Essays
RSS feed- $38,000about what one hunter paid to hunt a yellow-backed duiker in Gabon, April 2026
The Rarity Rent
Why trophy hunting runs on the same scarcity premium as the illegal horn trade, and why conservation that works can dismantle its own funding.
- Keratinthe material of fingernails, and most of what rhino horn is made of
Prohibition's Second Price
Why prohibition in a status-driven market does not stand opposite to it but enters its price formation
- 27.5% → 7%self-reported horn use in a Vietnamese campaign's target group over three years, while seizures rose
When Awareness Looks Like an Ad
Why a decade of rhino horn demand reduction has been selling the product
- 1/8of the wild-horn price: Pembient's 2015 plan for lab-made horn
- n ≈ 550respondents rated a couple as less committed when the ring held a synthetic stone
My Master's Thesis: What Diamonds Reveal About Norms, Love, and Social Meaning
A thesis note on natural versus synthetic diamonds, symbolic meaning, and why materially similar objects can still carry very different social weight