Who the hell are the Kardashians and why does anyone care?

I don't watch a lot of TV and when I do there are certain shows that I enjoy, gossip tv shows are not among them.  So on the radio every morning I hear about these Kardashian poeple and wonder who the hell they are for about 3 seconds and then decide I don't give a crap and move on.  Unfortunately they keep getting thrown in my face.  I hear about them in the morning (nearly every morning!) on my way to drop kids off at school, I hear about them later in the day while I'm at work.  I browse through the "guide" on the TV and I see there are whole shows about them.  WTH?!  What I'd like to know is since I've never heard of them before is how did they get 'famous' and why does the world care about keeping up w/ them?  What is their claim to fame?  As far as I can tell from the radio and the gossip rags in line at the grocery store, one had a kid, one got married w/ an exorbitant wedding, and from what I understand she's also getting divorced now a few months later?  Why does it matter, sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer.  Maybe I don't want to know because in the end I don't really give a rats patootie, I just find it so odd.