With two published books, two feature-length documentaries, and about 30 shorter bits that cover the four fields of anthropology in and introductory to intermediate depth and with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, environmental conservation, and legitimately learning from history, science, and one another while simultaneously teaching you how to do everything we do, we pretty much have a film or a rant for all occasions.
The COVID era has redefined how we approach work and education. Everyday Anthropology can’t be everywhere at once, and for many organizations it may be logistically or financially impossible to organize to get us there. We are always eager to work with slim budgets (we’re a non-profit so we absolutely understand the constraints there), and we are perfectly happy to participate in your event or give a talk or screening remotely, either using our Discord Server or your platform of choice.
From screenings, to talks, to on-location filming days or just generally, “hey we’ll be heading to this museum if y’all wanna make a day out of it and meet up!” all of Anthrospin’s upcoming stuff that you might be interested in is gonna be posted here.
If you want to book a screening, talk, or have any kind of need for a public anthropologist who is willing to bike several thousand miles to get somewhere and can also film everything along the way, email us at [email protected] .
November, 2025
On Saturday, November 22 at 2:00pm, Joe will be at the Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society in West Warwick, Rhode Island to give a talk on the Barstow Stove Company and the stove industry in Rhode Island. The event will run approximately 45 minutes, after which there will be a Q&A session with some iron artifacts which were cast in Rhode Island in the 19th century as well as paper ephemera related to the Barstow Stove Company.
Copies of Lost & Foundry will be on hand for purchase as well as copies of Pedal for Pongo and Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution.
April, 2024
On Saturday, April 27 at 6:30pm (event itself starts at 6), Joe will be at the Douglas Historical Society to talk about the history of stove foundries in the United States, labor changes throughout the 19th century that are reflected in the stove industry, the changes in the household that came about as a result of the “modern” cook stove coming about, and how that history is represented in the collections at the Historical Society.
Some of our collection will also be there to check out, which will include some fairly locally made iron from the 19th and early 20th centuries!
Q&A and discussion to follow.
Copies of all of Anthrospin’s productions will be available for purchase, including the Cast Iron Field Guide, which contains much of the history that will be discussed during Joe’s talk.
This is the first of several similar events that will be ongoing throughout the year, but each is different and tailored to the region and focus of the location so if you’re available, be sure to check it out!
May, 2024
On Saturday, May 11, 2024, Everyday Anthropology will once again be partnering with the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park for their annual First Strike Festival! This year, Everyday Anthropology will be talking about early 19th century material culture and the changes that occurred in the household with inventions and innovations that started becoming more commonplace by the 1820s. Come join us from 1-6pm for an immersive experience with multiple events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first industrial workers strike in the United States!
June, 2024
On Thursday, June 27, 2024 at 6:30pm, Everyday Anthropology will be at the Attleboro Area Industrial Museum to talk about 19th century iron foundries in the Attleboro and the changes in labor history throughout the later second half of 19th century which impacted all aspects of industry. A collection of regionally made cookware will be on display and available to handle, and a selection of paper ephemera will be on display. All Everyday Anthropology publications will be available for purchase at the event.
July, 2024
On July 14, 2024 at 1pm, Everyday Anthropology will be at the Paine House Museum in Coventry, Rhode Island to discuss the history of iron casting in the state throughout the 19th century as well as the overarching changes in labor history that influenced the industry (and industry in the US as a whole). Joe will be there discussing objects in the Paine House’s collections and demonstrating how different aspects of the design of cast iron cookware can be linked to their origin. All Everyday Anthropology publications will be available for purchase at the event.
Fall, 2024
In September, 2024, Everyday Anthropology will be giving a talk on iron casting and Rhode Island’s Stove Industry at the Greene Library in Coventry, Rhode Island. Discussion is ongoing about the exact focus and more detail will be provided as it becomes available.
May, 2023
First Strike Festival– On Saturday, May 13, 2023 the Blackstone River Valley National Park has invited Everyday Anthropology to take part in their annuals First Strike Festival. Commemorating the anniversary of the first labor strike in the United States, there will be numerous activities related to history and also just having fun. Everyday Anthropology will be running a booth teaching people how everyday objects can teach us about the past.
Here’s the link to the NPS calendar event
Here’s the link to the Facebook event
August, 2023
On August 2, 2023, Everyday Anthropology will be leading a short bicycle tour hosted by the Blackstone River Valley National Park. We will be meeting at the Kelly House Museum in Lincoln, Rhode Island at about 5pm and heading out at 5:30. The topic of the tour and specific route are still being finalized, so there are more details to come.
September, 2023
On September 6, 2023, Everyday Anthropology will be leading a 10-11 mile bicycle tour hosted by the Blackstone River Valley National Park. We will be meeting at the Kelly House Museum in Lincoln, Rhode Island at about 5pm and heading out at 5:30. This bike tour will talk about the textile industry and how important it was to the development of Rhode Island, and will focus heavily on B. B. & R. Knight and the 1922 textile strike that was the primary focus of our 2017 documentary, Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution, copies of which will be available in limited quantities on site.
October, 2023
On Sunday October 15, 2023 Everyday Anthropology will be at the Slater Mill once again! This time it’s for one of Anthrospin’s most exciting programs to date. While the details are still being ironed out, we will be putting together an exhibit on Rhode Island’s stove industry. This will feature cast iron stoves and cookware as well as related paper ephemera made in Rhode Island, with some honorable mentions to elsewhere in New England. We will be up and running from 1-4 but on site well before and after to set up and break down and can happily talk iron then as well.
This will be a similar format to the First Strike Festival, where there will be a brief talk for passersby. Where this is different, however, is that there will be a whole mess of items to look at, read and ask about, and some that you can even handle. Joe will be there to discuss the rich history of Providence as it industrialized and modernized, and how the stove industry grew up right along with the city as part of a discussion on the upcoming book, Lost & Foundry: Amos Barstow and the Rhode Island Stove Industry, which will be released early 2024.
January, 2021
Pedal for Pongo Virtual Screening— On Saturday, January 9, 2021, Pedal for Pongo will be screened at 6pm eastern time on the Anthrospin Discord Server. A free screening, there is a suggested donation of $5, preferably paid through PayPal. Tyson, if you’re reading this and plan on checking this out, don’t donate because you did last time but couldn’t make the screening.
December, 2020
Pedal for Pongo Remote Screening–On Friday, December 18, 2020, Pedal for Pongo screened at 6:30PM eastern time on the Pedal Powered Anthropology Discord Server. This was a remote screening hosted by Pedal Powered Anthropology. Free event with a suggested donation of $5, preferably payable through Paypal.
June, 2020
Traces of the Trade Film Night— On Saturday June 27, 2020 at 7pm Pedal Powered Anthropology hosted a remote screening of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.
This documentary follows Katrina Browne, a Rhode Island Native and DeWolf descendant as she connects with relatives and a group of them come to grips with being a part of the legacy of the largest slave trading family in United States history. This was a trial run of remote screenings to gauge interest and sort out screening events in the Covid Era
March, 2020
Pedal for Pongo with the Audubon Society–on Sunday, March 22, 2020, the Rhode Island Audubon Society will be screening Pedal for Pongo at the Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium in Bristol, Rhode Island. This is a free screening; however, there is an admission fee for the Audubon Center. Canceled due to Covid.
November, 2019
Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution at the Hope Historical Society–On Saturday, November 9th, 2pm, the Hope Historical Society hosted a screening of Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution. Free and open to the public but limited seating. Mark this as a turning point. With multiple confirmed screenings of two different films, Pedal Powered Anthropology is going to need a dedicated calendar/schedule soon.
October, 2019
Pedal for Pongo PREMIERE Screening!–This is the event you’d all been waiting for for almost a year. Pedal Powered Anthropology’s latest documentary, Pedal for Pongo, premiered on Thursday, October 3 at 6pm. The screening will be held on the Rhode Island College campus, in Alger Hall room 110. As per usual, I’ll introduce the film and it will be followed by Q&A. This one is a bigger deal than most though, so you should go.
Pedal for Pongo at Dash Bicycle–on Sunday, October 20, 2019, Pedal for Pongo will be screening at Dash Bicycle. Time is 11am, it’s free and open to the public, and this is where the ride kicked off so we’re excited that it’s showing here and also to eat all the food at Nitro Bar which is in the same space.
Pedal for Pongo Film Screening Event— On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, from 7-9pm the West Warwick Public Library will be screening Pedal for Pongo. As per usual, I’ll introduce the film and it will be followed by Q&A
June, 2019
Harmony Library Screening Event— On Monday, June 17, 2019 at 6:30 pm, Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution was screened at the Harmony Library in Chepachet, Rhode Island. This event was a slightly different format, with the film being streamed instead of played from a dvd, and I talked a bit about Pedal for Pongo. There were also copies available for purchase.
March, 2019
NEAA Annual Meeting— CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW–On Saturday, March 2, 2019, at the North Eastern Anthropological Association annual meeting, I was invited to be a part of a panel discussion on careers after graduation, discussing the founding of Pedal Powered Anthropology and how my degree has shaped my perspectives going forward.
Coventry Greene Public Library Screening–On Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 6:00pm, the Coventry Greene Public Library hosted a screening of Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution. This venue was somewhere in between “cozy” and “luxurious.” It was the first screening that led to more screenings before I left (I had one lined up before the film even started). It was also the first time that the Q&A morphed into an audience discussion of industrial history. It was great.
January, 2019
Coventry Public Library Screening–On Thursday, January 17, 2019, at 7:00pm the Coventry Public Library hosted a screening of Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution. Free to the public.
Pedal for Pongo!— In 2019, my wife and I rode from Providence, Rhode Island to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to raise money for orangutan conservation. This page is the information hub where you can find links to all the everything related to it. It was launched in 2018, but as the project itself took place over the majority of 2019, it’s archived here.
September, 2018
West Warwick Community Center Screening— the Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society invited Pedal Powered Anthropology to screen Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution on Monday, September 28, 2018. The screening was at 7pm, and was followed by Q&A. Free Event. There was cake, coffee, and cookies, making this one of my favorite events so far.
April, 2018
West Warwick Public Library screening of Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution— Monday, April 16, 2018, 7pm. Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution was screened at the West Warwick Public Library with Q & A following. This was a fairly impressive turnout, and DVD sales might mark a turning point for Anthrospin becoming self-sustaining.
February, 2018
RIHS Valley Talk Series Screening –February 11, 2018. 1:30pm at the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. I was introduced and said a bit about Anthrospin, after Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution was screened and I answered some questions afterward. Providence Journal coverage here. Free event. This was the first screening of anything Anthrospin ever. Definitely going to be an “I was there” moment in like 40 years.
Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition Bicycle Adventure Series Talk –February 23, 2018. 7:00pm at Providence Recycle A Bike. Talked a bit about Anthrospin and we’ll watched Rhode Island’s Industrial Revolution. Then some informal Q&A. Small venue in an inner city bike shop. Awesome place and great people. Free popcorn, free event. Free popcorn means this was actually better than free.
Everyday Anthropology 
