Here is where you’ll find all Pedal Powered Anthropology posts related to cultural anthropology.

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What Gets to be History?–A short discussion of the development of the perspectives of Everyday Anthropology, and the responsibility that should be inherent in owning artifacts from our collective past.

My Dutee to Arnold–A brief overview of a borderline forgotten foundry which deserves commemoration.

Danny’s Favorite: Shattering Myths in the World of Cast Iron.–A critical piece of evidence putting the myth of The Favorite cast iron cookware being prison made has been found housed in the public domain!

Calling All Cast Iron Kooks–A call to all cast iron nuts to band together to try and solve some mysteries!

Das Alte Rathaus—Not quite a castle, Leipzigs Alte Rathaus has a staggering amount of history both in its collections as well as the building itself.

Leipzig’s Many Castles, part 1: Schloss Schönfeld.—Delving into our new surroundings, we start checking out the loads of castles here in Leipzig and beyond.

Crazy for Cast Iron Part 5: Griddle Me This—In this post, the cast iron rabbit hole goes deep. This time into United States labor history.

Istanbul was Constantinople Now it’s…—In this post I unpack the deep lyrical analogy that is the song Istanbul.

Crazy for Cast Iron Part 4: Not So Fast, Krone Kast!— Way down the cast iron rabbit hole this time, I wound up debunking a long-held supposition in the cast iron world.

Crazy for Cast Iron Part 3: There’s No Place Like Home—In this post I set my sights on Providence, Rhode Island. Talking first about what is common knowledge imparted to newbies, I then discuss how much is known and what is possible to know about 19th century cast iron, and finish up with talking about two prominent 19th century foundries in the city, and how the city changed around them and what’s left now.

Crazy for Cast Iron part 2: The Tale of the Mystery Bowl–After finding a peculiar cast iron bowl at the Rhode Island Antiques Mall, I set out to try and identify it using my fledgling knowledge of cast iron.

Crazy for Cast Iron–Taking a small break from the deep and often dark aspects of culture that I always seem to be finding myself researching, I’ve decided to spend some time with the fun parts of history—this time it’s with cast iron cookware and the stories it tells.

Two Hungry Trees and a Fun Mystery–A mystery surrounding a headstone being eaten by trees to me fits perfectly with what is known about Colonial New England society.

Hardscrabble and Snowtown — Architecture Here and There —I reboot sometimes! Rhode Island architectural writer David Brussat often covers interesting architectural history in his fantastic blog, Architecture Here and There. Hardscrabble and Snowtown were two African American settlements in Providence.

Providence riots, 1824, 1831 — Architecture Here and There  —Partner to the above post, there were two race riots in Providence, each associated with one of the above settlements. Here, David Brussat talks about them.

Seeing Culture from the Saddle of a Bicycle–Looking at my own hobbies and lifestyle, I illustrate the ways we can see patterns of cultural influence in everyday experiences.

Why Four Fields?— A brief discussion of the four fields approach, where specialization breaks it down, and why I love it.

The Unexpected Adventure of Mr. Goaty Goat–Exploring human cognition and learning a bit about about East African cultures through the tanning of a goat hide I bought in 2013.

Meme’s the Word— You know those viral internet images that are hilarious and sometimes stinging? They have their roots in the late 70s, directly coined by an Oxford zoologist who was inspired by geneticists, anthropologists, and ethologists in coming up with it.

Excuse Me, Could You Spare a Moment to Talk About Anthropology?–In the wake of the death of missionary John Allen Chau, I talk about the history of colonialism, its effects on indigenous peoples, and the need to respect their wishes.

Aliens and Racists and Corn Dogs, oh my!— On the cultural demand for mysteries of the ancient world, and the insidious manufacture of pseudoarchaeological hoaxes.

#Impostersyndromesoreal–On imposter syndrome and the difficulties of creativity in a culture that worships celebrity.

Two Centuries of Loss in One Night.–A brief response to the tragic loss of the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro

Studying Everyday Objects Anthropologically–In encouraging readers to learn to view things anthropologically, I study an instrument I bought for decoration for $3 at a yard sale.

Well…this isn’t at all what I expected.— I go over my expectations going into Pedal Powered Anthropology with a background in scientific research, versus the realities of historical research for documentary film making. And what documentary film making entails when you’re a One Man Band.

One Day at Dachau— Summer of 2018 was spent touring Germany. We made it a point to fit in as much of both the good and the bad bits of German culture and history. This the my account of our visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial.

The Gaspee Affair: Revisited— This is a complete reshoot of Anthrospin’s first video project. In the late 18th century, tensions between American colonists and the British government and military presence in the colonies came to a head. The Gaspee Affair is one such event that occurred as a result of those heightening tensions.

An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology— This video covers the basic premises of cultural anthropology and how a background in anthropology and an understanding of culture in general can be applicable to understanding everyday life. Anthropologist Dr. Deborah Kaspin was interviewed for and appears in this video talking about her experiences in the field.

Everyone’s a Victim of Their Time!— The idea of people being “victims of their time,” and why I think that’s both limited and fallacious, as well as why I think it could also be very well suited to anthropological thought…when taken literally.

An Evening with Eva Kor — This is an article about Eva Mozes Kor’s talk at Rhode Island College on Thursday, February, 15, 2018.

Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution –This is an article that more or less goes through the narration of the film by the same name. However, reading is a different experience and lets you dwell on the content as you need to. Plenty of images, and all research resources are included at the bottom. They’ll be updated as I find ones that I’ve left out, or just find more that are relevant.

Introduction to Anthropology –This is a video that introduces the four fields of anthropology as a whole. Pretty much the same information as the introductory article, only in video form. Much more interactive with some great background and imagery.

Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution: The Rise and Fall of an Empire –This is a link to the full documentary film. It covers the onset of the Industrial Revolution through to the 21st century, visiting sites of historical importance to the industrialization of America.

It’s Time to Visit Nathanael Greene — This is an article written about a visit the the Major General Nathanael Greene Homestead in Coventry, Rhode Island.

Trailer for Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution: the Rise and Fall of an Empire — This is a link to the trailer for Pedal Powered Anthropology’s first full length documentary film. I think it’s kind of awesome both as a trailer for the film as well as Anthrospin in general.

So…Just What is Anthropology, Anyway? –This is an article that goes over each of the four fields of anthropology. It’s general, and kind of barely scratches the surface in a lot of ways. But it’s a pretty good overview of how anthropology is approach in the United States as well as the history of the science.

The Gaspee Affair –This is a video that goes over the Gaspee Affair, which is an event that precipitated the American Revolution and took place after the Boston Massacre but before the Boston Tea Party. It’s actually Pedal Powered Anthropology’s first video project ever, so check this out if you’re interested in where it all began (hint: you can make a better video than this with worse equipment).

The Cost of 2.81 Seconds — This is an article written about a study I did years back on the impact of distracted driving on fuel expenditure