From the skin, the New Worlds Patreon moves on to the hair! All the things we do to keep it clean . . . and all the meaning we assign to it, too. Comment over there!

Do you struggle with acne or wrinkles? The New Worlds Patreon is taking a promise at skin care and the promises the manufacturers of various products have made over the millennia . . . and what actually happens when you use some of them. Comment over there!

For the last month of Year Four, the patrons of the New Worlds Patreon voted for personal care! We’re starting off with bathing — or rather, the many methods we’ve developed over the ages for getting clean, only some of which involve a bath. Comment over there!

As you know by now, one of the funding goals for the New Worlds Patreon is a fifth essay in the months with five Fridays, this one looking at some topic of anthropological theory or writing craft related to worldbuilding. This time it’s culture contact — comment over there!

I’ve worn glasses since I was seven, and unfortunately I’m not a good candidate for lasik surgery. Which means I’m one of the many, many people in the world who benefits from an assistive device — the topic of this week’s New Worlds Patreon essay. Comment over there!

For your Friday delectation, the New Worlds Patreon is taking a look at the ancient (and also very recent) history of surgery! Comment over there!

What do mummification, body-snatching, and anaesthetized pigs have in common? The New Worlds Patreon answers that with a look at how we’ve learned about human anatomy. Comment over there!

Happy New Year! The New Worlds Patreon is kicking off 2021 with a look through the more surgical side of medicine . . . but this first essay looks at the diagnosis of all kinds of ailments, disease included. So if that’s something you’d prefer not to think about right now, totally understood. If you do want to read, though, comment over there!

This week on the New Worlds Patreon, not all holidays involve a parade, and not all parades are for holidays — but let’s take a look at them! Comment over there.

Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating it today, and may all of you have a lovely day regardless! Keep safe, keep healthy, and I will see you next year.

This week the New Worlds Patreon acknowledges that we observe holidays in many different ways. Wherever you are and whatever holiday you may be celebrating, please stay safe, so that we’ll still have you around next year.

From the sacred we turn to the secular, with the New Worlds Patreon taking on holidays from the Fourth of July to Mother’s Day to International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Comment over there!

Whether you’re gearing up for a religion-based holiday right now or not, you may be interested in this week’s New Worlds Patreon essay, about holidays based in religion. Comment over there!

Have you ever been called a bastard, or called someone else by that name? This week the New Worlds Patreon takes a look at illegitimate children, and how and why they’ve been stigmatized. Comment over there!

Adultery: illicit crime, or expected behavior for a man in power? This week the New Worlds Patreon continues its study of marriage by looking at what happens outside of marriage. Comment over there!

In speculative fiction, we have surprisingly few stories that focus at all on what happens after someone’s spouse passes away. This week, the New Worlds Patreon looks at widows and widowers — comment over there!

Because humans have historically used marriage as one of the fundamental building blocks of society, previous New Worlds Patreon essays have not quite exhausted the topic. This week we’re talking about a few more types, including a basic anthropological concept underlying all marriages. Comment over there!

Since October has five Fridays, the New Worlds Patreon gets a bonus “theory” essay! This time we’re looking at the concept of essentialism, and how it can be both useful and dangerous in speculative fiction. Comment over there!

It’s time for presents! The New Worlds Patreon is taking a look at the practice of gift-giving: what we give, and when, and how. Comment over there!

Have you been deluged with solicitations to donate to various worthy causes? The New Worlds Patreon takes a look at public and private forms of charity and how those types operate. Comment over there!