Dan and Michael Destroy Democracy: Tech Kings, High School Elections, and the Tyranny of Tote Bags
This week on People Stuff, anthropologists Michael and Dan take a wrecking ball to democracy itself — from Curtis Yarvin’s neo-monarchist fantasies to student-body elections gone full Nixon. In this episode: What Fresh Hell: The Texas Lottery “rigging” that proves math isn’t the problem — lazy officials are. The Big Question: Is democracy actually broken? Michael and Dan unpack the anti-democracy ideas of Curtis Yarvin, the myth of the “CEO king,” and why liberal democracy still matters (plus, what’s more important — air conditioning or AI?). High School Power Plays: When student-body elections turn into campaign nightmares, what’s a parent to do? Hint: Go negative. Hard. Fixing Shit: Dan redesigns airline boarding for a more egalitarian sky, while Michael says the real fix is fewer flights — and fewer heat domes. Freedom and the Endless Meeting: Activism and consensus — when “everyone has a say” means you never leave the meeting. Plus, a fake sponsorship you’ll wish was fake: Technofascism™ — available wherever super yachts are sold.
Key Themes and Topics:
The decline of democracy and rise of tech authoritarianism
Curtis Yarvin and the myth of the “CEO monarch”
Liberal democracy vs. fascist aesthetics
Student politics and the mirror of national elections
Organizational governance and consensus decision-making
Airline inequality and the anthropology of travel
Humor, politics, and why anthropology still matters
Keywords
Why democracy feels broken in 2025
What is Curtis Yarvin’s neo-monarchism?
Funny political podcast about democracy
Anthropology meets politics podcast
What’s wrong with student elections?
Consensus decision making in activism
Airline class inequality explained
Comedy podcast about society and governance
Works Cited
In this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:
An article in the Times about that rigged Texas lottery: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/us/rigged-texas-lottery.html
A profile of Curtis Yarvin in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/curtis-yarvin-profile
“Does the “New Economy” Measure Up to the Great Inventions of the Past” by Robert Gordon https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.4.49
“Election” (the movie) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126886/
“The Tyranny of Structurelessness” by Jo Freeman https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
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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