Kaibyō: The Strange Cats of Japan, Part 2

In this series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss anthropomorphic personifications of death in human culture. What do they mean? Where do they come from? Why and how are they gendered? Find out…See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

NASA and IBM have developed advanced AI foundation models that analyze satellite data to reveal patterns across Earth and beyond. These tools are already driving real‑world impact, from helping Kenya plan the planting of 15 billion trees to enabling the UK to track harmful algae ...  Show more

If you're listening to this podcast, you definitely know about cat memes. At this point, they're almost like an internet currency all their own. But far before the days of WiFi, Reddit, nyan cat and grumpy cat alike, one man set the art world on fire with his increasingly bizarre ...  Show more

My special guest tonight is Thomas Bauerle who's here to discuss his book about hauntings in Japan. Buy the book.   Kanashibari: A ghost that comes to people in their sleep and holds them down so they can’t move. Often, besides being held immobile, the victim of a kanashibari wil ...  Show more

We've lived side-by-side with domestic cats for thousands of years, yet they maintain an aura of mystery and a reputation for aloofness and even outright disdain for humans. But are cats really so enigmatic – or are we only just beginning to understand them?

In this epi ...

Have you ever seen a statue of a cat waving at you from a shop window? Sometimes they're white or gold and their paw goes up and down as if to say 'come here and check out my cool store!' The Maneki-neko is a lucky symbol in Japan, right across Asia and the world; all because of ...  Show more