The Pernicious Laziness of Paw Patrol

For the fourth episode of the Culture Study podcast I’m joined by Philip Maciak — who manages to be a professor, the television critic for The New Republic, and an avid consumer of children’s television — to talk about Paw Patrol.

We talk about copaganda, plot laziness, why 90% of the characters are boys, how Paw Patrol gets “in the water” at most kids’ schools even if they don’t actually watch the show, and take arguably too deep of a dive into the theme song. If you hate Paw Patrol, this episode is for you. If you’re annoyed by its banality, this episode is for you. Even if you’ve never heard of it, it’s a really fascinating exploration into why so much kids media turns out the way it does.

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Got a question or idea for a future episode? Let us know here. This week, we’re looking for your questions for future episodes about: Celebrity Philanthropies (weird ones, good ones, why do they exist, etc.); Moms for Liberty; Very Contemporary Architecture Trends (like ‘modern farmhouse’); Why Goodreads is the way it is (think expansively here); ONLINE PURCHASE REVIEW CULTURE (as in: what motivates people to leave reviews? With photos? What makes a good review, what makes a worthless one?); Whatever Bradley Cooper's whole deal is.

You can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here.