Pertaining to People Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by Matthew Ayre (PhD), a post-doctoral fellow with the Arctic Institute of North America. He has always been fascinated with the British Arctic whaling trade, and has made impressive jumps from geography, to historical climatology, with a dash of archaeology thrown in. Matthew's research, using the logs from the British Arctic whaling boats to reconstruct the past Arctic climate is fascinating. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did!Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, visit our website.Send us an email at pertainingtopeople@gmail.com.References:Arctic Institute of North America

Have you ever played a video game and thought: “How accurate is this?”? That is the essence of what we hoped to discuss in this episode, and to do it, we were joined by Gillian's “gaming” boyfriend, Luke Smith. A more conversational episode than many others, Luke brings his experience with many video games, and especially the Assassin's Creed series, and Kelsey, Lulu and Gill discuss the historical “correctness” of these games based on archaeological analyses. This was a fun episode! It might even inspire you to spend some lockdown time gaming. **Note: Gill and Luke had an issue with their mic, so the sound quality is not the best! Sorry about that. For all references and links for this episode, please visit http://pertainingtopeople.com/episodes.

Have you ever played a video game and thought: “How accurate is this?”? That is the essence of what we hoped to discuss in this episode, and to do it, we were joined by Gillian's “gaming” boyfriend, Luke Smith. A more conversational episode than many others, Luke brings his experience with many video games, and especially the Assassin's Creed series, and Kelsey, Lulu and Gill discuss the historical “correctness” of these games based on archaeological analyses. This was a fun episode! It might even inspire you to spend some lockdown time gaming. **Note: Gill and Luke had an issue with their mic, so the sound quality is not the best! Sorry about that. For all references and links for this episode, please visit http://pertainingtopeople.com/episodes.

Our sincerest apologies for the looooong unintended hiatus before the release of this episode. This semester really got the best of us (mostly Gillian) and I dropped the ball on this episode. Very sorry about that! “Peas” forgive us. Hope you still enjoy :)Yes, we took a break, but we're “bok” now. In this episode (recorded way back in October… and supposed to be released then), Kelsey, Lulu and Gill talk about all things agricultural. We wanted to do a fall-themed episode, and so “lettuce” tell you about different types of agricultural practices that one doesn't always hear about. When you hear “harvest” do you only think of cornucopias overflowing and square patches of land? If so, come learn about some other practices that were used for millenia! And learn a fun fact about potatoes to tell your friends. There is also a mini interview included with the lovely Chelsea Klinke. This episode can't be “beet.”Please visit pertainingtopeople.com/episodes for all references and links!

In this episode of our “Careers in Archaeology” series we interview Kayleigh Speirs, the Curator and Manager of Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung (Manitou Mounds) Historical Centre owned and operated by Rainy River First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. In this episode Kayleigh shares with us her experiences and knowledge in museum curation, and advice on the benefits of volunteering. She discusses how she navigates the settler/colonial divide while working in Indigenized spaces to better promote reconciliation and decolonization in her work.Check out the Anishinaabemowin Phrase of the Day on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @manitoumounds and their website https://manitoumounds.com. The Centre is currently closed to the public to protect the community during the Covid-19 pandemic, but when it re-opens be sure to make a trip to the Place of the Long Rapids to experience the beauty that has captured Kayleigh's heart!For all references and links for this episode, please visit https://pertainingtopeople.com/episodes

Following up on our very fun and informative interview with Dr. Kimberly Williams, we thought we would explore the Wild West a bit. More specifically, sex work in the Wild West! We explored the archaeology of brothels and search for answers to some questions: What was it like for sex workers of the time? How did Madams (brothel managers) integrate sex work into the local economy and way of life? Were brothels accepted by everyday folk? Bonus: an interesting fact about the current president of the United States.This brief delve into the lives of sex workers in the Wild West was very interesting for the three of us, and we hope you enjoy it just as much as we did!For all links and references for this episode, please visit pertainingtopeople.com/episodes

While we had hoped to continue our “Careers in Anthropology” series, this is a slight deviation from that, although no less interesting nor less informative! In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Kimberly A. Williams, a feminist scholar, award-winning author and public speaker. She is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Women & Gender Studies at Mount Royal University. She teaches courses that focus on theories surrounding feminism, men and masculinities, critical race, queer and global gender issues. She has also written an award-winning book titled Imagining Russia (2012), and just completed a book critically examining the Calgary Stampede. In her “spare time” (and non-Covid times), she also leads historical walking tours, called Booze, Broads & Brothels, in which she educates participants on Calgary's consensual adult sex industry.Kim shares insight about feminist scholarship, what it is (really) like to be a woman in academia, some advice for figuring out what you want to do and some ways that we can fight to be better feminists in our field. She discusses what we can learn about and from past Calgarian sex workers, and briefly sums up what is at the very core of being human, what is really pertaining to people.**Note: there are expletives in this episode. We also apologize for the sound quality - there were some technological difficulties we overcame!Visit pertainingtopeople.com/episodes for all references and links for this episode

For our second interview in our “Careers in Archaeology” series, we're very excited to be joined by Stevie Sheppard, a Parks Canada Terrestrial Archaeologist.In this episode, we discuss the rigorous application process for a coveted Parks archaeology job, her previous experiences in archaeology that landed her this position, as well as the differences between Terrestrial and Underwater archaeology (read: those awesome folks that discovered the Franklin expedition)! Listen and explore with us as Stevie shares her passion for the history of Canada and why Parks Canada has 450,000km² of Canadian memories for you to discover!She shares some insightful wisdom and advice when it comes to “following your passions” or maybe.. getting stuck loving them.For all references and links, please visit pertainingtopeople.com/episodes

This is a special episode of our “Careers in Anthropology” series. In this episode, we interview Margarita de Guzman. Margarita is a female entrepreneur who started her own CRM (Cultural Resource Management) company in Calgary, Alberta. In this episode Marg describes her beginnings in archaeology, her tips for success, and provides candid advice for any budding archaeologist. Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes in this series as we meet people working in various fields of archaeology!For all references and links, please visit pertainingtopeople.com

Join us this week as we talk about only a few of the many amazing womxn in anthropology! In this episode, we give a brief synopsis of the lives of Margaret Pattison Staples-Brown (or Makereti Papakura), Jane Goodall, and Dr. Alexandra Jones; an anthropologist in the past, one that really “changed the game,” so to speak, and one that is currently making her mark. There's also a little bonus woman in anthropology for you to check out.This is a “pre-episode” for a series of interviews of current womxn in anthropology that we will be releasing throughout August, while Kelsey is up north.For all references and links, visit pertainingtopeople.com/episodes .

It's summertime, and a lot of us are drinking beer or other cold bevies while sitting *physically distanced* with our friends outside. Wheat has been domesticated for a very long time. Humans have been brewing beer and other fermented beverages for a very long time, as well. But has beer always been how it is now? Kelsey, Gill and Lulu discuss how beer has actually changed immensely over the past ~7-10 thousand years.Ever heard about the Beer Purity Law? Listen to this episode, learn all about it, and impress those friends the next time you're enjoying a cold one. Cheers!All references and links are posted on pertainingtopeople.comReferences and Linkshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jvt7P4MOlchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP21LH3T9yQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuQY7WYs2b4Curtis W. Jan/Feb 2014. The archaeology of beer. The Atlantic. p. 47.Homan MM. 2004. Beer and its drinkers: An ancient near eastern love story. Near Eastern Archaeology; 67(2). pp. 84-95.Joffe AH, 1998. Alcohol and Social Complexity in Ancient Western Asia. Current Anthropology, 39(3), pp.297–322.Logan AL, Hastorf CA, Pearsall DM. 2012. "Let's drink together": Early ceremonial use of maize in the Titicaca Basin. Latin American Antiquity 23(3).Steamwhistle. 2016. The 500th anniversary of the Beer Purity Law. Steamwhistle.ca. https://steamwhistle.ca/blog/the-500th-anniversary-of-the-bavarian-purity-law/Warden LA. 2013. Pottery and Economy in Old Kingdom Egypt, BRILL. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/lib/ucalgary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1481156.Williams N.. 26 July 1996. How the Ancient Egyptians Brewed Beer. Science 273. P. 432.Beer in China:Jinga Brewing. April 21, 2017. New old beer: Mijiaya Neolithic Ale. Jingabrewing.com; https://jingabrewing.com/new-old-beer-mijiaya-neolithic-ale/Metcalfe T. 2016. 5,000-year-old Chinese beer recipe had secret ingredient. LiveScience. Livescience.com; https://www.livescience.com/54834-ancient-chinese-beer-recipe-reconstructed.htmlWang J, Liu L, Ball T, Yu L, Li Y, Xing F. 2016. Revealing a 5,000-y-old beer recipe in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; 113 (23) 6444-6448; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1601465113

Gill and Lulu get to pick Kelsey's brain about digital heritage!What is it? How is it useful? What are the pros and cons? How can it be used for archaeology? These are just some of the topics covered in this episode.Go to pertainingtopeople.com for all references and links relevant to this and all our episodes!CHECK OUT:preserve.ucalgary.ca

In this episode, Lulu, Gill and Kelsey continue the conversation from episode 7 on racism and specifically how our field has, and continues to, contribute to racism and "race science." At what point do we throw out the whole discipline and start from scratch?Listen to these three struggle to get their thoughts out, and ultimately conclude that listeners should listen to more knowledgeable BIPOC who have done tons of research on the subject, including Leith Mullings and Jeannette Armstrong (seriously, go listen to them!).For references and links to videos, visit pertainingtopeople.com.

***The point of this is in NO WAY for you to listen to this podcast episode instead of melanated voices. This episode is for people who don't think there is racism in Canada, don't understand systemic racism in Canada, or don't know where to start. If you listen to this episode, you should ABSOLUTELY not stop here. You need to look at the references and resources we and others have posted, and continue learning!! We had planned to speak about digital heritage this week, but due to the recent murder of George Floyd, and the highlight it shines on the racism against black people, and the major issue of police brutality, we felt the need to address the systemic racism that BIPOC also face in Canada. Considering the fact that anthropology has, unfortunately, contributed to the racism BIPOC face, this is very much a subject that we need to address and continue to learn about. While we are not experts, we hope not to take up to much space and to give a very brief history of the pervasive racism in Canada, as well as to point you towards further resources for learning. Please go to our website, pertainingtopeople.com, for the full list of resources.

As a follow-up to our last episode focusing on the history of language, we thought we would release a super short episode to talk about some linguistic achievements! The "Rosetta" (Rashid) Stone and the Behistun Inscription are both examples of deciphering of ancient languages, while the Indus Script is an example of one we still don't quite get. Visit our website pertainingtopeople.com to see all references and links for this episode.

Communication is everything for humans. It's how we tell people what we want, what we need, that we love them, that we just can't stand the way they do the dishes (we can't help it… We've been cooped up inside for a long time), so when did speech start? And how? These are the questions the three musketeers try to tackle this week in episode 5: The Beginnings of Language.Visit our website pertainingtopeople.com for all the links and references for this episode.

How many cool female monarchs in history do you know? Tamar of Georgia? Hatshepsut? Zenobia? Do you know what matrilineal societies are? Inspired by Victoria day on May 18th, Gill, Lulu and Kelsey will be discussing these topics, among others. Three women talking about some cool women in history, does it get any better than that? See http://pertainingtopeople.com for a full list of references and links.

This is the final part of our current exploration into the history of anthropology and archaeology (for now! Give us another 20 years and we'll be back at it). Going off of Part 2, in which we discussed Processualism and Post-Processualism, we wanted to take some extra time to talk about the incorporation of indigenous and feminist perspectives into the discipline, how that manifests and what it means for anthropology. In this episode, you'll learn about some early female anthropologists, the “Kennewick Man”, Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi and more! So much for this being a “little” episode, huh?

In part 2 of The Origins of Anthropology, Gill, Lulu and Kelsey review the history of anthropology and archaeology after ~1950 and after culture historical archaeology and anthropological thought, starting with early functional processual archaeology and ending with post-processualism. Exciting, no?? (Honestly, it's a bit of a slog, bear with us). We will have one more part 3 of this series, wrapping up post-processualism and chatting specifically about indigenous and feminist anthropology. Please see our website for all references and info for this episode!

Following up on their first episode, Origin Stories, Gill, Lulu and Kelsey delve into the "origins" of anthropology and archaeology. Where does archaeology start and anthropology end? What nefarious deeds did Napoleon commit in Egypt? Who is Franz Boas? What's that darned name of the guy who also had the idea of evolution at the same time as Darwin? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Part 1 of Pertaining to People's third episode!

In this special episode, Gill and our new host Kelsey use Earth Day as an opportunity to reflect on humans' long history with the environment, how that has changed, where we are now in the "Anthropocene", and where we might get to in the future.They also chat about fun facts surrounding material culture. What our ancestors might have used instead of plastic bags, or if you are worried about running out of toilet paper, don't fret! Kelsey and Gill talk about what our ancestors might have used instead.

For our very first episode, we want to focus on some firsts in human history. There's a lot, so we just chose a couple. Who was the “first” modern human ancestor? What about the first technology - stone tools? And with those human ancestors, what did the beginning of farming look like, and what are the origins of large human settlements? These are the questions Gill and Lulu attempt to answer in this first episode of Pertaining to People. For references and links for this episode, please visit our website!