You might have heard of ‘Ballerina Cappuccina’ or ‘Chimpanzini Bananini’ on your TikTok feed, and if you haven’t, well then that's a good sign. It means you’ve escaped ‘Italian Brainrot’... for now anyways.

These characters are as silly as they sound. They come from the new generative AI meme that is sweeping across social media and being consumed by children. But, is a ballerina with a cappuccino as a head really that innocent?

Guest host Tom Dunne is joined by Catherine Prasifka, author and writer-in-residence for Maynooth University to discuss.