Fansplaining
On Episode 221, “Self-Inserts,” Elizabeth and Flourish welcome fan studies scholar Effie Sapuridis to talk about the wide world of self-inserts, including Y/N and x reader fic, imagines, shifting, and classic Mary Sues. Topics discussed include differences between platforms, including AO3, Wattpad, Tumblr, and especially TikTok; ties to things like roleplaying, LARPing, and theme parks; and whether self-insert forms are leading us towards a future of ~personalized AI storytelling~. Plus: they talk about why there’s so little academic work on self-inserts, and the ethical issues around...
info_outline Episode 220: The Fan-JournalistFansplaining
On Episode 220, “The Fan-Journalist,” Flourish and Elizabeth welcome one particular fan-journalist—Kayti Burt—to discuss on the specific challenges of covering things you love in a very precarious industry. Topics discussed include Kayti’s journey from youthful fandom to pop culture reporting, a step-by-step rundown of how an article goes from idea to finished product, and the many ethical questions journalists have to weigh when writing about fans or their objects of fandom.
info_outline Episode 219: Tropefest SpeedrunFansplaining
Episode 219, “Tropefest Speedrun,” kicks off with a big announcement: as you might have guessed with Flourish a few months away from a) giving birth and b) being ordained as a priest, they are going to be leaving Fansplaining in May. Post-Flourish plans for the podcast still TBD, this episode builds off the long-running “Tropefest” series for Patrons and jets through ten fanfiction tropes and themes in an hour, including classics like time loops, identity porn, truth serum, and sex pollen.
info_outline Episode 218: The Money Question 3: Books???Fansplaining
Following previous installments on the thorny intersections of money and fanfiction, Episode 218, “The Money Question 3: Books???” tackles the recent debacle around people illegally selling bound copies of others’ fic, which has mostly centered on mega-popular Dramione works. Jumping off from —which ties the practice to the current pull-to-publish wave as well as the Twilight fan-run presses of the early 2010s—Elizabeth and Flourish discuss the context collapse when a fic “breaches containment,” double standards in attitudes towards money and various fan practices, and, for...
info_outline Episode 217: FanbindingFansplaining
On Episode 217, “Fanbinding,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to Tiffo (aka Fanboundbooks) about the art of turning fanfiction into physical books, and the fanbinding collective known as the Renegade Bindery. Topics discussed include how exactly you make a book, Renegade’s origin story and huge growth in recent years, fanbinders’ firm commitment to the non-monetized gift economy, and Binderary, a month-long event this February with challenges, fan-run classes, and more. Plus! (Spoiler) Flourish literally joins the Renegade Discord during the recording session.
info_outline Episode 216: Allegra RosenbergFansplaining
On Episode 216, “Allegra Rosenberg,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to the fandom journalist and Terror Camp organizer about her journey from tween fan reporter to writing a book about the pre-digital history of fan culture. Topics discussed include coming of age on Tumblr, learning to put on IRL events while deep in music fandom, getting that fannish feeling from immersive theater, and, of course, Terror Camp, a fandom-academia hybrid event that celebrates fans’ investment in historical research.
info_outline Episode 215: The Broken ContractFansplaining
In Episode 215, “The Broken Contract,” Flourish and Elizabeth look at the sorry state of television in 2024, where the streaming revolution has devolved into sudden cancellations, deleted or shelved shows, opaque viewer numbers, and very little stability for audiences—and especially fans—to get invested in something new. How can fans build fandoms—and, for that matter, how can TV creators build the works themselves—when executives are constantly pulling the rug out from under them? Plus: they respond to a pair of letters about the previous episode, on AI and dealing with a negative...
info_outline Episode 214: Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 18Fansplaining
In the newest installment of the long-running “Ask Fansplaining Anything” series, Flourish and Elizabeth tackle a fresh batch of listener comments and questions. Topics discussed include fic that “breaches containment,” AI and fanworks, differing norms around the AO3’s “Major Character Death” tag, and what to do when Someone Is Wrong On the Internet.
info_outline Episode 213: The Year in Fandom 2023Fansplaining
As they do every December, Elizabeth and Flourish revisit the previous year’s fandom retrospective, and then turn to the biggest fan culture stories and trends in 2023. Topics discussed include the mainstreaming of purity culture, the fracturing of social media platforms, the shortening of fandom life cycles, and, of course, the big two: the Hollywood strikes and the rise of AI.
info_outline Episode 212: Fandom TruthinessFansplaining
In Episode 212, “Fandom Truthiness,” Elizabeth and Flourish break down the recent pair of (GREAT) video essays on James Somerton, a YouTuber known for queer (and often fandom-related) media analysis who’s been wholesale lifting passages from others’ articles and books—while playing fast and loose with the truth in his original writing. Somerton himself fed plenty of falsehoods into the fannish ecosystem, but how much of this is about a pattern of, to borrow Stephen Colbert’s phrase, fandom “truthiness,” which we can see far beyond a single bad actor? Plus: they read and respond...
info_outlineIn Episode 128, “The K-pop Narratives,” Keidra Chaney returns to the podcast to discuss mainstream framings of K-pop fans and their online actions in support of Black Lives Matter. Topics covered include the flawed foundations of these narratives, the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of boosting hateful hashtags, and the continued anti-Blackness within K-pop fan spaces—and its connections to anti-Blackness within the industry itself.