Cats Are Cuter than Babies! Listen now!
Cats and Art with Catnip Mag Publisher Anja Charbonneau, YouTube star Ergojosh and Artist Natalia Garcez
But not yours - you are the exception!
New 6 Degrees of Cats episode - LISTEN HERE!
We are now showing the receipts for our controversial statement that cats are cuter than babies. (Agree? Disagree? Comment below! We come in peace!)
In this episode of your favorite cat-themed culture, history & science podcast, enjoy an evidence-informed artistic analysis of the aesthetics of cats and how and why we love to depict them in illustration, animation and graphic art. (And why cats are, indeed, cuter than babies.)
In under fun, feline and fact-filled 30 minutes, listen in on how and why cats became the muses for one illustrator of grumpy cats - Natalia Garcez - and a source of inspiration for hundreds of thousands of families across the world. Joining Natalia is YouTube star Ergo Josh who breaks down the “cat face theory” circulating on TikTok and why Disney and Pixar’s production teams may favor cat facial anatomy for cute inspiration. And join host Captain Kitty (a.k.a. Amanda B.) as she leverages her Cat Oracle Deck for artistic, intellectual and even spiritual guidance with the help of Catnip Magazine’s Anja Charbonneau.
Special thanks to Broccoli Magazine for providing The Cat Oracle Deck.
Support the podcast at https://ko-fi.com/6degreesofcats for as little as $1 / month for stickers, early access to new episodes and behind the scenes audio. View the show notes and more on The Captain’s Log, the companion podcast newsletter here: linktr.ee/6degreesofcats.
And check out this supplementary episode:
About the experts:
Anja Chabonneau is the Editor in Chief and Creative Director of Broccoli Magazine, a publisher of unusual delights including Catnip Magazine, Broccoli Magazine and the Cat Oracle Deck. To purchase a Cat Oracle Deck, visit
https://broccolimag.com and follow @catnip_mag and @broccoli_mag on Instagram.
Natalia Garcez is a Brazilian-born graphic designer and illustrator of grumpy cats based on Copenhagen whose Instagram account, @casagiraceramics (formerly “chonkygrompy”) inspired hundreds of thousands of children to paint chunky, grumpy cats with their parents. Learn more about Natalia by following her Instagram account or visiting https://www.nataliagarcez.com.
Joshua “Ergojosh” is a digital artist specializing in character design who educates his 700k+ YouTube subscribers with videos that have been seen over 54 million times. Follow Ergojosh on YouTube or @ergo.josh on Instagram, and visit his website on at ergojosh.com to learn more about his online courses on digital illustration.
Producer, writer, editor, sound designer, host, basically everything*
Captain Kitty (Amanda B.)
* with co-executive producers Binky & Snuggles and new associate Peanut
Additional voices include:
Binky, Snuggles and Peanut _^..^_
Edward Anthony
Music:
Additional sound effects from Pixabay.com
Logo design:
Edward Anthony © 2025 (Instagram: itsmyunzii)
Research used:
chonkygrompy [@chonkygrompy]. (n.d.). A very special client ordered a painting of all her current … [Video]. TikTok.
Clark, F. (Host). (2023, August 1). Art for mental health: The well-being benefits of practicing art [Audio podcast episode]. In [AMA Update]. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/art-mental-health-well-being-benefits-practicing-art-frank
Ergojosh. (2019, December 5). Draw faces easily! [Video]. YouTube.
Glocker, M. L., Langleben, D. D., Ruparel, K., Loughead, J. W., Gur, R. C., & Sachser, N. (2009, March). Baby schema in infant faces induces cuteness perception and motivation for caretaking in adults. Ethology : formerly Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3260535/
Goodwin, B. C., Browne, M., & Rockloff, M. (2015, December 1). Measuring preference for supernormal over natural rewards : A two-dimensional anticipatory pleasure scale. Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10480800/
Hansen, K. (2023, September 1). These famous cartoon cats stand the test of time (and cuteness). BuzzFeed. https://www.buzzfeed.com/kaileyhansen/famous-cartoon-cats
Kringelbach, M. L., Lehtonen, A., Squire, S., Harvey, A. G., Craske, M. G., Holliday, I. E., Green, A. L., Aziz, T. Z., Hansen, P. C., Cornelissen, P. L., & Stein, A. (2008, February 7). A specific and rapid neural signature for parental instinct. PLOS ONE. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001664
Kringelbach, M. L., Stein, A., & Stark, E. (2016, July 4). How cute things hijack our brains and drive behaviour. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-cute-things-hijack-our-brains-and-drive-behaviour-61942
Varnum, M. E. W. (2023, January 15). The powerful psychology of cuteness. Psychology Today.