Episodes

This week on People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael sink their teeth into the strange and the spooky — from vampire lifestyles and Nazi fanboys to the mysterious Jersey Devil lurking in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. They start with a “What Fresh Hell” segment exploring the surprising backlash against empathy, before diving into three listener questions that veer from the undead to the unhinged: High Stakes: A listener obsessed with vampires wonders — is it normal to want to become one? Dan and Michael dissect the anthropology of the night, from bloodlust to cultural obsession. I Did Not See That Coming: A young soldier asks why people are still drawn to Nazis. The hosts unpack fascism’s dark appeal, drawing on anthropology and history to explain why extremist movements persist. Devil Got My Tongue: A park ranger in the Pine Barrens asks about the persistence of monsters like the Jersey Devil. Dan and Michael debate whether monsters serve as scapegoats or companions to human loneli…

An anthropologist, a game show champion, and an increasingly unhealthy relationship with television investigate why celebrities feel like friends, whether violent media changes us, and what TV is doing to modern human life.

Why do people in Los Angeles spend half their lives in cars? Is the Valley actually part of LA? And what does it mean that one of America's most disaster-prone cities keeps rebuilding itself? Dan, Michael, and guest Saanchi Shah explore the culture, contradictions, and enduring weirdness of Los Angeles.

Why do we camp if we're not actually trying to survive? Dan and Michael explore the culture of the outdoors, from suburban dads dressed for an expedition at school pickup to couples arguing about whether hiking and hunting are basically the same activity. Along the way they unpack camping, outdoor identity, public lands, conservation, and the strange modern dream of escaping civilization while carrying civilization on your back.

Anthropologist Gretchen Pfeil joins Michael and Dan to explore privacy, shelter, office design, and the hidden social rules that shape how people move through buildings, cities, workplaces, and everyday life.

Michael and Dan explore the anthropology of Home Depot, DIY culture, power tools, construction work, and why home repair projects inevitably spiral into chaos. Featuring medieval student jails, table saw trauma, commodity fetishism, and multiple unnecessary trips to the hardware store.

Competition has escaped the marketplace and colonized everyday life. Michael, Dan, and guest Justin Dang discuss hiring hell, finance clubs, networking culture, violence, wearable surveillance tech, and the strange systems institutions use to decide who “wins.”

This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael ask a deceptively simple question: what is a home? Unfortunately, modern America has several conflicting answers. A home is a sanctuary. A speculative asset. A retirement plan. A personality test. A tax shelter. A haunted structure slowly collapsing under the weight of deferred maintenance and financial ideology.

Equine obsession, Western mythologies, and why horses are better at reading you than you are.

“Human nature” is one of those phrases people use when they want to stop arguing. Boys are just like that. Men are naturally competitive. Women are better at caregiving. Kids need expensive enrichment classes. Gen Z is becoming weirdly conservative about gender. It’s just human nature. …except anthropology says: probably not.

This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael tackle the strange cultural life of books—why we treat them like holy objects, why libraries throw them away, and how to decide what’s actually worth reading.

Hackerspaces, communes, constitutional bugs, and the fantasy of getting people to do their chores.

From UFOs to ghosts to QAnon — an anthropological guide to why humans connect dots that may or may not exist. This week on People Stuff, Dan and Michael explore conspiracies, ghosts, elite scandals, and the deeply human urge to find meaning in chaos.

Dan and Michael welcome Jeopardy Tournament of Champions contestant Mike Dawson to explore trivia, fandom, history class suffering, tarot cards, fascist coups, and whether useless knowledge might secretly run society.

Season 3 of People Stuff is arriving soon — theoretically. Dan and Michael read off-season listener mail, confront accusations of academic indolence, hear from a trucker philosopher, and discover what happens when teenagers start demanding anarcho-syndicalist households. Anthropology advice returns March 31.

Stress is biological, cultural, symbolic—and everywhere. Dan, Michael, and guest scientist Michelle Rensel tackle hunting anxiety, high-school panic patterns, the cult of self-discipline, and why everyone feels one layoff away from catastrophe. Smart, funny, and a little too real.

Dan and Michael sit down with author and sports historian John Florio to dig into the strange, brilliant, and often chaotic world where sports, culture, and business collide. From the myths we tell about athletes to the politics that shape games on and off the field, this episode cuts through the noise with sharp analysis, deadpan humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism.

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.

“Why are the horses allowed to hit us?”

Anthropologists Dan and Michael take on workplace personality tests, IQ tracking, and pop psychology’s obsession with turning people into types.

Dan and Michael welcome genetic counselor and professional vegetarian Saanchi Shah to explore why humans attach so much identity to food — from paleo diet mythologies to prepper gardening obsessions to the gym bro who thinks raw meat makes you a better person. Also: a stolen 18-karat gold toilet, fixing public restrooms, and whether one can literally become pizza.

This week on People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael get very, very lost — in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at the dinner table, and even among the dead.

In this episode of People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael tackle the order of things — from Zen monks who don’t clean corners to kids demanding cash for chores to dads who can’t let go of their stuff. They explore how cleanliness, clutter, and money all reveal what we value (and what we avoid). Along the way, Michael “fixes” Congress, Dan questions enlightenment, and both get a little dusty. Smart, funny, and deeply human — it’s anthropology for everyone who’s ever swept something under the rug.

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.