In this episode of the Unsettling Landscapes podcast, Peter Knutson talks with Matt Artz about his career as a commercial fisherman, building alliances, and teaching anthropology as a form of existential reflection.

Peter Knutson is an anthropologist and commercial fisherman from Everett, WA. He was educated in public schools, attended Stanford as an undergraduate and was indefinitely suspended by Stanford in 1972 for disrupting recruiting by a weapons manufacturer. He then studied in New York at New School for Social Research, attending classes taught by Murray Bookchin, Hannah Arendt, and Stanley Aronowitz, among others. In 1987 he received his doctorate in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Washington. His dissertation was an autoethnography of a mutiny on a commercial fishing vessel in the North Pacific, informed by Frankfurt School Critical Theory. He has taught in Seattle area community colleges since 1981 and has been tenured at Seattle Central College since 1998. He publishes articles dealing with politics and community in Seattle newspapers and in critical journals such as Counterpunch.

The 2022 AAA Annual Meeting is being held Nov. 9-13, Seattle, WA. The theme for this year is Unsettling Landscapes. The theme asks two questions: In what ways are we, and those we work with, unsettled? How are we also unsettling landscapes, and to what end? For more information, visit annualmeeting.americananthro.org.

Founded in 1902, the American Anthropological Association is the world’s largest scholarly and professional organization of anthropologists. The Association is dedicated to advancing human understanding and applying this understanding to the world’s most pressing problems.

It publishes a portfolio of 22 journals, offer career planning and professional development services, support college and university departments, award numerous prizes and fellowships, sponsor a paid summer internship program, and stage research conferences in the Fall and Spring each year.

Matt Artz is a business and design anthropologist, consultant, author, speaker, and creator. He writes, speaks, and consults in user experience, product management, and business strategy. He creates products, podcasts, music, and visual art. His podcasts include Anthropology in Business and