In this solo episode, Pauline takes on an unexpected subject: car design. Drawing on her background in ' the Business of Aesthetics' - and her consulting work with major automakers - she explores what she calls the “blobification” of cars: the growing sameness, softness, and visual boredom of today’s vehicles. Pauline argues that cars have lost much of their emotional and cultural expressiveness, becoming increasingly shaped by engineering efficiency, software logic, and global market convergence rather than bold aesthetic vision.

Using a sweeping historical lens, Pauline walks listeners through nine eras of automotive design, from the utilitarian machinery of the original Model T to the flamboyant chrome-and-tailfin exuberance of the 1950s, the rebellious muscle cars of the '60s, the anxious downsizing of the '70s, and the rounded “jelly bean” forms that emerged in the '90s and matured into today’s EV minimalism.

Along the way, Pauline discusses how car designs mirror the social mood of their time. But this episode is not just a history lesson; it’s a critique. Pauline examines how the industry’s design culture, long dominated by engineering-driven male archetypes, has flattened distinction across brands, countries, and customer groups. She reflects on the shrinking gap between masculine and feminine preferences, the fading of national design identities, and the way cars today feel less like statements of taste and more like standardized software platforms on wheels. Even color, once a vivid marker of individuality, has largely disappeared into a grayscale landscape.

At the same time, Pauline offers a vision for what could come next, calling for cars that feel more human, expressive, emotionally resonant, and inspiring.