Fandom Made Me with Sabrina Cartan

How can Swifties change the world? On this episode of Fandom Made Me, host Sabrina Cartan talks to India Abrahams, the 11-year-old CEO and founder of Beads for Good, and her mom, social impact expert Tara Abrahams. Inspired by the Taylor Swift fan tradition of trading bracelets at The Eras Tour concerts, India creates and sells bracelets and donates 50% of sales to She’s the First, a nonprofit organization that makes sure girls everywhere are educated, respected, and heard. Sabrina chats with India and Tara about how Taylor Swift inspires them to fight for girls’ rights globally, how India became known as “The Tiny CEO,” and how fandom and social impact has brought them closer together as mother and daughter.Follow India’s work at @indiabeadsforgood on instagram.Visit India’s shop at beadsforgood.com. Learn more about fan activism at fandomforward.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do movies teach us about our feelings and values? On this episode of Fandom Made Me, host Sabrina Cartan is joined by Alex Steed, co-host of the popular movie podcast “You Are Good.” Alex geeks out about being a Kevin Smith fan as a teen in the 90s, how movies like Clerks and Chasing Amy relate to labor rights and the growing anti-work movement, and how early 90s message boards were a hotbed for early fan activism. Plus, a side rant about what Stranger Things gets wrong about 80s nostalgia (even though we love it).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are so back! On the season 2 premiere of Fandom Made Me, Sabrina Cartan talks about fixing philanthropy with Amy Schiller, author of The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong–and How to Fix It. Known on the Internet for her pop culture takes such as “Beyonceder” and a viral Atlantic essay on American Girl dolls, Amy answers some of our most pressing questions, namely, why don’t average and working class Americans consider themselves philanthropists? Together, they delve into the little-known history of working class philanthropy and how small dollar donations funded the Statue of Liberty, ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, and how a “giving wage” can change the way we live. A devoted Mariah Carey fan, Amy proposes a special Christmas-themed philanthropy project for Her Majesty, the Queen of Pop.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the Season 1 finale of Fandom Made Me! Host Sabrina Cartan invites author and USC Professor Henry Jenkins to reflect on Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, his widely celebrated book that changed the way we think about the relationship between media and fandom. Together, Henry and Sabrina talk about what's changed in the 17 years since the book's release and cover some hot media tips, such as: the Barbenheimer phenomenon, whether AI is a form of transformative work, white supremacist violence in fandoms like Star Wars and gaming communities, fan reactions to Netflix's password sharing ban, how piracy is a missed market testing opportunity for studios, and how fandom can be a form of diplomacy when media is a soft power. Follow Henry's blog: http://henryjenkins.org/Follow Fandom Forward:http://fandomforward.org/Support us on Patreon:patreon.com/fandomforwardFollow Sabrina on social media:instagram.com/sabrinacartantwitter.com/sabrinacartan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning filmmaker, philanthropist, and social activist Dr. Abigail Disney joins host Sabrina Cartan to discuss the latest Fandom Forward campaign, Be A Hero, inspired by her latest film on the labor movement at Disney Parks. The two explore the magic of Disney fandom, how Disney fans are uniquely positioned to engage in shareholder activism, and what Bob Iger and his colleagues fail to understand about entertainment consumers in 2023. Abigail shares what the Disney brand and characters mean to her as a granddaughter of Roy Disney and grandniece of Walt Disney, plus how Lynda Carter's iconic portrayal of Wonder Woman empowered her as a tomboyish girl growing up in the 1970s. Sign Fandom Forward's "Be a Hero" petition to Walt Disney Company shareholders:https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/be-a-hero-change-the-rules-to-support-disney-workers/Learn about Mickey au Camp de Gurs:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_au_Camp_de_GursFollow Abigail on social media: @AbigailDisneyFollow Sabrina on Instagram and Twitter: @SabrinaCartan Follow Fandom Forward on Twitter, TikTok, or Facebook: @fandomforwardFollow Fandom Forward on Instagram: @thehpallianceSupport our Patreon:patreon.com/fandomforward Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Actor and writer Mara Wilson (Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire, Welcome to Night Vale) joins host Sabrina Cartan to geek out about her favorite foreign teen dramas, My Mad Fat Diary, SKAM, and Dance Academy. Mara and Sabrina discuss how these shows (and a few movies, including the classic Grease) shaped their impressions of teendom vs. what they actually experienced. Through this lens, Mara explores the good girl vs. bad girl trope, the central theme of her new Hollywood memoir, Good Girls Don’t.  Fandom Made Me is a biweekly podcast from Fandom Forward, featuring interviews with activists, leaders, and writers on the pop culture that shaped them. Fandom Forward (formerly the Harry Potter Alliance) is a 501(c)3 organization that turns fans into heroes by using the power of story and popular culture to make activism accessible and sustainable.Follow Mara on Instagram and Twitter: @MaraWilsonFollow Sabrina on Instagram and Twitter: @SabrinaCartan Follow Fandom Forward on Twitter, TikTok, or Facebook: @fandomforwardFollow Fandom Forward on Instagram: @thehpallianceSupport our Patreon:patreon.com/fandomforwardLearn more about fan activism:Fandomforward.org  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special 4th of July episode, America’s #1 burger scholar George Motz joins host Sabrina Cartan to geek out about food and how a dish can become pop culture. George explains how his career as an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker led to his work in burger scholarship and the creation of the Food Film Festival. Inspired by his father’s love of jingles, George recalls his favorite vintage food commercials of the 70s and 80s, and breaks down what’s next for the hamburger as an American icon. Follow George on Instagram @motzburger or visit his website: https://www.georgemotz.com/ Follow Fandom Forward on Twitter or Facebook: @fandomforward Follow us on Instagram: @thehpalliance Support our Patreon:patreon.com/fandomforward Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feminist activist and writer Veronica I. Arreola joins host Sabrina Cartan to talk about Buffy the Vampire Slayer through the lens of leadership. A hardcore Buffy fan since the 90s and advocate for Latinx students, staff, and administrators at the University of Illinois Chicago, Veronica talks about how Buffy shapes the way she approaches leadership, and how the Scooby Gang's collaborative spirit can inspire us all. Recently elected as Councilor for Chicago's 24th Police District, Veronica shares her vision for future police accountability and how Chicago citizens can play a role in the development of public safety policy. Read Veronica's blog, Viva La Feminista:http://www.vivalafeminista.com/Follow Veronica on social media:https://www.instagram.com/veronicaeye/https://twitter.com/veronicaeye/Read Veronica's new children's book, J is for Justice: An Activism Alphabet: https://www.womenandchildrenfirst.com/book/9781503765818Fandom Forward turns fans into heroes. We use the power of story and popular culture to make activism accessible and sustainable. Through experiential training and real life campaigns, we develop compassionate, skillful leaders who learn to approach our world’s problems with joy, creativity, and commitment to equity. Learn more about fan activism at fandomforward.org. Support us on Patreon:patreon.com/fandomforward Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

White collar crime and corporate governance expert Jen Taub joins host Sabrina Cartan to geek out about Succession ahead of its series finale. Jen puts on her law professor hat and shares what's realistic (or not) about the C-suite at Waystar Royco, and she and Sabrina explore the qualities of a great CEO. They share their favorite Succession moments and characters, predictions for the finale, and what Succession can teach current and future viewers about greed, wealth, and corporate America. Plus, Jen learns about the art of fandom shipping. Follow Jen on Twitter and Substack:https://twitter.com/jentaubhttps://jentaub.substack.com/Read Jen's books:https://bookshop.org/contributors/jennifer-taub Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning filmmaker Therese Shechter joins host Sabrina Cartan to discuss My So-Called Selfish Life, her new feminist documentary about the growing childfree movement and how it relates to reproductive justice for all. Therese geeks out about Free to Be... You and Me, the classic 1970s children's album and TV special that defied gender stereotypes, and recalls how it turned her into the feminist she is today.Come meet Therese (and Sabrina!) at the NYC Premiere of My So-Called Selfish Life on May 16:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/my-so-called-selfish-life-new-york-city-premiere-tickets-598765231927 Follow Therese and watch her films: https://myselfishlife.com/ https://trixiefilms.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when a fan and an actor from their fandom become friends? On this week's Fandom Made Me, host Sabrina Cartan joins actor and entrepreneur John Cabrera in conversation about building community between fans and artists. Known for his role as Brian Fuller on Gilmore Girls, John had a secret: he never actually watched the show until recently! In 2021, he created the fandom app and ecosystem Remarkist to bring fan communities together for watch parties, games, puzzles, and community building, first with a complete watch-through of GG, and then expanding to other worlds, from Disney movies to Taylor Swift Midnight to Mrs. Maisel's recent season premiere. As an expert contributor to Remarkist Magazine, Sabrina reflects with John on parasocial relationships between celebrities and fans, producing TV for a fandom-centric world, John's stint as a LOST blogger in the 2000s, and of course, plenty of behind-the-scenes thoughts on the making of Gilmore Girls.Join Remarkist:https://remarkist.com/Read Sabrina's ranking of the 15 Greatest Devoted Fandoms of All Time in Remarkist Magazine:https://mag.remarkist.com/p/the-15-greatest-devoted-fandoms-of Follow John on social media:https://www.facebook.com/johncabrerahttps://instagram.com/unboiled/https://twitter.com/johncabrera Learn more about fan activism and support our work:fandomforward.org/donatehttps://patreon.com/fandomforward/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can fan activists do self care the fandom way? Host Sabrina Cartan explores the issues of burnout and toxicity in fan activism with Tanya Cook and Kaela Joseph, the authors of Fandom Acts of Kindness: A Heroic Guide to Activism, Advocacy, and Doing Chaotic Good. These fans turned researchers also talk about one of their favorite fandoms, Our Flag Means Death. But don't worry, there are no spoilers for this show during this episode. Order their new book:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710912/fandom-acts-of-kindness-by-tanya-cook-and-kaela-joseph/ Follow Tanya and Kaela on Twitter:https://twitter.com/AKNerdFighting https://twitter.com/ProfTanyaCook Join our Patreon community:https://patreon.com/fandomforward/Learn more about fan activism:fandomforward.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate editor and 'Amicus' podcast host Dahlia Lithwick geeks out about the Muppets and reflects on how Kermit the Frog inspired her career as one of America's leading legal commentators. Dahlia reflects on her viral Slate article on "Muppet Theory" and how it's lived on in wedding vows, sermons, corporate workshops, and people's hearts for over a decade. She and host Sabrina Cartan also talk about Dahlia's New York Times bestselling 2022 book, Lady Justice: Women, The Law, and the Battle to Save America, and how she came to write about the Supreme Court using easy-to-understand metaphors. Much fun and chaos ensues! Follow Dahlia Lithwick: dahlialithwick.comListen to Amicus:https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Actor and cartoonist Lela Lee (Scrubs, Tremors, Better Call Saul) joins host Sabrina Cartan ahead of the Oscars to talk about Asian women's representation in media, including recent hit films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Pixar's Turning Red. For nearly 30 years, Lela has guest starred in numerous iconic sitcoms and dramas, while also working on her Angry Little Asian Girl cartoon series, which has become an international phenomenon complete with books, a 12-part web series starring Margaret Cho, and a popular merch series.Lela reflects on her time as Bonnie on the hit show Scrubs, why she left the show, and how she bonded over a Grey's Anatomy storyline with Sandra Oh. She also gets into the nuances of growing up Korean-American in the 1970s and 1980s, being an Asian daughter, and what it's been like to see her own children see Korean culture celebrated in pop culture today.Follow Lela's work at https://angrylittlegirls.com/. Learn more about Fandom Forward and support us at:fandomforward.orgpatreon.com/fandomforward Follow Sabrina at twitter.com/sabrinacartan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a special Black History Month bonus! Black Nerds Create co-founder Bayana Davis joins host Sabrina Cartan to discuss the Black Nerds Create collective, its mission to contribute to meaningful representation in media for Black folks specifically and marginalized people generally, and how they're accomplishing this with Black Magical History Month, a program celebrating Black magical stories, characters, and fans.Also: Bayana and Sabrina geek out on some Hobbit talk, crush on Legolas, and reflect on Tolkien Black Folks, a Lord of the Rings-inspired Black Nerds Create podcast. Become a Patreon subscriber and support this podcast:https://patreon.com/fandomforward/ Black Nerds Createhttps://blacknerdscreate.com/BNC Presents: Tolkien Black Folks https://blacknerdscreate.com/content/bnc-presents/ Listen to Bayana's "Black Magical History Month" feature on NPRhttps://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153936578/the-magic-of-being-a-black-nerd-in-black-history-monthFollow Bayana on social media @yanawroteitFandom Forward https://fandomforward.org/ Follow Sabrina on social media @sabrinacartan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Meteor CEO and former Glamour and Self editor-in-chief Cindi Leive joins host Sabrina Cartan in the Shire to geek out about women journalists through the lens Brenda Starr, Reporter, an iconic comic strip that ran from 1940 to 2011. A cultural critic and one of the most celebrated women in American media, Cindi shares teen memories of being a Bruce Springsteen and Eurythmics fangirl in the early 1980s, and how her love of the fashionable, no-nonsense Brenda Starr influenced her career. Together, Cindi and Sabrina explore gender in the workplace, women's authorship, and what's changed (or hasn't) since Brenda Starr's heyday. Cindi connects all of this to her current work at The Meteor, a media company she co-founded with a group of journalists, artists, filmmakers, and media leaders who believe in the power of words, images, and stories to advance gender and racial justice and equity—and transform the world. During Leive’s 16 years at Glamour, she grew the brand’s audience to a record 20 million across print and digital, and built barrier-breaking initiatives like Women of the Year (the country’s preeminent event showcasing women), #PoweredByWomen (a global movement supporting female photographers), #The51Million (about women and politics) and more. As a journalist, she has interviewed Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and George W. Bush, First Ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Senator John McCain, and personalities ranging from Jennifer Lawrence to Angelina Jolie. She also founded The Girl Project to support girls’ education, making Glamour the first women’s media brand with a nonprofit initiative.Follow and support The Meteor's mission: https://wearethemeteor.com/ https://www.instagram.com/themeteor/ Support this podcast: http://fandomforward.org/donatehttps://patreon.com/fandomforward Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the second episode of Shireside Chats, Fandom Forward co-president and host Sabrina Cartan invites writers Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan to geek out about Marvel Comics and share how their favorite superhero stories have helped them become human rights activists and educators. Alan and Gan discuss 1/6, their 4-part graphic novel that answers the chilling question: What would America look like if the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 had been successful? In reimagining 1/6 through speculative fiction, Alan and Gan illustrates how close the U.S. came to authoritarian rule, while offering hope and a path to preserving democracy.Both avid Marvel fans, Alan and Gan describe how they fell in love with comic books and what inspired them to produce indie comics together, plus what Marvel has meant to them after becoming mainstream through Disney's acquisition and movie adaptations. Sabrina, Alan, and Gan also talk about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and what it means for superhero movies to attract Oscar® Buzz.Alan Jenkins is a writer, Harvard Law School professor, and human rights advocate. He teaches courses on racial justice, strategic communications, and Supreme Court jurisprudence and is a frequent commentator in broadcast and print media. Jenkins’s previous positions include President and Co-Founder of the social justice communication lab The Opportunity Agenda, Director of Human Rights at the Ford Foundation, Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Follow him on Twitter at @Opportunity1.Gan Golan is an activist, illustrator and New York Times bestselling author who has been working for more than 3 decades as a grassroots organizer within social movements for racial and economic justice. He is the co-author of the bestselling children's book parodies Goodnight Bush and Goodnight Trump, and the critically-acclaimed graphic novel The Adventures of Unemployed Man, which played a role in the Occupy Wall St. movement. He was a lead designer of The People’s Climate March and a co-founder of The Climate Clock. Follow him on Instagram at @gangolan.To order your copy of 1/6 and take action to preserve democracy, visit:http://onesixcomics.com/A full transcript of the episode can be accessed here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the first episode of Shireside Chats, host Sabrina Cartan invites mother-daughter duo and disability rights activists Ellen and Emily Ladau to geek out about Gilmore Girls. Emily and Ellen, who share the same physical disability, bond over the show's witty banter, the idyllic charm of the fictional town of Stars Hollow, and the iconic friendship between Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Emily chats about her book Demystifying Disability, fan representations of autism and ADHD in Gilmore Girls characters like Kirk and Lorelai, and how to address ableism in media and fandom. Ellen shares a Lorelai-esque perspective on motherhood, championing her daughter's disability activism, and revealing what she wishes had been different for her when she was navigating life with a disability at Emily's age. Together, Ellen, Emily, and Sabrina reflect on what they love most about Gilmore Girls, how this special show has shaped their lives, and what TV writers and creators can do to build a more empathetic media landscape for people with disabilities. An episode transcript can be accessed here:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OqJSjWchihGEEgZJdoJboV5uauuqEqmbXeZh63c4S-8/edit?usp=sharing Learn more about Emily's work at her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Follow Ellen on Twitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Shireside Chats, a Lord of the Rings-inspired podcast from Fandom Forward featuring conversations over tea and biscuits with renowned activists, writers, and leaders on the pop culture that shaped them. From Star Wars to Gilmore Girls to Shrek, tap into the geekiness of your real-life heroes and learn how to change the world just like your fictional faves. Hosted by Sabrina Cartan, fan activist and co-president of Fandom Forward. Join us and learn more about fan activism at fandomforward.org. Support our work and become a Fandom Forward member at patreon.com/fandomforward! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.