On the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty (long article)
This is an op-ed I wrote for The Japan Times.
Guest Appearance on WGN Morning News
WGN Morning News Chicago guest appearance:
How our brains are wired to gravitate toward cuteness
Cute Conduits: Diving Deep into the Adorable
On how the cuteness of digital entities like LUCA, a new Artlab Digital Commission from Ed Fornieles, can act as a catalyst for the evolution of human-digital relationships.
What gave rise to the global power of cute and kawaii? (long article)
This is an op-ed I wrote for The Japan Times.
Podcast Episode: Can Cuteness Make You a Better Person?
Episode on cuteness for the No Fixed Address podcast.
Three things you’ll learn from reading my book “Irresistible”
Article for the NZ Listener.
Book Break at the FCCJ
Reading at a “Book Break” event at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan.
Video: Why cuteness needs to be studied
A video about the new academic field of Cute Studies.
The 800-year-old puppy
What happened when I showed an 800-year-old puppy statue at a Japan Foundation New York workshop.
Cuteness and Kawaii Reading Group
An online reading group for the Aww-Struck: Creative and Critical Approaches to Cuteness, 8 December 2021.
Why Kawaii Conquered the World
A panel discussion at the Casa Con online convention, December 16-18, 2021
The Poetics of Kawaii
A presentation at the Aww-Struck: Creative and Critical Approaches to Cuteness online seminar, 21 May 2021.
Kawaii culture and the exploration of alternative gendered identities
A presentation at the second East Asian Popular Culture Conference, Kyushu University, japan, January 12, 2021.
How cuteness influenced human evolution
A presentation at the Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory led by Hiroshi Nittono, Osaka University, November 16, 2018
Kosmorama Goes Kawaii
A seminar at the Kosmorama International Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway, March 7, 2018.
Cute vs. Kawaii
A presentation for the Kokubunji International Association, Tokyo, Japan, February 17, 2018.
Domestication, Agency and the Appeal of the Cute Object
A presentation given at The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness symposium at University of Amsterdam, April 8-10, 2015