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.
25episodes
Episodes
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[Encore] Dan and Michael Get Spooked: The Anthropology of Fear and Other Modern Hauntings
1w ago01:02:35Tap to summarizeHighlights The cultural power of brutal honesty in hiring (and why job posts should repel as much as they attract). Vampires as symbols of modern alienation and eternal cool. Fascism as a false cure for loneliness and economic despair. Monsters as mirrors of humanity’s deepest fears and longings. A defense of national parks and public lands. Segment Breakdown 00:00 – Intro: Brutal honesty and vampire week preview 06:00 – What Fresh Hell: The war on empathy 12:00 – Question 1: “Can I be a vampire?” 27:00 – Question 2: “Why are people still obsessed with Nazis?” 48:00 – Fixing Shit: Saving public lands 57:00 – Question 3: “Why do we keep making monsters?” 1:08:00 – Outro: Fairy Circles™ and the existential loneliness of humanity Dan and Michael discuss the following works: Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe by Agniezska Pasieka The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945 by William Allen Sheridan: https://archive.org/details/naziseizureofpow0000alle\_m2p7 The Jersey Devil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey\_Devil The 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
Transcribe →Why Do We Care About TV People? (feat. Arianna Haut of Jeopardy & Master Minds)
2w ago01:10:36Tap to summarizeWhy do we care so much about people we've never met? This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael are joined by trivia expert and television veteran Arianna Haut—whose résumé includes Jeopardy!, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Chase, and five seasons on Master Minds—to ask what television actually does to us. Why do celebrities feel like old friends? Is it ever acceptable to talk to a TV star at the gym? Does watching violent shows like The Wire make kids more violent? And what happens when television personalities start occupying more space in our emotional lives than the people sitting in the same room? Along the way, the crew debates whether streaming has become worse than cable, mourns the possible loss of New York City's legendary Jimmy's Corner bar, accidentally accuses Ted Cruz of being the Zodiac Killer, and wonders whether aging parents increasingly rely on TV personalities for companionship. It's an episode about celebrity, nostalgia, media panic, parasocial relationships, and the strange human tendency to build genuine feelings for people who have absolutely no idea we exist. Because television isn't just entertainment. It's one of the main ways modern humans learn how to be people. Also: please don't bother Aziz Ansari while he's eating pastrami.Arianna Haut 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 →Why Is Los Angeles Like This? Traffic, Identity, Hollywood, and the Meaning of LA (feat. Saanchi Shah)
3w ago01:03:46Tap to summarizeWhat exactly is Los Angeles? A city? A county? A collection of freeways? A lifestyle brand with excellent tacos and terrible traffic? This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael are joined by genetic counselor and longtime Angeleno-adjacent observer Saanchi Shah to tackle one of America's most confusing cities. Along the way they explore: Why Los Angeles seems designed entirely around cars Whether tourists fundamentally misunderstand LA Why the San Fernando Valley creates existential crises for Angelenos How neighborhoods become identities Why LA's food scene might be the city's true cultural superpower Whether Hollywood is being quietly replaced by AI And whether repeated fires, earthquakes, floods, and disasters mean God is trying to tell Los Angeles something Plus: Scientology speed-runners, influencer culture, Danish tranquility, Mumbai comparisons, Westside snobbery, and a spirited defense of Valley citizenship. Los Angeles may be America's most fragmented city—a place where beaches, mountains, movie studios, strip malls, taco trucks, billionaires, aspiring actors, and 18-lane freeways somehow coexist. We try to figure out how it all works. Or at least why it keeps existing. Topics: Los Angeles, LA culture, California, traffic, Hollywood, AI, cities, urbanism, anthropology, San Fernando Valley, public transit, food culture, identity, disasters, California history 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 →Camping Isn’t Survival: Hiking, Hunting, REI Culture, and the Outdoors
4w ago00:49:52Tap to summarizeWhat is camping actually for? This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael head into the wilderness to investigate one of modern life's strangest contradictions: millions of people spend thousands of dollars on gear, drive hours into the woods, and then eat store-bought snacks while pretending they're escaping civilization. Along the way, they tackle some surprisingly deep questions: Why do some people dress like they're summiting Everest to drop their kids off at school? What's the real difference between hiking and hunting? Why do outdoor activities carry such different political identities? Why do campers bring grocery store food instead of living off the land? And what exactly are we practicing when we go camping? Plus: Minnesota bans prediction markets, Dan proposes a new "right to wander" across public lands, Michael declares war on the privatization of the American West, and the hosts debate whether outdoor recreation is genuine self-reliance or just "light adversity tourism." If you've ever owned a Patagonia fleece, driven a Subaru, dreamed of disappearing into the woods, or wondered why your camping trip feels suspiciously dependent on modern supply chains, this episode is for you. Topics: camping, hiking, hunting, public lands, outdoor culture, Patagonia, REI, national parks, backpacking, anthropology, self-reliance, wilderness, conservation, American West 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 →Why Humans Need Privacy | Shelter, Office Design, and the Anthropology of Space (feat. Gretchen Pfeil)
Jun 201:06:25Tap to summarizeWhy do humans need privacy? This week on People Stuff, Michael and Dan are joined by anthropologist and design researcher Gretchen Pfeil to explore one of the most basic—and surprisingly complicated—human needs: shelter. What makes a space feel private? Why do open offices drive people insane? Why does living and working in the same place feel so strange? And what happens when the social rules that organize public space suddenly break down? Along the way, we discuss: • Why Europeans and Britons keep crashing into each other at Heathrow Airport • The anthropology of privacy, personal space, and public life • How to find alone time while living in a summer camp cabin with seven other people • Whether remote companies actually need offices at all • Why hot desking and open-plan offices became so popular despite nearly everyone hating them • How architecture shapes behavior without us noticing • Whether it's creepy to watch people across the street who don't realize they're being observed • A fieldwork story involving a peacock, a courtyard, and a major anthropological mistake Drawing on anthropology, design research, urban life, and workplace culture, Gretchen explains how buildings do much more than keep the rain out. They create boundaries, define relationships, organize behavior, and help us negotiate the tension between being alone and being together. Also: Dan fixes the police by forcing them to hand out candy, Michael proposes a very selective approach to law enforcement, and everyone learns that privacy may be less about walls than about shared social agreements. People Stuff: anthropology for people trying to find five minutes alone. 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 Go to Home Depot | DIY Culture, Hardware Stores, and Why Every Project Requires 4 Trips
May 2600:51:34Tap to summarizeHome Depot may be the most American place on Earth. This week on People Stuff, Michael and Dan dive into the anthropology of DIY culture, suburban home repair, hardware stores, masculinity, construction work, and the strange emotional power of wandering the lumber aisle at 8:30 in the morning. Along the way: Why every home repair project somehow requires four separate trips to Home Depot The hidden anthropology of planning, improvisation, and “situated action” A carpenter loses part of his finger in a table saw accident — and can’t make himself use the saw again Michael delivers an aggressively judgmental lecture on power tool safety Dan proposes administrator jail for university bureaucrats Medieval German universities once had literal student prisons A construction worker has a transcendental breakdown while staring at stacks of lumber and suddenly realizing: “these were all trees” The episode explores a bigger question underneath all of this: why do modern people believe competence means perfect planning, when most real life is improvisation, contingency, and panicked return trips to giant retail warehouses? Also discussed: ICE raids in Home Depot parking lots, contractor chaos, the death of local hardware stores, commodity fetishism, dangerous table saws, monocrop forests, and why Home Depot smells weirdly hopeful. If you’ve ever started a “simple” weekend project that destroyed your emotional stability, 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 →Dan and Michael Never Could Have Been Contenders (feat. Justin Dang) | Competition, Hiring Hell, and Finance Club Hunger Games
May 1901:11:32Tap 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
May 1201:02:02Tap 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
May 500:58:50Tap 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
Apr 2800:56:59Tap 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 →