ANTHROPOLOGICAL AIRWAVES

Submission Guidelines

Anthropological Airwaves has a two-step submission and review process, detailed below: 

If you would like to propose a guest-produced episode or series for Anthropological Airwaves, the first step is to submit a proposal to amnathpodcast@gmail.com with the subject like “GUEST SUBMISSION: [Title of Your Episode/Series]. Either in the body of the email or in an attached document, please include a pitch that includes the following details: 

  • Episode or series title

  • An abstract of the proposed episode/series

  • Length of the series and length of individual episodes within the series

    • Each episode should run no longer than 60 minutes

  • Semi-detailed outline of the episode/series content,

    • If you intend to propose a series (of two or more episodes) please provide information about how many episodes you plan to produce along with tentative episode titles

  • A tentative timeline for production on your end (this includes recording, editing, and producing)

  • Plans for accessibility—at minimum, the proposed episode/series should include a time-stamped transcript that can be posted to the website in a format that is screen-reader compatible

  • A short bio about the creator(s) and any relevant affiliations

  • Any other production considerations you feel are important

The pitch is intended to provide Anthropological Airwaves reviewers with a clear sense of the proposed episode/series and how it fits into our broader programming. We encourage proposals that are as fully developed as is possible for the current stage of your project, and welcome supporting materials including (but not limited to) scripts, field recordings, and recorded interviews. 

Review Process

During the review process, the associate editor, along with 1 or 2 others from the American Anthropologist team, will review your proposal to determine if it is appropriate for publication on Anthropological Airwaves. We hope to provide a response within 4–6 weeks but appreciate your patience in the event that it takes longer. If we are unable to publish a guest submission on Anthropological Airwaves, you will also be notified within 4–6 weeks of original submission. Where possible, we will provide brief commentary with reasoning for our decision.

If the proposed episode is accepted, we will move forward to determine an appropriate timeline for production and publication, including intermittent benchmarks for checking in with the Anthropological Airwaves team. 

The second step of the review process will take place once the final audio file of the episode/series is submitted. At this stage, the associate editor, along with 1 or 2 others from the American Anthropologist editorial team will listen to the episode prior to final approval for publication. We will be listening for audio/production quality and to ensure that the product in its final form aligns with the editorial values of American Anthropologist and Anthropological Airwaves. 

Once an episode receives final approval it will include a brief introduction from Anar Parikh, associate editor of the podcast, and the Anthropological Airwaves editorial team will work with guest producers to create a final, time-stamped transcript of the episode. 

As with written works published in American Anthropologist and on the journal website, we will be looking for submissions that are clearly organized, comprehensible to non-specialists, and accessible to a wide listening audience. Both guest contributors and reviewers will be expected to be generously and generatively critical and conscientious of citational ethics.