Who do so many women in India continue to use their wood-burning, smoke-spewing stoves called ‘chulhas’ when they have other options? Meena Khandelwal, Associate Professor of Feminist Sociocultural Anthropology explores this paradox in her new book 'Cookstove Chronicles', published by University of Arizona Press in their series Critical Green Engagements. In this book, based on multidisciplinary collaboration with engineers, archaeologists, development specialists, and others, Dr. Khandelwal discusses chulhas as women’s local low-tech technology as well as craft and work. In doing so she highlights the messy reality of actual behavior. (Listen to the episode to hear a discount code that gives you 30% off the book!)

In this interview Prof. Francis Nyamnjoh, a world-renowned anthropologist, discusses his life and ideas in the context of being a scholar and publisher. Born in Bum, Cameroon in 1961 and currently teaching anthropology at the University of Cape Town, Prof. Nyamnjoh’s work is inspired by the people he meets as well as African literature like the work of the Nigerian author Amos Tutuola. Francis’ philosophy of conviviality and collaboration is part of his framework of ‘incompleteness’ and he discussed its use in contexts of ecology, healing systems, and knowledge making. We have started our podcast’s second season with this interview of 50 mins. because Prof. Nyamnjoh’s voice and actions embody our values of interdisciplinary engagement, imagination, and acknowledging incompleteness-in-motion as the state of our common world.

Dr. Kevin Murray is an editor of Garland Magazine. He is also Vice-President of World Crafts Council - International, coordinating editor of the Online Encyclopedia of Crafts in the Asia Pacific Region and the Encyclopedia of Crafts in Latin America. He is co-founder of the Knowledge House for Craft , Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT University and was International Adviser for the Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2023. In this interview he discusses his doctoral training, development of his interest in craft, practices of editing and knowledge weaving, the Value of Craft project, and his role as a knowledge worker in the broader craft infrastructure.

How does knowledge become wisdom in the practice of iconic performance artist Arahmaiani? In this episode, the Indonesian artist Arahmaiani discussed a few of the complex strands that underpin her art, activism, and writing and how hope can be sustained. Born in 1961 in Bandung, Indonesia, Arahmaiani has long been recognized for her powerful and provocative commentaries on social, political, and cultural issues. Her work, through a vast array of traditional and non-traditional media has engaged groups and communities around the world. Tibet has become an important part of her journey both as a woman and Javanese Muslim, and she continues to work with the ancient past of her native Java and its rich Hindu Buddhist cultural heritage. Her work is inspired by her own meditation practice, ecology and the feminine.

What does it mean when a calligrapher says "You Grind the Ink but the Ink Grinds You"? To discuss this, we spoke with Dr. Roland Buckingham-Hsiao, a visual artist and researcher and Associate Professor of Art at WenZhou Business College, China. He studied Chinese calligraphy in Taiwan and at the University of Shaoxing in China, and has a PhD in writing as a physical practice from the International Research Centre for Calligraphy at the University of Sunderland, U.K. Through his doctoral work on embodiment and his direct experience of Chinese calligraphy since 2008, Roland proposes a useful framework by which Chinese calligraphy can be studied through text-image, text-body and text-object relations, including East-West cultural exchange.

What is “finishing” and how has this craft practice grown recently to form a global community of kindness? To find out, listen to our interview with the inspiring Jen Simonic, co-founder, Loose Ends. Jen co-founded Loose Ends with Masey Kaplan in August 2022 and it has grown rapidly from 150 finishers to 25,000 finishers worldwide. Both avid knitters, Jen and Masey started Loose Ends with unfinished projects from friends whose family members were deceased. As crafters, they both knew of the generosity of their community as well as how many incomplete projects are left behind when a loved one passes away or can no longer make something due to illness. Jen reflects on finishing as a practice born out of loss as well as hope that resonates with us. Each finished project is one more loose end tied whether in a craft project or in helping people see the community already present around them. Image @winkylewis

What does it mean when a Tlingit weaver says her work is a "veil between worlds"? To find out, listen to our interview with the inspiring Tlingit weaver, artist, teacher, and community facilitator, Lily Hope (Wooshkhindeinda.aat). Hope is a Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver based in Juneau, Alaska, of the Raven moiety, and belongs to her grandmother’s clan, the T’akdeintaan from the Snail House in Hoonah, Alaska. She learned weaving from her mother, master weaver Clarissa Rizal, and artist Kay Field Parker, and is from a matrilineage of weavers and healers. Image @sydneyakagiphoto

Read Heather McClain's 2021 interview with Hope, focusing on her experience as an artist living, producing, and teaching during the Covid-19 global pandemic.

Is the anthropologist more like a dancer or grasshopper when in the field?

Can the subjectivation or ‘making’ of an anthropologist be reconstructed through their network of encounters? What can those of us who are not social scientists learn about relationships from this inquiry? Our hosts talk with Jean-Pierre Warnier, a French anthropologist invited in the 1970s by the Fon of Mankon, Cameroon, Africa, to conduct his doctoral research. This was the start of a long relationship with the kingdom and its people. Image: J.-P. Warnier when the Fon of Mankon gave him a palace title. Cameroon, 1974.

For Bonus Content, Warnier discusses archival photos from Cameroon.