Grab your towel and your hard-boiled egg, nerds! This week, Emily and V look at a double holiday once again, because May 25 is a big day for two big fandoms: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy celebrates Towel Day, while Discworld remembers Sir Terry Pratchett and celebrates the Glorious 25 of May. Both of these hugely influential, beloved book series have spanned decades, genres, and all manner of fans, becoming tentpoles in the worlds of scifi and fantasy. Whether you're hopping from planet to planet with Arthur Dent or patrolling the streets of Ankh-Morpork, there is something about the universe to find joy and connection about on May 25. Would you rather have a towel or an egg??

This episode was edited by our lovely listener @s0apb0xst0ries!

Sources

Towel Day Glorious 25 of May Terry Pratchett gave us a million dollars for Alzheimer’s research – here’s what we did with it.

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

There can only be one! And that one better fucking be Richie Ryan! This week, V and Emily tackle a requested topic from lovely Patron @elismor and look at the extremely confusing, way-too-many-installments fandom of Highlander. Specifically, Highlander: The Series. And specifically, teenage thief and heartthrob Richie Ryan, and how he was unjustly killed off by canon and revived by the formation of Clan Denial. This fandom-within-a-fandom is also nine inside jokes wearing a trench coat, but that's our favorite thing, so it's a fun romp. Come along with us as we shadow Clan Denial on a cruise! (A real one, on a boat. It's shipping on a ship.)

This episode was edited by our equally lovely Patron, @garrideb!

Sources

Fanlore Clan Denial on the Wayback Machine

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah! This week, Emily and V head to summer camp! That is, we discuss the podfic summer camp extravaganza that is VoiceTeam, an annual challenge to create creative podfic for any fandoms and pairings your heart desires... as a team. We also look at how podfic was THE COOLEST way to pick up chicks in the '90s, where podfic started back in the '80s as a way for sight-impaired fans to get their shipping on, and what VoiceTeam 2025 is doing (and how it's stressing V out). Let's pull some pranks and make some friendship bracelets! And, of course, make some podfic!

This episode was edited by our amazing listener and Patreon supporter, @kingstoken! Thank you so much!

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

Grab your tissues, it's a crying episode! This week, V and Emily look at the short life and long impact of X-Files BNF (Big Name Fan) and BNA (Big Name Author), Leyla Harrison. The very first thing she did when she got the internet was post an X-Files fic... and immediately got anon hate. From there, she became one of the cornerstone writers of '90s XF MSR fic and helped to shape the way we all still think about, read, and write fanfiction. Her legacy loomed so large that when she died of cancer, the actual X-Files created a character named after her. Join us as we sob about the time she met Gillian Anderson.

Sources

The X-Files Wiki Fanlore: Leyla Harrison Fanlore: Working Stiffs Interview with Leyla Harrison The Stories Are Out There Fanlore again Fanlore: The E-Files Tribute2Leyla.com

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

Going once, going twice, sold... unfortunately! This week, Emily and V look at an event requested back while it was actually happening: the 2023 fanbinding drama that nearly ended Dramione- and Reylo's fanbinding communities on Instagram. Mostly, though, it's an episode about people coming into fannish spaces without an interest in fannish community, and people who view fanfiction as "content" to be consumed rather than art to be engaged with or affection bids meant to be answered. We're probably preaching entirely to the choir if you love fandom enough to be listening to a fandom history podcast, but still.

Sources

Fanlore LumenVale on YouTube Bast

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

Grab your floaties! This week, V and Emily travel back 25 years (gross) to the spring of 2000, when the internet was the Wild West and everyone was an asshole. Or maybe not everyone, but wow, this one e-mail list for The Sentinel sure was. We discuss the difference between tags, warnings, spoilers, and censorship, and we also discuss just how much has changed in the fandom landscape over the last 25 years in terms of expectations and norms. Get ready to be kind of mad at people in the past!

Sources

Fanlore Fanlore again

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

We finally learned what Homestuck is! This week, Emily and V look at a very special double-holiday: April 13, the day that Neil banged out the tunes and, also, Homestuck Day. Who is Neil? The greatest pianist who ever lived, that's who. And what's Homestuck? That was our question every goddamn day of our lives until Emily dipped a toe into the extremely deep water that is the Homestuck multiverse and came back alive to tell V about it.

Sources

Fanlore The Entirety of Homestuck in Five Minutes

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

In light of certain fandoms' creators recently using their considerable fortunes to substantively make life worse for trans people, particularly trans women, this week, V and Emily take a look at a pioneering gender-nonconforming person who, literally, founded modern scifi fandom: Donald Wollheim. We look at Donald's fannish history, including hosting the very first scifi con ever; publishing Lord of the Rings in the US; and founding the Futurians, the early East Coast scifi fan club who definitely won the all-time BNF war. Then, we look at the other side of Donald's life as a landmark figure in the midcentury East Coast trans and GNC community, including penning the first first-person book about being gender-nonconforming and it not being something to shun, but something to celebrate. While certain big-name authors have decided that they want their legacy to be one of division and hate, we look this week at an individual whose legacies in both fandom and the queer community are ones of building. Of hope for the future. And of telling people that they are not alone.

Sources

American Experience: Casa Susannah A Year Among the Girls, Darrell G. Raynor (Donald Wollheim) Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia Fancyclopedia 2 (1959)

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

Do you see, Will? This week, V and Emily finally have a happy, joyous, euphoric episode! And it's about... Hannibal, the scariest show ever to be on television. But the fandom has embraced the show and one another so wholly and so delightfully that we can't help but be charmed. In particular, we are looking at the annual fannish holiday of Trans Hanni Day, a day celebrating fanworks created by trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer Fannibals, celebrating headcanons about trans, nonbinary, or genderqueer characters from the Hannibal Extended Universe. In particular, we look at the zine "Adapt. Evolve. Become," which had its first issue in 2023 and its new issue in 2025! We also swoon over Hugh Dancy just being the fucking best, even if he's also the most boring man alive.

Sources

Hugh Dancy at FanExpo TransHanniDay on Bluesky Kickstarter for 2025 zine Zine submission ideas/memes Adapt. Evolve. Become. (2023) Divination Hollow THD Linktree Fuck Transphobia Grindelwald art silvergoldsea teacupsntime Trans Cannibalism, RED Guhde

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

This week, Emily and V look at the brilliant life and tragic death of the Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who was murdered by the president of her national fan club. While Selena's life was cut way too short, the amount of genius and joy that she exuded onstage and offstage is the most important part of her story. Emily skillfully guides us through Selena's life, her music, and her fashion, and V is along for the very sad ride. We also reference other stars who were killed by people claiming to be their fans, such as John Lennon, Rebecca Schaeffer, and Christina Grimmie, so please only listen to this episode if you are in the right mindset to be sad. 

Sources

Wikipedia

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!