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.
*** FOR MORE, please join our Patreon!! *** ONLY £4 A MONTH TO SUPPORT YOUR FAVOURITE CULTURAL HISTORIANS - AND GET 25+ BONUS EPISODES AND A CURSED OBJECTS STICKER PACK!
Theme music and production: Mr Beatnick
Artwork: Archie Bashford
Holy Toast!
Rainbow Rhythms and Neoliberal Blues
We Are Your Friends
Why Is The Left So Sad?
Dystopian Soft Play
Curry-Flavour Instant Ramen From Gdansk
The Case of the DVD Box Set
Be Sad and Shut Up
Houseplants or Revolution?
Welcome to Cursed Objects!
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
I SHAKE MY HEAD
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL