Multitudes - Live From The Crowd! Ft. Hettie O’Brien Cursed Objects podcast

56:01

Sit down please. We have something very serious to tell you. We have made a severe and continuous lapse in our judgement. We are sorry if you feel offended, for some reason. We are sorry if you feel like you've been scammed - please believe that that was never our intention. WE'RE SORRY, OKAY!!!! After a summer taking some time to reflect on our mistakes and do the work, we are so back - talking public apology videos, Dapper Laughs, public accountability, crocodile tears, Blue Peter, Boris Johnson and why wearing a rollneck might be a sign that you have sinned. One thing Kasia and Dan will never apologise for: being back (so back), with a bunch of great new episodes in the tank for the weeks ahead. Thanks for your patience while we a) put on a very successful two-month-long exhibition , and b) had a break over the summer: especially huge thanks to our Patreon subscribers - you'll be getting regular Patreon-only episodes again now. If you'd like to join our Patreon, it is still only £4 a month, and there are 30+ bonus episodes in there already: https://www.patreon.com/c/cursedobjects Also a small content note: this is a light-hearted episode, but some of the things the public figures are apologising for include rape jokes and visiting a 'suicide forest', which are rather more grim, in case you'd rather avoid.…

Cursed Objects

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War, Memory and Tat, LIVE - with Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, Luke Turner and Kate Clements 58:44

13 weeks ago58:44

58:44

Coming to you LIVE from the Cursed Objects in Museum Shops exhibition, with three very special guests: Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, Luke Turner and Kate Clements. It's another lively live show, exploring war museums and their merch from several angles. How do war museums navigate ‘selling’ histories of death and destruction to their visitors? What can replica First World War trench whistles and Panzerfaust soft toys tell us about the changing relationship between the museum, its shop and its visitors? And what happens when museum shops themselves become sites of conflict, as in the recent ‘culture wars’ over the National Trust's ‘vegan’ scones? This event was recorded live as part of the event series connected to the Cursed Objects in Museum Shops exhibition at the Peltz Gallery. The exhibition is FREE and runs until 26 June, Mon-Fri 10am- 8pm. For more information, see here . (You've still got a few days left to see it!!) Our fabulous guests: Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley is a historian of twentieth-century Britain at the University of Southampton, specialising in questions about empire, politics, culture and identity. She is the author of Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain and the co-author of Is Free Speech Under Threat? Luke Turner is an author and editor. His most recent book Men at War: Loving, fighting, lusting, remembering 1939-1945 explores masculinity and sexuality within the memory of the Second World War. His first book, Out of the Woods , was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. Luke co-founded the influential music website The Quietus. Kate Clements is the author of Total War: A People’s History of the Second World War and The Royal Family in Wartime . She curated the award-winning Second World War Galleries at the Imperial War Museums, and is a former curator of the Churchill War Rooms. Kate is currently Curator of the Tower of London. With thanks to Jade Bailey for her help on the recording. This event was supported by the Centre for Museum Cultures, Birkbeck.…

Cursed Objects

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Millennium Tat: New Labour and the Neoliberal Gift-Shop 48:34

15 weeks ago48:34

48:34

Coming to you LIVE... we are joined by two very special friends of the pod – artist Darren Cullen (aka Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives ) and journalist and author Imogen West-Knights – as they explore the spirit of the millennium via the museum gift shop. New Labour were great proponents of the culture industries, and made admission to the UK’s national museums free in 2001. Did this and grand projects like the Millennium Dome change our relationship with museums? The podcast also explores how the contents of the museum gift shop have changed in the 21st century – and what this might tell us about the evolving nature of consumer capitalism. This event was recorded live as part of the event series connected to the Cursed Objects in Museum Shops exhibition at the Peltz Gallery. The exhibition is FREE and runs until 26th June, Mon-Fri 10am- 8pm. For more information, see here . (You've only got two weeks left to see it!!) About the speakers: Darren Cullen is a satirical artist, illustrator and writer, the creator of the ‘hell’ bus targeting oil companies’ greenwashing, and better known as Spelling Mistakes Costs Lives . In 2019 he co-curated the Museum of Neoliberalism, which was open until 2024. Imogen West-Knights is a freelance journalist and novelist, focusing on culture and politics for the Guardian, NY Times, FT, Slate and others. Her Guardian Long Read on the inside story of the Millennium Dome was published in 2020. With thanks to Jade Bailey for her help on the recording. This event was supported by the Centre for Museum Cultures, Birkbeck.…

Cursed Objects

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Live show #2: Exhibitionary complex 54:07

19 weeks ago54:07

54:07

Back by popular demand, our second-ever live show!! Dr Kasia Tee and Dan Hancox take you behind the scenes of their recently opened exhibition ‘Cursed Objects in Museum Shops’ at the Peltz Gallery . What does the history of neon signs, Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Lewis Chessmen socks have in common? As ever, expect the answer to be how life under late capitalism is producing some highly questionable tat. Sound production by the amazing Jade Bailey. ——- If you missed this event, don't worry - we have two more coming up! Millennium Tat - Wed 28 May, 7-8.30pm Join Dan and Kasia and two special guests - artist Darren Cullen and writer Imogen West-Knights – as they explore the spirit of the millennium via the museum gift shop. Book your place here . War, Memory and Tat - Wed 11 June, 7-8.30pm Join Kasia, Dan and three special guests – historian Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, author Luke Turner and curator Kate Clements – as they explore the presence of war in the museum shop. Book your place here . We hope to see some of you IRL in the next two months! And don't worry, the actual full podcasts are going to keep on coming - there will be recordings of the above on your feeds soon, and a new flurry of fresh episodes... For more Cursed Everything: https://www.patreon.com/c/cursedobjects…

Cursed Objects

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Cursed Objects in Museum Shops - live exhibition extravaganza 14:02

21 weeks ago14:02

14:02

To celebrate the launch of our first ever IRL exhibition, Cursed Objects in Museum Shops (2 May-26 June), we have several events coming in May and June. All of them are FREE, all are at Birkbeck Uni, 5 mins from Euston/King's Cross, but booking a place is essential - for full details, see our vibey new website, cursedobjects.co.uk Exhibition private view - Thu 1 May, 6-8pm Book your place here . Cursed Objects Live #2 - Thu 8 May, 7-8.30pm Back by popular demand, this is our second-ever live show, for Birkbeck's Arts Week! Book your place here . Millennium Tat - Wed 28 May, 7-8.30pm Join Dan and Kasia and two special guests - artist Darren Cullen and writer Imogen West-Knights – as they explore the spirit of the millennium via the museum gift shop. Book your place here . War, Memory and Tat - Wed 11 June, 7-8.30pm Join Kasia, Dan and three special guests – historian Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, author Luke Turner and curator Kate Clements – as they explore the presence of war in the museum shop. Book your place here . We hope to see some of you IRL in the next two months! And don't worry, the actual full podcasts are going to keep on coming - there will be recordings of the above on your feeds soon, and a new flurry of fresh episodes... now that we have a moment to breathe, and the exhibition is finally in place. For more Cursed Everything: https://www.patreon.com/c/cursedobjects…

Cursed Objects

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Big in Japan 50:09

24 weeks ago50:09

50:09

The Simpsons are going to (have just been to) Japan! And they’re here to tell you about what they did on their holidays – to discuss sustainable Japanese craft techniques, heated toilet seats, and a proliferation of cheap disposable plastic. Here are some of our key findings: Don’t mistreat the indigo vats. Japanese culture is trending. £4 bowls of ramen! (Four pounds Jeremy, that’s insane.) You can find William Morris paper cups in the 100Yen store. A good loquat is hard to find. Kasia wants to meet everyone’s siblings. HUGE NEWS: Cursed Objects in Museum Shops, our first ever IRL exhibition, opens VERY soon. 2 May - 26 June, the Peltz Gallery near Euston station; details here . CURSED OBJECTS LIVE: 8 May 2025, tickets are free, but you need to sign up via our Patreon - only £4 a month! And you get 30+ free bonus episodes - with a lot more new bonus episodes to come (just as soon as the exhibition is in place, and we get a chance to breathe). VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE! https://cursedobjects.co.uk/ - designed by Sophie Monk.…

Cursed Objects

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YESisode - Yoko Ono fridge magnet 50:34

31 weeks ago50:34

50:34

YES you can! SI se puede! Say YES to adventures. Say YES to life. Say YES to your boss (however dumb and awful their suggestion!). This week, Kasia and Dan are taking on 21st century positivity culture, YES men and women, Dice men, negative Nancies, toxic white-collar culture, wellness gurus, FOMO, JOMO, YOLO and YOKO (Ono). When did it become culturally hegemonic that you have to say yes to everything? Smile through the pain baby! ""“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott" - Dan and Kasia" Sign up to our Patreon NOW to get first ticket news about the live events around our upcoming Cursed Objects exhibition at the Peltz Gallery in May and June ! Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Straight off the Dome ft. Imogen West-Knights 59:35

35 weeks ago59:35

59:35

Roll-up, roll-up for the biggest tent of all! We’re launching into 2025 with a very special guest, Imogen West-Knights, and an absolutely vast cursed object, containing lots of smaller ones. That’s right, we’re turning the clock back a full quarter of a century to revisit the universal mockery, dodgy sponsors, New Labour hubris, sweet childhood memories, general hilarity, bomb threats and national self-loathing that all came messily, hilariously together to fill the Millennium Dome. At the time, it was viewed as the white elephant that would stomp over all other white elephants, the most embarrassing of political failures – but Imogen’s obsessive reporting on the Dome’s history has turned up a more interesting verdict altogether. Was this the ultimate symbol of the early Blair years, for better and worse? What was the Dome Minister’s deep connection to the 1951 Festival of Britain? What was it actually like to visit the Dome as a child in 2000? Should we all be a bit less cynical about massive projects like this? Just how tacky was it in the end? And what was the true spirit of the Willennium - sorry, millennium? Thanks so much to the brilliant Imogen West-Knights for sharing her worrying level of expertise on the Dome with us – you can read her 2020 Guardian Long Read on the Dome here . And buy her excellent debut novel Deep Down here . She is on BlueSky @ImogenWK . Big thanks to Cursed Objects listener Tilly Hawkins for also suggesting the 'Been there, DOME that' badge for our upcoming installation at the Peltz , and to H.O.M.E for providing a studio - check them out if you're a creative looking for a space to work in London. Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Cursed Objects on Location! At a Haunted Seaside Hotel 18:10

39 weeks ago18:10

18:10

It's a Spooky Christmas special! This week's Cursed Objects is a little bit less Stuart Hall, and a little bit more Derek Acorah, with an episode recorded on location in St Leonards, from the musty heart of a crumbling royal seaside hotel, ft. spluttering pipes, ancient heaters that smell of burning dust, random insects, rotting sash windows, damp everywhere and a fascinating history. Queen Victoria herself signed the visitors’ book, as Princess of Prussia, no less. Dan and Kasia lean into the weird muzak and faded 1920s glamour and ask, what the hell is going on on the 3rd floor? Could it be MURDER, or HAUNTING? What music do you imagine freemasons listening to? Will Kasia lick the Grade II listed staircase? Will Dan ride down the bannisters? What do Morrissey and Chris Rea have to do with all this? Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Happy Trad-mas ft. Mr Beatnick and Archie Bashford 1:14:02

40 weeks ago1:14:02

1:14:02

Back by popular demand, it's our annual Christmas party! And this year we’re wrestling with TRADITION. Are you making a list, and checking it twice – just as you always do? Have you demanded figgy pudding from your local landowner – and threatened violence if you don’t get some? Are you hanging up your stockings on the wall with Noddy Holder? What traditions define your Christmas? We’ve got Christmas tree gherkins, obscene Christmas jumpers, schmaltzy John Lewis adverts, and pop songs that make your ears bleed. It truly is the most cursed time of the year! Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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UNLOCKED - Magna Darta dart board 1:02:33

43 weeks ago1:02:33

1:02:33

From Patreon to main feed: Welcome all free-born Englishmen, sovereign citizens, rebel barons and new patrons! We're talking about myths of Englishness, why the state has such a fragile ego, a Covid-denying soft play centre called Cirq-D-Play, and why everyone is obsessed with an 807-year-old legal document that had to be rewritten several times and was then scrapped anyway. Theme music and production: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Subversive Coffee 14:39

45 weeks ago14:39

14:39

This week, it's a deep dive into a steaming mug of cawfee. Hot java. A cup of Joe. Black gold. This is an episode about "the abominable, heathen-ish liquor" they tried to ban (they really did), and the array of wild political, social, cultural and moral meanings that have been attached to it over the centuries. What is a "sober intoxicant", what do genuine psychonauts make of it, and in what ways is coffee ‘more than a drink’, from its colonial history, to 17th century coffee houses, to its social role today? And then there's this incredibly cursed 21st century mug: what is with this cringeworthy tendency to dress things which are quotidian and ultimately wholesome up as if they are illicit, counter-cultural, or subversive? Where does this ‘Brewdog-coded’ recuperation of transgressive words, behaviours and signs come from? Also: which famous writer swallowed handfuls of ground coffee beans, until it made him sick? Which awful magazines were founded in 18th-century coffee houses? Have you heard of London chain 'Fuckoffee', and do you think we can get it shut down for being the lamest place on earth? Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Multitudes - Live From the Crowd! Ft. Hettie O’Brien 17:16

47 weeks ago17:16

17:16

As a Cursed Objects bonus, without an actual cursed object, we present a live recording of Dan in conversation about his brand new book Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World , recorded with friend of the pod, the brilliant journalist Hettie O’Brien at Burley Fisher Books in London on 30 October 2024. Multitudes is out now, you can buy it here , or read various extracts and crowds-related articles on Dan’s substack here . Hettie’s book Diminishing Returns will be published in 2026, and until then, you can read her incredible long reads and other journalism here at The Guardian . **** To listen to the full-length episode, and 30-odd more exclusive episodes – please join our Patreon !! ** ONLY £4 A MONTH TO SUPPORT YOUR FAVOURITE CULTURAL HISTORIANS ** **** Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Every Breath You Take ft. Dr Alice Bell 1:08:56

49 weeks ago1:08:56

1:08:56

Air isn't an object, right? Wrong. This week, climate comms expert and historian Dr Alice Bell makes Dan and Kasia think hard about ephemerality via a jam jar of polluted air, captured 'fresh' from the Euston Road in north London. In doing so they explore the history of the climate crisis – where it came from, who covered it up, and when people started noticing we were ruining the only planet we have. Alice leads us through fog, smog and fumes, answering questions like: why were London’s famous “pea-soupers” yellow-tinged (like yellow split-peas), rather than green-tinged? Why was coal dust understood to be a sign of thriving industry and progress? Why did unwell people go to seaside resorts to “take the air”? Which popular English meal was invented purely to give people a social activity indoors, away from the smog? Why have children always been at the forefront of the climate movement, from 1980s episodes of Blue Peter to the school strikes today? What do tobacco and fossil fuel lobbying have in common? Elsewhere, there is talk of Shell: The Musical , whaling ships, Captain Planet, Margaret Thatcher, and an answer to the biggest climate question of all, the one you've all been asking: what does Ludacris have to do with arctic drilling? Dr Alice Bell is Head of Policy for Climate and Health at the Wellcome. Her book ‘Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis’ (Bloomsbury, 2021) is available now, and is captivating, enlightening stuff - get involved! **** For the full-length episode, and 30-odd more exclusive episodes – please join our Patreon !! ** ONLY £4 A MONTH TO SUPPORT YOUR FAVOURITE CULTURAL HISTORIANS ** **** Theme music: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford…

Cursed Objects

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Kill the Boss in Your Head 14:30

51 weeks ago14:30