The Birkin bag game

The Birkin bag game

The Birkin bag made by French luxury retailer Hermès has become a status symbol for the global elite. Notoriously difficult to obtain, the world's rich obsess over how to get their hands on one. But when US retailer Walmart recently launched a much cheaper bag that looked very similar to the Birkin, nicknamed a "Wirkin" by others, it sparked discussions about wealth disparity and the ethics of conspicuous consumption.

In this episode we speak to two sociologists, Parul Bhandari from the University of Cambridge in the UK and Aarushi Bhandari from Davidson College in the US, about the Birkin and what it symbolises.

This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood. Sound design and mixing by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.


Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(290)

Loonies and bins: Britain's long love affair with novelty politics

Loonies and bins: Britain's long love affair with novelty politics

It's pretty grim when your main political opponent is a man with a bin for a head.That's the situation that's faced Nigel Farage in the Clacton byelection in the UK.Count Binface has pledged to nation...

13 Elo 23min

The soviet origins of shadow libraries

The soviet origins of shadow libraries

Balázs Bödö's first interaction with a shadow library was when, as a young professor at university in Budapest, he was faced with a dilemma: what should he teach his students? "Do I condemn my student...

6 Elo 20min

A window into the murky world of peptides

A window into the murky world of peptides

Timothy Piatkowki was scrolling when a targeted ad landed in his feed. Cheap peptides! Straight from the factory! Naturally, he started a chat with the dealer and found himself deep in the world of a ...

30 Heinä 18min

Save our brains: how dangerous is sport?

Save our brains: how dangerous is sport?

With growing evidence about concussion, repetitive head impacts and long-term brain disease, have we underestimated the risks of sport all along? How did we get here, what do we really know about head...

23 Heinä 16min

How Manchester shaped Andy Burnham, the UK's incoming prime minister

How Manchester shaped Andy Burnham, the UK's incoming prime minister

Three months ago, Andy Burnham’s desk was filled with the business of running Greater Manchester. Buses. Housing. Policing. This mayoral region in the north of England is home to 3 million people and ...

16 Heinä 27min

How celebrities like Taylor Swift are fighting back against AI deepfakes

How celebrities like Taylor Swift are fighting back against AI deepfakes

When Taylor Swift launched her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, in October 2025, she recorded two short clips to promote it. One for Amazon Music began with “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift”. Another, for...

9 Heinä 25min

The anatomy of a super El Niño

The anatomy of a super El Niño

El Niño has begun and forecasters predict a more than 60% chance that the naturally occurring phenomenon could become a very strong, or super El Niño later in 2026.El Niño begins with warmer water in ...

2 Heinä 21min

Cockroach party hits nerve with angry young Indians

Cockroach party hits nerve with angry young Indians

A new youth protest movement in India that started as online satire is now staging an ongoing sit-in in New Delhi calling for the resignation of India’s education minister.The Cockroach Janta Party (C...

25 Kesä 25min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
politiikan-puskaradio
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
otetaan-yhdet
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-podme-livebox
rss-seksicast
rikosmyytit
the-ulkopolitist
aihe
rss-asiastudio
tervo-halme
rss-vain-talouselamaa
rss-bimbolia
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-ulkopoditiikkaa
rss-sanna-ukkola-show-verkkouutiset