The Success of Heated Rivalry Should Not Be a Surprise by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Fansplaining is a podcast about by, for, and about fandom: not A fandom, but fandom and fan culture in general. How are fans making an impac...
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Fansplaining
Fansplaining is a podcast about by, for, and about fandom: not A fandom, but fandom and fan culture in general. How are fans making an impact on pop culture? On industry? How has fandom chan...
Episodes
20 of 248 episodes
Fansplaining's Next Chapter by Elizabeth Minkel
Huge news!! Fansplaining is becoming a full-on weekly publication, with a wide range of writing (and audio! and art!) by, for, and about fan...
Can Fandom Make Us Better Tourists? by Kayti Burt
Our final article of 2025 is here! Kayti Burt—who first wrote for us last spring, in a fantastic piece on the precarity of being a fandom jo...
Alternate Universes by Newt Albiston
Our November piece is here! Newt Albiston's essay is one part guide to fandom text-based roleplaying, one part meditation on working through...
Reclaiming the Mary Sue by Meghan Fitzmartin
Our October piece is part essay/part excerpt: Meghan Fitzmartin, who's written for DC Comics, Supernatural, and many other fan-favorite prop...
K-Pop's Demons, Real and Fictional by Aja Romano
September's piece is by longtime fandom journalist Aja Romano, on the explosion of Kpop Demon Hunters , and its intersections—or lackthereof...
The Fan, the Pro, and the Spaces In Between by Tessa Gratton
Our August piece is by novelist (and Fansplaining SDCC 2025 panelist!) Tessa Gratton, about navigating the intersections of the fan and pro...
The Fandom Advantage: How Fan Creativity Fuels Pro Entertainment Careers
Fansplaining returned to San Diego Comic-Con this year (our tenth anniversary!) with a fantastic panel of fandom folks who work in pro enter...
How Friendships Onscreen and Off Fueled Half a Century of Fandom by Jay Castello
Our latest piece is about making fanworks—and fandom friendships—last through the decades! "How Friendships Onscreen and Off Fueled Half a C...
I Came to Ruin You: The Collecting Practices of K-Pop Fandoms by Rea McNamara & Bo Shin
This month's Fansplaining piece is a bit of a departure from our usual fandom reporting and critical analysis: for the first time, we're ver...
The RPF Question by Sacha Judd
In our newest piece, Sacha Judd goes deep on RPF, tracing it back decades and tackling its thorny intersections with other kinds of fan prac...
Bridgerton and Period Drama Fandom's Enduring Racism Problem by Amanda-Rae Prescott
Our latest piece is by Amanda-Rae Prescott, who was one of the expert guests in our "Race and Fandom" series back in 2020! ( https://www.fan...
Sam Wilson Deserved Better Than Brave New World by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Gav is back in Fansplaining in 2025! This time, she writes about Sam Wilson's recent Captain America debut—and how the MCU failed both the c...
The War That Almost Broke a Classic Fandom by Lena Barkin
Our first article of 2025 is here—and it's a big one! "The War That Almost Broke a Classic Fandom" by Lena Barkin: Blake's 7 fans and actors...
The Endless Appetite for Fanfiction by Elizabeth Minkel
Around this time in December, we usually wrap up Fansplaining with " The Year in Fandom ": a look back at five trends from the prior year fo...
Bringing Fanfiction Into the Classroom by Abby Kirby
Our latest article is by Abby Kirby, who writes about her experiences teaching fanfiction to middle schoolers: " Fic does something that my...
The Beatles Live! by Allegra Rosenberg
We're excited to welcome back Allegra Rosenberg, who's written a new article for us on contemporary Beatles fandom: "The Beatles Live! New g...
The Scream Fandom's Enduring Divide by Michael Boyle
Our newest article is "The Scream Fandom's Enduring Divide" by Michael Boyle: Nearly a year after star Melissa Barrera was fired for pro-Pal...
The Acolyte's Squandered Potential by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Our newest article is "The Acolyte's Squandered Potential" by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw: The show brought a whole new set of fans to a stagnating...
The Traumatized Gatekeepers of Broadway by Laura Wheatman Hill
Our newest article is "The Traumatized Gatekeepers of Broadway" by Laura Wheatman Hill: Theatre fans measure their passion by nitpicking. Do...