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 technology

The Enclosure Movement, Marx, and why Madonna legally can’t stop you rambling through her estate

Corporal punishment, pacifism paradoxes, and why People Stuff is firmly against child-beating but open to beating adults who think child-beating is fine

Billionaire 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 fighter

Utah Mom linguistic innovation, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and Dan’s ongoing war with Vox

Whether 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

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.

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So go to people-stuff.com

Dan and Michael Take a Punch (with Scott Freeman): Violence, Horses, Billionaires, and Swords