Dan and Michael Destroy Democracy: Tech Kings, High School Elections, and the Tyranny of Tote Bags

from People Stuff · host Dan Souleles, Michael Scroggins

Key Themes and Topics:The decline of democracy and rise of tech authoritarianismCurtis Yarvin and the myth of the “CEO monarch”Liberal democracy vs. fascist aestheticsStudent politics and the mirror of national electionsOrganizational governance and consensus decision-makingAirline inequality and the anthropology of travelHumor, politics, and why anthropology still matters KeywordsWhy democracy feels broken in 2025What is Curtis Yarvin’s neo-monarchism?Funny political podcast about democracyAnthropology meets politics podcastWhat’s wrong with student elections?Consensus decision making in activismAirline class inequality explainedComedy podcast about society and governance Works CitedIn this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:An article in the Times about that rigged Texas lottery: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/us/rigged-texas-lottery.htmlA profile of Curtis Yarvin in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/curtis-yarvin-profile“Does the “New Economy” Measure Up to the Great Inventions of the Past” by Robert Gordon https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.4.49“Election” (the movie) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126886/“The Tyranny of Structurelessness” by Jo Freeman https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm 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 CreditsProduced by Gabe BullardMusic by The Endless BummerArt by Siobhan HeneganMarketing by Bryan HautLegal support by The Law Office of Matthew Shayefar, the one true business uncle.You can also sign up for our newsletter, drop us a voice memo, or become a Friend of People Stuff — which is our fancy way of saying you get to support the show and we get to keep talking about dust, dads, and late capitalism.So go to people-stuff.com

What this episode covers

This week on People Stuff, anthropologists Michael and Dan take a wrecking ball to democracy itself — from Curtis Yarvin’s neo-monarchist fantasies to student-body elections gone full Nixon. In this episode: What Fresh Hell: The Texas Lottery “rigging” that proves math isn’t the problem — lazy officials are. The Big Question: Is democracy actually broken? Michael and Dan unpack the anti-democracy ideas of Curtis Yarvin, the myth of the “CEO king,” and why liberal democracy still matters (plus, what’s more important — air conditioning or AI?). High School Power Plays: When student-body elections turn into campaign nightmares, what’s a parent to do? Hint: Go negative. Hard. Fixing Shit: Dan redesigns airline boarding for a more egalitarian sky, while Michael says the real fix is fewer flights — and fewer heat domes. Freedom and the Endless Meeting: Activism and consensus — when “everyone has a say” means you never leave the meeting. Plus, a fake sponsorship you’ll wish was fake: Technofascism™ — available wherever super yachts are sold.

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Dan and Michael Destroy Democracy: Tech Kings, High School Elections, and the Tyranny of Tote Bags

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This episode was published on August 26, 2025.

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