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This Just In: Sifting Through the News with Izzie - Ep 29
48 Plays3 years ago
In this episode, we virtually sit down together with Izzie to discuss the current news of the world as well as what's been happening in the archaeological world. Tune in!
Links
Contact
- Show
- Twitter: @idigitpodcast
- Email: [email protected]
- Alyssa
- Instagram: aal.archaeology
- Twitter: Lyssakemi
- Michaela
- Instagram: mm_digitalized
- Twitter: m_mauriello
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast Network
00:00:00
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network.
Student Perspectives in Archaeology
00:00:08
Speaker
You're listening to the iDicket Podcast, a podcast where we talk about the student perspective of navigating the world of archaeology and anthropology.
Meet the Hosts: Michaela, Alyssa, and Izzy
00:00:17
Speaker
I'm your host, Michaela. And I'm your host, Alyssa.
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome. Welcome. Today we've got our Izzy with us. Our Izzy. Our Izzy. Hi. You may remember her from the The Dig podcast, where we chatted about The Dig movie.
Women in Archaeology: Izzy's Tumblr Impact
00:00:38
Speaker
And she's been writing a bunch of amazing blog posts for us on Tumblr, which have been really awesome. We're getting a lot of interaction with, so that's been very cool. We love talking about women in archaeology.
Margaret Murray's Influence in Archaeology
00:00:53
Speaker
Go check them out if you haven't already. I'm so excited people actually looked at them or read them. I'm like, wow. They're amazing. Thank you. I love reading them. I was like, oh, it's coming up next. Even though I knew it was coming up next.
00:01:10
Speaker
Yeah, those are getting a lot of interaction. One of them had over 500 notes, and I think that was the first one. Yeah, the first one. On Margaret Murray, I think that was. I'm just so impressed with her. She lived like 100 years. I know. She had the power move to be able to write a whole autobiography on herself that was titled My First 100 Years. Who could do that? Who could do that?
00:01:37
Speaker
Margaret Murray can. Oh, yes. And she did. And she did. Yeah, that one had 521 notes. That's crazy. We had a couple hundreds and 200s for the other ones. Wow. Good job, Izzy.
Humorous Anecdotes and Misidentifications
00:01:52
Speaker
Amazing.
00:01:54
Speaker
So how has everyone been the last few weeks or months since we had a thing with Lizzie, right? Or not Lizzie. Why'd I say Lizzie? Oh my god, that's so funny. Lizzie.
00:02:11
Speaker
She's the real Lizzie McGuire. Sing to us, Lizzie. You know, I got to say, there was a period of time in high school in which I had the student government director or whoever she was, she could not get my name right. She would always call me Lizzie. And so she just started calling me Lizzie. And I was just like, I guess that's just what I am now. Lizzie. The Izzie. Lizzie. Lizzie.
00:02:40
Speaker
It wasn't technically wrong. I know, I'm so sorry. I just came out. It's my alter ego.
00:02:50
Speaker
It's like, oh, you just committed this heinous crime. Oh, no, that was Lizzie. I'm Izzy. I'm Le Izzy. Le Izzy. She's the evil twin, like not me. Yeah, of course. Everyone has to have fun. I get called Eliza all the time, so. What? Interesting. Yeah, Eliza. Yup. I don't know how. I get called Michaela or Michaela. Why?
Sensitive Archaeology Projects in the Bay Area
00:03:22
Speaker
I'm like, my name is Michael with an A at the end, but still, if you know anything about phonetics, it's Michaela. It's funny. And we all three of us have very common names. So anyways, how's it going?
00:03:42
Speaker
I think I mentioned that I was starting this kind of crazy project doing lab work out in the Bay Area, California. And I'm not going to talk too much about it because it is sort of a sensitive area. But I think I've learned quite a bit in my like month or so there. It's been really interesting finding a lot of different artifacts and doing like I really didn't think like CRM stuff like I'd be doing anything.
00:04:11
Speaker
very, I
Cultural Resource Management Politics
00:04:12
Speaker
guess the word would be glamorous because you know, Sarah has a lot of monitoring, a lot of like, you know, typical like construction stuff or like survey for future projects, I think. But this is like, sort of a once in a lifetime project. That's insane to me. Like artifacts coming up that are 2000 years old and things like that. And it's insane. And it's, but there's a lot of you know, other things that you know, I expected going into like,
00:04:40
Speaker
California or North American archaeology when you're dealing with like different indigenous communities and you're dealing with like construction people and developers who want things done. And it's, it's been a very interesting experience. I think that's like the best way to put it because it's, you know, the archaeology is a lot of politics and I'm learning a lot. And I think I'm learning that
00:05:04
Speaker
cultural resource management, I really enjoy it. But there are aspects to it where I'm like, okay, I think I understand where there is potentially a divide in that, you know, you see some archaeologists who are not who are have, I don't know, I don't, it's not like bad, obviously, but it's like, they're a part of the developers. And it's like, there's they're getting pressure from people who want things built. And
00:05:31
Speaker
It's just a complicated story all around. I know I'm being very big about this, but I'm just like, I'm trying to be a little careful of what I say about things. But yeah, my recent weeks have been about just learning a lot about archaeology in California.
Personal Updates and Travel Challenges
00:05:52
Speaker
Wow, that sounds amazing. Sounds like a really cool experience to be a part of. Yeah.
00:05:57
Speaker
Can't say I've ever been a part of anything like that with CRM in my experience. That's cool that you get this rare project. Yeah. Wow. My update from last week is I haven't quit yet, so that's cool. In case anyone was wondering from episode 28 or the previous episode. Yeah, our last episode was very like,
00:06:24
Speaker
in the moment. Yeah. A lot was going on over here in my program for me. And it's kind of came down a little bit. I think last week was like a hard week. Still have some feelings, but we're pushing through it. My mom convinced me to at least make it to the summer. So that's the new goal.
00:06:44
Speaker
So that's a good goal. Just one turn right at time. So we're still here. What have I been doing? Oh, I went down to SoCal from NorCal to get some things on my car fixed. And then I was like, okay, I can only be here from
00:07:02
Speaker
this like Thursday to Sunday because I don't really know when my work's gonna be starting up again this last week and they're only gonna give us 48 hours notice and are they really gonna give us 48 hours notice? Nah, so I'll make sure I'm there. Didn't hear anything and then all of a sudden my car started leaking oil and I was just like, well, I have to get this fixed and I'm glad that I didn't end up going back on Sunday because
00:07:26
Speaker
it's leaking oil. And so I was able to take it back to the place where it got its oil changed, where they messed something up and then they fixed it. And then I was just like, okay, I'll leave Tuesday because it got fixed on Monday. Tuesday rolls around and I'm like, I don't really want to leave. There was like a really big traffic buildup in Los Angeles. And so I was just like, I'm going to wait till Wednesday. I'll leave Wednesday.
00:07:48
Speaker
It's now Sunday and I haven't left yet. No, sorry, it's Saturday, it's Saturday. I'm going to be leaving tomorrow, I promise. But also, I'm not going to be needing to work until next Thursday, so we'll see.
00:08:05
Speaker
I get to hang out with family a little
Systemic Issues in America: Racism and Violence
00:08:07
Speaker
longer. That's cool. Yeah, I get to hang out with family. I get to see one of my best friends, Barbie, and I just chill, chill like a villain. And I've been able to help out a lot at home too, and like just driving my mom to doctor's appointments and just being able to help out. And so I'm kind of glad that I've been here.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah. I'm like, there's been reasons why I haven't been going home. So that's like, these are the reasons. Like I like find myself being useful here. So I'm just like, let me help you out. Mom died for you. Oh, that's the biggest work happening. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I heard back from my coworker who is going to be scheduling me out for this next project. And she was like, I haven't heard anything. I'm like, all right.
00:08:53
Speaker
I haven't heard anything. And then she finally heard something. She's like, I finally, she was basically pulling like teeth and nails. It was great. I love her. And she's just like, okay. I got the call. Like I heard back. Okay. So then when this starts, I'll be like Monday through Wednesday. So then I'm like Thursday to Saturday for the start until other projects start up. And then I'm there six days a week, which will be bootiful money wise to change. Oh, it's going to be in the summer. That's going to be so hot. Yeah. Oh man. Yeah. Lots of water.
00:09:23
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not looking forward to that. The one thing I don't like about the Sacramento area is that it gets like a thousand degrees. So hot. Yeah. Yeah. I remember just dying sitting, because you have to like stay outside to watch everything and then you're just like dripping in sweat because you're wearing like long sleeves. Yeah.
00:09:45
Speaker
It'd be gross, but there's like the adult kiddie pools, like Target and Walmart that I really want to invest in. They're like 40 bucks. And I'm like, that would be great. Like I just wear like, or I go home, I changed my bathing suit, my car, then I immediately like fly into it. That'd be nice to have a little- It's the dream. I'm going to make this happen though. Do it. This dream's going to be a reality. That's been what's up with me. And I also get to cuddle my corgi Cinnabon.
00:10:14
Speaker
Oh, times. Yeah. She, she jumps up on my, when I'm like laying on the couch and she just like comes and snuggles a lot. And I'm like, I love you. So world events this week.
Social Media's Role in Public Awareness
00:10:32
Speaker
What is what's been happening? Derek Chauvin was convicted as murder convicted guilty and three different charges of murder for George Floyd.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah, but there's still that that process ahead of you know, the appeals and everything. And yeah, it's it's always just like, you know, in this kind of like case, I've sort of been not too much like learning about like the legal system and and how like, you know, this system of accountability, like it's not it's not like fixed yet, or it's not like, we haven't gotten to that point yet, which is like, you know, at least we have this first sort of
00:11:12
Speaker
victory, but I think there's still a long road to go, which sucks. And I hope that we continue on this, but it's just like, oh, next one, prepare yourself. Yeah. And it's like during the process of the trial, like during this last week at the trial, there was two police shootings murdering two black people and there is mass shootings every single day of the week.
00:11:37
Speaker
So crazy. Yeah, I went out to breakfast this morning with my partner, and we were just sitting eating pancakes. And I realized that I was thinking, oh, what if a mass shooter just came out and shot us all? And I'm like, why am I thinking this while I'm eating pancakes outside? And I realized how often I have that thought just because of how
00:12:01
Speaker
possible it is that it'll happen here. And he was like, Oh my gosh, I think about that all the time, too. And it's like, our generation just like, has that thought now, like, I mean, a couple years back, there was a shooting at a high school in my hometown, and my cousin was literally on her way to school, that school. And I'm like,
00:12:24
Speaker
It's just it's you know our generation at this point just has grown up with these active shooter drills and we've grown up knowing like what do you like having our parents tell us like this is what you should do if you know an active shooter comes into your school and it's just such a different like
00:12:40
Speaker
world then generations before us have grown up in. I think the big turning point of that was Columbine, and I think the generations before that really don't know the kind of world we are currently living in. We're just at any given point, we're worried about just anything. We could be anywhere. These shootings happen at any point in time, and it's like we're not safe.
00:13:08
Speaker
It's like these people who are committing these heinous crimes, anything can trigger them, especially with seeing another shooting on media and being portrayed as like, oh, this horrific event, and this was caused because of this. And then it's like, well, this happens.
Race, Safety, and Police Interactions
00:13:23
Speaker
And then something else can happen, and then something else can happen from that.
00:13:29
Speaker
I don't want to go into specifics because it would be very gory. So I'm like, wait, no. Yeah. And you can picture what I'm trying to say, though, unfortunately. I don't know if you've seen the TikToks, but they're like, tell us a moment when you realize that America messed you up, that sort of thing. And it's just people who were American now living abroad and just thinking about
00:13:56
Speaker
like fear of guns and like when they get pulled over on the street their anxiety is like super high and and the police officers are like you can calm down we're not in America oh my god that's that's that's another thing like you know just with um i think what i was seeing a lot after the you know uh after the um and you know the different shootings that are mass shootings but also um
00:14:24
Speaker
specific shootings of Black people, Black and brown people, and how there's been a conversation. I think I was seeing it discussed in different news pieces and also on late night shows, like the talk that happens in Black households. And it was very jarring to me in this instance because
00:14:46
Speaker
I my family is Mexican American and my I don't actually I'm very white passing. I don't really I don't look Latina at all. But my dad and my brother do and I remember there was this one instance when I was really young. And my dad was driving me and my brother to this little league like tryout thing for my brother.
00:15:09
Speaker
And he was, you know, he was this like first time playing in like baseball little league and we were lost. We couldn't find this place. So we were driving back and forth and we couldn't find it. And my dad at some point just says, Oh God, he's like, kids, I'm going to get pulled over. He's like, don't freak out. And so he pulls over to the side and like, you know, the cop walks up and my dad's very calm and they have an interaction. I don't really remember it too clearly, but afterwards my dad like sat me and my brother down and he was like, look, he's like, if a cop ever comes up to you after you've been pulled over,
00:15:38
Speaker
don't make any sudden movements, make sure that you communicate what you're doing. So like the cop has no reason to like shoot you basically. And he just had this conversation to me. I'm probably like, you know, at most eight, nine years old. And it's just like, I totally related to that moment in the news and like, and even like, I don't know the experience of being a black person, of being a visibly brown person in America.
00:16:05
Speaker
But I still, I still understand, you know, these little nuances of it where it's just like, it's a very different sort of conversation than I think, you know, I've having.
00:16:16
Speaker
you know, my neighbors who are white, I don't, I'm sure their parents never had that conversation with them, like growing up. So, yeah. Yeah, I especially was feeling a lot of feelings when like the AAPI hate crimes started skyrocketing a couple weeks ago,
Gun Control and the Second Amendment
00:16:37
Speaker
because my grandma's full Japanese, and then my partner's full Japanese, and especially in the Bay Area, like they've been so
00:16:45
Speaker
heightened out here and it's like to the point where like okay you're not allowed to go shopping alone like we need to go together because one of our favorite Asian markets like a woman got beat up in the parking lot just like randomly by this white guy and it's just so frustrating yeah being yeah
00:17:07
Speaker
And like, I'm very white passing also, so I've never directly experienced any sort of racism, but yeah, sucks. It's terrible, yeah. And it seems, it's only getting worse because it seems like nothing is actually happening like legally to stop these people from doing these things. Yeah. It's just like, when will, when can we have like, you know, the whole argument on
00:17:36
Speaker
the side of anti-gun control is always like,
00:17:40
Speaker
Like, oh, you know, it's not the time for a conversation. Like, yes, it is. If you're having this many problems, it's time for conversation, for action. It's like the only reason why we got the Second Amendment passed to bear arms is because everyone's was expanding out to the West and murdering indigenous people and bears and other animals that could maul them, whatever. Also, it's called an amendment. It can be amended.
00:18:12
Speaker
say a lot for the people in the back. Amend the amendments. It's not like we have a lot of amending amendments or anything. Right? What is it? One of them bans alcohol and then two later it's like, okay, alcohol is fine. Just kidding. We didn't mean that.
00:18:40
Speaker
It's like, yeah, we don't. How else are we supposed to process living in this world? I mean, what? Just kidding. Just kidding. There's a lot of ways. That's frustrating. Therapy is one of them. Always an advocate. We need to require therapy for everyone. Yeah. Next amendment. Everyone needs to speak to a specialist. Yes.
00:19:09
Speaker
Imagine how much good that would do. When people talk about their feelings with the professional. Wow. Or at all. At all, yeah. Have you ever talked about this before? No.
Global Perceptions of America
00:19:27
Speaker
It's not manly to talk about feelings. But what is manly? Let's unpack that. Women.
00:19:39
Speaker
Yeah. Where are my boots and my jeans? I feel like we're like I constantly feel like we're just on the edge of just like a mass societal collapsing and like rebirth and like I'm just like waiting for the moment when that happens like I don't want it to happen because it's going to be like very
00:20:04
Speaker
Yeah, but like it needs to happen because there's no way we can fix like what we're in currently.
00:20:12
Speaker
I mean, I feel like as anthropologists and archaeologists, we're very attuned to history. So I'm just like, I'm like, yes, I have read about many of Civilizations collapsing. I'm just biting my shot. This feels like one of the points where that would happen. Yeah, yeah. If we're going off of thousands of years of history, this feels pretty accurate.
00:20:37
Speaker
There's a trend here, guys. Should we be concerned? History always repeats itself. Not everything specific with history, but the elements of it repeats itself. The rise and fall of civilizations. Yeah, it's going to happen. It's just when. And I feel like we're inching a little bit closer. Yeah.
00:21:02
Speaker
I feel like it's definitely like fast forwarding because of social media. Yeah. Definitely. Man, I love TikTok.
00:21:13
Speaker
I was studying Japanese with a friend yesterday outside, and he's from China, and so we sidetracked and started talking about communism, as you do. But he was talking about how social media isn't allowed and that sort of thing, and because the government recognizes that if people
00:21:41
Speaker
consumed media from outside of China or from within China or whatever, their whole system wouldn't work anymore. That was just such an interesting
00:21:52
Speaker
thing to think about, just like the privilege we have in being able to access social media and the opportunity to hate our government. Yeah, that was an interesting conversation. They do know who Trump is over there. I met a couple Chinese teenagers in the airport when I was traveling back home from Cambodia. And we started talking like over Google Translate, and it was really cool.
00:22:22
Speaker
They didn't speak English. I didn't speak Chinese. But then they pulled up a video of Trump and they were like, he's a bad man. I was like, yes. I'm glad you know that much. That's all you need to know. That's it. That's the biggest line of knowledge you need. You're good. Yeah. That's wild.
00:22:45
Speaker
how much the world has been looking at the US this last year for a lot of things. I think because the US for so long was just kind of like the forerunner for independence in a lot of countries.
00:22:58
Speaker
were seeking and fought for their independence after we fought for our independence.
TikTok: A News Source Amidst Misinformation?
00:23:02
Speaker
And so I was kind of like, okay, what's going on over here? And then it's like, oh, it's a circus. And I know with like the Derek Chauvin trial, people all over the world are watching this. And that was insane.
00:23:21
Speaker
But yeah, everyone. Yeah, everyone's just like, what the F America that made headlines everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like the video itself. I remember I was watching reactions just from around the world about the original, you know, eight minute eight, nine minute video of George Floyd. And it's it's like people like that's it's a very visceral reaction, I think. And that's
00:23:47
Speaker
You know, unfortunately why it got so much attention because obviously there's been a, you know, countless other black individuals who have been murdered, but they don't have that same attention because it's like, we don't have that, that very visceral proof.
00:24:05
Speaker
Did he have evidence? Yeah, that has aided in convicting. I don't want to say his name anymore. He's gross. The officer, ex-officer in question, it's like, would that have happened if we didn't have that international outcry? I'm not sure. Probably not. Yeah.
00:24:28
Speaker
So you saw how much like the government was trying to push down our protesters and peaceful protesters. And if they kept getting pushed down, there's no other cries from around the world and other countries like looking being like, yo, America, stop it. And then other countries even like coming out about their own internalized racism, not internalized, institutionalized racism, and maybe internalized, I don't know them. But
00:24:58
Speaker
Yeah, who knows? Thanks, social media. Thank you. Really double-edged sword. Yeah, very much so. Love it and hate it. So that's a little bit about what's going on with the world. Yeah, I mean, yeah, world. I was gonna say America, but no, yeah, world. Yeah, the world, the world, yeah.
00:25:22
Speaker
I feel like TikTok has been better at giving the news than the news has. So I've been super appreciative of that and seeing that community flourish.
Vaccine Distribution and Historical Acknowledgments
00:25:36
Speaker
Because people on TikTok aren't censored by their media outlets and the media outlets are extremely biased and only want these headlines to be very
00:25:47
Speaker
abrasive, I suppose, and like wanting to be wrong. And then people being like, why would you say this? Like, this isn't what happened. And so with TikTok, people are just like, so this is actually what's happening right here during this time and blah, blah, blah. Yeah. But also that's good and bad because there's the other sides of TikTok that I'm not on that keeps spreading misinformation. So
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. But also as of last night, 222 million COVID-19 vaccines has been administered in the United States. What a pretty number. Beautiful. And also President Biden is supposed to be acknowledging the Armenian genocide today.
00:26:34
Speaker
Really? No idea. He's supposed to be, he said that he's going to be calling it a genocide and not just a massacre or just people were murdered. It's like, Oh my God. That's, I mean, you know, a hundred or so years, a little late on that, but you know, late than never, I guess. Yeah.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah, on the COVID vaccine thing, one of my best friends here, she's Korean. And her parents are in Korea. And they're really mad that America did such a bad job with COVID. But now they're hoarding all of the vaccines. Because they're created in America, a lot of them. And they're just not distributing them to other countries. And there's a very limited supply. So Korea can't even buy vaccines because there's such a limited supply going outward.
00:27:28
Speaker
Yeah, America's hoarding all of first and second rounds of the vaccine instead of distributing them outward. So yeah, there's another thing. Even though yay for us, it's still bad for everyone else.
00:27:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's like I can also see it's like we're trying to vaccinate everyone first, but also it's like if we're all gonna like just share the information, like share the... Yeah, or let other people make their own... Yeah, don't hoard it. It's like this is a global pandemic. Why are you trying to...
00:28:03
Speaker
And the fact that governments have to buy it from these companies is upsetting. On Saturday, President Joe Biden became the first US president in 40 years to publicly recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. He did it. We did it, Joe.
00:28:25
Speaker
Oh, man. That's oh my gosh. I don't know how to feel. Yeah, it's it's oh god, I you know, I did discuss a little it was interesting. I really can't believe that you know, a little blog post that I was writing about I believe it was Gritchewed Margaret law.
00:28:45
Speaker
Lothan Bell? All these beautiful women have very long names and I appreciate that a lot. Anyway, Gertrude Bell, it was such an interesting figure because she was not just an archaeologist, but she was involved so much in a lot of politics in the Middle East during the early 1900s.
00:29:07
Speaker
that comes with a whole legacy with British imperialism. I was literally reading up on this as I'm writing this little blurb, and I'm like, oh my God, I've gone down so many rabbit holes at this point. Where am I? But she was a notable witness to the Armenian genocide.
00:29:27
Speaker
And it's just such an interesting aspect to her life as an archeologist, as an anthropologist that adds into, I really don't exactly know what to call it, but it was such an odd moment to be researching someone who was just, I initially thought was like, oh yeah, archeologists like me, but then has this important part in trying to recognize
00:29:55
Speaker
this atrocity that occurred that is still not being recognized to this day as an example of like, you know, our president being the first in like, was it 40 years to acknowledge it as a genocide? Yeah, it's a very interesting, like in a kind of a random little intersection that I think, you know, just kind of pops up. But I'm glad that we, you know, again, it's a little late, but I'm glad that it's,
00:30:24
Speaker
that it happened. I'm glad that he has acknowledged this as a genocide.
Controversies and Responses in Archaeology
00:30:29
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you for listening to us talk about the news. And back to you, Alyssa. Oh, hi. What are we doing? I just say we're going to break. And we're going to break. See you in a minute. All right. This is going to be a newsy podcast. What's happening in the archaeology world now?
00:30:53
Speaker
Oh my god. How many of you guys heard about the Society for American Archaeology? And their drama! Should we break it down? Yeah, let's talk about what happens at the SAA. I can sort of give a quick rundown here.
00:31:17
Speaker
The SAA is the Society for American Archaeology. Is it archaeologist? Archaeology? I don't know. Archaeology. Yes, the archaeology. I know things. It's fine. Anyway, they had so I think last year, I think it got canceled because of COVID. So this year, obviously, like many other conferences, it's virtual, or it was virtual. It happened. I think the main days were April 15 through 17. And there's there's a bunch of things, you know, you have different
00:31:47
Speaker
presentations and posters and things like that all online, which is great in itself. But the sort of drama comes in because there was this presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Weiss of San Jose State University, which it did not get flagged, it did not get sort of alerted, but it was about
00:32:12
Speaker
It was titled has creationism crept back into archaeology and essentially without, you know, getting too far into the weeds of it, it was arguing that the idea of repatriation of indigenous remains is hindering scientific research because, because, you know, indigenous communities can
00:32:29
Speaker
reject or say no to certain tests or anything that, you know, anthropologists, archaeologists want to do, which is, is their right to do that. And I'm someone who fully supports repatriation. I'm like, this obviously, you know, most archaeologists are in this realm of thought, but it's it's very clear that that's not the case for everyone, which is truly
00:32:53
Speaker
unfortunate in a word. But that's where the drop that is that is that is what has happened. And as a president has released multiple statements about it. And it's we're getting I'm getting all this information from the initial article on science. Yeah, I'll science magazine. So I'll probably link that in our discord. So people can read it. But that's, that's essentially what's going on.
00:33:16
Speaker
So, I'll say a statement on the annual meeting general session titled, Curation and Accessibility Vital Ethical Conversations. Discussions involving NAGPRA and related issues are highly sensitive.
00:33:37
Speaker
SAA unequivocally supports NAGPRA and advocates for its increased funding. We're also redrafting our statement on the treatment of human remains. As a professional organization, SAA hosts the annual meeting to provide a space to offer diverse viewpoints. Providing a place to exchange differing ideas is not equate to an endorsement. SAA recognizes some will find some certain positions and presentations objectable.
00:34:01
Speaker
or even offensive, and we do not want to minimize those feelings. The conversations reflect the broader discussions happening in our field. Scholarships requires the opportunity for rigorous interrogation of diverse views. We invite all participants to explore the broad range of research and information shared throughout this meeting.
00:34:25
Speaker
Yeah, I would like to, I think that's a very political response. Yeah. Yeah. So, and, and I know there's very clearly people within, you know, the organization and just in general that are like, that's not enough, like, you're being just like trying to toe that line of like, and I get, I get it, I understand where it's coming from of like, you know,
00:34:51
Speaker
we don't want to silence anybody because that's not what good scholarship is for. But mostly just like, you know, don't give them a space. This is this isn't just it's bad scholarship, first of all. And it's I'm just like, this is it's not anything ethically correct. So yeah, yeah, my opinion.
00:35:14
Speaker
The Indigenous Archaeology Collective tweeted in response to SAA's tweet with their statement saying, the IAC stands in solidarity with Indigenous scholars and all those who have called on SAA org to live up to its commitment to the Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act.
00:35:37
Speaker
and profess values of creating society for all of us and links that like a photo of what they wrote up into that tweet too. And that's just the summarized version of it. Yeah. So it's like the IAC is asking even after their statement for them to be like, okay, now show it. You're saying this, but you're still letting people in. And like, I mean, this past year with
00:36:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think it was just like in January where there's the guy that made those remarks to the woman from York who was giving a presentation and he was just telling her to stop talking basically. And really like, oh, you just get a slap on the hand. It's like, okay, you're really damaging people right now. Like, come on, like do something. Like we're supposed to be about humans, not hindering them and like oppressing them.
00:36:38
Speaker
And Twitter went crazy about this. And so on Twitterland, there's Dr. Keisha Supernaut at Archaeomapper, who tweeted out on the 15th as well. Clearly, the SAA is not serving archaeologists or creating an inclusive anti-racist, just environment to imagine a better future for archaeology. The orgs are doing better, but I wonder if we need a new umbrella organization called Society for Engaged Archaeology Anyone?
00:37:06
Speaker
And she started a Twitter DM for anyone wanting to be in brainstorming and has a lot of comments, people wanting to join in on this brainstorming session. And I think what came out of that, they're going to be starting a discord for it into DM her. So I'm about to be DMing her for the link for that. Oh, heck yeah. Yeah. So people are just trying to.
00:37:30
Speaker
come up with other solutions because if the SAA isn't going to be changing, why not make a new institution, sorry, organization for people to have a safe place where they're not going to be allowing or flagging certain topics. Yeah, because what I think is so cool about this idea of having
00:37:52
Speaker
I'm going to call it the C's because it's society for engaged archeologists. It's going to be so cool. You could have so many cool logos about it, and it's such a cool acronym. I'm just a nerd, let's be real. What's so cool about this is that the SAA is an organization started by Western academics.
00:38:21
Speaker
I mean, we're still going to be a Western organization, but Dr. Subarnath is an indigenous Mรฉtis woman. And I'm just like, that's what we need in academia going forward is
00:38:35
Speaker
is people who are not just these Western white academics starting things and revamping it. And I'm like, I always have this thing where I'm like, let's demolish academia and rebuild it again, because I think that's what we need to do. That's where we need to go, because it's like our institutions are so flawed.
00:38:56
Speaker
that in the same vein of like, yeah, are we going to have a societal collapse? It's like maybe, you know, maybe that's what is going to happen and what honestly might need to happen. Because at this point, how do you like fix everything? It's like the only way to fix it is to restart and redo it in a way that's going to be better.
00:39:18
Speaker
It's like when you look at the history of schools and those institutions, it's like, who could actually go there? And like, why are they so prevalent now in elitism? And then looking into the same societies who were created and who was the original people who were there? White men. And it's like, okay, I guess we'll allow women. Okay, I guess. Yeah. It's like, oh, they've been here for forever.
00:39:49
Speaker
All white men have. Yeah. Starting from the ground up, making a whole new institution. It's like making a whole new school being like, I don't like how this school is doing this. Let me make this whole new system. Amazing. Like that's great. I'm here for it. Yes. I stan. I stan. I stan.
00:40:10
Speaker
Also, on April 8th, which was like a week before the conference, Dr. Supernaut tweeted out, archaeology opinion that sometimes gets me this reaction. And then it's a picture of Eugene Fitzherbert or Flynn Rider from Tangled. And it's all like the knives pointed at him. And he's like just chilling. And so indigenous communities, not archaeologists, should decide what happens to their ancestors, ancestral belongings and sites.
00:40:40
Speaker
And then what happened, like 10 days, not even 10 days later, this presentation comes up about it. And it's like, bro, what? Like such a tone, because like the whole, I think you mentioned it earlier, but like the actual part, like the program or the section title was, well, it was, gosh, it was curation, reparation and accessibility.
00:41:03
Speaker
Oh, vital, ethical, consider something like that. Conversations. Yes, conversations. Thank you. And but I'm just like, that is such a tone deaf presence presentation to be in that section. Like, what do you like? What do you this is not like, it is an ethical question, but it's not the same like accessibility thing that you're, you know, you're definitely on this side. And, you know, I'm talking about Dr. Rice here and just like,
Towards an Inclusive Archaeological Organization
00:41:31
Speaker
I'm like, this is it's just so tone deaf to be in this to be of that have been put in this section of been present presented in this section of like, this is where people are, like, I didn't get to go to, you know, the actual conference. So I'm like, I didn't get to see any of the other conferences. But I'm assuming you know, this the section is obviously created.
00:41:52
Speaker
for people to discuss, like, you know, how do we, I don't know, better do community archaeology? How do we include, you know, indigenous communities within our doing bioarchaeology research and things like that? It's, you know, they're hard questions to tackle. And it's like, I sort of gotten a taste of that with my current project. And it's hard and it's hard to do. And it's, you know, it's painful in some cases, but it's like,
00:42:14
Speaker
That's the conversation that should be happening, not like, why are we even giving the remains back in the first place? I'm like, that's ridiculous. What goes through your head to think that's okay to bring that conversation? It's like, keep in mind the SAA title, and then the title of this presentation, just remember, has creationism crept back into archaeology.
00:42:38
Speaker
It's like the answer for that was like when I was reading the article and the statements it's like oh we didn't flag it and it's I think there was one gosh, I don't think I It was another professor another some someone who was on the review process And they mentioned they were like I'm an expert in nacra and I was it was not Run by me. Basically. I didn't see this abstract and I'm just like that should have happened very clearly like, you know they should if
00:43:08
Speaker
They should run these abstracts, right? I don't know the process, obviously, but they should run it by people who are going to know and they're going to be able to be like, yeah, this is not founded in anything, you know, scientifically correct, like all these things. And to bring it to the attention of like, we shouldn't give this a platform if it's, you know, if it's if it's going to be not based in in
00:43:32
Speaker
correct scientific or correct, you know, ethical considerations, basically, you know, it's growth. I'm also just like, you know, all for a new
00:43:44
Speaker
Conferenced. Oh, heck yeah. Because I don't know. I'm not interested in ever going to the SAA, especially if they're like letting these boycotted people commit SH there. Yeah. Too many scandals. Too many. Yeah. Too many scandals. If you're like, if you're, if you're pushing several scandals at this point, it's like, yeah, there's something wrong here. There's something, just redo it. Maybe we should scrap this little idea. Scrap it.
00:44:11
Speaker
because society for American archaeology is very America, but it's like you want inclusivity and diversity, but you only want America. And then somebody's talking about indigenous people, America. So that's what's been happening in the archaeology world.
00:44:36
Speaker
Any good news? Oh, we've been getting so many cool messages to the Instagram also. What was the one you posted?
00:44:53
Speaker
Yeah, we got a nice tweet about somebody re-finding their love for archaeology. She said, I am an incredibly new listener to this show, but when I tell you it made me fall back in love with my major this past semester, I mean it. I saw it and I was playing D&D and I was tearing up at the table.
00:45:17
Speaker
And then one of our friends from York, her PhD group at North Carolina randomly posted one of our episodes in a group chat. She's like, oh my God, that's my friends. Just feeling a lot of support, which is nice. Thanks, guys. And then we got an ad for permission for a shaving company called Smooth My Balls.
Community Feedback and Social Media Engagement
00:45:44
Speaker
We always tag.
00:45:48
Speaker
We always tag women in archaeology. Why are we getting manscaping products advertised? Very clearly. One of the posts, I went through their Instagram a little bit, but one of their posts was like, my lady loves when I come home, blah, blah, blah. I don't have a boyfriend. I also haven't shaved in like a year, so this is not the product for me.
00:46:20
Speaker
Yeah, so that's been some fun news. At least for us in the archaeology world. Yeah. Yeah, it's wild. I love our Discord so much. Like I have it open while we're doing this and they're like scheduling like a study session together. They're scheduling a session to talk about their dissertations like as they're writing them. So that's like a cool little
Graduate School Experiences and Academia
00:46:49
Speaker
group thing going on in the chat right now. It's like, dang, I wish I was still in school so I could do this. I've paid my dues. I've done my time. We will see though.
00:47:07
Speaker
over and one of my friends was doing a quiz online for geology and I was just like literally over her shoulder just like watching her and I'm like thinking like this is the answer and I was right like yes my friend Barbie was just like just go play some video games like you have nothing to do over here and
00:47:26
Speaker
I'm like, I know, I miss it. I'm like, no, wait, no, I don't. Like I've done my time. Yeah. You always miss it until you're like in the middle of it and then you're like, Oh yeah, this is why I didn't like this. And then it finishes and then you're like, Oh, I miss that. And then you're, yeah. I always liked schoolwork. I'm a nerd.
00:47:48
Speaker
I like schoolwork and learning without the pressure of the degree, I think. I don't know. There's a lot more than just like schoolwork happening in the school part. If it was just like reading and there wasn't like the pressure. You're also in a PhD. Yeah, that's awesome. But then, so I had dinner with someone and he's like, yeah, the reason I did like grad school is because nothing's really tying you to it. You could just quit whenever you want. And I was like, oh, don't tempt me.
00:48:20
Speaker
He was the first person who ever said it like that because everyone else is super stressed about living up to their expectations, getting the degree and whatever. And then he's like, yeah, I could just leave. I'm not paying them. They're paying me to be here so I can just leave. You pay them with your time and your experience and your knowledge. If it's not a good fit like any other job, you leave. You just leave.
00:48:48
Speaker
That actually helped me ease my stress a little bit about being here. Like, oh yeah, I guess I could just keep, if I think about it like that, it's less pressure. So that helped a little bit. School's fun. Oh yeah, I can't wait. I can't wait to get back into it. Oh yeah, that's coming up soon. Oh boy. Are you moving on campus?
00:49:15
Speaker
Yeah, I'm like waiting for like, if I get like the grad housing, if not, I'll figure it out from there. But I'm excited. I'm also like, yeah, I'm excited about the projects I have coming up because I do really want to be someone who's like, I want, you know,
00:49:34
Speaker
community archaeology and indigenous participation and indigenous driven research. I would love to have my thesis be decolonized. And that's where I'm hoping to go. And I'm sure that's where a large portion of students nowadays are going, is they're trying to push the edge of academia and be like, we're going to change this. And it gives me hope for the future. I'm excited.
Travel Stories and Historical Reflections
00:49:59
Speaker
Yeah, also that area is just so pretty. I had a friend who drove out there for her sister's volleyball game this last weekend, and like the mountains were all snowy on the way there. And yeah, it was really beautiful. So yeah, it'll be cool to be next to nature and all that. I love it. I feel like I'll love being out in Reno, just in the Sierra Nevadas.
00:50:24
Speaker
So much more than being in a city. I'm so bad at being in a city. I like being in the middle somewhere, not in the suburbs, but like access to a city if I wanted, or access to nature if I wanted. Yeah. But yeah, city living is rough.
00:50:43
Speaker
I miss living in York. York was really cool because it was like city without feeling like suffocating, like a city. Yeah. It was very small, but big. We were right next to the city center. We walked everywhere. I miss it. I miss that type of lifestyle. In California, you have to drive everywhere. That's why I'm like maybe- Hop on a train places. Maybe like San Francisco would work well with me.
00:51:10
Speaker
Like I would move to Boston in a heartbeat. I visited Boston once and I just definitely felt like some ancestral tribe tribes. Oh my God. Ancestral ties there because like.
00:51:26
Speaker
all of my Italian immigrant family were living there for forever throughout the 1900s and then moved over to California. I was there and I was just like, yeah, I could live here. Awesome. Boston feels very walkable too when you're visiting. I walked the freedom trail.
00:51:47
Speaker
after playing Fallout 4, which had the Freedom Trail in it. Oh, that's always so cool. Hey, Tony, my brother. I love that. I was like, do you want to go lock the Freedom Trail in Boston? Uh, sure. Same, like, the next day we booked a plane ticket, like, for the next couple days. Oh my gosh. And we were there for a week. I had, let me tell you, I had the biggest blisters on my feet. They were so bad. They were wearing your flats.
00:52:13
Speaker
Yeah. No, I was also wearing Converse. And... And Kayla doesn't own good walking shoes. I don't, but it's fine. I mean, I might have fractured an ankle because of that, but also other reasons and cobblestone, like just nothing, nothing goes together. I'm perfectly fine walking in flats and long distances, but should I? Probably not.
00:52:40
Speaker
I feel the judgment. I love my plants. It was really bad. It was really hard to walk. And my brother would take me to breweries and I'm like, I can't drink. It was like 20. It was fine. It was like a couple months away from being 21 too. And I was just like, dang it. It was fine. It was such a great time. I'm like, I want to go back.
00:53:11
Speaker
So here's a topic that we could talk about. Someone just messaged in the Discord, anyone has
Choosing the Right Graduate Program
00:53:19
Speaker
advice for researching and choosing master's programs since we have a recent
00:53:25
Speaker
master's program chooser in here. She said, I'm interested in pottery analysis and experimental archaeology and I live in New York City. One of my professors recommended looking at UK schools, but I don't know if I want to go away for school or stay local. A lot of the local programs I would consider a more generalized anthropology and archaeology. I might not mind those if I were sure I'd pursue a PhD, but I don't know if I'd be able to.
00:53:51
Speaker
Yes. Oh my gosh. I mean, I can't really speak to like, you know, the schools outside the US part, but definitely the process of like trying to find like a school in the US for you know, an MA program. I think like certain programs will surprise you when you start looking into them because I didn't initially really know about University of Adarino. My professor recommended like I look into them.
00:54:15
Speaker
So I did, and I was like, Oh, wow, it was like, there's someone here who's doing, like, exactly what I want to do, like historic archaeology, you know, in California, Nevada, great basin area. So it's like, I think, you know, sort of find the programs that are get suggested programs, maybe from people, you know, ask around things like that, to, you know, to the specific topic you want.
00:54:37
Speaker
And then there hopefully will be a person there or, you know, I've learned that you're looking for more of your advisor. That's really what you're looking for. A person who will be able to guide you in what you want to do. And then the larger program as a whole kind of comes in next where you're like, okay, so what is this program about? Is it fully funded? Am I going to get a TA ship or assistantship at some point?
00:55:03
Speaker
So that kind of comes in, and I also don't know too much about experimental archaeology programs. I know NYU has one. I know Kent State has one. So there are places to look around for what you do want, and someone out there is going to have something as just a matter of taking a moment to do some digging.
00:55:29
Speaker
So yeah, it's my two cents on it. And I feel like with master's programs, it's a little different than PhD also. Because you can really get super topical with your master's program. And it doesn't have to be very general. Because you're usually there for one to three years or whatever. And that's how our programs were. It was very topical. We are doing digital archaeology. And that is it. That's all I wanted. And that's all we did for a master's program.
00:55:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's like when I was looking, I was looking up what I wanted and universities and then I saw some papers and I found the link to the university. Then I was looking through like the digital heritage masters and I was like, yeah, this sounds like exactly what I want. Email the director.
00:56:18
Speaker
and talked and the rest of the history. But it was like, I found what I wanted. And like the professors that were there were the ones that were specialized in this field. So I'm like, no matter who I would get there, they're the ones that I would want to be under. And I was under an amazing supervisor or advisor. And yeah, I really enjoyed it. Good pro tip is that the whole thing of looking at papers of like topics.
00:56:47
Speaker
And then looking to see who's writing them or who's reviewing them or where they went. Yeah. Find those people because that's, that's where you'll get your, you know, your, your people. Yeah.
00:56:58
Speaker
Yeah, I probably should have done a little more research when I was looking at that message. I just googled digital archaeology programs, and the top one was York, and so I applied, and then I went to York. Yeah, my mindset at the time was just like, I need to get out of California and have an adventure. So England sounded like a good place to do that. And I was also doing something I was interested in. So it all worked out.
00:57:26
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. I didn't really think about it as much as I should have though, but it's fine. You know, sometimes you just got to send it and you're like, yeah, go for it. Exactly. Exactly. I met Makayla, so. Hello. Oh no, never complaining.
00:57:47
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode. Hope you guys learned something about the news in the world and archeology. Any masters, I don't know what I'm trying to say. Any master's advice, looking into programs.
00:58:03
Speaker
Yeah. Are rambling. My branding. Yeah.
Episode Wrap-Up and Listener Engagement
00:58:09
Speaker
Be sure to check us out on social media. I dig a podcast. Join our Discord. Follow up with this conversation. Yeah. Yeah, we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.
00:58:27
Speaker
This show is produced by the Archaeology Podcast Network, Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle, in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Collective.