Unpacking the reality TV era: So-called reality television is a popular pastime and a guilty pleasure for many around the world. But no matter how much we lambaste this cultural phenomenon — or dismiss it as utter tomfoolery — it does not seem to be going anywhere. In Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV, co-hosts and journalists Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes discuss hit shows like Love Island and Real Housewives and their repercussions on everything from mental health, to ethics, and beauty standards.

The Kardashians are America’s First Family? In episode 6 of the BBC documentary podcast, Kale and Sykes discuss — among other things — the kind of unprecedented, overnight fame the show Keeping up with the Kardashians has created for its main cast. This sudden, shameless, superstardom is very real despite the Kardashians’ more-than-controversial behavior, including the “cringe-inducing” tokenization and portrayal of underprivileged people.

WHERE TO LISTEN- You can listen to the show’s ten episodes on a number of different platforms including Spoti fy, Apple Podcasts, and BBC Sounds.

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