An anthropologist’s memoir in prose poems offers insights into her experiences working with refugees and on humanitarian projects in many parts of the globe over the last 20 years.In a new book, an anthropologist reveals the heavy tolls industries have placed on residents in this eastern U.S. city. Here, she explains how these burdens have only worsened since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
So, it’s little wonder that so many people toss and turn over how to improve their sleep, relying ever more on technological aids.. Weighted blankets. Heated mattresses. White noise machines. Fake-sunlight lamps. Special pillows. Earplugs. Nose plugs. Smart watches and rings. And a range of masks that could belong in an ethnographic museum. And that’s before we get onto antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and other drugs.
Among humans, in many places around the world sleep tech is simply a mat woven from leaves spread out on the floor. And how people sleep upon them varies a great deal. Anthropologist Carol Worthmanof how fluid, communal, and seemingly chaotic sleep can be in forager societies such as Aché in Paraguay, Efe in Zaire, and Ju/’hoansi in Botswana. For these communities, she says, the night is full of “ritual, sociality, and information exchange.