Excerpts
The Bachelor and the Fantasy of Performance
In Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor, Ilana Masad imagines competing on the show, imaginary straightness and all.
Latest
Personal Essays
What Spider-Man Can’t Save
In which our hero contemplates a career writing about superheroes and pop culture—and imagines an ending.
Special Episodes
Special Episode 38: The Odyssey
“Wet and normal”—just two of many descriptors for Christopher Nolan’s epic.
Features
African K-Pop Fans Are Building Their Own Spaces
While the K-pop industry largely ignores them, fans in Kenya and Nigeria create K-pop communities for themselves.
Recaps
The Vampire Lestat: The Long Table
In episode 7, “The Failures,” Louis has a gruesome reunion with Armand, while Lestat faces judgment from specters of his past.
Features
How Fans Make Fictional Languages Real
Na’vi, Klingon, and other conlangs get more use IRL than they ever have onscreen.
Recaps
The Vampire Lestat: Sparing the Ambiguity
In episode 6, “Montreal,” Louis and Lestat share a tumultuous night ahead of Lestat’s farewell show.
Features
Heated Rivalry is at the Center of Fanfic’s AI Reckoning
A controversial anonymous document exposing Claude remnants in fics has collided with a fandom culture of production at hyper-speed.
Recaps
The Vampire Lestat: The Queen of the Damned
In episode 5, “New York,” Lestat strips back his rock-star facade and confronts his memories of Akasha.
Criticism
Be Gay, Do (Sea) Crimes: Pirate Tropes and Queer Resistance
As Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, pirate stories thrive on “all the old romance, retold exactly in the ancient way.”
Recaps
The Vampire Lestat: Hurtling Towards End Times
In episode 4, “The Devil’s Road,” Lestat’s reality begins to fracture as Armand returns with portents of doom.
Special Episodes
Special Episode 37: The Fruitful Void
Exploring the intersections of TTRPGs, fannish roleplaying, and fanfiction.