Behind The Scenes Of The Anthro Minute With Melissa Vogel

The following is an interview with Melissa Vogel, creator of The Anthro Minute, a YouTube series that offers a space for learning about what anthropology is and what it has to offer in fun, digestible tidbits

How did you come up with the idea for The Anthro Minute? And what made you choose short videos as the format?

I’ve been increasingly concerned over the course of my career by how anthropology has become a target for the political right as supposedly an irrelevant discipline. So about 10 years ago, when I pivoted into business anthropology full time, I got involved in efforts to rebrand and market anthropology to the public. But I’m not sure I would have found the time to produce a weekly newsletter while I was working full time. When I was laid off near the end of 2024, I wanted a creative endeavor to serve my community and to keep my spirits up, so I had the idea to publish a weekly newsletter on LinkedIn to explain to the public what anthropology is and why they should care. I asked AAA if they’d be willing to partner on it somehow, and when they agreed Josh Cohn, AAA’s Senior Manager of Digital Marketing & Member Engagement, recommended that I add videos to the written newsletter. I’m glad he suggested it because I was nervous about putting myself out there like that, but it was a great way to reach a wider audience.

How did you pick the topics you cover? What were some of your favorite topics or videos?

Since the goal was to teach the public about what anthropologists do, I started with the fundamentals like defining the four fields and explaining culture. There are lots of basic anthropology concepts that matter in people’s everyday lives, like understanding the difference between sex and gender or why race is a social construct and differs from ethnicity. I also wanted to promote business anthropology since few people, even within our discipline, are familiar with what we do. So, I used a lot of case studies to demonstrate the value proposition. Mostly I pull them from the textbooks and guest speakers I’ve used in my Business Anthropology class—Ann Jordan, Elizabeth Briody, Robert Morais, Rita Denny and Patricia Sunderland, etc. It’s even better if there’s a well-known brand involved to get people’s attention. My favorites are the ones where I managed to bring in a humorous element, which isn’t always easy, and I also like the ones around AI since that’s such a huge focus of our culture right now.  

How did you approach making complex ideas more accessible and in a condensed form? Do you have any tips for people who struggle with this?

I taught introductory anthropology for over 20 years, so I had plenty of practice teaching people who knew nothing about anthropology. I’m also a mom who wanted my kids to understand what I do for a living. As a parent, you’re often breaking down complex ideas to make them age appropriate and understandable, so it’s the same principle. You can’t use jargon to explain jargon. You have to use common words (not $50 ivory tower words) to describe the concept. It also helps to have an example that people can relate to. You can always test it on a friend who’s not an academic to see if they get it.

I’ve also had to accept that in order to keep my videos brief I can’t give more than one example and I may have to say less than I might want to on a given topic. In some cases, I had to break ideas into two parts and make two videos to cover it all.

Can you walk us through your process from idea to finished video? How long does it take? What skills did you need to have—or have to learn—to make the videos?

When I first started, I’d do all the steps in one day and it  used to take me several hours. Now I sometimes break it up—write when I have the idea and film when it’s convenient. I can sometimes get the filming done in under 2 hours. At this point (over 60 episodes), the longest part of my process is deciding on the topic and writing the initial script. I can ponder what I want to talk about for days before deciding. The actual writing probably only takes an hour. When I first started, choosing a topic was easier because I wanted to walk people through the concepts I always introduce in my Introduction to Anthropology class, but I’ve exhausted most of those already.  

I begin by writing my script, which follows a two-part formula: what is the concept or case study, and why does it matter? Then I time myself reading it and edit it down the script to make sure it’s under 90 seconds. The time limit makes it really hard to speak off the cuff, so I mostly memorize the script. But I also have it posted behind the camera where I can see it. I record several takes until I don’t have to look at the script too much, although it’s never perfect. While I’m recording, I often make a few additional edits to the script when I realize something is difficult to say or remember, or maybe it’s running too long. At some point, though, I have to accept that it’s good enough and not expect perfection or it would take me forever. I think the biggest tip I can give people is that your energy matters the most. You don’t want to come across as monotonous, dry, or too serious, so try to keep it lively and smile at some point. If you don’t seem interested in what you’re saying, no one else will be!

Who did you imagine the audience would be when you first started, and has that changed over time?

My intention was that my audience is the general public who don’t know about anthropology, primarily working professionals since I publish it on LinkedIn as well as AAA’s YouTube channel. I think I have reached some people outside of anthropology, but many of my subscribers are actually fellow social scientists or anthropology students. I’d really like to reach more business leaders because I think the anthropological perspective could have a profound effect on how they think about business decisions. For that reason, I chose to post on LinkedIn, and I hope that some of the hashtags or hot topics like AI might catch their interest. A friend recently told me that she gets the most traffic on posts with her picture on them, so I’m starting to try that.

How have people responded to the series? And have the videos been taken up in any ways that have surprised you?

I’ve been honored and delighted by the positive responses and kind words I’ve received. I’m still nervous about trolls, but so far I’ve encountered hardly any negativity, thank goodness.  I was happily surprised to find that professors were using the Anthro Minutes in their classes! Other anthropologists, mostly practitioners, were reposting to their networks in order to share anthropology’s value proposition with potential clients and perhaps to demonstrate the value of their training, which is great. I’ve also been invited to a few podcasts and featured in a few newsletters because of the Anthro Minute, both within and outside the anthropological world. I’ve recently started my own business so it’s helping me to build my personal brand as well.

What role do you think short-form videos and other kinds of media can play in how people engage with anthropology today?

Short-form video is clearly what resonates with people now that smartphones have dramatically shortened our attention spans. If it helps to get people engaged, I’m happy to do them. But it can be difficult to simplify a concept or case study into a very short video, so I hope people will also sign up for my short courses or bring me in for workshops or trainings in order to go deeper.

What advice would you give to other anthropologists interested in experimenting with video or other public-facing formats?

Just do it! The world needs to hear from us regularly, regarding topics that are relevant to people’s everyday lives or else we risk becoming obsolete and discarded. Also, many of us were trained to be perfectionists and you have to let some of that go for public-facing work. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just accurate and perhaps a little entertaining, if possible. And don’t forget to explain why it matters or how what you’re saying is relevant to people’s lives or else we’re just talking to ourselves.

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