In Defense of Fandom

By Sadie Witkowski

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Category: Society & Culture

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Subscribers: 3
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 45

Description

In Defense of Fandom explores the world of fandom, focusing on creativity, community, and collaboration. The show, pulling from interviews with creators and fandom research, illuminates the ways that fandom can be an incredibly positive influence in our lives.In season one, the podcast focused on the creative output of the SPN Family, as Supernatural fans call themselves, a lens to understand fandom activities as a whole. Season two broadened the premise by exploring how the ending of a TV series can affect its fandom. Topics ranged from whether the ending is good/terrible/divisive to whether it matters if the show is cancelled or goes out on its own terms to attempted revivals and reboots. Season three took a step back from television and expanded the scope even further, looking at parasocial relationships. The third season examined how and why we form parasocial bonds, how these bonds can be beneficial (and detrimental), and what a parasocial relationship looks like from the side of the star/musician/creator. Season four, created in collaboration with Denim-Wrapped Nightmares, celebrates the 20th anniversary of Supernatural by taking a look at the music of the show: the music that made the show, music inspired by the show, and music from the show's cast, writers, and crew.

Episode Date
Bonus: Interview with Meghan Fitzmartin
Sep 09, 2025
Bonus: SDCC Post Con-versation
Aug 26, 2025
Bonus: Interview with Jerry Wanek
Aug 12, 2025
Season 3 Bonus: Sadie & Anna answer your questions!
Jul 22, 2025
Season 3 Episode 6: Benefits, Risks, & the Future of Parasocial Relationships
Jul 09, 2025
Season 3 Episode 5: Making Parasocial Relationships Reciprocal
Jun 17, 2025
Season 3 Episode 4: Modern Celebrity Worship
Jun 03, 2025
Season 3 Episode 3: Parasocial-Adjacent
May 20, 2025
Short Hiatus Note
May 06, 2025
Season 3 Episode 2: The Medium is the Message
Apr 22, 2025
Season 3 Episode 1: Parasocial Relationships
Apr 08, 2025
Season 3 Episode 0: Rebroadcast of Carrying Wayward
Mar 18, 2025
Bonus: Conversation with Jonathan London
Feb 04, 2025
Bonus: LA Fires Report
Jan 21, 2025
Fandom Questions: Shae
Jan 07, 2025
Fandom Questions: Anna's Answer
Dec 24, 2024
Fandom Questions: Anna Funk
Dec 17, 2024
Season 3 Promo & News!
Nov 19, 2024
Season 2 Episode 10: That's a wrap on Endings
Sep 10, 2024
Apologies on the Delay
Aug 13, 2024
Season 2 Episode 9: Revivals and Reboots
Jul 30, 2024
Season 2 Episode 8: Covid's effect on the Supernatural finale
Jul 16, 2024
Season 2 Episode 7: The elephant in the room - Supernatural’s Finale
Jul 02, 2024
Season 2 Episode 6: When the shows not over
Jun 18, 2024
Season 2 Mid-season Bonus: Conversation with Ben Edlund
Jun 04, 2024
Season 2 Episode 5: Surprise cancellations vs planned conclusions
May 21, 2024
Season 2 Episode 4: Sitcoms and story arcs
May 07, 2024
Season 2 Episode 3: Fanfiction fixit data
Apr 23, 2024
Season 2 Episode 2: Putting my theory to the test
Apr 09, 2024
Season 2 Episode 1: What makes a TV ending?
Mar 26, 2024
Bonus 5: Writing on The Winchesters
Feb 06, 2024
Bonus 4: The Costumes of Gotham Knights
Oct 31, 2023
Bonus 3: Family Business Beer Company
Oct 17, 2023
Bonus 2: WGA/SAG Strike & Personal Update
Sep 12, 2023
Bonus 1: Fan Origin Stories
Aug 01, 2023
Episode 8: Conventions (& Conclusions)
Jun 27, 2023
Episode 7: Charity
Jun 13, 2023
Episode 6: Community
May 30, 2023
Episode 5: Darkside
May 16, 2023
Episode 4.5: Video
May 02, 2023
Episode 4: Audio
Apr 18, 2023
Episode 3: Art
Apr 04, 2023
Episode 2: Writing
Mar 21, 2023
Episode 1: Why Supernatural
Mar 07, 2023
Coming Soon: In Defense of Fandom
Feb 28, 2023