Podcast
People Stuff
Hosted by Michael Scroggins, Dan Souleles · EN
People Stuff is a write-in, anthropology advice podcast wherein we answer all sorts of questions with the weird and wonderful wisdom that anthropology offers. From whether you should make your bed to what you owe to the dead, no dilemma is too tiny, no conundrum too vast for a little bit of anthropology. After all, as a species, we've been human-ing for like 300,000 years already. Surely we've figured some stuff out.
19episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Dan and Michael Never Could Have Been Contenders (feat. Justin Dang) | Competition, Hiring Hell, and Finance Club Hunger Games
4d ago01:11:32Tap to summarizeCompetition used to be for sports and maybe college admissions. Now it’s for internships, student clubs, networking coffee chats, LinkedIn visibility, and apparently sleep scores monitored by the national security state. This week on People Stuff, Michael and Dan are joined by Brown University senior and Product Management Club leader Justin Dang to talk about what happens when every institution starts operating like a tournament bracket. Along the way: A party argument escalates into a threat of violence. Dan explains why modern hiring systems have become ritualized suffering. Justin walks through the reality of tech and finance recruiting, where students apply to hundreds of jobs and spend months networking strategically. Michael argues that universities are now “clubs all the way down.” Oura Rings drift toward military-surveillance infrastructure. The Fourth Amendment gets aggressively workshopped. The episode explores a central question: if nobody actually knows how to identify the “best” people, why are modern institutions so obsessed with ranking everyone constantly? Also discussed: meritocracy theater, grade inflation, referral hiring, junior golf, exhausted student leaders, networking psychosis, and why finance clubs increasingly resemble tiny consulting firms run by sleep-deprived 20-year-olds. If modern life feels like one endless competition, this episode is for you. 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
Transcribe →Home Is Where the Asset Is: FIRE Roommates, Haunted Houses, and Billionaires Who Don’t Pay Taxes
2w ago01:02:02Tap to summarizeThis week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael tackle one of the great contradictions of modern life: why Americans treat houses simultaneously as sacred homes, speculative assets, retirement plans, emotional support animals, and deeply cursed money pits. Along the way: FIRE enthusiasts buy a house without an inspection and immediately discover foundation problems; a listener wants to know the most important room in a home; another listener discovers that buying a charming old house may also require becoming the kind of person who owns tools. The conversation spirals into robber barons, billionaire tax avoidance, HGTV ideology, HOA fascism, structural anthropology, Pierre Bourdieu’s analysis of the Berber house, and why private equity firms should probably not own entire neighborhoods. Also discussed: Why “homeownership” increasingly means “becoming an unwilling asset manager” The anthropology of haunted houses Why economists accidentally destroy everything they touch Whether swinging a hammer makes you a man Why every old house is secretly a graduate seminar in suffering The cultural logic of Home Depot Why billionaires should pay taxes instead of buying yachts large enough to avoid shame As always, Dan and Michael remain anthropologists who know stuff about people. 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
Transcribe →Dan and Michael Get Back in the Saddle (with Jennifer Van Tiem) | Horses and the Anthropology of Riding
3w ago00:58:50Tap to summarizeHorse girls. German cowboys. Private equity bowling alleys. This week on People Stuff, we take on horses—not just as animals, but as cultural objects, status symbols, and surprisingly effective therapists. Joined by medical anthropologist Jennifer Van Tiem, we explore how an eight-year-old’s horse obsession spirals into real estate searches, why the Western refuses to die (it just changes costumes), and what exactly is happening when a prey animal becomes your emotional support system. Along the way: Barrel racing as unexpectedly egalitarian sport design The anthropology of hobbyist subcultures (including German Plains reenactors) Why horses don’t lie—and why that’s a problem for you Bowling alleys, private equity, and the collapse of third places Domestication, co-regulation, and who’s actually in control Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:10 Fresh Hell: Political shoe rituals 08:45 Horse girls and equine obsession 22:30 Westerns, Germany, and Karl May 38:10 Fixing Bowling (and third places) 47:50 Why horses bond with humans 58:00 Outro If you’ve ever wondered why horses inspire lifelong devotion—or how a genre about the frontier became a global fantasy—this episode has answers. Some more satisfying than others. Remember: 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
Transcribe →Is It Really Human Nature? Gender, Boys, Parenting & Bad Anthropology | People Stuff feat. Agustín Fuentes
4w ago00:56:59Tap to summarizeThis week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael are joined by Princeton anthropologist Agustín Fuentes—author of Sex Is a Spectrum and Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You—to ask what human nature actually means, and why people keep using it to justify behavior they don’t want to examine too closely. We cover: Why Lord of the Flies is bad anthropology Scout camp pranks, masculinity, and whether boys are “naturally” violent Looksmaxxing, incel language, and why young men are hitting themselves in the jaw with hammers Why Gen Z men are getting weird about gender roles Parenting anxiety and whether your 3-year-old really needs $400/month gymnastics Why gossip is stronger than capitalism Why “human nature” is often just culture wearing a fake mustache Plus: Michael tries to fix Gen Z, Dan defends gossip as civilization, and we discover that humanity may just be pre-crab evolution. We’re anthropologists. 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
Transcribe →Dan and Michael Read a Book: Why We Treat Books as Sacred (and When They’re Just Trash)
Apr 2101:02:44Tap to summarizeThis week, Dan and Michael talk about books. Along the way: A library purge shocks a 10-year-old (and maybe you) A listener in prison asks the ultimate question: what should I read? The anthropology of book bans, book burning, and moral panic Why most books are disposable commodities (yes, really) How to build a reading list without losing your mind Plus: Why Moby-Dick is still worth it The case for genre fiction and “low” literature Books as status objects, conversation markers, and physical artifacts A fake Karl Marx signature that somehow becomes… meaningful And in “Fixing Shit”: We finally solve the most annoying sound in modern life: the backup beep beep beep. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by what to read—or quietly judged someone by their bookshelf—this episode is for you. We’re anthropologists. 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
Transcribe →Dan and Michael Glimpse Paradise (feat. Jeff Greger) | Utopias, Communes, Gatekeeping & Why Perfect Systems Fail
Apr 1401:16:28Tap to summarizeThis week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael are joined by applied anthropologist Jeff Greger to ask a deceptively simple question: Why do utopias always fall apart? From Silicon Valley hackerspaces to Danish communes to the U.S. Constitution itself, the episode explores humanity’s enduring obsession with building perfect systems—and our equally durable tendency to break them. Inspired by everything from communal farming dilemmas to sci-fi dreams of Starfleet, the conversation moves across scales: from chore wheels to constitutional design, from co-living conflict to cosmic hope. Topics include: Why utopian communities struggle with shared labor The anthropology of communes and why chores are destiny Hackerspaces and the illusion of politics-free governance Constitutional “bugs” and the slow drift toward executive power Gatekeeping vs algorithms: who should decide what matters? Why fandom, sci-fi, and Star Trek still shape moral imagination Hopepunk, dystopia, and whether the future can still be better Along the way, listeners ask about commune freeloaders, collapsing faith in American institutions, and whether it’s naïve to still believe in a better world. As always, the anthropologists attempt to fix society—this week by bringing back gatekeeping. Remember: 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
Transcribe →Dan and Michael Are Connecting the Dots | Conspiracies, Ghosts, QAnon & Why Humans See Patterns Everywhere
Apr 700:56:35Tap to summarizeThis week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael follow the red yarn across humanity’s favorite pastime: connecting dots. Inspired by Susan Lepselter’s The Resonance of Unseen Things, the hosts explore apophenia — the human tendency to impose meaning on scattered events — and why conspiracy thinking may be less irrational than we like to believe. Topics include: UFO stories and narrative inheritance Why jokes sometimes become political movements Costco diplomacy and the petty geopolitics of the UN QAnon, Epstein, and the genealogy of conspiracy theories How elites maintain legitimacy (until they don’t) Ghost sightings, grief, and cross-cultural personhood Why conspiracies provide meaning even when factually wrong Along the way, listeners ask about spirit-protecting neighbors, uncomfortable family revelations, and whether sharing ghost encounters is ever a good idea. As always, the anthropologists attempt to fix society — this week by solving childcare entirely. Remember: 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
Transcribe →Dan and Michael Are Trivial (feat. Mike Dawson) | Trivia, Fandom, Fascism & the Meaning of Useless Knowledge
Mar 3101:07:50Tap to summarizeThis week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael are joined by technology manager, nonprofit veteran, and repeat Jeopardy contestant Mike Dawson to confront one of humanity’s oldest questions: Why do we care so much about things that don’t matter? Topics include: Why AP European History feels like intellectual hazing Trivia as cultural capital (and mild social violence) The anthropology of sports fandom and gatekeeping America’s extremely weird history of almost-fascist coups Microplastics, scientific uncertainty, and modern risk anxiety Tarot cards, prediction markets, and contemporary divination Why humans keep inventing systems to predict the future Along the way, the hosts debate whether knowledge should be endured, abandoned, or absorbed slowly like baseball statistics. If you’ve ever felt intimidated by trivia, excluded by fandom, or haunted by the sense that culture is secretly a giant game show — this episode is for you. Remember: 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
Transcribe →Season 3 Is Coming (Probably): Listener Mail, Hobbits at Palantir, and the Return of People Stuff
Mar 2600:16:39Tap to summarizeIs People Stuff a weekly podcast? Philosophically, yes. In this Season 3 preview, Dan and Michael emerge from their off-season hibernation to read listener messages ranging from supportive to Victorian-newspaper furious. Along the way: Programmers at Palantir identify as Hobbits protecting the Shire A parent blames anthropology for radicalizing their children A long-haul trucker offers perhaps the most sincere defense of creative labor ever received by the show This episode serves as a warm-up before a 20-episode season featuring jeopardy contestants, horse whisperers, boats (yes, an entire episode about boats), and more cultural analysis disguised as advice. New episodes begin March 31. Until then: remember — 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
Transcribe →Dan and Michael Are a Little Stressed (With Michelle Rensel): Stress, Snacks, and Mild Emotional Collapse.
Dec 900:57:36Tap to summarizeStress 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
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