In Defense of Fandom

It’s always struck me as odd, how many convention attendees inevitably become volunteers or part time workers for conventions they previously attended. Why make the jump to long hours during what might be your break from your 9-to-5?

I spoke with fellow Supernatural fan convention goer-turned-creation-team-member Ellen to hear why she made the jump. She shared her early experiences working the conventions, pet peeves she’s developed from working the other side, and what brings her joy by working conventions. 

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/__mysticphotos/

https://form.jotform.com/252584919525064 (creation team member application)

Credits

Music written & performed by Chris Scott

Cover art by Liz Hand

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

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If you noticed that I was supposed to publish a new episode last week…. No you didn’t.

I am excited to bring you this post-con conversation between myself and head distiller and founder of Chicago Cane Cooperative, Daniel Regueira, all about our DragonCon experience this past Labor Day weekend!

Links:

DragonCon https://www.dragoncon.org/

Chicago Cane Coop https://www.chicagocane.com/ & https://shop.goodpress.coop/collections/chicagocane

Credits

Music written & performed by Chris Scott

Cover art by Liz Hand

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

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As someone who has never seen The Vampire Diaries or The Originals, despite my otherwise extensive genre fandom credentials, I really appreciated hearing about what this event means for fans and how it brings them into a completely immersive experience. Thankfully, Tammie Buchignani was willing to overlook my fandom ignorance and tell me all about The Original Experience.

Links:

The Original Experience: https://www.theoriginalexperience.net/

Credits

Music written & performed by Chris Scott

Cover art by Liz Hand

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founded in 1971 by Gary Berman and Adam Malin, two young teenage sci-fi fans in New York, Creation Entertainment continues a 53 year tradition of producing the world's leading fan conventions for followers of genre television and film. In this episode, I interview Gary about how they got started, what it’s like to put on a small but impactful event, and where they are headed to next!

Links:

Creation Entertainment: https://www.creationent.com/

The FitExpo: https://www.thefitexpo.com/about-us/

SPN Conventions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-8-conventions-conclusions/id1674695211?i=1000618516299

Credits

Music written & performed by Chris Scott

Cover art by Liz Hand

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How well do you know Eric Kripke's two biggest hits: Supernatural and The Boys? Can you name all the shared actors between the two shows? Did you catch every clever homage shared between the shows? Do you think one pulled off its finale better than the other? Host Sadie Witkowski (host of In Defense of Fandom podcast) pits Geekscape podcasters Matt Kelly (Weird Al-gorithm and One Hit Thunder podcasts), Eric Conner (Marvel Movie Talk podcast), and Joe Fejeran (Fright School and San Diego Pride podcasts) as "Team The Boys" against "SPN Family" members Meghan Fitzmartin (Supernatural season 15 writer), Berly Land (host of Denim-Wrapped Nightmares podcast), and Irena Chernova (self-described fanfic writer and meta dabbler) to see who knows these shows the best. Listen to the live recording of this San Diego Comic Con panel and hear the audience cheers determine who wins!

Find the Panelists (instagram handles):

Matt Kelly - @saintmort

Eric Conner - @countericconner

Joe Fejeran - @frightschool

Meghan Fitzmartin - @megfitz89

Berly Land - @dwnpod

Irena Chernova - @ayreisha

Credits

Music written & performed by Chris Scott

Cover art by Liz Hand

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Started in 1987, Atlanta Georgia’s Dragon Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe. At least, that’s according to their official website. For this episode, I sat down with Science Track Director Matt Jarrett and the science track second-in-command Vaughan James to get the insider scoop on what it takes to organize this community of science nerds each year.

Additional Links

DragonCon Official Site: https://www.dragoncon.org/

Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadowcast (mentioned by Matt): https://www.pvshadowcast.org/

Vaughan's dissertation on science communication at DragonCon: https://www.proquest.com/openview/a243e74d71a6bbf7fe7dca8b5b3957a7/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Credits

Music written & performed by Chris Scott

Cover art by Liz Hand

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This season, we're changing up formats! Conventions are all about the in-person experiences and the conversations you have with others. This season, we'll bring that interview format to life with minimally edited conversations between Sadie and a range of guests.

Have a guest you'd love to hear from? Or maybe a question you've always had about convention-planning? Let us know and you may hear your request in the next episode!

Music by August Hotel

Cover art by Liz Hand: @__ellie

See full episode transcript at www.sadiewit.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the series finale of Supernatural Music Extravaganza! In this episode, the Denim Wrapped Nightmares and In Defense of Fandom crews tackle the eternal question: "Why does my Supernatural sound different on {insert name of streaming platform}?!" Spoiler alert: blame capitalism!

The hosts explain the wild world of music licensing, from the show's early "oops, we only bought DVD rights" days to the later "give us your songs FOREVER" era. Turns out those iconic needle drops cost serious upfront cash, which is why Season 1 Dean might be rocking out to "Generic Rock Song #4" instead of AC/DC. RIP original soundtrack, we hardly knew ye (unless you own the DVD).

Featuring insights from Jensen Ackles on budget woes, a deep dive into why physical media matters, and heartfelt tributes to favorite Supernatural needle drops—from "Heat of the Moment" torture to Bob Seger brotherhood feels. Plus: important intel on where to snag those Radio Company vinyls before they're gone again.

The moral of the story? Buy the Blu-rays. Buy the CDs. Stream responsibly. Go to the shows. And never trust a tinkerbell.

Click here to learn more about music supervision and Alexandra Patsavas.

Catchup on Supernatural Music Extravaganza episodes, shop, and find playlists at linktr.ee/SPN20.

Thank you for taking this SPN Family musical journey with us!

Please continue to follow Denim-wrapped Nightmares and In Defense of

Special thanks to Steve Hein, producer of the hit podcast, Supernatural Then

Special thanks to our "favorite needle drop" contributors: Kera Styler, Nessa Colt, Lauren from Hops Geek News, Lynn from SPN 'Verse, Jordan, Liz, Iggy, Nerdy Tavern, and Waleed from the Wally Verse.

Special thanks to our music contributors: Richard Cummins (richardcummins.bandcamp.com/music), Gil McKinney (music.apple.com/us/artist/gil-mckinney/315769280), The Station Breaks (music.apple.com/us/artist/the-station-breaks/1181728798), Briana Buckmaster and Billy Moran (music.apple.com/us/album/carry-on-wayward-son-single/1487727442).

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

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Welcome back to another installment of the Denim-wrapped Nightmares and In Defense of Fandom collaboration, Supernatural Music Extravaganza!

What happens when two powerhouse voices (who spent years thinking they weren't good enough) finally find their people? Pure magic, that's what.

Briana Buckmaster and Lisa Berry take us back to a fateful train ride from a Stage West audition where they bonded over being told their alto, bluesy, rock voices didn't fit the "belt to an E, ingenue" sound that musical theater demanded. Spoiler: the industry was wrong, and Saturday Night Special proved it.

From Bri's traumatic vocal node saga (thanks, restaurant work and Beauty and the Beast) to Lisa spending a decade not singing at all before landing Death on Supernatural, these two get real about vocal insecurity, jet lag voice loss, and why Jason Manns is everyone's musical fairy godfather. There's the story of how Phil Sgriccia turned Lisa's trailer recording of "O Death" into the iconic season 11 trailer, why steroid shots are a musical theater thing (opera singers just cancel, apparently), and how Lisa manifested becoming Death through sheer fan theory energy.

Plus: why Louden Swain won't let Bri sing "Stairway to Heaven," the revelation that maybe everyone's faking it, and Lisa's dream of re-recording "O Death" now that she can actually fly in the song.

Fair warning: you'll laugh, you might cry, and you'll definitely want to attend Lisa's future Toronto concert.

Special thanks to Bri for allowing us to feature some of her music. Find tracks at https://music.apple.com/us/artist/briana-buckmaster/1399938992.

Don't forget to check out these playlists of the full songs featured in our episodes so far!

Apple Music

YouTube Music

Spotify

And don’t worry, we’ll keep adding to the tunes as we continue our journey into the music of Supernatural!

Catch-up on Supernatural Music Extravaganza episodes at https://linktr.ee/SPN20

Please rate and review In Defense of Fandom wherever you get your podcasts!

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our collaboration special between Denim-wrapped Nightmares and In Defense of Fandom continues with hosts Sadie, LA, and Berly exploring the world of Supernatural-inspired music—because apparently, watching two gorgeous brothers hunt monsters for 15 seasons wasn't enough.

Opening its doors in 2018, Family Business Beer Company was a Texas hill country retreat where visitors could drink craft brews, enjoy tasty pizza, and see local live music. Although the brewery’s physical location has since closed, its legacy lives on through the musicians who performed there. 

Night Parade, a classic rock and pop music cover band, describe their experiences performing at Family Business Beer Company. Not all the band members were originally fans of the show, but they absolutely appreciated how the brewery connected with the Austin live music scene while keeping it chill. 🔗http://nightparademusic.com/

The Scott Sisters, Charise and Christian are an acoustic sibling duo from Mississippi. Although they were raised in a musically-talented household, it wasn’t until the covid pandemic that Chistian followed her sister to Texas and they began singing together on stage. They take us through the whirlwind experience from performing at the brewery’s annual private party to singing back up for Steve Carlson to performing at Saturday Night Special in Oklahoma City!  🔗https://tr.ee/Ruf1df 

🍻If you want to support Family Business Beer Company, you can find their beer across Texas or shop their merch here.

As we are just past the midpoint of our musical Supernatural journey, please check out these playlists of songs featured in our episodes so far!

Apple Music

YouTube Music

Spotify

And don’t worry, we’ll keep adding to the tunes as we continue our journey into the music of Supernatural!

Catchup on Supernatural Music Extravaganza episodes at https://linktr.ee/SPN20

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Please rate and review In Defense of Fandom wherever you get your podcasts!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices