Silicon Valley has officially gone full Vatican. Michael and Dan discuss why “hard tech” still obeys the laws of physics — and why that’s a problem if your investors think God is personally backing their startup valuation. Featuring: • American exceptionalism in pitch decks • Defense-tech cosplay • Peter Thiel’s……
Startup founders now need two pitch decks: one for normal investors, and one for VCs who think the Earth is 5,000 years old and climate activists are in league with the devil. Dan and Michael explain why consultants are already telling founders to “lean into the fascist vibes” if they…
Your car isn’t just a car — it’s your second skin, your private fortress, your suburban god. This week, anthropologists Dan and Michael dive into the anthropology of parking rage, Uber guilt, and Elon Musk worship. From HOA vendettas to the myth of “efficiency,” from the Hyperloop to gift-giving aggression,…
AI might be impressive, but can it beat electricity? Michael argues that economist Robert Gordon was right — innovation has literally run into the limits of physics. From oil to internal combustion to air conditioning (yes, really), the big leaps happened between 1870 and 1970. Everything since? Mostly rearranging the…
Remember The Simpsons “Monorail” episode? Turns out it’s the perfect metaphor for modern innovation. In this clip, Dan and Michael trace the lineage from The Music Man to Elon Musk’s tunnels — and discover that sometimes the only person making sense is Marge. 🎧 From the full episode of People…
Are you a “blue brain,” a “Phoebe,” or just someone who didn’t ask to be color-coded? 🎨 This week, Dan and Michael go full anthropologist on the bizarre world of personality tests, IQ exams, and pop-psych nonsense. 🧠 What’s Inside: 00:00 — Peter Thiel, Greta Thunberg, and the End Times…
Remember Liver King — the guy who got famous eating raw meat on Instagram? 🍖 Turns out, he wasn’t just powered by liver… he was on steroids the whole time. Anthropologists Dan and Michael unpack what the Liver King reveals about masculinity, mythmaking, and why gym culture might be the…
If a public restroom costs $3 million to build… what if, instead, we just paid businesses to let people use theirs — and held a competition for the nicest bathroom in town? It’s public infrastructure meets reality TV. From People Stuff, where anthropologists Dan and Michael (and friends) explore the…
American pizza? Sorry, that’s not pizza — that’s a deep-dish casserole with identity issues. In this clip from People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael debate the essence of pizza, authenticity, and why California pizza might just be late-stage capitalism in food form. Turns out, anthropology can explain your food fights.…
What happens when a pandemic sourdough hobby turns into full-blown suburban permaculture madness? In this clip from People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael break down how a harmless “grow your own veggies” project spirals into prepper-level food ideology. Turns out, being “off the grid” might just be the new keeping-up-with-the-Joneses.…
Can you get jacked without eating raw meat like a 14th-century Viking who lost his fridge? Yes. Do some people think steroids + steak = enlightenment? Also yes. So we brought anthropology to the gym and asked: Why are grown men throwing raw meat at each other — and calling…
Are you what you eat — or are you just annoying about it? Anthropologists Dan and Michael ask genetic counselor Saanchi Shah why people turn food into identity, morality, and chaos. 🍖 Paleo diets & evolutionary nonsense 🥩 Raw-meat gym bros 🥕 When “growing your own food” becomes a personality…
Dan argues that superheroes replace democratic politics with “one magic dude who fixes everything with lasers.” Michael says they’re less Mussolini, more “Charles Bronson in spandex.” So… are capes secretly killing democracy, or are we just all one bat-signal away from giving up on voting? 🦸♂️🗳️ Drop your answer in…
Ever feel like you’re constantly in a fight — about health, politics, parenting, or whatever the “issue of the week” is? Dan and Michael break down the anthropology of why you can’t turn every disagreement into a battle and still expect to live a normal life. It’s not about giving…
What’s in a name? A lot more than you think. This week, Dan and Michael—anthropologists with a sense of humor—dig into the deep cultural and psychological meanings of naming things. From a doomed bar called “Stacy’s Mom,” to a gun club on the verge of becoming a militia, to a…
This week on People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael dive into the modern work dilemma: college vs. trade school, blue collar vs. white collar, AI vs. human labor. They cover: ⚙️ Why college might not be the rite of passage it used to be 👷♂️ What’s really happening on factory…
People join monasteries thinking they’re escaping the world — but what they really find is more people. In this clip from People Stuff, anthropologists Dan and Michael unpack why monastic life is never truly solitary, and how “DIY monks” living ascetic lives in studio apartments miss the point of community.…
Why do people still believe the razor blades in Halloween candy story? And what do moral panics, political rumors, and deer in suburbia have in common? In this episode, anthropologists Dan Souleles and Michael Scroggins dig into how rumors, myths, and moral panics reveal our fears, social structures, and the…
Ever wondered why men space themselves out at urinals? Dan and Michael break down the unspoken bathroom code — and why violating it feels like a social crisis. 🚽💀 🎙️ From People Stuff, the anthropology podcast about why humans are so wonderfully weird. 🔗 Hear the full episode: www.people-stuff.com #PeopleStuffPodcast,…
This week, anthropologists Dan and Michael explore what happens when places are too perfect, chairs are too familiar, and cemeteries are too haunted (socially speaking). 💭 Questions this episode explores: Why do some “perfect” towns make us feel trapped? What’s up with everyone sitting in the same seat forever? Should…
Turns out, cleanliness isn’t universal — it’s cultural. Anthropologists Dan and Michael dive (ha) into how 17th-century Europeans shocked Indigenous people in the Americas… by never bathing. 🧽💀 This short from People Stuff breaks down the weird history of hygiene, colonial arrogance, and why your bathroom habits are basically anthropology.…
What happens when two anthropologists try to fix everything wrong with society — one bad idea at a time? This week, Dan and Michael tackle: 🧠 Politicians oversharing on social media 💸 Unionized waiters who want to be paid in crypto 💉 Fixing vaccine hesitancy with darts (and cash) 🚪…
In the late 1940s, French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss watched a shaman in the Amazon cure a woman’s trauma — not with medicine, but through symbols, metaphors, and stories. Sound familiar? That’s therapy. In this clip from People Stuff, Dan and Michael explore how modern psychology may just be the latest…
This week, Dan and Michael explore the strange anthropology of refusal — from political polarization to family drama over food. Why do people refuse to engage, comply, or even taste your abuela’s tamales? They unpack listener questions on red-pilling, vaccine skepticism, and cultural food divides, mixing humor, history, and social…