In this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael sit down with author and journalist John Florio to explore the anthropology of America’s true belief system: sports.
We dive into:
• The explosion of prop bets and whether players should—or shouldn’t—rig their own stats
• The slow creep of AI and automated officiating into every major sport
• Youth sports as a portal into American class anxiety
• Whether childhood is now a pipeline to the meritocracy
• Birkin bags, baseball scandals, the death of knuckleballers, and why beer should still cost ten cents
Chapters:
0:00 — Intro & Why Americans Worship Sports
4:32 — Birkin Bags and the Anthropology of Luxury
11:20 — Prop Bets and the Ethics of Self-Rigging
21:55 — MLB, Corruption & the Luis Ortiz Case
28:40 — AI Officiating & the Death of the Bad Call
37:15 — Children’s Sports & Class Panic
50:22 — Fixing Shit: Baseball Pitchers Edition
58:10 — How to Raise Non-Doughy Kids
1:08:45 — People Ball: Our Fake Sponsor
1:10:00 — Outro & Credits
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