People Stuff

Stress isn’t just biology—it’s culture, symbols, expectations, and the stories we tell ourselves. This week Dan and Michael are joined by UCLA’s Dr. Michelle Rensel to unpack why Americans are so stressed, why hunters get buck fever, why high-schoolers are spiraling, and why self-discipline has become a competitive sport.We dig into social prescribing, predator-prey symbolism, the high-wire act of modern work, and whether our bodies are betraying us or sending a message we should finally listen to.Chapters00:00 — Intro02:30 — What Stress Actually Is06:10 — Fresh Hell: Doctors Prescribing Parties11:45 — Question 1: Buck Fever in the Deer Stand19:30 — Predator vs Prey Symbol Systems25:00 — Question 2: High-School Stress Spiral34:10 — Fixing Shit: The Cult of Self-Discipline47:00 — Question 3: Catastrophe Thinking for Adults58:00 — Outro + Fake Sponsorship That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

This week, Dan and Michael welcome writer and sports scholar John Florio to dig into America’s real religion: sports. We cover the rise of prop bets, whether athletes can ethically nudge a stat or two, why AI-powered officiating is killing the pathos of the bad call, and how youth sports became an arms race disguised as “character building.”Along the way, we detour through Birkin bag lawsuits, Tommy John surgery, the death of knuckleballing, and the eternal question: Can you force your kid to play sports without turning into a meritocratic ghoul?As always: we’re anthropologists, and we know stuff about people. People Stuff.Chapters:0:00 — Intro & Why Americans Worship Sports4:32 — Birkin Bags and the Anthropology of Luxury11:20 — Prop Bets and the Ethics of Self-Rigging21:55 — MLB, Corruption & the Luis Ortiz Case28:40 — AI Officiating & the Death of the Bad Call37:15 — Children’s Sports & Class Panic50:22 — Fixing Shit: Baseball Pitchers Edition58:10 — How to Raise Non-Doughy Kids1:08:45 — People Ball: Our Fake Sponsor1:10:00 — Outro & Credits Send us your dilemmas: www.people-stuff.com Subscribe for more anthropological takes on the weirdness of modern life. That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

We’re joined by Steve Black, linguistic and medical anthropologist at Georgia State University, whose work spans ethics, care, Zulu gospel choirs, Indigenous youth in Costa Rica, and global health discourse.In this episode:🚗 Why millennials think a new car should cost exactly $30k🧮 Inflation as a vibe, not a natural law👑 Letters of recommendation: the medieval patronage system we somehow still use🏛️ First-generation students & the unwritten rules of academia🤖 Why academic publishing is drowning in AI slop (and rat genitals)🧑‍💼 How to quit your job without burning your whole life down🏃‍♀️ Why tech workers accidentally work two jobs at onceAnthropology: because the economy is mostly feelings. That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael explore humanity’s oldest problem: people hitting other people and calling it “order.” Joined by anthropologist Scott Freeman, we talk violence, enclosure, billionaires, medieval sword fights, and the enduring smugness of horses.Featuring:Horse violence as a disciplinary technologyThe Enclosure Movement, Marx, and why Madonna legally can’t stop you rambling through her estateCorporal punishment, pacifism paradoxes, and why People Stuff is firmly against child-beating but open to beating adults who think child-beating is fineBillionaire term limits (ten years and then the hoard goes back to the people—no rollover minutes)HEMA: When history nerds and jocks converge into a Darwinian crab-shaped sword fighterUtah Mom linguistic innovation, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and Dan’s ongoing war with VoxWhether horses enjoy trampling (spoiler: yes, they’re smug)As always, we know stuff about people. Sometimes too much.Submit your questions or leave us a voice memo at people-stuff.com.  That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Are you a “blue brain,” a “Phoebe,” or just a person trying to do your job?This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael dig into the strange afterlife of psychological typing — from Jungian archetypes to workplace “whole brain” seminars and gifted testing for seven-year-olds. Why do employers, schools, and BuzzFeed quizzes all want to turn us into caricatures of ourselves?They’ll also diagnose Peter Thiel’s end-times theology, dismantle the eugenic logic of IQ tests, and fix the entire school admissions system (again). Plus, a listener wonders: if your friend only speaks in Sex and the City quotes, are they still your friend… or just a Carrie with Wi-Fi?🔹 Why workplace personality tests are corporate astrology🔹 The dark history of IQ testing🔹 How BuzzFeed quizzes became proto-surveillance capitalism🔹 Why “fixing” education means letting everyone inAs always, it’s academic insight meets anthropological mischief — because we’re anthropologists, and we know stuff about people.🎧 Listen now at people-stuff.com or on Apple Podcasts: People Stuff  That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Are we what we eat? Should kale be a personality? Why are men suddenly shoveling raw beef into their mouths like feral crossfit raccoons? This week anthropologists Dan and Michael interview genetic counselor + legitimate adult Saanchi Shah, who tries to offer actual wisdom while the hosts spiral into food-based existentialism.Topics include:Paleo diets and why “we stopped evolving after the Ice Age” is terrible scienceWhen gardening becomes prepping and prepping becomes a personalityThe gym bro committed to 100% raw meat, 0% critical thoughtThe stolen 18-karat gold toilet named AmericaWhy cities need public bathrooms more than they need tech incubatorsAre you pizza if you eat pizza? (anthropology says… maybe yes??)Also: squat toilets, Jain philosophy, steroid economics, and the eternal war between Neapolitan pizza and the casserole known as “Chicago-style.”  That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

They tackle listener questions about what it means to feel out of place:Why do perfect towns feel fake and claustrophobic?Why do we always sit in the same seat?And should you really avoid walking on a grave?Along the way, they explore how humans build belonging through repetition, ritual, and spatial order — and how those same habits can make us feel trapped, haunted, or just plain weird.Plus: Dan fixes superheroes (they’re fascists), Michael defends ghosts, and everyone learns something about the anthropology of being uncomfortable.🎧 People Stuff — because we’re anthropologists, and we know stuff about people. That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Dan and Michael tackle questions about:🧹 A Zen priest frustrated by a fellow monk’s bad cleaning habits💰 Whether kids should get paid for chores🏚️ How to love a hoarder parent without losing your mindPlus, in Fixing Shit, Michael fixes Congress by bringing back pork barrel spending (seriously). Along the way, they dust off some anthropological wisdom from Mary Douglas, talk about pollution, capitalism, and the importance of returning your grocery cart.It’s messy, philosophical, and deeply funny—just the way we like it. Takeaways Cleanliness is culturally specific and varies widely. The concept of the Rapture has been a recurring theme in religious discussions. Zen practices can lead to conflicts in communal living situations. Allowance for chores raises questions about parenting and financial education. Hoarding reflects deeper cultural issues related to consumerism and identity. Memory and emotional connections to objects can complicate decluttering efforts. Cognitive dissonance plays a role in how people respond to failed prophecies. Cultural narratives shape our understanding of cleanliness and order. The relationship between consumerism and identity is complex and multifaceted. Community obligations can conflict with personal expectations in shared living spaces. Sound bites "You can't fire your kid!" "This is a mutiny!" "You have too much stuff!"  Segments:00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Themes 01:43 The TikTok Rapture and Religious Prophecies 09:04 Zen Monasteries and Cleaning Duties 17:19 Exploring Perspectives on Violence and Community 19:05 Navigating Family Dynamics and Chores 30:02 Reforming Congress: A Call for Institutional Integrity 37:08 The Hoarding Dilemma 38:01 Cultural Reflections on Consumption 39:53 The Psychology of Stuff 42:16 Generational Perspectives on Hoarding 44:36 Memory and Identity in Material Possessions47:21 Navigating Emotional Attachments to Objects 49:31 Concluding Thoughts on Clutter and Memory That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

When (if ever) should you intervene with someone else’s child?Why American parenting anxiety looks bizarre cross-culturallyAka childhood autonomy, Japanese errand culture, and European stroller normsTikTok detectives and the collapse of “mind your own business”Gender identity, performativity, and why pink tea parties won’t destroy societyJudith Butler, trans theory, and early childhood gender developmentWhy you don’t actually control your kids’ socializationImmigration panic, economic amnesia, and xenophobia with spreadsheetsImaginary friends, ancestors, tricksters, and why your kid might not be “imagining” anything at allAnthropology’s most comforting message: this is all extremely normal That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Topics🔹 Why men are turning to ChatGPT for emotional advice🔹 The death of partying — and what it says about American loneliness🔹 Can you separate baseball from capitalism?🔹 What shamans and therapists actually have in commonSound bites"Alcohol is a social lubricant.""Fandom is about shared suffering.""Psychology can't critique society."TakeawaysPsychology often prioritizes individual adjustment over societal critique.The decline of social gatherings among young Americans is alarming.Alcohol serves as a social lubricant, facilitating interactions.Chatbot therapy raises questions about the nature of self-reflection.Fandom is deeply tied to shared suffering and community.Therapy has historical roots in shamanistic practices.The politics of sports fandom can be complex and contradictory.Suffering is a common thread in both fandom and therapy.Psychology struggles with replicability and cultural specificity.Therapists can be seen as modern-day shamans.References In this episode, we mention and/or are influenced by the following:An article on the decline of partying: https://www.derekthompson.org/p/the-death-of-partying-in-the-usaand?Beastie Boys -- You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBShN8qT4lkKaren V. Hansen -- "A Very Social Time: Crafting Community in Antebellum New England." University of California Press, 1994.Claude Levi-Strauss "The Effectiveness of Symbols"  That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

In this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:“Unsinkable” by Daniel Mendelsohn https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/16/unsinkable-titanic-iceberg“Removing Knowledge” by Peter Galison https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037c-4c4a-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content“On the Phenomenology of Giant Puppets Broken windows, imaginary jars of urine, and the cosmological role of the police in American culture” by David Graeber https://davidgraeber.org/articles/on-the-phenomenology-of-giant-puppets-broken-windows-imaginary-jars-of-urine-and-the-cosmological-role-of-the-police-in-american-culture/“The Bridge [Broen på dansk]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(2011_TV_series) That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Dan and Michael discuss:Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe by Agniezska PasiekaThe Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945 by William Allen Sheridan: https://archive.org/details/naziseizureofpow0000alle_m2p7The Jersey Devil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_DevilThe Sopranos e3 ep11, "Pine Barrens:" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0705272/What We Do in the Shadows: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7908628/ That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Why do we feel like unique snowflakes when anthropology keeps insisting we’re mostly social slush? In this GSU-inspired bonus episode, we take on three very big questions from Professor Steve Black’s Intro to Anthro class in Atlanta:1. Are humans individuals or societies?A tour through Lévi-Strauss, Marx, language as a shared hallucination, and the soul-destroying statistical powers of Pierre Bourdieu. Also: Dan plays a medieval knight facing a bridge troll; Michael slanders anthropology’s early “culture and personality” era.2. Why do human children stick around so long?Brains take forever to cook. But also: orcas have fashion, elephants have funerals, and “alpha male” discourse should probably be flung into the ocean. Grandmothers—human and whale—turn out to be the real apex predators.3. What will future anthropologists think of us?Trash, plastics, climate collapse, and the high age of petroleum. Also: what survives? Definitely not your pen. Maybe your microplastics. Maybe your LLC.Featuring:• Hope as the first lesson of humanity• Ass-wiping as the second• Why naming a baby might matter more than conception• Why anthropology ruins songs• And why future archaeologists will think we were out of our mindsPeople Stuff—for everyone who suspects the human condition is 10% personal, 90% inherited nonsense. That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Swedish Design by Keith Murphy can be found here: Swedish Design by Keith M. Murphy | Paperback | Cornell University PressRabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin can be found here: Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin | MIT PressFind all things People Stuff at: https://www.people-stuff.com/     That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Why will people wait an hour in the rain for a lobster roll when the exact same food is available across the street with no line? This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael take on Red’s Eats, Magnolia Bakery, Courage Bagels, and the modern compulsion to be seen eating the “right” food in the “right” place.Drawing on Thorstein Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption—updated for the Instagram era—they argue that what’s being consumed isn’t lobster, cupcakes, or bagels, but attention itself. Taste turns out to be beside the point. The real question is whether the meal happened publicly enough to matter.Anthropology says: it’s not about flavor. It’s about status, visibility, and being legible as a person worth noticing. That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Dan gives an update on the end of Season 1 and previews what to expect in Season 2 of People Stuff. A big thanks to those of you who submitted questions! Expected to hear your questions and our answers in the upcoming season. As always, you can leave a question at: https://www.people-stuff.com/ That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people. If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com   Credits Produced by Gabe Bullard Music by The Endless Bummer Art by Siobhan Henegan Marketing by Bryan Haut Legal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle. You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism. So go to people-stuff.com

This week, Dan and Michael investigate suburban car psychosis and the anthropology of asphalt.Why do normal people turn feral over parking spaces?What makes ride-sharing feel both convenient and morally icky?And how exactly did Elon Musk turn the Hyperloop into the most expensive metaphor for magical thinking?Plus, Michael explains why gifts are actually acts of aggression, Dan redesigns public drinking laws, and both agree that walking remains America’s most banned activity.📍Topics include:– The anthropology of parking rage– Ride-sharing and privatized public goods– Elon Musk as modern taboo– Gift-giving as social warfare– Beer gardens and failed freedom🎙️ People Stuff — where anthropologists answer your dumb, beautiful, deeply human questions. In this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:“The Speed of Human Thought Lags Far Behind Your Internet Connection, Study Finds” in the NYTimes by Carl Zimmer https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/science/speed-of-thought.htmlThe Gift by Marcel MaussTaboo by Franz Steiner That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Ever wondered why people still warn you to check your kids’ Halloween candy for razor blades — even though it’s never actually happened?Or why politicians say, “a lot of people are saying…” when they clearly made it up?In this week’s episode, Dan and Michael Heard It Through the Grapevine, our resident anthropologists dig into how rumors, myths, and moral panics shape our everyday lives.They unpack the folklore behind Halloween candy scares, explore how gossip and political speech both rely on indirect attribution, and dive into what it means when your suburban neighborhood suddenly becomes deer country.From Levi-Strauss and Santa Claus to Donald Trump and talk radio, this one’s equal parts anthropology, humor, and exasperation at the human condition.🎧 In this episode:The anthropology of Halloween and the myth of poisoned candyHow politicians use marketing psychology to sell ideasWhy gossip is dying (and what we lose with it)The strange suburban ecology of deer and huntersWhat ancient festivals and modern politics have in common Works CitedThe “Lloyd’s List Shipping Podcast” https://www.lloydslist.com/the-lloyds-list-shipping-podcast“Father Christmas Executed” by Claude Lévi-Strauss https://aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/LEVI-STRAUSS_1995_Father_Christmas_Executed.pdfRabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262520249/rabelais-and-his-world/“The Dead Baby Joke” by Alan Dundes https://www.jstor.org/stable/1499238“A feral science? Dangers and disruptions between DIYbio and the FBI” by Michael Scroggins https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0308275X231157559  That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

Key Themes and Topics:The decline of democracy and rise of tech authoritarianismCurtis Yarvin and the myth of the “CEO monarch”Liberal democracy vs. fascist aestheticsStudent politics and the mirror of national electionsOrganizational governance and consensus decision-makingAirline inequality and the anthropology of travelHumor, politics, and why anthropology still matters KeywordsWhy democracy feels broken in 2025What is Curtis Yarvin’s neo-monarchism?Funny political podcast about democracyAnthropology meets politics podcastWhat’s wrong with student elections?Consensus decision making in activismAirline class inequality explainedComedy podcast about society and governance Works CitedIn this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:An article in the Times about that rigged Texas lottery: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/us/rigged-texas-lottery.htmlA profile of Curtis Yarvin in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/curtis-yarvin-profile“Does the “New Economy” Measure Up to the Great Inventions of the Past” by Robert Gordon https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.4.49“Election” (the movie) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126886/“The Tyranny of Structurelessness” by Jo Freeman https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

This week on People Stuff:What Fresh Hell: “Unsinkable” — Dan on Titanic déjà vu and the myth of technology.Question 1: UFOs, drone swarms, and why mystery still matters.Question 2: Body doubles, tacit knowledge, and classroom conspiracies.Fixing Shit: Dan fixes “ostracism.” Could democracy use a reboot?Question 3: True crime, Pacific Northwest serial killers, and paranoia.💬 Got a question for Dan and Michael? Leave a voice memo or message at https://www.people-stuff.com/ In this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:“Unsinkable” by Daniel Mendelsohn https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/16/unsinkable-titanic-iceberg“Removing Knowledge” by Peter Galison https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037c-4c4a-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content“On the Phenomenology of Giant Puppets Broken windows, imaginary jars of urine, and the cosmological role of the police in American culture” by David Graeber https://davidgraeber.org/articles/on-the-phenomenology-of-giant-puppets-broken-windows-imaginary-jars-of-urine-and-the-cosmological-role-of-the-police-in-american-culture/“The Bridge [Broen på dansk]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(2011_TV_series) That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com