David Beriss

Wait, Pasta with Yogurt? On Food, Storytelling, and Migration Pasta with yogurt, photo by Elif Birbiri Elif BirbiriYork University Do we still tell food stories to each other? About what we cook, what we miss, and what we discover in new places? This may soun…

How do food memories, storytelling, and migration all come together around a plate of pasta with yogurt? Read Elif Birbiri's thoughts on the Food Anthropology blog to find out. foodanthro.com/2025/09/09/w...

What we know about the new ICE detention center in McCook State officials announced plans for a new “Alligator Alcatraz” style immigration detention facility in McCook.

How are American concentration camps different from the Nazis'? Cute names! Nebraska now has the "Cornhusker Clink" (formerly the more sinister "Work Ethic Camp"). Seriously. nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news...

Johnson Cuts Short House Session to Avoid Vote on Releasing Epstein Files

This doesn't look like a cover-up at all. Nope, nothing to hide. Go about your business, people.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/u...

Of course, if you read the column, the takes are quite a bit more nuanced then the headline would suggest. Not that social media allows for nuance. Anyhow, I am sure there is nothing more pressing today than whether Dowd was right in 2016.

Blaise Metreweli named as first woman to lead UK intelligence service MI6 Metreweli, 47, has held series of director-level roles in foreign intelligence service and in domestic agency MI5

What can you do with an anthropology degree? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Trump Amplifies Another Outlandish Conspiracy Theory: Biden Is a Robotic Clone

If every accusation Trump makes is really a confession, what should we make of this? www.nytimes.com/2025/06/01/u...

"Rapid unscheduled disassembly," is apparently the term Musk's SpaceX uses for their failed rocket launches. Seems appropriate for Musk and Trump's failed approach to governance as well.

SAFN Anthro Day Photo Contest, Part 3! David Beriss Having posted the tied winners of this year’s SAFN Anthro Day Photo contest (which you can see here and here), it is time to post the photos submitted by Shivani Kaul, who took second …

Congratulations to Shivani Kaul, from the University of Amsterdam, for second place in this year's SAFN Anthro Day photo contest. Check out her photo essay entitled “Feeding tensions during the First 1000 Days in Bhutan" on the blog! foodanthro.com/2025/05/15/s...

The US State Department warns people not to travel to countries like the United States:

SAFN Anthro Day Photo Contest, Part 2! David Beriss Last week we announced the winners of this year’s SAFN Anthropology Day Photo Contest. You can read that post here. We had a tie for first place this year, between Bula Wayessa (see th…

You can also see Natasha Bernstein Bunzl's winning photos from the annual SAFN Anthro Day photo contest on the blog. Food photos are great, but a cute dog helps too! Click through to see all of Natasha's photos and a few explanatory comments. foodanthro.com/2025/05/12/s...

Winners of SAFN’s Annual Anthropology Day Photo Contest! David Beriss The time has come to reveal the winners of this year’s glorious SAFN Anthropology Day Photo Contest! Our decision this year was reached by a panel made up of SAFN’s elected officers, i…

The Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition is happy to announce the winners of our annual Anthro Day photo contest. First place was a tie, between Bula Wayessa and Natasha Bernstein Bunzl. You can see Bula Wayessa's remarkable photos on our blog: foodanthro.com/2025/05/08/w...

Defending Anthropology panel at the AAA! #anthrosky

Louisiana lawmakers revive bill panned as 'Bob Dean protection act' affecting nursing homes "Bob Dean would have been completely protected," said one advocate about how the law change would affect nursing home companies.

Louisiana elected officials seem to get up every day and ask themselves: what can I do to make life here worse? Today's example: Louisiana has some of the worst nursing homes in the US. Instead of fixing that, state legislators want to protect operators from lawsuits. www.nola.com/news/politic...

Is Senator Kennedy spreading anti-Semitism? I wrote to ask him to support funding for NPR and PBS, he wrote back with bizarre references to Soros buying (non-public) radio stations in Louisiana...in other words, anti-Semitic dog whistles about the media.

The Next Terrorist Attack And What Comes After

Some dark thoughts from Timothy Snyder, well worth a read. open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

3/4. If we accept the idea that moving a person from one place to another undoes rights and disempowers the judiciary, we are endorsing the basic Nazism practice that enabled the killing of millions.

2/4. The entire practice of the Holocaust of the Jews involved zones of statelessness. It is easier to move people away from law than it is to remove law from people. Almost all of the killing took place in artificially created stateless zones.

1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.

Fomenting Antisemitism Not Combating It

The Trump Administration is fomenting antisemitism even when pretending to oppose it. Watch this brief video for an explanation. open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

Opinion | Trump’s Crusade Against Antisemitism Is Extremely Bad for the Jews (Gift Article) Antisemitism is real. But the enemy of our enemy is not necessarily our friend.

Trump's anti-antisemitism is a lie. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

'A fiasco and an embarrassment': How Israel's antisemitism conference went sideways ***

Israel hosts an "anti-Semitism" conference in which the featured guests are far right Europeans from anti-Semitic parties. This is beyond disgusting. Also, why am I reading about this in the European and Israeli press, but the American media is apparently silent.
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Long waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down A flood of cuts led by Elon Musk has sent the agency into chaos as a new commissioner prepares to take charge.

Another day, another leap back to the 1890s. Musk and Trump destroying social security: wapo.st/4hM5MAn

Image of dozens of police lining up to protect a Tesla dealership.

Not sure I've ever seen a more obvious picture to remind us that police exist to protect the property of the ruling class, not the rights of the people.

Tim Scott Is Fighting for His Donors’ Junk Fees Joe Biden’s CFPB passed rules limiting overdraft and credit card late fees. As the chair of the Senate committee that oversees the agency, Tim Scott wants to reinstate these junk fees — a key priority...

The Republicans have introduced legislation to roll back regulations limiting fees banks can charge. Nice to know they are looking out for those poor bankers! This happened a few weeks ago, but I think it got less coverage because of all the other crap happening. jacobin.com/2025/02/tim-...

YouTube video by Resistance Revival Chorus Resistance Revival Chorus with Rhiannon Giddens "All You Fascists Bound To Lose"

Sing along! youtu.be/dWUa7aAIfLE?...

Annual SAFN Anthropology Day Photo Contest! Aquaculture, Nova Scotia. photo by David Beriss SAFN is once again organizing a food/nutrition photo contest in celebration of Anthropology Day. If you have food anthropology related phot…

Reminder! The deadline for the annual SAFN Food Anthropology photo contest is Friday, March 7. Follow the link for details. Send in your photos for possible fame! #anthropology #anthrosky

YouTube video by themusicmenTV Mardi Gras Mambo - The Hawketts (Lyrics)

Dance. youtu.be/L1fBDVNn1pU?...

YouTube video by The Weavers - Topic Which Side Are You On

Organize. youtu.be/BJH1Uolu7io?...

YouTube video by Pete Seeger - Topic If I Had a Hammer (Hammer Song)

Protest. youtu.be/VO39e5Uznu4?...

Review: Embodying Biodiversity Terese Gagnon, ed. Embodying Biodiversity: Sensory Conservation as Refuge and Sovereignty. 274 pp. University of Arizona Press. 2024. ISBN: 9780816553983 Christian Keeve (PhD Candidate, Geography, …

Not the "diversity" they have been looking for! Read Christian Keeve's review of Terese Gagnon's edited collection "Embodying Biodiversity: Sensory Conservation as Refuge and Sovereignty," on Food #anthropology now. #anthrosky foodanthro.com/2025/02/17/r...