EPISODE · Aug 19, 2025 · 57 MIN
Dan and Michael Get Abducted: UFOs, Body Doubles, and the Weird Ways We Explain the Unexplainable
from People Stuff · host Michael Scroggins, Dan Souleles
This week on People Stuff:What Fresh Hell: “Unsinkable” — Dan on Titanic déjà vu and the myth of technology.Question 1: UFOs, drone swarms, and why mystery still matters.Question 2: Body doubles, tacit knowledge, and classroom conspiracies.Fixing Shit: Dan fixes “ostracism.” Could democracy use a reboot?Question 3: True crime, Pacific Northwest serial killers, and paranoia.💬 Got a question for Dan and Michael? Leave a voice memo or message at https://www.people-stuff.com/ In this episode of People Stuff, Dan and Michael discuss and/or are informed by:“Unsinkable” by Daniel Mendelsohn https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/16/unsinkable-titanic-iceberg“Removing Knowledge” by Peter Galison https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037c-4c4a-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content“On the Phenomenology of Giant Puppets Broken windows, imaginary jars of urine, and the cosmological role of the police in American culture” by David Graeber https://davidgraeber.org/articles/on-the-phenomenology-of-giant-puppets-broken-windows-imaginary-jars-of-urine-and-the-cosmological-role-of-the-police-in-american-culture/“The Bridge [Broen på dansk]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(2011_TV_series) 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
Dan and Michael get abducted — by ideas, conspiracies, and maybe aliens. This week, your favorite anthropologists of everyday life tackle UFOs, body doubles, and murder in the Pacific Northwest. From backyard sightings and drone swarms to doppelgängers in Ohio high schools, to true crime in the long dark winters of Washington, the guys explore why we believe what we believe — and how myths help us make sense of mystery. Along the way: The uncanny prediction of the Titanic disaster in 1898 What UFOs reveal about secrecy and American mythmaking Why your high school teacher might (not) be a body double Ostracism, Greek democracy, and why Dan wants to bring it back How to tell if your boyfriend is a serial killer (or just really into Nordic noir) If you like anthropology, philosophy, and the absurdity of human behavior, you’ll love this one.
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Dan and Michael Get Abducted: UFOs, Body Doubles, and the Weird Ways We Explain the Unexplainable
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