Segments
What Fresh Hell:
Michael wonders: what exactly is a tariff, and why do they matter? Dan breaks down the economics, politics, and psychological weirdness behind trade policy — and why tariffs might say more about national insecurity than global economics.
The IKEA Question:
A listener writes in after an IKEA trip threatens to end their relationship. Dan and Michael unpack what IKEA really is — a “heterotopia” where ideal homes and impossible standards collide — and how the store functions as a modern carnival of domestic fantasy. Can any couple survive the maze of Swedish design and relationship self-reflection?
The Bed Question:
Should you make your bed? The hosts dissect productivity culture, moral cleanliness, and the illusion of “self-improvement.” Is making your bed really about respect — or just capitalist virtue signaling?
Fixing Shit:
Michael “fixes” the Olympics — by suggesting they should be nude and chemically enhanced. It’s radical egalitarianism through chaos.
The Ashes Question:
A listener wonders if they can bring their mother’s ashes to their partner’s minimalist family home. Dan and Michael dive into global death rituals — from the Yanomami’s ash soup to Inca mummies — and explore why Western culture avoids talking about death at all. Spoiler: it’s not weird to keep the dead around; it’s deeply human.
Outro:
Sponsored (sort of) by IKEA’s fictitious funerary line, dödsberedskap, and the People Stuff Griefbot™. Because why not keep chatting forever?
Themes & Topics
Anthropology of everyday life
Domestic spaces & consumption
Capitalism, death, and design
Productivity culture and self-help myths
Ritual, grief, and the social life of objects
Humor & absurdism in academia
Works Cited
Swedish Design by Keith Murphy can be found here: Swedish Design by Keith M. Murphy | Paperback | Cornell University Press
Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin can be found here: Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin | MIT Press
Find all things People Stuff at: linktr.ee/PeopleStuffPod
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
