
What is Fandom?
From I'm a Fan of That! by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard
October 19, 2025 · 59 min · Season 3 · Episode 12
About this episode
The episode explores the concept of fandom, its history, and the complexities surrounding its definition.
The end of season three is probably the best time to finally confront an all important question: what actually is fandom? How do we define this strange thing? Is it even possible? We chat about the history of the word and idea, take a little side path down an explanation of cultural evolutionary anthropology, and end with a big 'ol question of whether we can actually ever get away from some of the problematic ideas we have. Some stuff: Vivian's Taylor Swift project Holly briefly mentioned Vivian's pool analogy, so it's here if you're interested Our Socials Vivian's Instagram Holly's Instagram The Pod's Instagram Buy Our Books! Buy Holly's Book! Buy Vivian's Book! Fan Of That is now on Patreon! Go support us over there! Music for this episode was Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLead Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Logo by Moira Daykin, @mecha_moira on instagram This episode was produced by Vivian Asimos and Holly Swinyard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Hosts: Vivian Asimos, Holly Swinyard
Topics covered
- fandom
- cultural anthropology
- definition
- history
- problematic ideas
Keywords
- fandom
- cultural anthropology
- Taylor Swift
- definition
- problematic ideas
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Patreon
Books & works: Nowhere Land
More episodes of I'm a Fan of That!
- New Girl · June 7, 2026 · 56 min
- A Fandom Catchup · May 23, 2026 · 45 min
- Vivian Explains the Summer House Scandal · April 26, 2026 · 1h 11m
- Bonus: the Traitors · January 21, 2026 · 45 min
- Christmas Special! About Christmas Specials! · December 22, 2025 · 40 min
- Silent Hill · October 5, 2025 · 47 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the I'm a Fan of That! podcast page.