In the very first episode of Fieldnotes: The Sussex Anthropology Podcast, host Dr. Sana Batool, Assistant Prof. of Visual Anthropology speaks with Professor Magnus Marsden, Head of Anthropology at the University of Sussex, about his decades-long work tracing how people, goods, and ideas travel across borders.

From the dusty roads of northern Pakistan to the global fur markets of Central Asia, Magnus shares insights from his upcoming book The Sheep Roads of Central Asia and reflects on what Karakul traders can teach us about cosmopolitanism, mistrust, and everyday life in borderlands.

We also explore his collaborative work with artists, and his latest research into the lives of Afghan Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities across Europe and Asia. This conversation is a rich introduction to what anthropology can uncover when it listens to lives lived in motion.

Themes: transnational trade, borderlands, fieldwork, cosmopolitanism, minority communities, anthropology and art

Guest: Professor Magnus Marsden Host: Dr. Syeda Sana Batool. Explore More of Magnus Marsden’s Work: Magnus's work:

The Karakul Project (Sheep Roads of Central Asia):⁠⁠https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-sheep-roads-of-central-asia/⁠⁠

Academic profile – University of Sussex:⁠⁠https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p318109-magnus-marsden⁠⁠
Afghan Traders and Central Asia (Beyond the Silk Roads Project):⁠⁠https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Silk-Roads-Geopolitics-Connections/dp/1108838316⁠⁠
Selected publications via ResearchGate:⁠⁠https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Magnus-Marsden⁠⁠
Exhibition Collaboration – Musafari at HKW, Berlin:⁠⁠https://www.hkw.de/en/programm/projekte/veranstaltung/p_215254.php⁠

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