In Context with School for Advanced Research

In 1980, a young linguistic anthropologist searching for his place in the world met a Maya shaman named Sebastian Castillo Mo (known as Don Chabo) in the Yucatán Peninsula. What began as a chance encounter became a remarkable 16-year relationship that would transform his understanding of language, spirituality, and what it means to be alive. More than four decades later, William (Bill) Hanks refle...

Passenger pigeons, wolves, and bison reveal how humans transformed America’s wildlife, and why a wilder future may still be possible. Originally recorded as SAR’s 2023 President’s Lecture, an annual presentation in Santa Fe featuring today’s leading thinkers, this talk with Dan Flores explores the ideas and forces behind those changes and what we can learn from them. In this episode: North America...

What if ancient footprints in New Mexico proved humans lived in North America during the Ice Age? In this conversation from a presentation at SAR in 2022, discover how the White Sands tracks are reshaping archaeology’s biggest debate. In this episode: Discovery and scope of the White Sands footprint sites Interactions between humans and Ice Age megafauna Dating methods and debates around pre-Clovi...

From informal settlements in Bolivia and Arizona to recycled water in Singapore, this conversation reveals why solving water insecurity takes more than technology—and how our ideas about what’s safe, fair, and worthy of trust shape the systems we build. In this episode: Modular, adapted, decentralized (MAD) water systems and piped water skepticism Singapore’s “Four Taps” and New Water recycled sys...

You never think about it…until it fails. Universal electrification, microgrids, storage, and the politics of batteries- this episode dives into how the power system we barely notice shapes our daily lives, our sense of fairness, and our climate future. In this episode: The hidden history behind the power grid you rely on every day Why electricity is as much about people and politics as it is about...

What if the real story of the border isn’t about walls at all? In this episode, we explore how rivers, irrigation projects, and trade routes have bound together and divided the U.S., Mexico, and Canada over nearly two centuries. In this episode, Paul and C. J. discuss:  Personal roots in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands and origins of the project Transformation of the border through massive constr...

In this episode, Paul and Gabriella discuss:  What Gabriella Coleman means by “sturdy knowledge” and why the concept matters in today’s epistemic crisis How misinformation debates often rely on a “naive liberal epistemology” that oversimplifies how knowledge is produced Why is scientific consensus difficult to achieve, even without political polarization Why AI boosterism reflects the same ep...

In this episode, Paul, Carl, and Heidi discuss: What it feels like to live in Minneapolis amid intensified ICE and Border Patrol operations. The role of legal observers and rapid response networks in documenting enforcement activity. The power and limits of social media in organizing, surveillance, and public accountability. How churches, small businesses, musicians, and neighborhood groups are re...

In this episode, Paul, Barbara, Phillip, and Robert discuss:  Why Chaco Canyon drew people for centuries, and why it continues to remain a powerful symbol of the ancient Southwest. What social network migration has revealed about Chaco Canyon throughout the centuries. How science, oral tradition, and indigenous epistemologies can better work together to interpret sacred places like Chaco. The...

In this episode, Paul, Maurizio, Parker, Steven, and James discuss: How AI and machine learning have changed the approach to archeological research. Understanding the paradigm shift AI brings to archaeology. Multi-factorial and the human factor. Ethical considerations surrounding AI, indigenous communities, and cultural heritage. Key Takeaways: We are currently in a stage of experimentation where...

Welcome to In Context with SAR! In this episode, Doug and Paul introduce In Context with SAR! How do the present and past shape each other? Why does understanding this matter? Investigating Humanity with SAR tackles the fascinating world of scholarly research through questions like why people left Chaco Canyon or how climate change affects migration and explores them through the perspectives of th...