Dan and Michael Ruin the Economy (feat. Steve Black): Car-price delusion, medieval rec letters, and the AI rat with the huge penis.
This week, Dan and Michael accidentally dismantle the U.S. economy with the help of linguistic anthropologist Steve Black. We talk about why everyone thinks a new car should cost $30k (it shouldn’t), why letters of recommendation are medieval hazing rituals, and why quitting your job feels like a moral test instead of a labor decision. Plus: sorority-rush consultants, academic-publishing slop, and a brief cameo from an AI-generated rat with an alarming anatomy. People Stuff: because the economy is just vibes in a spreadsheet.
We’re joined by Steve Black, linguistic and medical anthropologist at Georgia State University, whose work spans ethics, care, Zulu gospel choirs, Indigenous youth in Costa Rica, and global health discourse.
In this episode:
🚗 Why millennials think a new car should cost exactly $30k
🧮 Inflation as a vibe, not a natural law
👑 Letters of recommendation: the medieval patronage system we somehow still use
🏛️ First-generation students & the unwritten rules of academia
🤖 Why academic publishing is drowning in AI slop (and rat genitals)
🧑💼 How to quit your job without burning your whole life down
🏃♀️ Why tech workers accidentally work two jobs at once
Anthropology: because the economy is mostly feelings.
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
