Cozy Media

Throw on your favorite comfy sweater and curl up by the fireplace with this fun and lively collection interrogating all that is cozy. Bodi and Waszkiewicz have woven together a delightful and clarifying text on cozy media that rigorously pokes at its affective power (though poking in a gentle, comforting way, of course). Rather than being bound to a single medium, this engaging collection finds a broadness in what it means to find comfort amid in the complex world of our 21st century: from game play to mystery novels to crafting to ASMR. * Shira Chess, Associate Professor of Entertainment & Media Studies, The University of Georgia, USA *
This inviting anthology builds from scholarship on cozy videogames to examine coziness across expressive media, from lifestyle magazines and ASMR livestreams to furniture design and escape rooms. A shared set of underlying tensions emerges around issues of comfort, consent, and the soft marketing of capitalism, even as the authors also uncover possibilities for a cozy resistance. A compelling demonstration of how approaches from game studies can illuminate affective currents shaping global media culture. * Paul Roquet, Associate Professor, Comparative Media Studies/Writing, MIT, USA *
This pioneering volume establishes cozy media studies as a vital interdisciplinary field. Tracing how comfort, safety, belonging, and intimacy are experienced across contemporary media, it offers a rich framework for future scholarship. Capturing a defining cultural shift, Cozy Media illuminates how people are turning away from AI slop and data harvesting to seek spaces that foster genuine connection and everyday flourishing. As the editors aptly observe, cozy aesthetics afford less “doomscrolling” and more “touching grass.” * Joshua Paul Dale, Professor, Chuo University, Japan *
This volume makes a timely and valuable contribution to the growing body of research on cozy aesthetics and their connections with media, culture, and politics. Offering a fresh perspective on the subject, it brings together a wide range of case studies, methods, and cultural contexts to explore coziness in new and engaging ways. By addressing a gap in existing scholarship and expanding the ways we understand and discuss coziness, the volume has the potential to become an important reference for researchers in contemporary media and game studies and to inspire further work in this emerging field. * Martyna Bakun, Lecturer, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland *