This Week In Fandom History

V. Arrow & Emily Jaye | Fanfiction Aficionados & Fandom Historians

Details

A podcast about why fandom matters. Co-hosted by V. Arrow and Emily Jaye, This Week In Fandom History celebrates fandom culture's highest highs and weirdest lows. With which short-lived vampire cop drama was the very first X-Files fanfiction crossed over? Who is Tara Gilesbie? How recently did the Starsky & Hutch Lending Library rent out its last zine? What were Strikethrough, Racefail, LGBTFansDeserveBetter, and Conchobar, anyway? V and Emily trade off some deep-internet research each week to learn and laugh (and sometimes rage) their way through the annals of fandom history. Come join us!

Recent Episodes

OCT 4, 2026
BONUS! FEED DROP - Mind the Tags - Ready or Knot: Our Deep Dive into the Omegaverse
What's the story?! Well, this week, Emily and V suffered a tech tragedy and lost their entire episode at the eleventh hour. Fortunately, our friends, Other Emily and Vee from Mind the Tags, came to our rescue with an episode that we loved and think you will, too! Listen to the episode opener to find out all about the TWIFH Lost Episode, and then stay with the track to get into them guts of the omegaverse with Other Emily and Vee. Thank you so much for saving our bacon, friends!---Mind the Tags -- Ready or Knot: Our Deep Dive into the OmegaverseJoin Emily and Vee as they explore the fascinating world of the omegaverse, including its common tropes and origin in Supernatural real person fanfiction (RPF). Emily discusses some of the motivations authors have shared for writing omegaverse fics, and both Emily and Vee wax poetic about the magical time that was 2010. Topics include: Omegaverse, alpha/beta/omega dynamics, Supernatural, inaccurate wolf scienceSources from today's ep:[Data] The 100 most popular tags on AO3 in 2024 by batcat229Alpha/Beta/Omega on Fanlorea (very necessary) deep dive into the omegaverse by Rowan Ellis The Unofficial Guide to the Omegaverse by VelvelyamiStarbucks Slick Recipe Who Invented the Omegaverse Anyway? by CherrySupernatural kink meme from 2010I ain't no lady, but you'd be the tramp. by tehdirtiestsock (thatotherperv)Omegaverse Litigation on Fanlore---This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistoryWe’re now on Instagram serving up fanworks every day! @thisweekinfandomhistorySign up for our newsletter on our website, http://www.thisweekinfandomhistory.com!Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifhpodcastYou can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistoryPlease remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
58 MIN
SEP 27, 2026
October 3: Mean Girls Day with Allegra from STAN Podcast
She doesn't even go here! This week, V and Emily are joined by a friend who, indeed, does not normally go here, but we're glad she did for this episode: Allegra Ponti from STAN Podcast. She is here to join our cafeteria clique as we discuss the 2004 movie phenomenon Mean Girls, and how the worldwide fandom for this movie a) destroyed Lindsay Lohan, and b) shaped our own high school experiences to varying degrees. (While we didn't have time to get into it in the episode, the Broadway musical and 2024 film musical are also big fandoms in their own right! Toxic femslashers rise!) We discuss the differences between American and British school culture, the 2000s cultural exports of the United States, and the continual cycle of Hollywood child sacrifices. Plus, another installment of V's teachers not knowing how to handle a very lesbian, very fannish child!SourcesSo Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls and Why We're Still So Obsessed With It, Jennifer Keishin ArmstrongCalling It: Bama RushTok Is Over by Anne Helen PetersenLindsay Lohan for Rolling Stone (2004)PromoTGI Femslash - Our favorite fan convention, TGIF/F, is happening soon! The con is back on February 18-21, 2027, in Los Angeles, and registration is open now. The convention is limited to 100 attendees, so make sure you register soon to experience a wonderful, intimate, friendly con full of like-minded femslash lovers as you make friends with fellow queer fans, dance the night away to vids at Club Femslash, participate in the one-of-a-kind Fic Battle, and attend fascinating panels. You can get more information and register for your spot at http://www.tgifemslash.com. We’ll be there, and we hope you will, too!Artifacts: Stories from the Emotional History of the Internet - Artifacts is a storytelling podcast about the technology, media, and digital culture we’ve left behind, and the feelings that remain. Each episode begins with a familiar artifact - a burned CD, a dial-up modem, a movie rental store, a family computer, a paper map - and unfolds into a story about memory, identity, creativity, belonging, curiosity, and the experiences we still carry with us today. This isn’t just a show about old technology. It’s about the people who grew up alongside it. Hosted by award-winning podcaster Danny Brown, Artifacts blends personal storytelling, cultural history, and thoughtful reflection to explore why some of the most ordinary objects became the milestones of our lives. Because sometimes the objects fade, but the feeling doesn’t.A Date with Dateline - Kimberly and Katie are professional true crime TV experts with no formal training but evidence lockers filled with snark and uninformed opinions. Katie watches Dateline in hopes to learn how to prevent her new husband from murdering her for the life insurance money, and Kimberly watches so she’ll know what to say when Keith Morrison interviews her about her best friend Katie’s murder. (Note, this is V's legit favorite podcast ever!)This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistoryWe’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistorySign up for our newsletter on our website, http://www.thisweekinfandomhistory.com!Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifhYou can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistoryPlease remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
74 MIN
SEP 20, 2026
September 24, 2014: In Which We Got Jossed By Dan & Phil
PHIL LESTER, YOU’RE A GENIUS! This week’s episode is a little different. This week, Emily and V finally release an episode that has been sitting in our vault for over a year — not because it wasn’t good, but because the universe pulled off one of the most chaotic, timeline‑breaking acts of accidental fandom trolling we’ve ever witnessed.We originally recorded this episode as a thoughtful, slightly exasperated look at Dan & Phil shipping culture — how two creators became the center of one of the internet’s most enduring RPF fandoms, how fans blurred the lines between performance and reality, and why it’s important to remember the fiction part of Real Person Fiction.We talked about boundaries.We talked about ethics.We talked about how there was no evidence of a real‑life romantic relationship.And then — about 24 hours later — Dan and Phil announced their relationship.Not only that: they announced they had been together since 2009.So not only did reality Joss our episode…It Jossed fifteen years of fandom history with one press release.We took a breath. We texted each other memes of Ben Affleck smoking on a balcony (you know the one), and then shelved the episode until it fit the calendar. And now — finally — it is time. Join 2025 TWIFH discussing 2014 Dan & Phil, and let 2026 you laugh at our misfortune.---SourcesFanloreThe Secrets of the SlashersAre Dan & Phil In a Relationship? The TruthPromoSex Ed with DB - When you think back on your high school days, do you feel like you got the sex ed you deserved? Probably not. Well, good news: Sex Ed with DB is a podcast about the sex ed you should have gotten in school. Host DB has a Master of Public Health from Columbia University with expertise in sexuality, sexual, and reproductive health – so rest assured that the podcast is always medically accurate and based in actual science. It’s also warm, funny, and entertaining! Sex Ed with DB just wrapped its fourteenth season, which focused on PLEASURE, ranging from foot fetishes to getting strapped to gooners to polycules to pleasure as RESISTANCE. You can check out a great starter episode ("Late Bloomer Lesbianism with YouTuber Alayna Joy") right here on your podcast app of choice!TGI Femslash - Our favorite fan convention, TGIF/F, is happening soon! The con is back on February 18-21, 2027, in Los Angeles, and registration is open now. The convention is limited to 100 attendees, so make sure you register soon to experience a wonderful, intimate, friendly con full of like-minded femslash lovers as you make friends with fellow queer fans, dance the night away to vids at Club Femslash, participate in the one-of-a-kind Fic Battle, and attend fascinating panels. You can get more information and register for your spot at http://www.tgifemslash.com. We'll be there, and we hope you will, too!Artifacts: Stories from the Emotional History of the Internet - Artifacts is a storytelling podcast about the technology, media, and digital culture we've left behind, and the feelings that remain. Each episode begins with a familiar artifact - a burned CD, a dial-up modem, a movie rental store, a family computer, a paper map - and unfolds into a story about memory, identity, creativity, belonging, curiosity, and the experiences we still carry with us today. This isn't just a show about old technology. It's about the people who grew up alongside it. Hosted by award-winning podcaster Danny Brown, Artifacts blends personal storytelling, cultural history, and thoughtful reflection to explore why some of the most ordinary objects became the milestones of our lives. Because sometimes the objects fade, but the feeling doesn't.This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistoryWe’re now on Instagram! @thisweekinfandomhistorySign up for our newsletter on our website, http://www.thisweekinfandomhistory.com!Check out our Fandom Primer playlist via linktr.ee/twifhYou can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistoryPlease remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
52 MIN