Fansplaining

In Episode 85, Flourish and Elizabeth talk about the ever-contentious topic of age in fandom. They start with childhood—are there aspects of childhood that are naturally fannish?—and continue on through later stages of life, including the way...

In Episode 84, “Purity Culture,” Elizabeth and Flourish brace themselves and dive into a topic they’ve been asked about many times before. They define and deconstruct the term, along with the related “antis” and “stans”—who they are,...

In Episode 83, “Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 2,” Flourish and Elizabeth answer a pile of listener letters from the past few months. Topics covered include responses to the recent episode on real person fiction, whether crossovers are...

In Episode 82, Elizabeth and Flourish interview writer, producer, and former TV executive Javier Grillo-Marxuach about his long career both as a fan and as a member of the “powers that be.” Topics covered include some of the earliest fan/creator...

As they do every August, Flourish and Elizabeth welcome the past year’s guests to talk about what’s changed in fandom, on a global level, a personal level, or both. Topics include the increase in fandom’s visibility, fans attacking creators,...

In Episode 80, “Real Person Fiction,” Elizabeth and Flourish are joined by Aja Romano, internet culture writer at Vox, to discuss RPF: writing fiction about celebrities and other real, living people. Topics covered include stigma towards RPF...

In Episode 79, Elizabeth and Flourish try to answer the question “Who Is Comic-Con For?” They talk about their experience at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, the third time they’ve attended the event together after meeting on a panel there in 2015, and...

In Episode 78, “The Fan Studies Network,” Elizabeth attends the Fan Studies Network’s annual academic conference in Cardiff, Wales, and interviews the founders of the FSN, Lucy Bennett and Tom Phillips. Back in the U.S., she and Flourish discuss...

In Episode 77, “The Truth About Toxic Fandom,” Elizabeth and Flourish examine a few widely-held conceptions about “toxic fandom,” also known as “broken” or “entitled” fandom. They explore whether these behaviors are inherent to being a...

In episode 76, “Camp Austen,” Flourish and Elizabeth talk to with Ted Scheinman, the author of Camp Austen, a book about his experiences at an Austen con attended by academics and fans (and academic/fans, too!). They also read a trio of listener...