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 org...

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...

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 aver...

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 m...

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 under...

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 go...

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 comm...

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 collabora...

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, predict...

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 femi...

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 ec...

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 spoi...

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...

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 cartoo...

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, c...

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 ea...

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 t...

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 abo...

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, fa...