Kasia and Dan are earning their lunch. And it’s a big, steaming bowl of cuteness! They go to the Somerset House ‘Cute’ exhibition to unravel how this seemingly benign cultural phenomenon has come to infect our brains with adorable kittens and kawaii.
Often seen as infantile and saccharine - can cuteness be emancipatory or is it an escape from the grim reality of the world? What does it mean for accountability when you turn yourself into a ‘smol bean’? Who or what is behind the ‘cute’ disciples who preach the Hello Kitty gospel on internet forums and instagram reels? Kasia and Dan discuss the sinister influences of global capitalism while simultaneously mourning the lost utopian futures of PC music via the very cursed object of Hello Kitty-branded motor oil.
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Theme music and production: Mr Beatnick
Artwork: Archie Bashford
The Work Of Toblerone In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction
Milking It
Death to False Metal! H&M Guns ’n’ Roses baby grow
Elf Bars For Days
Where were you when.. (ROYAL EDITION)
Chairman Meow
BONUS episode - In the Guantánamo Bay Gift Shop
Making a Meal of It - ft. Lucy Dearlove
BONUS episode - The One With The Long 90s
Swear Down!
BONUS episode - Herbal Tea Advent Calendar
Me and USSR and Everyone We Know
Cursed and Blessed Ghosts of Christmas Past - ft. Archie Bashford and Mr Beatnick
Abject Pumpkinism
*UNLOCKED* The Walter Benjamin Escape Town
*PREVIEW* - Marmalade Sandwiches and National Mourning
There Goes The Neighbourhood ft. Les Back
Lost in the Supermarket - Bags for Life and Loyalty Fobs
*PREVIEW* - The Cybergoth International: day-glo ties, Gen Z and youth subcultures
*UNLOCKED* Summer of strikes / when the lights go out
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