Our Story
Join The Society of Reluctant Anthropologists (SORA) as we create a community of academics and ex-academics sharing their experiences and knowledge.
Our story begins with weasel poop, as so many great stories do. Maureen, Nayantara, and Sahil first bonded over weasel poop coffee in a small restaurant in London’s Soho.
These three Americans were in the UK for their PhDs. They came with the belief that all knowledge is valuable and wanted to explore anthropology in ways that ultimately their supervisors wouldn’t understand.
With the rest of their PhD cohort, Maureen, Nayantara, and Sahil rebelled against a system that was steeped in white supremacy, colonialism, and hierarchy. They rebelled through community, care, joy, and a bit of spectacle.
Maureen, Nayantara, & Sahil host this interview podcast, where they dig deep into the nature of knowledge, the future of academia, and what it is to hope. Featuring a special guest each episode, the SORA Podcast isn’t just for academics or ex-academics, it’s a human-centered show for everyone.
Meet the team
And see them in the throes of PhD despair
Maureen Pritchard
Maureen is a proud Ohioan whose research took her first to Kyrgystan and then brought her back to London, where she took up pipe smoking and gave up on her dissertation repeatedly (pictured above).
She is currently thriving as a community advocate and mother to two furry daughters and one human son.
Nayantara Premakumar
Nayantara thought she had gamed the system by doing “native anthropology”, but that plan backfired spectacularly. She became an excellent stress baker while living in London.
She is currently way less stressed being a nonprofit consultant and tries to write more often. She has a princess disguised as a dog and barely stress bakes anymore.
Sahil Warsi
Sahil meant to go back to Kabul and become a professional bard, but the PhD had other plans. He eventually walked away with a degree, a chronic pain disorder, and a distaste for supermarket sandwiches.
Currently, when not working with communities across the globe, he does art and music in London, where he and his partner live with Taimur the cat, also recovering from trauma.
