Tom Yarrow
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tomyarrow.bsky.social
Tom Yarrow
@tomyarrow.bsky.social
Anthropology professor @ Durham University | Ethnography of heritage, conservation, buildings, knowledge, time... | Less and less certain.

Ancient Identities in Britain (2025, UCL)
The Object of Conservation (2022, Rouledge)
Architects (2019, Cornell)
My JRAI paper (with Paolo Heywood) On the Problem of Continuity is out online first -- an attempt to theorise culture beyond the logic of invention:

rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Marking work post-AI feels like a very different thing
January 7, 2026 at 7:22 PM
At my current rate of reading, would conservatively estimate the stack of books beside my bed will take about 10 years to clear.
January 7, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Enjoyed this lovely piece, even more so when I found it was based on my old friend @tomyarrow.bsky.social's anthropological potterings (Tom & I once spent 2 days running across Eryri's mountains and our silences were prob more than long enough to make @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social deeply uncomfortable).
As someone who talks incessantly & whose job is trying to make people talk, today’s column goes against all my instincts, but sometimes I think it’s a good idea to consider if you are wrong about something (ps I didn’t write the header, so don’t all start) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Male bonds develop one way, female friendships another. Should we stop trying to make men more like women? | Gaby Hinsliff
The strong and silent masculine image is often derided, but why? Perhaps companionship via trains, golf or a quiet drink is enough, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Me on Sky News waffling nervously about friendship and intimacy:

news.sky.com/video/mental...
Mental health: Research shows not all men should open up to their friends
Professor of Anthropolgy at Durham University, Thomas Yarrow, explains his findings.
news.sky.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
I'm hiring 2 postdocs on my Wellcome project "How Did Infectious Diseases Become Wild?: Plague, Yellow Fever, and Disease Ecology in the Brazilian Hinterland (1920-1975)"

Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
King's College
3 years 01/10/26- 30/09/29
Deadline: 01/02/26
shorturl.at/KZ6Vh
Postdoctoral Research Associate | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
January 5, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Working in a Winter Wonderland! #EarlyBronzeAge #FlagFenBasin #Fenland (not Finland)
January 5, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Male bonds develop one way, female friendships another. Should we stop trying to make men more like women? | Gaby Hinsliff
Male bonds develop one way, female friendships another. Should we stop trying to make men more like women? | Gaby Hinsliff
The strong and silent masculine image is often derided, but why? Perhaps companionship via trains, golf or a quiet drink is enough, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
My department is hiring! Open rank faculty position in Helsinki Anthropology

jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Professor / Associate Professor or Assistant Professor / of Anthropology
Professor / Associate Professor or Assistant Professor / of Anthropology
jobs.helsinki.fi
January 6, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Very weird and troubling to see my ethnographic research on male intimacy morph into right wing click bait.
January 6, 2026 at 6:39 AM
Very unexpectedly, my forthcoming @amanthro.bsky.social paper on male friendship and emotional reticence was featured in the Sunday Times yesterday:
January 5, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Great to be on @skynewsrss.bsky.social this morning, talking about my forthcoming @amanthro.bsky.social paper on male friendship and intimacy.
January 5, 2026 at 11:31 AM
My @uk.theconversation.com piece on male friendship and intimacy beyond words is out today:
December 30, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Really pleased my paper (with Paolo Heywood) 'On the problem of continuity' just got accepted by JRAI. It proposes a theory of culture beyond the inventive assumptions that often dominate analyses and over-determine ethnography. DM or email if you're interested to see the accepted draft.
August 15, 2025 at 11:26 AM
I seem to buy books in inverse proportion to my time for reading
February 6, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Absolutely loved archaeologist Rose Ferraby's R3 programme Earthworks -- a lovely, lyrical exploration of materials with thoughtful reflections on time, craft and the traces people leave, and told with so much humanity.
January 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Adam Reed's new book just arrived and looks terrific -- an ethnography of animal protection, which opens out new ways of thinking about human-animal relations, activism, expert knowledge and imperatives of moral action.
January 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Admittedly hot take but IMO Sycamore Gap is a more interesting place without the sycamore. And the social significance of its absence seems on balance to be greater than the presence of the tree itself (not that I condone those who cut it down and with all sympathies to those who grieve its loss!)
December 12, 2024 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Our final editorial for #MedicalAnthropology - reflecting on the state of the sub discipline - is now out, with free imprints for the first 50 takers: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/8KVSQ... #anthropology
Medical Anthropology Past, Present, and Future: The State of the Art
Published in Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness (Ahead of Print, 2024)
www.tandfonline.com
December 9, 2024 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
proofs! 💥🔥
December 6, 2024 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Durham Anthropology would like to invite you to this years Layton Dialogue!

This year’s theme is ‘Multispecies ethnography as a forum for dialogue in anthropology’ and will feature Prof Marianne Lien and Dr Kerry Dore with Dr Simona Capisani as discussant! 📚🎓
December 6, 2024 at 11:55 AM
Lunch and a walk along the Tyne with @chikaw.bsky.social , Hannah Knox and Adam Reed a lovely way to mark the end of our JRAI editorship. Thanks to all who submitted, reviewed and helped to make it all happen!
December 6, 2024 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Once more with feeling!....House Beautiful 1999 starring @beccyscottuk.bsky.social & Dave Hall
December 4, 2024 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Tom Yarrow
Really happy to be in such wonderful company in Environmental Humanities #envhum! Huge thanks to @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social and Franklin Ginn for their guidance and patience throughout the editorial process. Thread on the full issue below
The Environmental Humanities November 2024 issue came out a week ago, but I haven't had a chance to post a thread on it yet! I wanted to bring this massive amount of new #envhum scholarship to your attention.
read.dukeupress.edu/environmenta...
A thread...
December 2, 2024 at 6:47 PM