As the WGA and SAG strikes continue, it can be easy to forget why they are on strike in the first place. Many people don't really understand the production process or how things are so bad that professional writers have been willing to stop working for nearly 5 months. In this episode, I speak with veteran TV writer and executive producer, Ricky Manning and staff writer and story editor, Brittany Northcross, about their perspectives on the strikes. They also pull back the veil a bit and talk about working conditions of writers and how that has changed with the advent of streaming. The contrast ..read more

The Writers Guild of America is on strike. The Screen Actors Guild is on strike. Hollywood has come to a screeching halt. And everyone is wondering who in the world is the AMPTP! In this episode, I talk to my friends, Cort, an entertainment journalists from Pure Fandom.com and co-host of the Geek Girl Soup podcast, and Amanda-Rae Prescott, an entertainment journal for the PBS affiliate, WGBH Boston, about this entire situation. We also discussion how the demands of SAG and WGA tie into history, representation, progress and the nature of human creativity itself. --- Support this podcast: https ..read more

This episode is like of a retrospective of internet fanfiction starting for the early days of late 80's with UserNet to modern day social media and how that has influenced fannish behaviors. I talk to my friend Tara O'Shea who is like a fandom OG, bard and storyteller. She is a Award-winning editor, journalist, illustrator, and designer. She co-edited the Hugo Award-winning book "Chicks Love Time Lords", has been on the planning committee of conventions all over the country and currently works as a graphic designer. From message boards to fanfiction.net, to Archive of Our Own, to Fanlore... Ta ..read more

For my first convention review, I'm joined by journalist, Dean Rogers of pop culture news site, The Rogers Revue. Together, we discuss our collective and separate experiences at the convention as well as some general best practices for going to a convention. As a frequent comic con attendee myself, I was struck by the differences and similarities that I experienced in this convention space. Dean and I cover subjects from the current state of fandom to the emotional experience of celebrity interactions and between all that, I give Farpoint my convention score with my new "convention rubic". Hav ..read more

In this episode, I talked to Jaycee Dubyuh of Gaymer Allied People of Color, Neisha Mulchan of Diversely Geek and Bianca Hernandez-Knight of The Jane Austen Universe and Virtual Jane Con about the importance of building community in fandom spaces. Delving into our own fandom histories, we discuss the online and off-line activities, adventures, friendships and relationships that we built through our fandom experiences. Jaycee, Neisha and Bianca then discuss their inspiration and motivation for building their own fan communities that have had a global reach and tangible impact in their respectiv ..read more

Whenever we see something problematic or insensitive on our TV screens or streaming shows, we often ask, "Who wrote this? Who was in the room??" In this episode, I talk to three TV writers who are not only in the room, but are apart of a growing movement to improve the working conditions for underrepresented writers as well as improving the quality and authenticity of the stories that make it to our screens. Co-executive producer of NBC's New Amsterdam and Peacock's Vampire Academy, Y. Shireen Razack,  co-executive producer of CW's Life After First Failure, Tawal Panyacosit Jr. and resear ..read more

In this episode, best-selling author of the book, "Spoiler Alert", Olivia Dade and host of the fanfiction podcast, "Into The Archives", Talia Franks stop by to discuss all things fanfiction. We talk about our fanfiction origin stories, the value that fanfiction has brought into our lives and the importance of a communities built around common interests. I had planned for this to be a light episode, but it got surprisingly deep, as these conversation often do. I hope you enjoy it. You can follow Talia Franks on Twitter at @Talia_Franks or on their website at Word for Sense  Listen Into th ..read more

Queen of the Damned, True Blood, Blade, Vampire Diaries, Buffy. In this episode, Afrofuturism researcher and soon-to-be published doctoral student, D'arcee Charington Neal, Associate Editor of the inclusive geek space, Quirktastic, and practicing mental health counselor, Anjé McLish and I discuss all things vampire. We talk about the politics of these fictional vampire societies and how vampires as a proxy for beauty, wealth and temptation as well as answering that greatest of all questions: Are all vampires project partners? This is a fun, slight meandering, but ultimately insightful episode ..read more

In this episode, host of the podcast The Sacred Now, Jay Jackson and Episcopal priest, Reverend Rachel Kessler aka @nerdypriest on TikTok, join me as we discuss the different places were faith and science fiction meet. We discuss faiths within sci-fi universes as well as how our collective interests in science fiction has complimented or contradicted our beliefs. But ultimately *spoiler alert* this conversation is about the ways that science fiction can continue to give a us hope for a better future. In this episode, we discuss everything from Star Trek, to Blade Runner to Children of Men and ..read more

On May 8, 2021, #BlackFaeDay was the second highest trending topic on Twitter. What is Black Fae Day? It was a day where Black folks from all walks of life and all over the world dressed up in their most joyful and whimsical costumes and shared it with the world. Some without wings and glitter where inspired to take nature hikes, draw Black fairies, write poems, plays or anything to get them in the spirit of feeling like magical beings of power, beauty and grace. In The first episode of my second season, I talk to Jasmine La Fleur, the founder of Black Fae Day, and we discuss what inspired her ..read more