People Stuff

Michael Scroggins, Dan Souleles
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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.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Dan and Michael Get Back in the Saddle (with Jennifer Van Tiem) | Horses and the Anthropology of Riding

    Horse 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   Credits Produced 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

    59 min

  2. 28 APR

    Is It Really Human Nature? Gender, Boys, Parenting & Bad Anthropology | People Stuff feat. Agustín Fuentes

    This 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   Credits Produced 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

    57 min

  3. 21 APR

    Dan and Michael Read a Book: Why We Treat Books as Sacred (and When They’re Just Trash)

    This 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   Credits Produced 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

    1hr 3min

  4. 14 APR

    Dan and Michael Glimpse Paradise (feat. Jeff Greger) | Utopias, Communes, Gatekeeping & Why Perfect Systems Fail

    This 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   Credits Produced 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

    1hr 16min

  5. 7 APR

    Dan and Michael Are Connecting the Dots | Conspiracies, Ghosts, QAnon & Why Humans See Patterns Everywhere

    This 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   Credits Produced 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

    57 min

  6. 31 MAR

    Dan and Michael Are Trivial (feat. Mike Dawson) | Trivia, Fandom, Fascism & the Meaning of Useless Knowledge

    This 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   Credits Produced 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

    1hr 8min

  7. SEASON 3 TRAILER

    Season 3 Is Coming (Probably): Listener Mail, Hobbits at Palantir, and the Return of People Stuff

    Is 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   Credits Produced 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

    17 min

  8. 09/12/2025

    Dan and Michael Are a Little Stressed (With Michelle Rensel): Stress, Snacks, and Mild Emotional Collapse.

    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. Chapters 00:00 — Intro 02:30 — What Stress Actually Is 06:10 — Fresh Hell: Doctors Prescribing Parties 11:45 — Question 1: Buck Fever in the Deer Stand 19:30 — Predator vs Prey Symbol Systems 25:00 — Question 2: High-School Stress Spiral 34:10 — Fixing Shit: The Cult of Self-Discipline 47:00 — Question 3: Catastrophe Thinking for Adults 58:00 — 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   Credits Produced 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

    58 min
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Scroggins, Dan Souleles
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 People Stuff LLC
  • Show Website
    People Stuff
  • Provider

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