What is it about the Kardashians that makes some people's blood boil in anguish, and others beam with excitement?
They're the most polarizing family in America right now. And we're here to talk about them.
Welcome to episode 1 of our Strong Opinions Loosely Held podcast.
Allow Refinery29's Elisa Kreisinger to guide you through the low brow, high brow, and everything in between involving the Kardashian family. Or rather, "The Kardashian Industrial Komplex."
Led by Kreisinger and her guest Anne Helen Petersen, a features writer at BuzzFeed who
literally has a PhD in celebrity (she wrote her dissertation on the gossip industry), this talk is about the women who have been become "famous for no reason." The Kardashians are a new breed of celebrity for whom personality is considered a skill. We, as a society, are fascinated with Kim and her clan because of the family's unconventional rise to fame. From their social media posts to their reality show to their personalized apps, we see behind the curtain and get a glimpse at the struggles, and the vanity, that come with being in the public eye. "Her reality show [Keeping Up With the Kardashians] is the visualization of previously invisible labor," Petersen says of Kim's appeal. We are obsessed with the transparency they have given us. This episode is a deep dive into the inner workings of the Kardashian empire, and it may just leave you with a whole new perspective on the family with a billion-dollar presence in our culture. They're the new American dream, whether we're ready for it or not. Because the real question is — are people really sick of the Kardashians? Or have we just gotten used to complaining about them? Listen below via SoundCloud, and subscribe to Strong Opinions Loosely Held on iTunes, here.
literally has a PhD in celebrity (she wrote her dissertation on the gossip industry), this talk is about the women who have been become "famous for no reason." The Kardashians are a new breed of celebrity for whom personality is considered a skill. We, as a society, are fascinated with Kim and her clan because of the family's unconventional rise to fame. From their social media posts to their reality show to their personalized apps, we see behind the curtain and get a glimpse at the struggles, and the vanity, that come with being in the public eye. "Her reality show [Keeping Up With the Kardashians] is the visualization of previously invisible labor," Petersen says of Kim's appeal. We are obsessed with the transparency they have given us. This episode is a deep dive into the inner workings of the Kardashian empire, and it may just leave you with a whole new perspective on the family with a billion-dollar presence in our culture. They're the new American dream, whether we're ready for it or not. Because the real question is — are people really sick of the Kardashians? Or have we just gotten used to complaining about them? Listen below via SoundCloud, and subscribe to Strong Opinions Loosely Held on iTunes, here.