Here at Stupid Anthropology, we take the stances that other podcasts won't. For example: We hate artists. All of them. Listen to us talk about how much we hate them. Slides here. Music by Daniel Griggs

The gang has a completely normal, rational, and sober discussion about apocalypses - both fictional and the one we're hurtling toward. Music by Daniel Griggs.

Aaron, Robert, and Jonny hold a very coherent and listenable debate about whether or not space sucks.

Robert, Aaron, and Jonny have a completely reasonable conversation about what's happening in Gaza. While listening, why not do something productive like donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNHCR, or any number of other groups trying to materially improve the conditions of people who are the latest victims of the United States military-industrial complex. Digressions include: Aaron is doing fine Stardew Valley tips We hate media trends! Is no one else tired? Music by Daniel Griggs. Ominous wooshing by the Walrus-Man.

Jonny, Robert, and Aaron talk the ultimate sin: Selling out.

Have you ever received a book in the mail that you didn't order and, like a maniac, chose to inflict it on friends instead of throwing it away? Aaron has! Join us as Aaron reads bits of a sadly dull Jehovah's Witness book at Shark and Rachel and the three talk about how disappointed they are. Hey, you can't always have a well-researched episode about culture. You just can't.

Robert and Aaron talk about two amazing contributions to human civilization. Music by Daniel Griggs

The conclusion to our three-part series on Watchmen! Jonny takes the gang through various analyses of the comic and everyone is - still - amazed that anyone can walk away from it with a positive perception of Rorshach. Music by Daniel Griggs

Jonny takes the gang through a DETAILED (and yet not detailed enough) synopsis of the Watchmen novel. We talk through the characterizations a bit and start delving into what it all means, but more of that to come! Music by Daniel Griggs

Long-time listener and first-time caller Jonny Lim takes the gang on the start of their journey through Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen. I, Aaron, would like to reiterate that Welcome Back Kotter is a show that exists and I'm very glad that Jonny backs me up on this.

What?! An episode under an hour?!?!?!? Aaron brings some serious old coot energy to another """"palette cleanser."""" This one's about John Carpenter's THEY LIVE. Music by Daniel Griggs (good luck on the move, buddy!) Some extra reading: Revisiting the Dystopian L.A. of Sci-Fi Classic They Live, 30 Years Later: https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/they-live-filming-locations-30-years/ John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’ Was Supposed to Be a Warning. We Didn’t Heed It. We Didn’t Even Understand It.: https://www.theringer.com/movies/2018/10/4/17933020/they-live-john-carpenter-america-donald-trump John Carpenter Looks Back on ‘They Live': 'It's Not Science Fiction. It's a Documentary' https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/john-carpenter-looks-back-on-they-live-its-174619686.htm 30 Minutes on: "They Live" https://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/30-minutes-on-they-live Influencers are faking brand deals https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/12/influencers-are-faking-brand-deals/578401/ TikTok is full of shady secret advertisements https://www.vox.com/recode/23197348/tiktok-ad-sponcon-influencers

The gang fails at having a relaxed conversation about the bullshit phenomenon of alpha wolves. Yet another palette cleanser that is not a palette cleanser. Ah well.

The group wraps up our journey through the internet with a long, long discussion about the gold standard, grifts, crypto, and AI. Shark and Rachel align themselves with the Machines, while Aaron yells at clouds. Music by Daniel Griggs Reading list: On Mt. Gox: https://www.wired.com/2014/03/bitcoin-exchange/ “Could gold be the next Libor scandal?” What Drives Gold Prices?, Federal Reserve The Bank War, history.com Is Gold an Inflation Hedge?, Forbes Wizard of Oz and the Gold Standard, Marianne Hayes Ron Paul and Steve Forbes Jack Each Other Off About Gold A year on, El Salvador's bitcoin experiment is stumbling The New York Couple Behind El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experiment The Electricity Costs of Bitcoin, CNET Proof of Stake, Proof of Work No, Bitcoin isn't pumping because it's a "safe haven" from banks Dunning-Kruger Effect Dunning-Kruger Isn't Real, Psychology Today A Crypto Game Promised to Lift Filipinos Out of Poverty. Here's What Happened Instead, Time Exclusive: Large bitcoin payments to right-wing activists a month before Capitol riot linked to foreign account, Yahoo News The Enshittification of TikTok  

Aaron brings Robert and Rachel through the horrors of venture capital, Meta's quarterly reports, and the enshittification of the web. Music by Daniel Griggs. READ THIS STUFF: A funny Tweet about how shitty the Internet is. How Venture Capital Works, Harvard Business Review How Venture Capitalists Make Decisions, Harvard Business Review Competition is for Losers, Peter Thiel in the Wall Street Journal Facebook's culpability in genocide NBC News Council on Foreign Relations The Guardian Meta's financial report The Supreme Court Could Destroy the Internet Next Week, Legal Eagle How to Ditch Facebook Without Losing Your Friends (or Family, Customers, or Communities), Cory Doctorow and the EFF TikTok's enshittification, Cory Doctorow Content Moderation is Infosec, Cory Doctorow A series of studies on the ease with which tech companies spread misinformation https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/22/22740703/twitter-algorithm-right-wing-amplification-study https://www.businessinsider.com/transphobia-ted-kaczynski-tiktok-algorithm-right-wing-self-radicalization-2021-11?op=1 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/26/facebook-conservatives-2020-421146 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1536504218766547 https://www.brookings.edu/research/echo-chambers-rabbit-holes-and-ideological-bias-how-youtube-recommends-content-to-real-users/ https://www.wired.com/story/right-wing-fake-news-more-engagement-facebook/ https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/facebook-twitter-don-t-censor-conservatives-they-hire-promote-them-ncna1245308 https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/10/more-internal-documents-show-how-facebooks-algorithm-prioritized-anger-and-posts-that-triggered-it/  The Internet's video focus is based on a lie, Slate Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things, Catherynne M. Valente Social Media and Algorithms, PBS Nova

Aaron leads Robert and Rachel through the early days of the Internet. The gang talks about the worst people imaginable: Corporate stooges and Grateful Dead lyricists. Music by Daniel Griggs Sources: Why Open Source Misses the Point of Free Software, Stallman: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html Cyberlibertarians’ Digital Deletion of the Left: https://jacobin.com/2013/12/cyberlibertarians-digital-deletion-of-the-left Making common sense of cyberlibertarian ideology: The journalistic consecration of John Perry Barlow: https://jstor.org/stable/community.32839336 Cyberlibertarian myths and the prospects for community: https://doi.org/10.1145/270858.270864 Cyber Libertarianism - The Case for Real Internet Freedom: https://techliberation.com/2009/08/12/cyber-libertarianism-the-case-for-real-internet-freedom/ Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace: https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence

Rachel takes Aaron and Robert through the history of drag, the unmitigated good of drag brunches and drag story hour, and how the right is trying to ruin a whole lot of good peoples' lives. This is, ostensibly, a palette cleanser episode but, well, Florida and the South in general are bummers. Music by Daniel Griggs

Robert and Aaron reminisce about their lives spent with their eyes glued to monitors while Rachel looks on in horror. By which I mean, Robert talks about how the first-person shooter genre opens people up to be anesthetized to the horrors of the world, BUT ALSO how the first-person shooter genre can be artful and allow people to explore those horrors in an artful way a la - not surprisingly - Wolfenstein: The New Order. Don't worry, we talk about the Nazis.   Music by Daniel Griggs.

The gang continues their traipse through the history of country music, this time focusing on Richard Nixon and how 9/11 broke everyone's brains. There are far too many digressions to count in this one, so I'm not even going to try.   Music by Daniel Griggs

Robert takes Aaron on a journey through the history of the politics of country music, then shatters Aaron's psyche by reminding him about Brooks & Dunn.   Music by Daniel Griggs

Aaron takes Robert and Rachel on an adventure through the glories of the Ip Man quadrilogy and RRR. Are these movies mere propaganda? Are they are? Or are they REALLY FUN ACTION MOVIES, YOU GUYS! (Question mark.) Music by Daniel Griggs.