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Get to Know Us - Gul Deniz Salali

20 March 2020

Rapid-fire questions with Gul Deniz Salali, British Academy Research Fellow and Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology/Medicine, UCL Anthropology

Gul Deniz Salali - UCL Anthropology

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
First an anchor-woman, then an evolutionary biologist.

Why anthropology?
Because since I was a child, I was intrigued by the questions what makes us human and where do we come from.

What is your favourite cheap meal in London?
Salted beef bagel in Brick Lane.

What keeps you awake at night?
Ambulance sirens - I live on a busy road - if not random thoughts.

What would your super power be?
Something that would allow me to reduce inequality while breathing underwater.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
It’s a secret.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting to live with hunter-gatherers in the Congo rainforest and researching/writing about their lifeways.

What makes you unhappy?
Tax havens.

How do you relax?
Dancing Cuban Salsa for hours.

What is top of your bucket list?
Top 3: swimming with wild dolphins, desert camping with the Bedouins and visiting an Amazonian tribe.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My parents.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
That it ends.

Which living person do you most admire and why?
I recently listened to a podcast about an Argentinian hitchhiker, Juan Villarino, who hitchhiked through Afghanistan, passing the war zone, to show that hospitality is universal. Respect.

What is your most treasured possession?
My body.

Which book/film/album changed your life?
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder - which introduced me to the theory of evolution.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Max Tegmark, Yuval Noah Harari and Milan Kundera - a purely existential dinner. And Orishas’ lead vocal Yotuel - but only if it’s a private dinner, haha.