What Is People Stuff?

People Stuff is a weekly anthropological advice podcast hosted by Michael and Dan—two anthropologists who spend their days studying human behavior and their evenings regretting that they know what they know.

Each episode takes a listener question about life, work, relationships, parenting, conflict, or culture, and then answers it using anthropology, social theory, history, and a healthy dose of skepticism.

We are not here to give you life hacks. We are here to explain why everyone behaves like they do, why institutions are weird, and why “common sense” is usually just someone else’s politics.

Why Anthropology?

Because anthropology is the science of what people actually do—not what they claim to do.
We study:

  • Power and hierarchy

  • Family and kinship

  • Work and organizational life

  • Violence and control

  • Technology, capitalism, and the stories people tell themselves

  • And why everyone on the internet is slowly becoming a medieval peasant

What You’ll Hear on the Show

  • Listener questions that involve everyday human chaos

  • Academic dueling (sadly metaphoric… for now)

  • Anthropological deep dives

  • Jokes about billionaires, horses, and managerial culture

  • Guests who’ve done fieldwork in places far more interesting than the hosts

  • Attempts to “fix” things that are fundamentally unfixable

Send Us Your Questions

Have a dilemma, office conflict, parenting puzzle, or existential nightmare?
Send it to us. We’ll treat it with seriousness and unseriousness in equal measure.