Public Anthropology

An anthropologist questions the connection between language and relationship-building while raising her multiply disabled daughter, who doesn’t communicate with words, signs or symbols. How do you care for someone you struggle to communicate with … and can never fully understand? Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World, talks with host Anita Rao about mothering a multiply-disabled child and how her relationship with Millie has challenged her beliefs about the importance of language for human connection.

You don't get abstractions for free. Karīna Vasiļevska-Das from Writing Formation talks about academic writing with Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World.

Does love need words? Alex Frnka sits down with anthropologist and author, Danilyn Rutherford, to explore Beautiful Mystery, her memoir about raising Millie, a luminous daughter who communicates beyond speech, and the radical shift that happens when language stops being the measure of a life.

In-home elder care costs are rising more than three times faster than inflation. And AARP estimates that caregivers in the U.S. spend an average of $7,242 out of pocket each year. Cuts to federal spending have gutted programs that support them. And amidst the longest government shutdown in history, what little help was left is quickly drying up. Host Jenn White sits down to talk about how to pay for care and what the future of federal assistance for caregivers might look like with Emily Peck, national correspondent, Axios; Beth Pinsker, author of My Mother’s Money: A Guide to Financial Caregiving; and Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in A Wordless World.

Looking out for a family member who’s aging or disabled can take a huge toll on caregivers. And the burden just got heavier thanks to President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid — the single largest source of funding for long-term care of disabled and elderly people. It accounts for more than half of the roughly $415 billion that’s dedicated to these services each year. Host Todd Zwilikin talks with Kat McGowan, a caregiver and journalist; Jason Resendez, President and CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving; and Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in A Wordless World.

In this interview with Abby J. Perry, Danilyn Rutherford discusses caring for her daughter with a disability, what a meaningful life really means, and why curiosity is a way forward for us all.

In this episode of Read the Damn Book, host Michelle Glogovac sits down with anthropologist and author Danilyn Rutherford to discuss her powerful memoir Beautiful Mystery. The book chronicles Rutherford’s journey as a mother to her daughter Millie, who lives with an undiagnosed disability. Together, Michelle and Danilyn explore themes of parenting, communication, caregiving, and loss, while also examining the political and social realities of healthcare and support systems for people with disabilities. Rutherford shares moving insights on the importance of empathy, resilience, and community, while celebrating the rich social worlds that children like Millie create.

Josh Reno: I just finished your book a week ago, and I feel like it is still happening to me. It is so good at exploring anxious, uncertain moments before there’s a sense of shared understanding.