Conrad Phillip Kottak
@conradkottak.bsky.social
U Michigan emeritus anthropologist. Author: Anthropology: Appreciating Human Diversity. Now writing about American culture, media, politics, and everyday life at The Anthropocene Anthropologist: [email protected]
#Anthropology
#MediaStudy
#Culture
#Anthropology
#MediaStudy
#Culture
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. I consider why terms common in academic and activist circles may repel voters, while Donald Trump can sound genuine even when his claims are not. conradkottak.substack.com/p/watch-your...
Watch Your Language
Why I’m revisiting “Dem Speak, Dem Not Understand” as the midterms appproach
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. Revisiting a 2025 warning about Democra...
conradkottak.substack.com
September 26, 2026 at 5:58 PM
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. I consider why terms common in academic and activist circles may repel voters, while Donald Trump can sound genuine even when his claims are not. conradkottak.substack.com/p/watch-your...
Watch Your Language
conradkottak.substack.com/p/watch-your...
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. I consider why terms common in academic and activist circles may repel voters, while Donald Trump can sound genuine even when his claims are not.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/watch-your...
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. I consider why terms common in academic and activist circles may repel voters, while Donald Trump can sound genuine even when his claims are not.
Watch Your Language
Why I’m revisiting “Dem Speak, Dem Not Understand” as the midterms appproach
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. Revisiting a 2025 warning about Democra...
conradkottak.substack.com
September 26, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Watch Your Language
conradkottak.substack.com/p/watch-your...
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. I consider why terms common in academic and activist circles may repel voters, while Donald Trump can sound genuine even when his claims are not.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/watch-your...
The words politicians choose can welcome voters in or tell them they don’t belong. I consider why terms common in academic and activist circles may repel voters, while Donald Trump can sound genuine even when his claims are not.
Saring,reposting, etc. are much appreciated.
AI can help us think, but only if we know enough to challenge it. Drawing on my own experience as an anthropologist, writer, retiree, and regular AI user, I distinguish substitution, assistance, and dialogue.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/knowing-en...
AI can help us think, but only if we know enough to challenge it. Drawing on my own experience as an anthropologist, writer, retiree, and regular AI user, I distinguish substitution, assistance, and dialogue.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/knowing-en...
Knowing Enough to Argue with AI
Why the same technology can replace thought for one person and extend it for another
AI can help us think, but only if we know enough to challenge it. Drawing on my own experience as an anthropologis...
conradkottak.substack.com
September 19, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Saring,reposting, etc. are much appreciated.
AI can help us think, but only if we know enough to challenge it. Drawing on my own experience as an anthropologist, writer, retiree, and regular AI user, I distinguish substitution, assistance, and dialogue.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/knowing-en...
AI can help us think, but only if we know enough to challenge it. Drawing on my own experience as an anthropologist, writer, retiree, and regular AI user, I distinguish substitution, assistance, and dialogue.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/knowing-en...
conradkottak.substack.com/p/what-happe...
Check out my new post. Subscriptions are still free, and reposting is appreciated.
What happened to the American Anthropologist?
Comparing issues from 1966, 1996, 2016, and today led me somewhere I didn't expect.
Check out my new post. Subscriptions are still free, and reposting is appreciated.
What happened to the American Anthropologist?
Comparing issues from 1966, 1996, 2016, and today led me somewhere I didn't expect.
What Happened to the American Anthropologist?
From disciplinary commons to specialized conversations
What happened to the American Anthropologist? Comparing issues from 1966, 1996, 2016, and today led me somewhere I didn’t expect. The changes inv...
conradkottak.substack.com
September 12, 2026 at 4:15 PM
conradkottak.substack.com/p/what-happe...
Check out my new post. Subscriptions are still free, and reposting is appreciated.
What happened to the American Anthropologist?
Comparing issues from 1966, 1996, 2016, and today led me somewhere I didn't expect.
Check out my new post. Subscriptions are still free, and reposting is appreciated.
What happened to the American Anthropologist?
Comparing issues from 1966, 1996, 2016, and today led me somewhere I didn't expect.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/fabricator...
Here is my new Substack post. Subscriptions remain free and sharing is encouraged.
What happens when fabrication becomes a joke for one public figure, a political asset for another, and a career-threatening offense for someone else?
Here is my new Substack post. Subscriptions remain free and sharing is encouraged.
What happens when fabrication becomes a joke for one public figure, a political asset for another, and a career-threatening offense for someone else?
Fabricators, Plagiarists, and the Unequal Price of Getting It Wrong
Santos, Trump, Gay, Goodwin, and the Tragedy of Jason Arday
What happens when fabrication becomes a joke for one public figure, a political asset for another, and a career-threatening offense for som...
conradkottak.substack.com
August 22, 2026 at 4:31 PM
conradkottak.substack.com/p/fabricator...
Here is my new Substack post. Subscriptions remain free and sharing is encouraged.
What happens when fabrication becomes a joke for one public figure, a political asset for another, and a career-threatening offense for someone else?
Here is my new Substack post. Subscriptions remain free and sharing is encouraged.
What happens when fabrication becomes a joke for one public figure, a political asset for another, and a career-threatening offense for someone else?
Check out my latest post. Subscriptions remain free and appreciated, as are sharing, restacks, reposts, etc.
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
Even Anthropologists Get Culture Shock
From Familiar to Strange and Back Again
At nineteen, I entered a fishing village in Bahia with a few words of Portuguese and no idea what awaited me. Culture shock is cold and physical, a loss of cues...
conradkottak.substack.com
August 1, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Check out my latest post. Subscriptions remain free and appreciated, as are sharing, restacks, reposts, etc.
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
Check out my latest post. Subscriptions remain free and appreciated, as are sharing, restacks, reposts, etc.
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
Even Anthropologists Get Culture Shock
From Familiar to Strange and Back Again
At nineteen, I entered a fishing village in Bahia with a few words of Portuguese and no idea what awaited me. Culture shock is cold and physical, a loss of cues...
conradkottak.substack.com
August 1, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Check out my latest post. Subscriptions remain free and appreciated, as are sharing, restacks, reposts, etc.
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
This is the story of my first fieldwork, and how the strange eventually became familiar, and the familiar became a bit stranger.
conradkottak.substack.com/p/even-anthr...
A Hit Job with Footnotes, Part II open.substack.com/pub/conradko...
A recent report declares anthropology the worst case of scholarly deterioration in the humanities. Three serious responses have pushed back, all neglecting this question: what would reform of cultural anthropology look like?
A recent report declares anthropology the worst case of scholarly deterioration in the humanities. Three serious responses have pushed back, all neglecting this question: what would reform of cultural anthropology look like?
July 4, 2026 at 6:55 PM
A Hit Job with Footnotes, Part II open.substack.com/pub/conradko...
A recent report declares anthropology the worst case of scholarly deterioration in the humanities. Three serious responses have pushed back, all neglecting this question: what would reform of cultural anthropology look like?
A recent report declares anthropology the worst case of scholarly deterioration in the humanities. Three serious responses have pushed back, all neglecting this question: what would reform of cultural anthropology look like?
