We at Southwest Humanities are very pleased to announce the recent publication of another fascinating book that we have indexed: The Connector: Living with Experimental Neuroprosthetics by Alexandra Middleton was published on 12 May 2026 by Duke University Press. The Connector is an ethnographic exploration of life at the frontier of experimental biomedical technology. Focusing on patients participating in clinical trials for advanced neuromusculoskeletal prostheses in Sweden, Middleton examines not only the laboratories and clinics where these devices are developed, but also the homes and everyday environments in which people learn to live with them. The book argues that scientific innovation does not occur solely within institutional research settings; rather, patients’ embodied experiences, domestic routines, frustrations, and adaptations become essential sites of knowledge production. Through close attention to the relationships among engineers, clinicians, patients, and families, Middleton reveals how “connection” is both a technical and deeply human process, unfolding through continual negotiation between bodies and machines.

The book makes a significant contribution to medical anthropology, science and technology studies, disability studies, and the anthropology of medicine by reframing neuroprosthetics as social and experiential systems rather than merely technological achievements. Middleton is especially attentive to the slow, uncertain, and labor-intensive processes that sustain experimental science long after moments of technological “breakthrough.” Her work challenges celebratory narratives about cutting-edge biomedical innovation by foregrounding the hidden emotional, sensory, and domestic labor required to make these devices function in lived reality. At the same time, the book offers a nuanced account of embodiment and sensory experience, exploring how artificial touch and neurostimulation reshape understandings of perception, personhood, and the boundaries between human and machine.

For more information about this exciting and important new title, please see the publisher’s website here.