Social Media Episodes

When is it okay to discipline someone else’s kid? Are gender roles actually “natural,” or are we just swimming in Disney IP? And what do you do when your child’s imaginary friend starts sounding less… imaginary? This week on People Stuff, anthropologists Dan Souleles and Michael Powell take on communal parenting, playground ethics, gender development, TikTok surveillance culture, immigration panic, and the unsettling anthropology of imaginary friends. Drawing on cross-cultural child-rearing, gender theory, and just enough totemism to keep things weird, they offer advice that is empathetic, skeptical, and occasionally alarming. Remember: we’re anthropologists, and we know stuff about people.

Why does one lobster shack have a two-hour line while the identical one across the street sits empty? In this People Stuff special episode, anthropologists Dan Souleles and Michael Scroggins break down why food culture today isn’t about taste—it’s about being seen. From Red’s Eats in Maine to Magnolia Bakery and Instagram-famous bagel shops, they unpack conspicuous consumption in the age of social media, where attention is the real currency.