Fansplaining

This episode of Fansplaining is a little different: due to a technical problem, we weren't able to use our guest's audio, so we posted a transcript of the whole conversation, and the episode is a conversation ABOUT the conversation. For episode 18, Flourish and Elizabeth talked to Clay Liford, the director of SLASH: The Movie, a film about teen sexuality and fanfiction. Slash recently premiered at SXSW to positive critical reviews—and a good deal of controversy within fandom. Topics covered include the controversy and its criticisms, reverence versus accuracy, and the trouble with media that has to represent a whole subculture. Plus Flourish promises to write Elizabeth a story called "Panty Raid at Slytherin House."

In our first SPECIAL DOUBLE EPISODE, "The Powers That Be," Elizabeth grills Flourish on how the sausage gets made. Topics covered include how a TV show gets picked up for pilot, how a pilot turns into a series, how casting decisions are made, whether network executives really ruin everything, and a whole bevy of listener questions about the entertainment industry! Plus get ready for your new favorite ship, Alex/George on "Supernatural With Vampires."

In Episode 16, Flourish and Elizabeth welcome back statistician destinationtoast for her first segment as a regular contributor! They take a quantitative look at some linguistic issues from last time and discuss the peculiarities of RPF. Next, they're joined by Owen G. Parry, a visual and performance artist who created Larry!Monument, a piece inspired by One Direction fandom. Topics covered include discovering transformative fandom communities, art as fanfiction prompt, the relationship between slash and queer culture, and shipping diagrams.

In Episode 15, ~fanspeak, Elizabeth and Flourish interview Gretchen McCulloch, a linguist who studies the way people speak online. Topics covered include Cabin Pressure, the use of the tilde, ship and fandom names as linguistic markers, and why linguists are so incredibly chill about everything! Plus she answers some listener questions—and throws a few unanswered ones back out to the audience.

After the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, Elizabeth and Flourish take some time to reflect on the way fandom mourns their idols. Featuring Casey Fiesler (professor of Information Science at CU Boulder) on the parallels between online and physical memorials, Kathleen Smith (the Fangirl Therapist) on healthy ways to cope, and a meditation on the eventual death of Paul Giamatti.

In Episode 13 of Fansplaining, Elizabeth and Flourish interview Destinationtoast about her world-famous fandom statistical analyses. Topics covered include "2015: A (statistical) year in fandom," bad math, the differences between major fanfic archives, and trends on the rise in the coming year—plus, Elizabeth gets trolled.

In Episode 12 of Fansplaining, Elizabeth and Flourish count down their five top media fandom stories of 2015—and ask you to share your own. They also share personal fandom stories from 2015, and make a New Year's resolution for the podcast next year. Topics covered include the Triple Crown, Ham4Ham, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (with only the very lightest of spoilers!), and the fact that you heard about Hermione's casting in "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" here first.

In Episode 11 of Fansplaining, "Muggles v No-Maj," Elizabeth (while in England) interviews Caroline Crampton and Anna Leszkiewicz of SRSLY, the New Statesman's pop culture podcast; Flourish, back in New York, adds her responses. Topics covered include what the job of a magazine editor really entails, the difficulties of being a fan and a journalist, Britpicking, whether Tumblr is an American space, and how time zones affect our fannish experiences.

In Episode 10 of Fansplaining, Fangirling Through Time, Elizabeth & Flourish interview Evan Hayles Gledhill about the Tumblr of the Victorian era, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and other depictions of fans in media, Walt Whitman's reaction to his gushy fanmail (and other topics covered by historicalsquee), and the enduring patriarchal effort to police women's reading and writing. In addition, we read listener stories about how fanfic has helped at difficult times in people's lives.

In this episode, we interview Jackson Bird, communications director of the Harry Potter Alliance and waffle aficionado. Topics covered include the changing definition of "fan activism," coming out as trans on YouTube, Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Lili Elbe, and whether—if you had to choose just one—you would pick waffles or Harry Potter.