Letter from the Editor 8
Executive Editor Anya-Milana Sulaver explains the theme and stories for Issue 08 of Peeps Magazine.
A Talk About Palestine & Israel
Dr. Sa’ed Atshan curates a panel to talk about context and lived experience of Israeli apartheid.
What Gets Inside
Anthropologist Elizabeth Roberts shares stories from her research in the smelliest and most staunchly independent neighbourhood in Mexico City.
Peeps 08 Media List
Peeps 08 Playlist
The Language of Dispossession
Indigenous scholar Anne Spice writes of her research while part of the camp at the Wet’Suwet’en defence standoffs.
08 Hold Screen to Launch
Peeps 08 Reading List
The Chinese Built a Bridge in Montenegro That Leads to Nowhere
NPR / 06.29.2021
China’s finished bridge and unfinished road to nowhere in the middle of Montenegro, and what this reveals about development projects, power and policy.
Has a U of T Funder Intervened in Hiring a Palestinian Scholar?
The New Yorker / 05.08.2021
Is the U of T protecting its researchers, and itself, from funder influence?
Peeps 07 Play List
Music from around the world that examines cultural trauma
Peeps 07 Reading List
A comprehensive list of world literature that examines the issue of cultural trauma curated by the senior editors at Peeps.
Peeps 07 Media List
A list of the best films covering the topic of cultural trauma curated by the senior editors at Peeps.
Almost! Check back very soon!
This one is still being made
What There Is To Fear: World Building with Colombian Refugees in Ecuador
Lisa Stevenson explores fear, world-building and the Colombian-Ecuadorian border.
“It Is What It Is”: Trauma as Context in Argentina
Cultural trauma as context in this ethnographic reflection on Argentina past and present.
Issue 7 Letter from the Editor
Executive Editor Anya-Milana Sulaver introduces Issue 7, Cultural Trauma to readers
Talking Across Difference with Virtual Reality
Polish-born Canadian VR filmmaker Joanne-Aska Popinska talks to Peeps about the inspiration for her ambitious VR project sharing the stories of women who have had abortions. Her hope is to create a space of safe engagement for people who might otherwise not understand the complexities and challenges involved in making the decision to practice their reproductive rights.
Distraction Pieces on Productivity Part 2
Distraction Pieces / 05.19.2020
Scroobius Pip continues his conversation with Rutger Bregman,
Distraction Pieces on Productivity Part 1
Distraction Pieces / 20.02.2019
Podcaster Scroobius Pip interviews Davos-shamer and hopeful realist Rutger Bregman on the value of removing productivity as a focus in our work to increase innovation and joy.
Culture, Design & Decolonization: A Conversation with Dean Dori Tunstall
A trailblazer and pioneer, Dean Dori Tunstall of OCAD speaks to Philip McKenzie at The Deep Dive about respect for difference, cultural or otherwise, and using design to help create a human context that is inclusive and sustainable.
The Lockdown Diaries
Colombia’s National Strikes: A Primer
The New Humanitarian / 09.25.2020
A look at what’s behind the National Strikes in Colombia. (photo from Peeps Issue 6)
Scenarios of Change
Futurist Sanjay Khanna explores how global industry leaders think about and weigh the consequences of stability and profit.
The Truth Equation
A look at the ways in which white evangelical Christians see what makes “truth” differently through an examination of their contemporary fiction.
Letter from the Editor 06
The Middle Classes Won’t Take Us to a Democratic Paradise
A deep look at transnational class and democracy, past and present, asking how we can understand the role of the middle class in democracy, in the United States as well as the countries to which it has exported a Western democratic framework.
Dr. Kate Soper on the Opportunities of Change to our Economies Post-CoVid ↗
The Guardian / 09.08.2020
How post-CoVid economic goals should be different, but we need to act now to make it happen.
New Yorker Review of Ouvrir la voix ↗
New Yorker / July 16, 2018
A review of a documentary that views the intersections of race and being a woman in France from the perspectives of 24 French women of colour.
Independence with Social Distancing Comes in a Car for British Youth ↗
ITV Report / 05.25.2020
Teens and young adults alike have resorted to some interesting tactics to achieve independence while quarantining with their parents.
History of Police in America ↗
Vox / 06.06.2020
Historian Khalil Muhammad lays out the historical role of police in imposing systems of oppression.
Anti-Racism Resource List
Business Culture Curation Health
Italy Reopens: A Tale of Two Bookstores ↗
NPR / 05.05.2020
In countries where we are still immersed in social distancing measures and business closures, this piece by NPR speaks to the concerns and anxieties of two small bookstore owners as they eye reopening.
Predictions are hard, especially about the coronavirus ↗
Vox / 04.08.2020
Information about Covid-19 and how to protect yourself from it changes day by day. Vox reports on why pandemic predictions are difficult.
The scale, scope and breadth of language and context: Invisiblia on the connections we never imagined. ↗
Invisibilia / 03.06.2020
Invisibilia brings light to the unimagined ways we are linked in this great piece on how we are all connected through language, no matter which one we speak
Pandemics as Looking Glasses of Society ↗
NPR / 04.29.2020
Pandemics as truth-telling about society. The way we manage this tells us everything about our values and the world we want to live in versus what we’ve created.
The Importance of Social Capital During a Pandemic ↗
The Wire / 03.30.2020
Shifting focus from economies to societies in our understanding of collective context, we need to understand the true currency of value in crisis.
What Contagion’s Bookends Tells us About New Infections and a Racialized Geography of Blame ↗
Somatosphere / 03.06.2020
Review of the film Contagion in relation to the story it shares about privileged travel as conduit for disease spread.
Social and Cultural Experts Bust Social Media Myths #1: The truth about Shari’a Law and women’s rights
Shari’a Law and Women’s Rights: it may be different than you think!
The Good Place: The Last Great Sitcom ↗
Time / 01.23.2020
Race, Epidemics and the Viral Economy ↗
The New Humanitarian / 02.04.2020
The coronavirus is new, but not the toxic narratives around it.
The Calculus of Contagion ↗
Aeon / 09.16.2016
The history of the numbers we all rely on in anticipating a pandemic growth rate.
“I Rescued My Ancestors” ↗
CBC / 03.06.2020
Anishinaabe anthropologist brings archival recordings back home.
Sun Ra Inspires Tube Artwork (but so much more) ↗
The Guardian / 09.27.2013
This piece may be older, but it illustrates the ways in which Afrofuturist art and narrative, specifically that of Sun Ra, have opened vistas for opportunity and change among the African diaspora in the UK and beyond.
Ghanaian Fans Have One Nit To Pick But Otherwise Adore ‘Black Panther’ ↗
NPR 02.20.2018
Ghanaian Fans Have One Nit To Pick But Otherwise Adore ‘Black Panther’
Schooling Comes Naturally to Mexico’s Indigenous People ↗
Aeon / 2016
PEEPS CURATION: Aeon did a piece in 2016 that merits continued attention today. It looks at the Centre for Indigenous Arts in Papantla, in the Mexican state of Veracruz where they promote indigenous education and the decolonizing of education.
How to Save a Dying Language ↗
The Atlantic / 12.9.2019
The Hawaiian language nearly went extinct. Now it’s being taught in dozens of immersion schools.
How Economic Boom Times in the West Came to an End ↗
Aeon / 02.22.2017
Economist, historian and journalist Marc Levinson on the 20th century economic and cultural boom in the West
Gender-Neutral Pronouns Can Change a Culture ↗
Wired / 08.15.2019
Elena Lacey of Wired Magazine looks at how changing language changes behaviour in a community.
The Miseducation of the American Boy ↗
The Atlantic / 12.20.2019
Peggy Orenstein on how cultural stereotypes of aggression in boys have profound impacts on their development in unexpected ways.
Art Meets Futurism: “What Would Leonardo da Vinci Think of the Future?” ↗
Sapiens.org / 05.02.2019
In honor of the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death, historian Stephen E. Nash examines the artist’s forward thinking work: from pioneering cartography to the roots of virtual reality in paint.
Whose Ukraine is it Anyway? ↗
Rough Translation / 12.04.2019
Humour as competitive sport in Ukraine, and training ground for politics.
“They” decided this was the pronoun of 2019 at Merriam-Webster…finally :) ↗
NPR / 12.11.2019
It’s official, non-binary pronouns are in the dictionary, a first step to space for new gender contexts in the dominant discourse.
A Brief History of Borders ↗
The Correspondent / 12.02.2019
An insightful examination of how borders succeed and fail at what they were built to do.
Kodak’s Missed Moment ↗
Spectacular Failures / 7.15.2019
Kodak, the gold standard of photography, and the company that created digital cameras, was one of the first victims of a newly digitized world. Listen to this great portrait of the extensive impacts of cultural and technological change at Spectacular Failures.
The Dark Side of Prime ↗
Bitch Media / 11.26.2019
Bitch Media reminds us that our new culture of retail convenience has a dark side.
The Research Behind Binge Watching as a Cultural Movement ↗
Insights Association / 10.11.2018
We are hearing all about the new streaming wars: but what about the massive, research-driven cultural change that brought it about? The Insights Association shared a piece discussing Netflix research methods resulting in a radical change in the way we watch “shows.”
The Generation Gap Bites Back: Gen Z & Millenials Call Out Boomer Privilege with Digital Eyeroll ↗
The NY Times dropped a great piece today on how Boomers call anyone younger than themselves “Millenial”, and Gen Z and Millenials have responded with “OK, Boomer”
Counteract Propaganda through Lessons from Advertising ↗
Scientific American / 06.21.2017
An election season survival guide: learning to read past propaganda.
Corporate Values, Community Values and McDonalds ↗
Rough Translation / 09.18.2019
An arresting examination of when corporate values and community values work and falter, played out in a McDonald’s in the north end of Marseilles.
Because We Haven’t Left
The photography of Jennifer Karady in the series Soldiers’ Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Being an Ethnographer ↗
Fersa, University of Cambridge Blog / 04.30.2017
Being an ethnographer, everyday and every moment can be a research moment. There is taking a break, but not turning off.
How Pot is Infiltrating New York’s Most Elite Social Circles
New York Post / 03.19.2017
While recreational marijuana is still illegal in New York state and medical marijuana is only legal for those with serious diseases, more and more Gothamites are getting high.
The Extraordinary Dakinis
A conversation with Rima Fujita on female strength in Buddhism, and the ethnographic power of art.
Peeps in the Classroom
How anthropology students can engage with Peeps Magazine.
Introducing Peeps Magazine Issue 02: Crossing Thresholds
Editorial for Peeps Issue 02 – Crossing Thresholds.
Spy vs Ethnographer
What happened to me when on stage, at a gathering of my ethnographic peers, where I was accused of being a spy.
Winning and Losing in Modern China
Investigating the elusive Chinese dream through the Diaosi, self-identified losers on the Chinese internet.
Mobile Autonomy
How the mobile revolution is challenging traditional gender roles in India.
Beyond the Disease
Unveiling how the struggle for identity can become a matter of life or death for young men living with hemophilia.
Shifting the Global Conversation on Refugees
Global media attention on refugees produces complex responses from countries—those which host these refugees, and those which refuse.
Bricolage in a Can
The story of one research team’s journey into the brand culture of alcoholic energy drinks.
Soothe-sayers and Storytellers
Metaphor plays an enormous role in either the efficacy or failure of narrative in healing.
The Changing Face of Valentine’s Day
In a world where the notions of relationships and companionship are in flux, Megan Melissa Machamer looks at the ways Valentines celebrations are changing.
Peeps Magazine Through Academic Eyes
The University of Toronto Anthropology profs Drs. Leslie Carlin and Simon Coleman to provide us with some constructive feedback and their thoughts.
When Mainstream Media Thinks Anthropology is Cool
“At last, an indie mag about anthropology! If that turns you off, think again. Like the best magazines, Peeps is a magazine about people and there are some great universal stories here.”
— Jeremy Leslie, magCulture
The Water-Cooler Problem ↗
Sapiens / 01.28.2016
Company success and employee satisfaction depend on social ties that are hard to forge in a globalized era.
Cultural Anthropologist Susan Kresnicka Reveals How Her Core Passions Help Hollywood Thrive ↗
Forbes / 01.20.2016
I encourage our clients to focus less on trend-chasing and more on understanding the broader cultural forces.
About Face ↗
The New Yorker / 03.23.2015
Why is South Korea the world’s plastic-surgery capital?
A Review of Peeps Magazine
A review of Peeps Magazine!
‘Design Thinking’ is Changing the Way We Approach Problems ↗
University Affairs / 01.13.2016
Design Thinking is Changing the Way We Approach Problems: Why researchers in various disciplines are using the principles of design to solve problems big and small
Portraits of the Post-Mao Generation
The first generation to ostensibly “only know of China’s rise in fame and fortune,” faces the more humble realities of the post-Mao generation in China.
Why I Love Female Superheroes
The moment my eyes caught the keyring hanging on the wall I just had to have it – a female superhero on my keychain.
The Trials of Alice Goffman ↗
New York Times / 01.17.2017
Her first book, ‘On the Run’—about the lives of young black men in West Philadelphia—has fueled a fight within sociology over who gets to speak for whom.
What Was Volkswagen Thinking? ↗
The Atlantic / 01.01.2016
An Anthropologist Unravels the Mysteries of Mexican Migration ↗
National Geographic / 12.2016
An Anthropologist Unravels the Mysteries of Mexican Migration: Undocumented immigrants risk scorching temperatures, venomous creatures, and military surveillance to get into the U.S.
How the Arts Add to Urban Economies ↗
Citylab / 01.08.2015
Performing arts organizations like opera or ballet help to attract knowledge workers.
A Behavorial Approach to Product Design ↗
Medium / 01.08.2016
Four steps to designing products with impact.
Authentic Storytelling
An interview with Cynthia Wade, award winning documentary and commercial director known for intimate and gripping storytelling.
On the Fall and Rise of Hands
Unraveling our ties to technology to remember the art of making things.
Mindful of the Mosaic
How ethnic festivals benefit individuals and communities; for the whole community including everyone from recent migrants, to third generation community members.
The Long and the Short of It
An examination of the landscape of racism and grief in Baltimore in the face of violence sparked by the death of Freddie Gray.
The Promise of Big Data
There is something almost ethnographic about the way that big data recedes into the background and quietly collects data about our lived experience.
Sound Advice
Our brains appear to come equipped with an inclination to use the individual phonemes contained in names to make sense of unfamiliar words.
Breaking the Princess Complex
As a filmmaker and an anthropologist, I am always looking for films that explore popular topics from an unlikely point of view. George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road is such a film.
Making the Strange Familiar and the Familiar Strange
Anthropologist Megan Melissa Machamer shares the trick to great social science research.
Changing the Shape of Fashion
How fashion standards are shifting to make room for the plus-size segment of the market it used to shun.
Marking Territory in the infinite
The theoretical interplanetary politics of a universal flag designed on Earth are explored by Tylor R. Genoese, an anthropologist interested in outer space.
In Defense of Bias
Everyone and everything has inherent bias- but that is a good thing, as long as it is recognized. Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman tells us why.
On Being Part of the Conversation on Culture
A piece on the approach to telling stories of culture and context at Peeps.
On Placemaking
Placemaking. It’s been called everything from a buzzword to a movement. It even comes in varieties like “creative.” But what is it? What makes it such a hot topic?
Mobile Disruption: The Rise of Mobile Phone Technology in India
With 930 million mobile phone subscribers and growing India is easily one of the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile markets.
A Study in Contrasts
Peeps spoke with photojournalist Marko Drobnjakovic about contrast and photographing the cover story for the first issue of Peeps Magazine.
A Conversation with Barry Lord
As the energy sources that made our world changed, people’s identities also had to adjust to the values that each energy brought with it.
My Share of the Sharing Economy
A cultural analyst reflects on her experience as an AirBNB host.
Observations of an Observer
When shooting ethnographic photography I use my education and experience as a photojournalist. Here’s how.
Cosmopolitan Moments
Colin Shafer’s ambition to photograph someone born in every country of the world who now lives in Toronto.
Hong Kong, Democracy and Cultural Myths
Myths provide a sense of purpose in a complex world, and fundamentally, hope for the future. These are the myths of Hong Kong.
A Taste of the Road
Bruno Moynie pursued that romantic fantasy of life on the road, in the American south, and shares his food with us.
Going Native: The Art of Ethnographic Filmmaking
To Bruno Moynié, ethnographic filmmaking is the art of immersion, the ability to accept and be accepted by the people you are filming.