Fansplaining

In Episode 57, "Nerf Herder," Elizabeth and Flourish start things off with the Fansplaining Patreon Pledge Drive before they talk to Parry Gripp, the lead singer of the band that wrote and performed the Buffy The Vampire Slayer theme song. They discuss the evolution of nerd culture, how music gets into television shows, and different types of band fandoms. Elizabeth and Flourish later discuss Joss Whedon and fans' reactions and moral obligations when the creator of their favorite thing turns out to not be a very good person.

In Episode 56, "Ships and Showrunners," Elizabeth and Flourish talk to Lilah Vandenburgh, a long-time fan who is now a writer, director, and showrunner for film and television. They discuss how shipping culture has evolved in recent years, the pressures on showrunners and other entertainment pros to interact, and the ways that structural inequality shapes fan behavior. Also Elizabeth reports back with her review of Sean Stewart's narrative game, "Sherlock Holmes: The Last Breath."

In Episode 55, "Happy Anniversary #2," Flourish and Elizabeth once again welcome back the guests from the past year to talk about what's changed in fandom, on a global level, a personal level, or both. Global topics included the recent crop of Hugo winners, Marvel's Secret Empire storyline, and the intersections between fandom and U.S. politics. The more personal included the intersections of fannish and professional identities and the experience of aging in fandom. To round things out, Flourish and Elizabeth share their own perspectives, discussing whether fandom ever really changes—or whether it simply repeats the same patterns over and over again.

Elizabeth and Flourish interview Sean Stewart, ARG (alternate reality game) writer, Star Wars tie-in novelist, and Sherlock Holmes narrative video game creator. Topics covered include definitions of a variety of gaming terms, the collective intelligence of fans, and fannish conspiracy theories and their messy intersections with conspiracy theories around real-world events. (A note to listeners: we discuss several of these, including 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing, and Sandy Hook.)

In Episode 53, Elizabeth and Flourish discuss what could be called "stealth fandom": subtle cosplay, non-narrative ways that people feel close to their favorite topic or story-world, all the tiny things that remind people of their fandoms (even if they don't make sense to anyone else)—and how that differs from official merchandise. They also answer a pair of listener questions: one about whether one should seek permission to write fanfic of someone else's fanfic, and one about monetizing fanart—but not fanfic.

In Episode 52, Fanfic v. FANtasies, Elizabeth and Flourish discuss the new Fullscreen webseries FANtasies, in which YouTubers act out scenarios loosely based on Wattpad fic. They discuss the show in concept and in practice, changing ideas around fan/creator interaction, rethinking conceptions of the fan-to-pro path, and more. They also read a letter from a listener who loves female original characters in fanfiction and reflect on feedback about the discussion around comics in the previous episode, meditating on why some people feel like "real fans" and some people don't.

In Episode 51, "Desi Geek Girls," Flourish and Elizabeth talk to another pair of podcast hosts, Preeti Chhibber and Swapna Krishna of the eponymous pop culture podcast. Topics covered balancing joy with critique in pop culture conversations, Star Trek and Star Wars (and the experience of being brown at Star Wars Celebration), traveling cross-country to see "Monsoon Wedding" onstage, the ways that fandom affects a career path, and how a novice can get started reading comics in the year 2017.

In Episode 50, "Bookcon(s)," Flourish grills Elizabeth about the book publishing industry and book fandom following Elizabeth's visit to BookCon, the consumer-facing wing of industry trade show Book Expo America. Topics covered include how books get from publishers to readers, the evolving relationships publishers, booksellers, and authors have with their customers, the way authors talk to fans, peers, and some combination of the two, and how certain spaces give authors—and other creators—license to share their fannishness.

In Episode 49, "Defining Fanfiction: The Results," Elizabeth and Flourish discuss the results of the Fansplaining Definitions Survey, in which more than 3,500 respondents offered a variety of perspectives on what fanfiction is—and isn't—to them. They explore a variety of themes: is fanfiction derivative? Is it written by and for fans? Must it include shipping and fannish tropes? And they talk about other trends in the survey data, from different ways to use the word "fandom" to fannish perceptions of fiction, nonfiction, and canon.

In Episode 48, "Con or Bust," Elizabeth and Flourish talk to Diana Pho, a Tor editor who runs "Beyond Victoriana," and Mark Oshiro of "Mark Reads" and "Mark Watches." They're both board members of Con or Bust, an organization that raised money to help fans of color attend conventions. Topics covered include the philosophy and the practice behind Con or Bust, Diana and Mark's congoing experiences, racism in both physical and digital fandom spaces, and why why cons should care about appealing to a broader group of attendees. They also discover the one show that Flourish's very liberal parents and Mark's very conservative ones would allow them both to watch.