Cute Debt - Is Klarna Killing Our Self Esteem?
The Polyester Podcast
The Polyester Podcast
4.5 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 27 October 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Would you rather one payment of $150 or three monthly payments of $50? Is this pizza basically free if I pay $4 for a few months rather than twelve bucks at once? As the famously moral financial institution CashApp once said, “Little payments are so much cuter.”
In this week's episode, hosts Ione and Gina look at the rise of "cute debt" - the monicker given to Buy Now, Pay Later schemes that pointedly target young women - discussing how the dangers of debt have been replaced by the glamorisation of Klarnamaxxing, whether we should trust these brands to budget for us and why shopping addictions aren't treated sincerely in society.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, Gina. Hi, Imani. Hi everyone. I'm Gina, the senior editor of Polyester. And I'm Ayoni, the founding editor-in-chief of Polyester. This is the Polyester podcast, a feminist pop culture podcast dissecting the discourse on a weekly basis. |
| 0:15.3 | Please make sure to like, rate, subscribe and review. And if you haven't yet, make sure to subscribe to our membership platform for exclusive |
| 0:23.0 | podcast-centered perks. |
| 0:25.3 | We're offering exclusive video episodes, secret mini-episodes, and even episodes |
| 0:29.8 | send in on what you want us to talk about across different tier options. |
| 0:33.5 | Go check it out at the link in our description. |
| 0:35.7 | Do you have any reviews I own? |
| 0:36.8 | We do. This one is from X.300 underscore Jade in the UK. My Fave. So glad I found this podcast. I've been listening every Monday for months. The only thing I don't love is having to wait a whole week for the next one. Well. Well, do I have a membership for you? Thank you, Jade. |
| 0:55.1 | Thanks, Jade. |
| 0:56.0 | And then, B.O on Spotify says about BEO. |
| 0:59.5 | Bayo? |
| 1:00.6 | Bay Wolf. |
| 1:01.8 | Anyway, hey, you two, big fan, please never stop. |
| 1:04.1 | Also, if I can make a wish, please look into the Luke Besson Dracula movie. |
| 1:08.9 | It does smell so off. |
| 1:11.5 | I'm sure it does. |
| 1:12.6 | Have you seen it? |
| 1:13.4 | No, me either. |
| 1:15.4 | And then Katie says, |
| 1:16.4 | Gina, what's the name I reduce? |
| 1:17.7 | They're calling you wrong. |
| 1:19.0 | Is that the city killing me? |
... |
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