Moo Deng Is The New Grumpy Cat

ICYMI

Slate Podcasts

Entertainment News, News, Tech News, Society & Culture

3.8 • 678 Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2024

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Candice Lim is joined by WUNC’s Anisa Khalifa (The Broadside) and Dr. Jess Maddox (The Internet Is for Cats) to discuss the biggest animal phenomenon of the year: Moo Deng. For the past few months, our timelines have been flooded with memes of a pygmy hippo in Thailand whose TikTok fame has created international fame, a 24/7 livestream, and increased visitor numbers for her zoo. But what does the internet’s fascination with Moo Deng say about the fate of viral animal celebrities and the sociological consequences of animal fame? This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Candace Lim, and you're listening to Icy YMIMI.
0:16.7	In case you missed it, Slate's podcast about internet culture.
0:20.5	And joining me on the show today is a podcast producer and the host of the Broadside at WUNC.
0:26.4	It's a weekly show featuring stories from North Carolina.
0:29.3	She also makes indie podcasts, drama over flowers, and Muslim in plain sight.
0:33.6	It's Anisa Khalifa.
0:34.9	Hello, Anisa.
0:36.7	Hey, Candace, so excited to be back. Thank you for having me.
0:39.9	Of course. Also joining us for the very first time is Dr. Jess Maddox, a journalism and creative
0:47.4	media professor at the University of Alabama. She's also the author. Of the internet is for cats.
0:52.8	How Animal Images Shape Our Digital Lives.
0:55.3	Welcome to the show, Jess.
0:56.8	Thanks for having me, longtime fan and excited to be here.
1:00.1	Ooh, I'm so happy to have you both here because today we are talking about animals that go viral.
1:06.2	But first, I have a question for my lovely guests.
1:09.4	What is your first viral animal memory? What is the first
1:14.3	animal you remember going viral, going meme status? Anisa, I want to go to you first.
1:19.7	Oh my gosh. I think grumpy cat. Kind of has to be, right?
1:24.4	Blumpy cat, yes. I just, I mean, that's the first animal that I remember.
1:28.7	And cats are perfect for the internet.
1:31.2	I mean, I'm sure you agree to us.
1:32.7	But like, there's something about an animal that has an expression that you can sort of anthropomorphize into a human emotion.
	...

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