Fansplaining

In Episode 183, “Fandom and Religion,” (one year into seminary) Flourish and (goes to church to sing songs) Elizabeth take a look at the way religion and fandom are discussed together: the surfacey comparisons, the more nuanced parallels, and the...

In the fourteenth installment of “Ask Fansplaining Anything,” Flourish and Elizabeth read and respond to a fresh batch of listener questions. Topics covered include fictional fandom conspiracy theories, the use—or misuse—of the AO3 collections...

In Episode 181, “The Illusions of Crowds,” Elizabeth and Flourish discuss a listener letter about the ways fans convince each other of interpretations or outcomes—and what happens when creators are on a very different page. Who’s responsible...

Flourish and Elizabeth mark yet another year of the podcast with their traditional anniversary episode format: inviting the past year’s guests to share their thoughts about what’s changed in fandom, both broadly and personally. Topics discussed...

In Episode 179, “Fan Labor, Fan Consumption,” Flourish and Elizabeth use a listener question to discuss some of the intersections between fans and corporations. Is there an inherent tension when fanfiction communities’ “punk gift economies”...

In Episode 178, Flourish and Elizabeth sit down with Kaitlyn Tiffany, an internet culture reporter at The Atlantic and the author of the book Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It. They talk about One...

In Episode 177, “The Good, the Bad, and the Popular,” Flourish and Elizabeth use a trio of listener letters to talk about the various factors that make fandoms spark and grow. Is there actually any relationship between the quality of the source...

In Episode 176, Elizabeth and Flourish welcome Liang Ge, a PhD candidate studying Chinese boys’ love fiction (aka danmei) and its fans. Topics discussed include a history of danmei, ambivalence around gender and sexuality amongst its readers, and...

In the latest (13th!) installment of the “Ask Fansplaining Anything” series, Flourish and Elizabeth tackle a fresh batch of letters from listeners. Questions posed include: Are author’s notes “unprofessional”? What are the distinctions...

In Episode 174, “The Classification of Fandom,” Flourish and Elizabeth break down some of the broad categories people use to define types of fans, starting with a foundational meta that proposed distinctions between “affirmational” and...