Episodes

Halloween myths, indirect political speech, and deer in the suburbs — all through the lens of anthropology and humor.

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 offi…

Dan and Michael get abducted — by ideas, conspiracies, and maybe aliens. This week, your favorite anthropologists of everyday life tackle UFOs, body doubles, and murder in the Pacific Northwest. From backyard sightings and drone swarms to doppelgängers in Ohio high schools, to true crime in the lon…

Dan and Michael explore why names matter — from doomed bars to militias — and how our labels reveal who we think we are.

Do you need a degree—or just a wrench and some grit? Dan and Michael take on higher education, factory floors, and the future of labor.

Politicians posting bread, waiters demanding crypto, and a guy installing 13 doors to keep the cosmos aligned. Just another week on People Stuff — the anthropological advice show where touching grass means thinking deeply about why humans do the weird things we do. This week, Dan and Michael tackle…

Dan and Michael dive deep into the art of refusal — from saying “no” to conversations, to food, to entire worldviews. They tackle listener questions on political red-pilling, vaccine hesitancy, and culinary snobbery, blending real anthropology with absurd humor and social critique. Along the way, y…

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 a…

Season 1 of People is coming in early July. Here is a sneak peek of what Dan and Michael discuss.

People Stuff is a write-in anthropology podcast. In this episode, Dan and Michael go to Ikea and give advice on furniture shopping and relationships, whether you should make your bed, and how best to bring an urn to your in-laws. They also talk about the great chicken war, fix the Olympics, and shi…