pride
Syd González
An anthropologist participates in the Houston Pride Parade, offering dance, music, and prayer with others to counter intensifying oppression faced by queer and Latine communities.
essay /<br>Reflections
The Politics of Mourning After Itaewon
Yeon Jung Yu, Jiho Cha, and Young Su Park
After the deadly 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, South Korea faced a failure of prevention—and mourning. A group of anthropologists explores how grief was managed, marginalized, and ultimately erased, raising questions about who we remember and why.
poem /<br>Standpoints
Dreamscapes of Refusal: A Chorus
Uzma Falak
SAPIENS poet-in-residence for 2025 listens to a chorus of dreams in her field recordings from Kashmir.
op-ed /<br>Reflections
The Cost of Cutting Anthropology Out of U.S....