Are we what we eat? Should kale be a personality? Why are men suddenly shoveling raw beef into their mouths like feral crossfit raccoons? This week anthropologists Dan and Michael interview genetic counselor + legitimate adult Saanchi Shah, who tries to offer actual wisdom while the hosts spiral into food-based existentialism.

Topics include:

Paleo diets and why “we stopped evolving after the Ice Age” is terrible science

When gardening becomes prepping and prepping becomes a personality

The gym bro committed to 100% raw meat, 0% critical thought

The stolen 18-karat gold toilet named America

Why cities need public bathrooms more than they need tech incubators

Are you pizza if you eat pizza? (anthropology says… maybe yes??)

Also: squat toilets, Jain philosophy, steroid economics, and the eternal war between Neapolitan pizza and the casserole known as “Chicago-style.”

That’s it for this week’s People Stuff — the show where two anthropologists try (and sometimes fail) to make sense of people.

If you’ve got a question, a dilemma, or just something deeply weird about humanity you’d like us to unpack, send it our way at people-stuff.com

Credits

Produced by Gabe Bullard
Music by The Endless Bummer
Art by Siobhan Henegan
Marketing by Bryan Haut
Legal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.

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So go to people-stuff.com