People Stuff
by Michael Scroggins, Dan Souleles
Do Other Cultures Have Alien Myths? 👽 PEOPLE STUFF S4E2: Space!
About this podcast
People Stuff is a write-in, anthropology advice podcast wherein we answer all sorts of questions with the weird and wonderful wisdom that anthropology offers. From whether you should make your bed to what you owe to the dead, no dilemma is too tiny, no conundrum too vast for a little bit of anthropology. After all, as a species, we've been human-ing for like 300,000 years already. Surely we've figured some stuff out.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 53 episodes
- Do Other Cultures Have Alien Myths? 👽 PEOPLE STUFF S4E2: Space! · 49 min · Season 4 Episode 2Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be asteroid miners. This week on the pod, Dan and Michael examine how hyper-capitalism ruined the dream of becoming an astronaut.
- Your Brain on Ads: The Ancient Instincts Marketers Exploit · 44 min · Season 4 Episode 1Advertising creates problems that don't exist, with claims that make no sense, to sell us products we don't need. So why does it work SO damn well?
- A Very People Stuff Programming Note · 2 min · Season 4
- [Encore] Why Do We Care About TV People? (feat. Arianna Haut of Jeopardy & Master Minds) · 1 h 10 min · Season 3An anthropologist, a game show champion, and an increasingly unhealthy relationship with television investigate why celebrities feel like friends, whether violent media changes…
- [Encore] Dan and Michael Touch Grass: Social media, crypto wages, and a house with 13 doors walk into a podcast · 54 min · Season 3Politicians 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…
- [ENCORE] Dan and Michael Heard it through the Grapevine | Urban Legends, Rumors, and Why Politicians Talk Like Marketers · 58 min · Season 3Halloween myths, indirect political speech, and deer in the suburbs — all through the lens of anthropology and humor.
- Honor, Shame, Friendship & Job Hunting | Why Losing Face Hurts More Than You Think · 51 min · Season 3 Episode 18Why your best friend can call you an idiot, why job hunting feels humiliating, HOA politics, honor cultures, and whether the internet deserves to die.
- Dan and Michael Consider the Fruit of the Vine | Wine, Hospitality, Catholic Rituals & Why Gen Z Quit Drinking · 56 min · Season 3 Episode 17Wine snobs, communion wine, gift etiquette, Gen Z sobriety, globalization, and why every dinner invitation comes with a tiny anthropological tax.
- [Encore] Dan and Michael Are Not Your Type: Corporate astrology, MBTI madness, and the myth of the measurable self · 59 min · Season 3Dan and Michael take on workplace personality tests, IQ tracking, and pop psychology’s obsession with turning people into types.
- Heat waves, AI layoffs, Finnish saunas, and why Americans can't relax · 48 min · Season 3 Episode 16What does heat reveal about culture?
- Home Cooking, Kitchen Gadgets, Dinner Party Etiquette & Food Culture | Dan and Michael Left the Oven On (feat. Bryan Haut) · 58 min · Season 3 Episode 14Kitchen gadgets, food allergies, dinner party etiquette, hospitality, beans, and why cooking is really about people.
- [Encore] Dan and Michael Get Spooked: The Anthropology of Fear and Other Modern Hauntings · 1 h 2 min · Season 3This 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…
- Why Do We Care About TV People? (feat. Arianna Haut of Jeopardy & Master Minds) · 1 h 10 min · Season 3 Episode 13An anthropologist, a game show champion, and an increasingly unhealthy relationship with television investigate why celebrities feel like friends, whether violent media changes…
- Why Is Los Angeles Like This? Traffic, Identity, Hollywood, and the Meaning of LA (feat. Saanchi Shah) · 1 h 3 min · Season 3 Episode 12Why 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…
- Camping Isn’t Survival: Hiking, Hunting, REI Culture, and the Outdoors · 50 min · Season 3 Episode 11Why 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…
- Why Humans Need Privacy | Shelter, Office Design, and the Anthropology of Space (feat. Gretchen Pfeil) · 1 h 6 min · Season 3 Episode 10Anthropologist 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…
- Dan and Michael Go to Home Depot | DIY Culture, Hardware Stores, and Why Every Project Requires 4 Trips · 52 min · Season 3 Episode 9Michael 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…
- Dan and Michael Never Could Have Been Contenders (feat. Justin Dang) | Competition, Hiring Hell, and Finance Club Hunger Games · 1 h 11 min · Season 3 Episode 8Competition has escaped the marketplace and colonized everyday life. Michael, Dan, and guest Justin Dang discuss hiring hell, finance clubs, networking culture, violence…
- Home Is Where the Asset Is: FIRE Roommates, Haunted Houses, and Billionaires Who Don’t Pay Taxes · 1 h 2 min · Season 3 Episode 7This 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…
- Dan and Michael Get Back in the Saddle (with Jennifer Van Tiem) | Horses and the Anthropology of Riding · 59 min · Season 3 Episode 6Equine obsession, Western mythologies, and why horses are better at reading you than you are.







