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Speaker 1: Guess what will? What's that? Man? Go? So? I know

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Speaker 1: you and I were both huge Lakers fans when we

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Speaker 1: were kids, and my third grade basketball team was named

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Speaker 1: the Lakers, and I had this Magic Johnson basketball and

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Speaker 1: even though I'm really a Sixers fan at heart, it

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Speaker 1: was nice to root for a team that actually had

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Speaker 1: a chance of winning. But as much as I loved

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Speaker 1: Magic Johnson, I really loved Kareem Abdul Jabbar. You mean

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Speaker 1: even more than a C. Green or Byron Scott or

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Speaker 1: Michael Thompson or Michael Cooper. Do you do? We just

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Speaker 1: keep going. Look, they're all clearly great, but Kareem's hook

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Speaker 1: shot you couldn't defend against it. When I learned he

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Speaker 1: was a history nerd and a Bruce Lee fan, and

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Speaker 1: he seemed kind of quiet and introverted, like I liked

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Speaker 1: all of that. But the thing I loved the most

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Speaker 1: about him, he's a massive Sherlock Holmes fan. Wait, weren't

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Speaker 1: you Sherlock Holmes for like two or three Halloween's in

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Speaker 1: a row? Because I was. And this is where all

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Speaker 1: my third grade interests sort of come together. But but

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Speaker 1: apparently Kareem started reading homes when he was a rookie

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Speaker 1: with the Bucks and he got obsessed. He was inspired

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Speaker 1: to use his powers of deduction to figure out players weaknesses.

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Speaker 1: And just like Holmes had those Street Urchin spies, the

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Speaker 1: Baker Street of regulars, Kaem used a team of ball

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Speaker 1: boys to get him dirt like. He peppered them for

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Speaker 1: info and injuries, or asked them for details on opponents.

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Speaker 1: And if he knew a player was smoking, like he'd

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Speaker 1: exploit that by running him up and down the court,

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Speaker 1: just tiring him out. But his love for Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: goes so much further. He's also been the keynote speaker

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Speaker 1: at a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast club, and he's published not one,

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Speaker 1: but two novels about microft homes. Who you know if

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Speaker 1: you don't know, is holmes older brother. I mean, Kareem's

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Speaker 1: basically published his Sherlock Holmes fan fiction, but reading up

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Speaker 1: about him again made me wonder about the world of

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Speaker 1: fandom and what are the most rapid fan bases out

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Speaker 1: there and why is identifying as a fan so important

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Speaker 1: to us as humans? And that's what today's show is

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Speaker 1: all about. Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time

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Speaker 1: Genius I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by

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Speaker 1: my good friend man Guesh Ticketer and on the other

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Speaker 1: side of that soundproof class arranging an extraordinary cheese plates

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Speaker 1: our producer Tristan McNeil, so Mango. As you mentioned at

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Speaker 1: the top of the show, this episode, we're on the

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Speaker 1: hunt for the most devoted fan basis in the world

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Speaker 1: and to understand a little more about them along the way.

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Speaker 1: You know, thanks to the Internet and social media platforms

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Speaker 1: like Twitter and Tumbler, it's now easier than ever for

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Speaker 1: fans to find each other and geek out over their

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Speaker 1: shared passion for you know, well just about anything. So

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Speaker 1: today we'll talk about how these fanatical fan bases got

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Speaker 1: their start in the pre digital age, as well as

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Speaker 1: why humans form these fan communities in the first place,

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Speaker 1: and because no subject is too niche to have its

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Speaker 1: own fandom. Will also spotlight a few of our favorites

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Speaker 1: that fall well outside the typical realm of sports teams

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Speaker 1: or boy bands and movie stars. Again, and don't forget,

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Speaker 1: we'll also be talking to a couple of super fans

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Speaker 1: to get their insiders perspective on some of the world's

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Speaker 1: most popular fandoms. All right, So we should start by

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Speaker 1: noting an important distinction between fans and fandoms. You know,

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Speaker 1: most of us are casual fans of a lot of

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Speaker 1: things we like or appreciate, specific movies or TV shows, songs,

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Speaker 1: or books, and you know, we might even become fans

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Speaker 1: of the people behind those works if we happen to

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Speaker 1: watch enough of their catalog or maybe develop some personal

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Speaker 1: connection to the work. The capital f fandom is a

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Speaker 1: completely different beast. You know, there's this passion and enthusiasm

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Speaker 1: there that most of us would find hard to even

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Speaker 1: muster even for the things we enjoy or consider ourselves

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Speaker 1: fans of. Oh absolutely so. For example, if you're a

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Speaker 1: casual Tom Hanks fan, you might check out as latest

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Speaker 1: movie in theaters if you get the chance, and hopefully

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Speaker 1: you'll enjoy watching it in the moment. But a card

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Speaker 1: carrying member of the Tom Hanks fandom, they're gonna engage

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Speaker 1: with the same movie a lot earlier and a much

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Speaker 1: deeper and more sustained way. Like a Tom Hanks super

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Speaker 1: fan will comb through pop culture news sites daily for

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Speaker 1: any sort of crumbs about the upcoming film, and when

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Speaker 1: a new trailer drops, they might do a ten minute

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Speaker 1: YouTube video dissecting every second, and they'll pop over to

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Speaker 1: the Tom Hanks reddit threads to take in a little

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Speaker 1: fan fiction and maybe get some tips on how to

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Speaker 1: pull off the perfect Tom Hanks cosplay. All right, I

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Speaker 1: think we get the point on this. By the way,

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Speaker 1: kudos on choosing the most plain, vanilla example of something

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Speaker 1: people might get fanatical about. I mean, I know everybody

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Speaker 1: loves Tom Hanks, but is anybody that into Tom Hanks. Definitely,

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Speaker 1: Hanks is a fans fan. I mean, he's obsessed with

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Speaker 1: old typewriters, so he knows the drill. He's got two

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Speaker 1: under fifty of his own in his personal collections. But

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Speaker 1: but he's super nice to fans. He has his special

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Speaker 1: Quote Hanks stationary that that he uses to type out

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Speaker 1: thank you notes. Um, that's whenever people's ending letters. Do

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Speaker 1: you do? You know this from experience? You know? All right? Well,

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Speaker 1: back to the idea of fandom. So while your example

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Speaker 1: was suspect that the kind of behavior you outlined was

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Speaker 1: spot on, I mean you could swap out Hanks for

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Speaker 1: Justin Bieber or Marvel Superhero movies or Lord of the

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Speaker 1: Rings and still have a pretty good overview of how

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Speaker 1: a fandom works, because regardless of what the content is,

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Speaker 1: the true mark of fandom is, you know, this intense

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Speaker 1: degree to which members engage with and and that's never

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Speaker 1: been more true than today. You already mentioned cosplay and

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Speaker 1: fan fiction, but there are lots of other ways that

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Speaker 1: fans stretch out content to better suit their interest levels.

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Speaker 1: Sure so, pop culture enthusiasts especially seemed to turn out

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Speaker 1: a never ending stream of reviews and recaps and think pieces,

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Speaker 1: not to mention, like live tweeted commentaries during shows, right,

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Speaker 1: and you know there are tumbler pages cataloging these giffable

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Speaker 1: moments or video series dedicated to philosophical undertones of cartoons,

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Speaker 1: and this ever growing number of fan sites and podcasts

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Speaker 1: that approach they preferred subjects from every conceivable angle. I mean,

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Speaker 1: the Internet has opened the floodgates for this kind of

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Speaker 1: fan produced reactionary content. Yeah, and all those products of fandom,

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Speaker 1: like the memes and essays and videos have really become

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Speaker 1: their own kind of entertainment. And the funny thing is,

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Speaker 1: in most cases, these fan produced reactions far outweigh the

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Speaker 1: run times of the content they're reacting to. Like it

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Speaker 1: would take you a little over seven hours to binge

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Speaker 1: the latest season a Game of Thrones, but a die

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Speaker 1: hard fan could easily spend three or four times that

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Speaker 1: just listening to a single fan run podcast, you know,

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Speaker 1: something that dives deep into each episode. And these days,

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Speaker 1: if you're part of a devout enough fandom, there should

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Speaker 1: be plenty of ancillary stuff to keep you busy when

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Speaker 1: the show isn't on, which is crazy to think about

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Speaker 1: how much content is out there. But I mean, look

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Speaker 1: back on the media reactions to big shakeups and popular

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Speaker 1: old TV shows like you know who shot Jr? On

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Speaker 1: Dallas or whether the gang would end up in prison

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Speaker 1: on the Seinfeld finale. But you know, lots of people

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Speaker 1: make sure to watch so they'd be prepared for the

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Speaker 1: inevitable water cooler discussion at work the next day. But

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Speaker 1: now that feels really kind of like a quaint notion,

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Speaker 1: you know, I mean, like like, why wait until Monday

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Speaker 1: to hear someone else's opinion. You can hop online and

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Speaker 1: find a million hot takes on your favorite show immediately

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Speaker 1: after it airs. I know, for me, that's part of

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Speaker 1: what stopped allowing me to identify as a fan. Like

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Speaker 1: this is so weird to say, but I knew about

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Speaker 1: Harry Potter well before other people did. A kid cousin

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Speaker 1: who'd been abroad had gotten in on the craze early,

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Speaker 1: and before J. K. Rowling had sold the rights to

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Speaker 1: the film. I was telling my boss at the time

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Speaker 1: that he should try to option it because it could

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Speaker 1: make a great animated feature. But as much as I

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Speaker 1: love those books, I'm not like Hank Green, who you know,

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Speaker 1: has a band that writes Harry Potter songs and he

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Speaker 1: writes fan fiction about Wizards dealing with teen issues like

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Speaker 1: being sixteen and getting pregnant at Hogwarts, Like like, how

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Speaker 1: can I call myself a fan if that's what the

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Speaker 1: measure of fan is? Yeah, I mean I know what

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Speaker 1: you mean. So what single thing do you think you're

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Speaker 1: the biggest fan of? Yeah, I don't know. I'm I'm

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Speaker 1: kind of inconsistent. Like at one point in my life

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Speaker 1: it might have been like Calvin and Hobbs or Rushmore

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Speaker 1: or P. G. Woodhouse. I I don't know, I'm just

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Speaker 1: not that committed. I mean, I love Duke basketball all,

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Speaker 1: but I'm not the you know, I'm in my thirties

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Speaker 1: and still face paying every game level of enthusiasm, and

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Speaker 1: I don't even think I own a T shirt anymore.

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Speaker 1: What are you passionate about? Well, you know, I've always

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Speaker 1: had a love affair with chicken biscuits, right. I once

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Speaker 1: tried to start a breakfast club devoted to them in

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Speaker 1: high school. It was called the Chicken Biscuit Club, and

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Speaker 1: and I tried to petition for it, had like three

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Speaker 1: hundred people sign this petition to start this club. And

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Speaker 1: the principle pulled me aside, is like, is this a

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Speaker 1: service club? I was like, no, was this? Ah? You know?

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Speaker 1: Is this an academic club? Will know? And well, what

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Speaker 1: are you going to do in this club? And I said, well,

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Speaker 1: We're gonna sit around and eat chicken biscuits. And he

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Speaker 1: promptly threw me out of his office unfortunately, So I

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Speaker 1: mean I joined that. But I guess part of the

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Speaker 1: question we're asking today is why do capital letter f

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Speaker 1: fans spend so much time on this stuff and what

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Speaker 1: do they get out of it? Well, you know, if

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Speaker 1: you look at what psychologists say, most of them would

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Speaker 1: tell you that fan mentality is tied up with with

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Speaker 1: two things. The first is self presentation. So think about

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Speaker 1: how we hadentify fire ourselves through our clothes and our appearance.

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Speaker 1: I mean that that conscious choice sends a message about

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Speaker 1: the kind of people we are, or at least about

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Speaker 1: the kind of people we see ourselves as or want

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Speaker 1: to be. And in the same way, some people build

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Speaker 1: parts of their identity around the media they consume or

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Speaker 1: the hobbies they take part in, and that sends a

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Speaker 1: message about the social groups that they belong to. Sure. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, so someone who paints their face for a

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Speaker 1: game is sending a very clear signal that he or

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Speaker 1: she is a sports fan. And whatever qualities that people

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Speaker 1: associate with sports fan, like loyalty or enthusiasm, that's all

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Speaker 1: tied up in that message as well. Right, But you

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Speaker 1: know who is that signal for? And and that's the

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Speaker 1: second part of it. It's it's it's all about connectedness,

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Speaker 1: And so the paint tells others fans or non fans alike,

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Speaker 1: where you stand, you know. But the really interesting thing

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Speaker 1: is is how much of the signaling is for the

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Speaker 1: fans themselves, you mean, sort of letting themselves know that

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Speaker 1: they're a fan. Yeah, that's true. I mean I found

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Speaker 1: this study from a few years back where a psychotherapist

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Speaker 1: and clinical social worker named Teresa Stern. She was either

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Speaker 1: determine how being part of a fandom affects people on

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Speaker 1: a personal level, and she concluded that communities of fans

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Speaker 1: with shared interests provide, you know, this comfortable space for

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Speaker 1: people to explore and come to grips with their own identities,

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Speaker 1: so they can figure out what they like and why

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Speaker 1: they like it without feeling judged or embarrassed for doing so.

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Speaker 1: But actually that wasn't the only benefit. The study also

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Speaker 1: found that fandoms offer a support system for members and

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Speaker 1: can even help them build self esteem and confidence, which is,

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Speaker 1: you know, where the desire for connectedness fits in. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and obviously that's such a universal desire. I mean, we

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Speaker 1: all want that sense of belonging, and fandoms just seemed

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Speaker 1: like one way of finding it, Yeah, you know, which

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Speaker 1: is why it's a shame that being a fan is

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Speaker 1: so often stigmatized. So you can keep painting your face

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Speaker 1: magnet if you want to feel okay with that. But

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Speaker 1: you know, even with so much of geek culture having

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Speaker 1: gone mainstream, there's still a tendency to view die hard

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Speaker 1: fans as crazy or unstable or maybe even kind of pitiable.

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Speaker 1: I don't I don't know that there's there's this quote

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Speaker 1: from a psychologist named Jolie Jensen, and it breaks down

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Speaker 1: the discourse pretty nicely. So so she says, there's very

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Speaker 1: little literature that explores fandom as a normal, everyday cultural

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Speaker 1: or social phenomenon. Instead, the fan is characterized as an

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Speaker 1: obsessed loaner suffering from a disease of isolation, or frenzied

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Speaker 1: crowd member suffering from a disease of contagion. In either case,

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Speaker 1: the fan is seen as being irrational, out of control,

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Speaker 1: and pray to a number of external forces. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we both witnessed Dragon Con in Atlanta a few weeks ago,

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Speaker 1: and it's so fun seeing people who are just thrilled

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Speaker 1: to be and just really comfortable walking around in giant costumes,

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Speaker 1: and you really feel like we're past that sort of

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Speaker 1: high school mentality. But I guess it never ends for

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Speaker 1: some people. Although you know, at this point you would

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Speaker 1: think the folks who belong to a fandom might outnumber

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Speaker 1: those that don't. It's like, if I don't know, three

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Speaker 1: quarters of the student body was in the A V Club,

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Speaker 1: but they're a handful of jocks still trying to give

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Speaker 1: them all released exactly. Speaking of which, actually I remember

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Speaker 1: where you were talking about Dragon Con. I remember being

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Speaker 1: at a hotel here in Atlanta a few years ago

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Speaker 1: when Dragon Con was going on the same weekend that

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Speaker 1: Alabama and Virginia Tech were playing a football game, and

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Speaker 1: seeing these fan bases converge, and I remember seeing the

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Speaker 1: elevator will open up in this lady with these giant

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Speaker 1: wings and like beautifully dressed stepped off the elevator, and

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Speaker 1: these two guys in these big Alabama sweatshirts saw this

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Speaker 1: lady and I think they thought maybe they were dreaming

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Speaker 1: or something. It was the most bizarre convergence of these worlds.

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Speaker 1: But super fans in their own right. But you know, remember,

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Speaker 1: being a dedicated fan is one of those rare points

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Speaker 1: of overlap between different kinds of people. I mean, they

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Speaker 1: might be watching very different things, but the level of

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Speaker 1: excitement in each group is is bringing to the tables.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's pretty evenly matched. Are you sure about that,

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Speaker 1: because I mean I feel like a convention full of

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Speaker 1: trek ees can get pretty unruly, but sports fans can

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Speaker 1: get downright violent. Yeah, it's true. And for what a reason.

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Speaker 1: Soccer fans seem to be among the worst offenders in

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Speaker 1: that area, at least it used to be with, you know,

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Speaker 1: like the old fashioned European hooliganism. Yeah. I read this

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Speaker 1: book awhile back called Against the Thugs by Bill Beuford.

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Speaker 1: It's about these extreme menu fans but the way they

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Speaker 1: justify acts of like intense violence and racism. And it's

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Speaker 1: an amazing book. And you know, I'm such a World

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Speaker 1: Cup fan, but uh but you'll cringe at some of

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Speaker 1: the things that happened in it and justifying these atrocious

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Speaker 1: fist fights and riots and things for like people's noses

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Speaker 1: are being smashed. I mean all because like you identify

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Speaker 1: with one jersey and they identify with another. You know,

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Speaker 1: Seinfeld has this bit about sports where he's talking about

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Speaker 1: how players and coaches are constantly shifting, so your allegiance

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Speaker 1: is really just to the random colors on a shirt

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Speaker 1: assigned to a location. It's true, and and that can

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Speaker 1: sound a little bit bleak, but I actually have a

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Speaker 1: more positive story to tell you on this one. It

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Speaker 1: before we get to that, why don't we take a

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Speaker 1: quick break for a quiz. Okay, mango, So, as you know,

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, we put out a call

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Speaker 1: for for many of our fans who've been writing in

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Speaker 1: and wanting to be on the show to say, tell

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Speaker 1: us why we should have you on the show to

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Speaker 1: play one of our quizzes. And with today's episode being

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Speaker 1: about super fans, we actually heard from someone who is

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Speaker 1: a die hard Game of Thrones fan also, Sarah Petrozelli.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Part Time Genius. Thank you, thank you for

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Speaker 1: having me on. Well, thanks for writing in. Now where

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Speaker 1: are we? Where are we talking to you today? I

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Speaker 1: am calling him from Connecticut. I asked, where are we

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Speaker 1: calling you from? I guess I could have answered that.

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Speaker 1: So we're actually recording in New York today. This is

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Speaker 1: kind of a different one, but you're in Connecticut. We

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Speaker 1: could almost throw a rock to you. So all right, Well,

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Speaker 1: before we jump into this, you actually told us in

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Speaker 1: your email that you practice several forms of martial arts.

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Speaker 1: What do you mean by that? Correct? Um, I study

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Speaker 1: at the Bethel Accronemy of Martial Arts. I practice kick practicing,

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Speaker 1: also practiced chi kundo, which is is Bruce Lee's style

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Speaker 1: martial arts, which is kind of a melting pot of

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Speaker 1: Eastern Western martial arts. I'll see in a lot of

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Speaker 1: these movies that he practices and it's a lot of

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Speaker 1: minimal movement with Maximus. That's super cool. When I was

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Speaker 1: a kid, I used to watch kung fu movies on

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Speaker 1: Sundays with my mom and that's how I got into karate.

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Speaker 1: Really alright, cool, very cool. Well, you are a big

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Speaker 1: Game of Thrones fan. I'll tell us when you say

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Speaker 1: you're a big Game of Thrones fan, what what do

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Speaker 1: you do to express your fan and how do you

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Speaker 1: dig in? Well, I'm sure my Facebook friends and my

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Speaker 1: friends in real life are sick me hearing about it.

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Speaker 1: Talking right, we know every Sunday when it's done that

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Speaker 1: between nine pm and ten thirty. Do not follow me,

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Speaker 1: do not text me. Um. I watched the show. I

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Speaker 1: read a little bit of the books. I read the

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Speaker 1: fan theories online. I subscribed to YouTube channels and podcast

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Speaker 1: to listen about this series and what might be coming

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Speaker 1: up next. I also like to watch the I in

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Speaker 1: the scene, which is really neat because you get to

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Speaker 1: see how um scenarios can ride the dragon. It's she's

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Speaker 1: literally writing like a mechanical bull looking. It's really it's

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Speaker 1: really crazy looking, and they put a green screen behind her,

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Speaker 1: so she's doing all this amazing acting like she's actually

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Speaker 1: riding a dragon. It's just unbelievable. And the actors are fantastic.

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Speaker 1: They're definitely born to play this role. Yeah, and how

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Speaker 1: those whole worlds are put together, it's just amazing. At

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Speaker 1: Metal Class, we did an interview with some of the

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Speaker 1: the costume makers for this show, and it was just

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Speaker 1: crazy to think, like how they were looking to like

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Speaker 1: both modern and ancient fashions to pull together the styles.

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Speaker 1: It's really awesome. Yeah, it's pretty remark it's like a

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Speaker 1: whole of the world. And do I understand correctly that

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Speaker 1: the next season, the eighth season, is supposed to be

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Speaker 1: the last? Is that right? Yes, it's so sad. I

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Speaker 1: don't even want to think about it. Well, we won't.

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Speaker 1: We won't think about that today. Instead, we'll play a game.

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Speaker 1: What do you say, man, go yeah, I'm for it.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna play a game called doing It for the Fans. Alright,

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Speaker 1: Doing It for the Fans? What a great name, manga. Alright, So,

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Speaker 1: so what we're gonna do, Sarah. We're gonna ask you

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Speaker 1: a question about a fan or fan bases and and

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Speaker 1: you'll have to come up with the right answer. Simple

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Speaker 1: as that. You ready, I'm ready alright? Question number one?

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Speaker 1: What animated Disney character and uncle to triplets has a

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Speaker 1: hardcore fan base in Germany, where they appreciate him for

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Speaker 1: being a lovable loser but not a quitter? Is it? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're right, it's but Donald Duck is insanely popular in Germany,

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Speaker 1: like way more popular than Mickey and in fact, he

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Speaker 1: has a fan group called the Donaldus who liked to

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Speaker 1: study Duckberg in a way that's akin to anthropologists. Wow,

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Speaker 1: very cool. Alright, one for one, Okay, this was a

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Speaker 1: good one, all right? What music streaming service did the

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Speaker 1: funk band Wolf Peck used to release a ten song

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Speaker 1: album of Complete Silence, so they recommended their fans played

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Speaker 1: on loop as they went to sleep every night. What

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Speaker 1: streaming music service did they use for this? Is this

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Speaker 1: an allowed to ask questions? Or now I thought we

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Speaker 1: were asking the questions, but I just I just guess

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Speaker 1: a very popular streaming service, let's see modern day. I

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Speaker 1: would say Spotify. Yeah, that's right. So the then actually

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Speaker 1: collected twenty dollars in royalties from that and uh and

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Speaker 1: they used it to fund this free tour for all

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Speaker 1: their fans. So they made twenty dollars from this complete silence.

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Speaker 1: Isn't amazing? Wow? Okay, Sarah's two for two. Question number three,

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Speaker 1: Tetris fans at what science focused university outfitted the windows

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Speaker 1: of a campus building into a screen for a giant

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Speaker 1: Tetris game. What university are we talking about? Oh? My god,

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Speaker 1: and I can't remember the science university cal Tech. Really

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Speaker 1: good guests, but we're off on this one. What was it? Mango?

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Speaker 1: It was m I t and and that's actually just

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Speaker 1: the tip of the Tetris culture. There's everything from fan

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Speaker 1: fiction written about Tetris like fifty Shades of Tetris, to

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Speaker 1: U Tetris shaped tater tots on the market known as

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Speaker 1: puzzle potatoes. Alright, Question number four, and I'm actually gonna

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Speaker 1: completely forgive you if you don't know the answer to

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Speaker 1: this one becassa alright, So, so what band, fronted by

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Speaker 1: Scott Stapp was shocked when their fans sued them for

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Speaker 1: two million dollars in a class action suit for playing

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Speaker 1: a truly terrible shown that what's not? That's actually I

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Speaker 1: think we should give her a point for that one. No, no,

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Speaker 1: this is everyone needs to stand it's um. Yeah, the

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Speaker 1: money was supposed to be used to recoup ticket and

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Speaker 1: parking costs for the fifteen thousand people in attendance, but

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Speaker 1: it was the case I actually thrown out in court. Alright, okay,

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Speaker 1: let's do one more question. Let's see what Plucky Mexican

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Speaker 1: Mouse was pulled from the rotation on Cartoon Network for

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Speaker 1: pushing stereotypes until Hispanic fans banded together to bring him

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Speaker 1: back on air. Yeah that's right. So, according to Hispanic online,

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Speaker 1: many people grew up viewing Speedy as this positive character

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Speaker 1: because he always outsmarts the quote gringo cat Sylvester, so

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Speaker 1: they petitioned to bring him back. Wow, that's a good one.

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Speaker 1: All right, Well, how has how is Sarah done? Today?

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Speaker 1: A mango? So Sarah's got an amazing four for five

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Speaker 1: and uh, in addition to earning our total admiration, we're

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Speaker 1: going to send her the official uniform of any PTG

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Speaker 1: fan Part Time Genius T shirt. All right, well, that's

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Speaker 1: pretty awesome. We had so much fun with you today, Sarah,

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Speaker 1: and for any of our other listeners, if you want

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Speaker 1: to come on and play a game on the show,

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Speaker 1: don't forget to email us at Part Time Genius at

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Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot Com or you can call us

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00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,960
Speaker 1: on our seven fact hotline that's one eight four four

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Speaker 1: pt Genius, and you have to tell us why you

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Speaker 1: should be on the show. So leave us a really

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00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,200
Speaker 1: interesting fact about yourself. But Sarah, this was great. Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for joining us on Part Time Genius.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. So welcome

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Speaker 1: back to Part Time Genius where we're talking about fan

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Speaker 1: bases today. All right, so, I know there are tons

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Speaker 1: of bleak examples of how enthusiasm of sports fans can

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Speaker 1: turn ugly, but you know, as I mentioned before the break,

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Speaker 1: I came across the story from the English soccer history

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Speaker 1: that that shows how all that energy can also have

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Speaker 1: a positive effect on fan behavior. So this took place

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Speaker 1: in nineteen seven, and at the time, soccer was it

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Speaker 1: an all time low in the wake of these violent incidents,

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Speaker 1: and in fact, the sport had fallen so far out

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Speaker 1: of favor it had actually been completely banned in some

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Speaker 1: parts of Europe, which is just on in Magina, and

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Speaker 1: the fans that still clung tight to their favorite pastime

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Speaker 1: had few reasons to smile at the time. But that

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Speaker 1: changed when this guy named Frank Newton shows up at

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Speaker 1: a local Manchester City stadium brandishing a five foot inflatable

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Speaker 1: banana in his arms. Wait, like a big novelty banana.

427
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 1: So I mean, I feel like if Manchester has a

428
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,399
Speaker 1: banana mascot, I I feel like I should know that

429
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 1: it's it's not the mascot. That the banana was totally random,

430
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,920
Speaker 1: but Frank just brought it as a laugh, which ended

431
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,040
Speaker 1: up being exactly what his fellow fans needed. It was

432
00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,280
Speaker 1: itching to add a little fun back into the game

433
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,240
Speaker 1: they held so dear and other fans quickly followed Frank's example.

434
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 1: They started bringing their own inflatable bananas, and vendors started

435
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,879
Speaker 1: selling them to those who were late to the trend.

436
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 1: By the next season, it was common to see all

437
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 1: kinds of inflatables in the stands, you know, not just bananas,

438
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,520
Speaker 1: of course, You've got your sharks and your penguins or airplanes.

439
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: Even Frankenstein's Monster was getting it on the fun and

440
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,920
Speaker 1: some fans even totally inflatable waiting pools to the game

441
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,360
Speaker 1: and waved those. I wish. I'm sure the people went

442
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 1: back them loved, But um, I mean, that's all great,

443
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,080
Speaker 1: but it's kind of a shame that Frank became just

444
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 1: another banana in the crowd. Right, Well, he must have

445
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,879
Speaker 1: felt the same way, I guess, But by the N

446
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: eight eight season, he'd upgraded from this five ft banana

447
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: to a six foot crocodile. Nice. But um, did the

448
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:23,959
Speaker 1: inflatable craze have an effect on the team, Like, did

449
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: they start playing better or going to winning streak? Well,

450
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,680
Speaker 1: I'm afraid they didn't really play much better. I mean,

451
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:32,199
Speaker 1: Manchester City was a notoriously bad team and the improved

452
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: morale among their fans didn't change that. But but that's

453
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,960
Speaker 1: the thing. The fans were content to keep coming back

454
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,479
Speaker 1: to games even if their team was losing, so long

455
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,600
Speaker 1: as they could have fun together like they used to

456
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: back before the violence among them had given the fandom

457
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,040
Speaker 1: a bad name. Yeah, and that makes sense. And obviously

458
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 1: sports can be an insanely uplifting experience as well. I

459
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 1: remember that sociologist Emila Dirk him talks about this overwhelming

460
00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 1: spirit and experience of being part of a crowd as

461
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: they watched something miraculous, like I don't know, being there

462
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 1: to watch that guy put a perfect eighteen on a

463
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 1: pop up course, or to watch someone pitch and no

464
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 1: hitter or whatever. I mean, it can be moving and amazing.

465
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,679
Speaker 1: But where was I? Oh? Yeah, So I read this

466
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 1: article in the Atlantic about a study conducted by an

467
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 1: e communist named Philip Porter, and he crunched the numbers

468
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 1: on twenty five years of baseball attendance from nineteen sixty

469
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,040
Speaker 1: six to just to see what kind of an effect

470
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 1: fan loyalty had on the amount of wins the team had,

471
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: And amazingly, Porter found that the team's most likely to

472
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,199
Speaker 1: win weren't the ones with the extremely loyal fans. The

473
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 1: winning teams were those with the most fickle fan bases.

474
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,560
Speaker 1: Oh really, wow, I mean, I guess it kind of

475
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,199
Speaker 1: makes sense if you look at it in more of

476
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,639
Speaker 1: a cynical way. You know, if they know the fans

477
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 1: will turn up win, lose, or draw, then the actual

478
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,600
Speaker 1: outcome of the game becomes much less important. I suppose,

479
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:53,479
Speaker 1: after all, the tickets will be sold, the seats will

480
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,199
Speaker 1: be filled. Of course, the team wants to win, but

481
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 1: if they don't, it isn't a big deal. I mean,

482
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:00,480
Speaker 1: you know, I can remember when we used to go

483
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 1: to Chicago a good bit back in our Mental Flaws days,

484
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 1: and this was before Chicago became really good at these

485
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 1: last couple of years at baseball, and you would see

486
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,120
Speaker 1: these people just so fueled by Opening Day and how

487
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: excited they were to go and the Cubs were always

488
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: horrible that they loved going to these games. So it

489
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: is kind of a good example of that. I know,

490
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 1: they treated like the beach there. Yeah, it's amazing, But

491
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 1: it does seem like fans a getting the short end

492
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: of the stick in that case, right, I mean, I

493
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 1: don't know. I mean, remember what we were saying about

494
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 1: fans getting personal validation and a stronger sense of identity

495
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: from their experience in fandoms. And it's the same for

496
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,399
Speaker 1: sports fans as it is for pop culture fans. Are

497
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,440
Speaker 1: there these communal benefits that are often more important than

498
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 1: the thing they're senter around? And how's that? Well, this

499
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 1: blogger for Scientific American, let me just find this quote

500
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,479
Speaker 1: here this so this writer Eric Simons puts it this

501
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,439
Speaker 1: way and his piece about the long suffering sports fans

502
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 1: why would anyone stick with a losing team? But one

503
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 1: way of thinking about is that sports fandom is one

504
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,199
Speaker 1: of the more accessible, more obvious, us more fixed sources

505
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,160
Speaker 1: of identity out there. In the world win or lose.

506
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,639
Speaker 1: The existence of the relationship props you up a sports

507
00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 1: team and its fan base, or an anchor point in

508
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 1: an inconstant universe, fulfilling a need for belonging that some

509
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,239
Speaker 1: researchers argue as his fundamental motivator to us, his hunger. So,

510
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 1: I mean, that's interesting, and it makes the idea of

511
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: fandoms seem decidedly less modern if they really are rooted

512
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 1: in this basic sort of human need for fellowship. But well,

513
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 1: I I know you were excited to talk about the

514
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 1: origins of a fanatical fan basis so late on me.

515
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: What what's the world's oldest fan base? All right, Well,

516
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,160
Speaker 1: I don't think I can definitively answer that. I mean,

517
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,440
Speaker 1: if you want to go way back, you know, passionate

518
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,160
Speaker 1: fans have cropped up around influential figures all throughout history.

519
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 1: I mean, let's go back to Plato. He was such

520
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 1: a rock star philosopher in ancient Greece that he set

521
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 1: up his own academy where fans would come from all

522
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,439
Speaker 1: over just to pick his brain. And then there's this

523
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 1: guy Jesus. They loved his carpenter loved and yeah, and

524
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,560
Speaker 1: he had his own private entourage of d votees, even

525
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,200
Speaker 1: if that particular fandom was only twelve deep at the time.

526
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 1: You know, so we might be straying from fans into

527
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,120
Speaker 1: followers territory. But how about Lord Byron, Like we now

528
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,080
Speaker 1: know that he was one of the first public figures

529
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,119
Speaker 1: to be inundated with fan mail. Really Byron actually hadn't

530
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: heard that. Yes, and not too long ago, historians uncovered

531
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:22,960
Speaker 1: hundreds of love letters sent to him by anonymous women

532
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,879
Speaker 1: who were utterly charmed by his poetry. And apparently the

533
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: women asked Byron to toss the letters because they contained

534
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 1: some really scandalous and silicious stuff that nineteenth century society

535
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,959
Speaker 1: wouldn't have approved of. But being a romantic, Byron couldn't

536
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,200
Speaker 1: do that, so he just filed them away for Radney

537
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,439
Speaker 1: day reading. Wow, it's kind of the equivalent of like

538
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 1: delete that text. Alright. So, so Byron definitely had his byromaniacs.

539
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,679
Speaker 1: But you know, since we don't have any record of

540
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,439
Speaker 1: these ladies ever getting in touch with one another, I

541
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,919
Speaker 1: think it's safe to say he didn't have an organized fandom.

542
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: So if we want the true starting point for what

543
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 1: we recognized today as these and communities. Then we need

544
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,360
Speaker 1: to jump ahead, probably to the eighteen nineties or so,

545
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 1: when you know the unparalleled popularity of Sherlock Holmes set

546
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,200
Speaker 1: the first known fandom in motion Silochians. Yeah, so finally,

547
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,159
Speaker 1: Kareem and I can feel like we belong. So I

548
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 1: actually remember reading that Londoner has lost their minds when

549
00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 1: Conan Doyle killed his character off like he'd been publishing

550
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 1: home stories in the Strand magazine for years, But the

551
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 1: truth is he really only saw the character as the

552
00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:32,160
Speaker 1: stepping stone from genre fiction to more ambitious works, you know, um,

553
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,240
Speaker 1: something that was more deserving of his literary talent or whatever.

554
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:38,760
Speaker 1: But uh, but Sherlock Holmes fans had different ideas, and

555
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 1: when he sent Homes plunging to his death off Rankenbach Falls,

556
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,560
Speaker 1: the fictional detective took the bulk of the Strands readership

557
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 1: with him, and so more than like twenty thousand people

558
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: canceled their subscriptions and protests. Yeah, and in fact, lots

559
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 1: of people also wrote angry letters to Conan Doyle demanding

560
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: he brings Homes back from the dead, and supposedly tons

561
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: of fans wore black armband to show they were in

562
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 1: mourning you know, and across the pond, you look at

563
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,560
Speaker 1: the Americans. They started with these like let's keep Homes

564
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 1: Alive clubs. They were organizing their own letter writing campaigns,

565
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 1: intent on shaming the author and to resurrecting their favorite character.

566
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 1: And so already you can see this kind of prototype

567
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 1: fandom just forming there. Yeah, and I mean I knew

568
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 1: Conan Doyle brought back homes, but I didn't realize it

569
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 1: was because of public pressure. Yeah. He held strong for

570
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: I think it was like eight years or so, but

571
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,080
Speaker 1: he finally caved in nineteen o one when he published

572
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: a prequel story set before the Detective's fateful fall. That story,

573
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:36,880
Speaker 1: the Hound of the Basketballs, went on to become one

574
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: of the most iconic in the series, and just two

575
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 1: years after that, Conan Doyle followed it with another story,

576
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 1: this time revealing that he'd never died in the first place,

577
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: he had actually faked his own death. I know that

578
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 1: that story line always struck me as so hokey, but

579
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: I guess fans didn't mind, Oh not in the least.

580
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 1: I mean, they've done the impossible. They brought a character

581
00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,880
Speaker 1: back to life through sheer Will, and that's a heck

582
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,959
Speaker 1: an accomplishment for you know, a loosely associated group of

583
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 1: people who really only have this shared fondness for pulp

584
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,880
Speaker 1: fiction and common I mean they weren't even fans yet technically,

585
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,000
Speaker 1: if you knew this. But the term had recently entered

586
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:16,000
Speaker 1: the public lexicon as a nickname for baseball enthusiast, but

587
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,600
Speaker 1: it hadn't really been applied to other groups. It was

588
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty four, seven years after Conandle stopped writing

589
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes for good, this journalist named Christopher Morley came

590
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,080
Speaker 1: up with a different moniker for Holmes fans Sherlockians. Nope,

591
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: I know, you keep trying that the Morley's actually responsible

592
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,440
Speaker 1: for the name that New York based Sherlock fan club

593
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 1: that we were talking about earlier. You know, the one

594
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: Kareem spoke at it to the Baker Street Irregulars, and

595
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 1: the whole thing was largely an excuse for Morley and

596
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:46,920
Speaker 1: a fellow well to do mystery junkies to get together

597
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: and talk about their hero over drinks. You know, but

598
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 1: the b s I also had a hand in establishing

599
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 1: some of the rituals and ceremonies that would later become

600
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: staples of modern fandoms. They were talking about, you know,

601
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 1: fan fiction, convince tions, even cosplay, and this is true

602
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,480
Speaker 1: because members of the group sometimes wore Sherlock's iconic beer

603
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,479
Speaker 1: stalker hats, you know, to their meetings and things. I mean,

604
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 1: it's pretty cool that the first fandom is still going

605
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 1: strong today, and I mean that kind of longevity is

606
00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 1: a testament not just to the character who has proven

607
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 1: to be endlessly adaptable, but to the power of the

608
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,800
Speaker 1: fans themselves. Yeah. You know, I think prior to Sherlock,

609
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 1: people generally accepted when stories ended and we're willing to

610
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,600
Speaker 1: move on whether the author said it was time to

611
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,719
Speaker 1: do so. But something about Holmes and his adventures resonated

612
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 1: with readers in in a special way. Yeah. I mean

613
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 1: the fact that they told the author to bring him

614
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 1: back and it actually worked. That's insane. And that kind

615
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,360
Speaker 1: of open communication between fans and creators seems like a

616
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,080
Speaker 1: really important step in the evolution of fandoms, and it's

617
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 1: something we see more and more of now that fandoms

618
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 1: are online. Well, yeah, definitely. I mean you just just

619
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,239
Speaker 1: look at the cult favorite TV shows that have been

620
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 1: given a second or even third chances. I mean, This

621
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 1: is all thanks to devoted fans making their voices heard,

622
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,200
Speaker 1: and some really good ones in there too. There's Arrested

623
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,520
Speaker 1: Development or Twin Peaks or Futurama. I mean, these were

624
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: all shows that were canceled, only to be revived down

625
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: the line through these fan efforts. Yeah, the bigger and

626
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 1: noiser of fandom is the more I can get accomplished.

627
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:14,320
Speaker 1: But you know, there's something to be said for the

628
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: fringe fan groups as well. They don't often make the headlines,

629
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:19,520
Speaker 1: but it's nice to know they're out there doing their thing.

630
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,440
Speaker 1: I'm a little skeptical here because I don't know how

631
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 1: fringe we're talking here. But before things get too weird,

632
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 1: why don't we take a quick break, so then go.

633
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 1: I know, a few weeks ago, you were reeling off

634
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 1: a few of your favorite names for you know, various

635
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,880
Speaker 1: fan bases and things like. You know how Barry Manilow's

636
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 1: fans are called fan alows and Crisp Pines fans are

637
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,719
Speaker 1: called you said pine nuts, right, That's right, And so

638
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 1: I've got a couple more of my favorites written down

639
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 1: I wanted to share. Katy Perry fans are called Katiecats

640
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,000
Speaker 1: fans of the who are the hooligans and any idea

641
00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,600
Speaker 1: of what Ed Sheeran fans are called what serios? Actual

642
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 1: already knew that one of them, but I just didn't

643
00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 1: want to admit it. Actually, when I'm remember thinking was funny,

644
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: it was Clay Aikins fans are apparently called Clay Mates.

645
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: So I love the world play ones. And of course

646
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: there are fan bases for TV shows and sports and

647
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 1: comic characters. Veronica mars has our Marshmallows. Arsenal has the

648
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: Gooners because the team's the Gunners. I have to admit

649
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 1: I'm disappointed. I thought you're gonna say our Cino Hall

650
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:20,880
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, I think he had the

651
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 1: dog pound. Alright, I'm sorry interrupt, No, no, no, I

652
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: don't know why this is funny to me, But fans

653
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 1: of the show community called themselves human beings, right, So

654
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 1: so we've listed off a few of them. But but

655
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:33,880
Speaker 1: I know you and I wanted to create kind of

656
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:37,479
Speaker 1: this kid's alphabet of these, like C is for cumber Babes,

657
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 1: which Benedict Cumberbatches fan base is called, and G is

658
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,400
Speaker 1: for the goould Diggers, which are Ellie Goulding's fan base,

659
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,200
Speaker 1: and and we thought we turned this into a little contest.

660
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 1: So to anyone who submits a fan based nickname that

661
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 1: makes his smile and we included in our alphabet, will

662
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,760
Speaker 1: send you a small reward as thanks. Yeah, so just

663
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 1: submit the name of the fan base that tickles you

664
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: and your name and address. The ads part is important

665
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,160
Speaker 1: to part time genius at how stuff works dot com,

666
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 1: and we'll try to pull these together in the next

667
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:20,279
Speaker 1: few weeks. All right, back to the show. All right, Mango,

668
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,680
Speaker 1: I'll admit I'm curious what kind of obscure fan bases

669
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,360
Speaker 1: did you come across in your research. Well, we mentioned

670
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,320
Speaker 1: Trekkys and Sherlockians, and of course you're familiar with the

671
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 1: believers and the one direction ars, But have you ever

672
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:35,239
Speaker 1: heard of the a fols. I can't say I had

673
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,799
Speaker 1: a pleasure. So so what is an a FL It's

674
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,359
Speaker 1: actually an acronym for the adult fans of Lego. These

675
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 1: are the older plastic brick enthusiasts who organized conventions, buying

676
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:49,680
Speaker 1: trade pieces online and you know, construct their own elaborate

677
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 1: masterpieces to show off to other apls. According to Lego,

678
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,960
Speaker 1: the adult fans account for a roughly five percent of

679
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 1: the total sales, and as much as half for more

680
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,400
Speaker 1: of the revenue at the companies dedicated Lego stores. At

681
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,080
Speaker 1: last count, there were more than forty self identifying Apple's worldwide.

682
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 1: I mean, that's pretty cool, but I'm going to need

683
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:11,680
Speaker 1: you to stop saying Apples. It sounds like one of

684
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 1: those things, just like hold your tongue and say aples. Yes,

685
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,600
Speaker 1: no problem, but there's much better Lego lingo anyway. So,

686
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,360
Speaker 1: for for instance, did you know that fans measure and

687
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,560
Speaker 1: ranks certain bills according to their swooshability? I did not.

688
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,240
Speaker 1: According to brick WICKI, swishable is a word that describes

689
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 1: the playability of a particular space or aircraft model. A

690
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,719
Speaker 1: vehicle that can be held aloft, moved through a stimulated

691
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 1: series of turns and loops, and elicit an audible swoosh

692
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:43,400
Speaker 1: sound from the person holding the model is deemed to

693
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,000
Speaker 1: be swoshable. All right, Well, actually I like that one

694
00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,879
Speaker 1: you got any more? Well, a fairly Lego fans play

695
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:52,960
Speaker 1: a version of the White Elephant gift exchange game. It's

696
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,239
Speaker 1: called a dirty Brickster, which is just such a great

697
00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,120
Speaker 1: slur for a Lego thief. Oh and and probably my

698
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,799
Speaker 1: favorite legos lean is this term one by five? One

699
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,279
Speaker 1: by five? I can't even imagine what that means? What

700
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:09,239
Speaker 1: is that? Yeah? So it's code? Actually? See uh, Lego

701
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 1: fandom is still largely a man's world, though the female

702
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: market share is definitely on the rise. But whenever a

703
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 1: male April spots an attractive woman at a Lego convention

704
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,960
Speaker 1: or wherever, he might ask his buddies, did you see

705
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,520
Speaker 1: that beautiful one by five over that part? Spin? Are

706
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,360
Speaker 1: people really saying that? I don't want to get it? So?

707
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: Is a one by five like a really nice kind

708
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 1: of brick or something? Well, the name refers to a

709
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,960
Speaker 1: brick dimension, so one stud by five studs long. But

710
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,839
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Lego doesn't make a one by five brick.

711
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:39,799
Speaker 1: They make a one by four brick and a one

712
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 1: by six brick, but one by five is are non existent.

713
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,360
Speaker 1: So I'm still trying to figure this out. Does this

714
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:48,520
Speaker 1: just mean that this is like it's a girl who

715
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,400
Speaker 1: shares their love of Lego is just as rare as

716
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:55,120
Speaker 1: a one by five or something? Okay, all right? Well

717
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:57,960
Speaker 1: I came across a few unusual fan base as well,

718
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,279
Speaker 1: and I think my favorite has to be roundabout Appreciate

719
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,759
Speaker 1: Society based in the UK. There's a group of people

720
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 1: predominantly men again, who routinely get together to photograph and

721
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:12,200
Speaker 1: talk about traffic roundabouts. I love that, you know. Um

722
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,960
Speaker 1: in high school they made a tiny roundabout by my

723
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,400
Speaker 1: friend Pete's house and we sat lawn chairs in it

724
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: for a day, just being ridiculous and protesting it. Um. So,

725
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,040
Speaker 1: I guess I'm the opposite of that. But what can

726
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 1: you possibly say about roundabouts that would require multiple meetings?

727
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:29,480
Speaker 1: I don't know what you mean. Roundabouts their chock full

728
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 1: of juicy talking points. I mean there's the architecture and

729
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,799
Speaker 1: the design of the roundabouts. They're they're very safety features.

730
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,239
Speaker 1: You know, the wildlife that call them home. You know,

731
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,440
Speaker 1: all the different approaches people take when entering or exiting

732
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,400
Speaker 1: around about. I'm just trying to come up with anything

733
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 1: I can, but I'm probably still selling the topic short here.

734
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,960
Speaker 1: But but here's how the Society's founder, Kevin Beresford describes

735
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,520
Speaker 1: the objects of his appreciation. He says roads are often

736
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,640
Speaker 1: condemned as being scars on the landscape, but with the

737
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: coming of the roundabout and all their glory, they counteract

738
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,359
Speaker 1: the roads on sightliness with infinite variety, color and creativeness.

739
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:11,959
Speaker 1: These bit jamen babes lift our sagging spirits on long,

740
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,480
Speaker 1: tiresome trips. That all sounds ridiculous, and you're saying this

741
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,200
Speaker 1: is mostly a male fandom. Well, in its defense, the

742
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,600
Speaker 1: society has taken steps in recent years to try to

743
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 1: attract more female members. See they released this calendar each

744
00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: year with a photo of a different roundabout for each month,

745
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:34,000
Speaker 1: and apparently they started featuring one with a windmill on

746
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,680
Speaker 1: the cover. And so the plan here is to poach

747
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:39,640
Speaker 1: some of these female windmill enthusiasts. I guess they skew

748
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,920
Speaker 1: more female and then they turn them into these humble

749
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:46,799
Speaker 1: charms of less flashy roundabout. It all makes perfect sense.

750
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:51,920
Speaker 1: I've already ordered my two thousand eighteen, so now that

751
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,800
Speaker 1: I think about it, this actually sounds similar to a

752
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,840
Speaker 1: group I've loved for a while now. It's called the

753
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,879
Speaker 1: Dull Men's Club, and so this is another British group,

754
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 1: but it's a little less discriminating about its members interests,

755
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: so long as they're dull. And so among the club's

756
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 1: five thousand plus members are a guy who photographs different

757
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 1: drain covers that he spots around town, the owner of

758
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:14,799
Speaker 1: the world's largest traffic cone collection, which is that more

759
00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:17,719
Speaker 1: than five right now, and a husband who has sent

760
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,120
Speaker 1: his wife the same Valentine's Day card for almost forty years.

761
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:23,640
Speaker 1: That's pretty great. I kind of actually want to be

762
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:25,520
Speaker 1: friends with all of these guys. I know me too.

763
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 1: And then I love how the group got started. So

764
00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:30,640
Speaker 1: apparently a group of older men was sitting in a

765
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 1: bar reading about all these different clubs that were open

766
00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:37,360
Speaker 1: to them, so, you know, a sailing club, a judo club,

767
00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,200
Speaker 1: a ski club, and it just sort of dawned on

768
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:42,640
Speaker 1: them that they don't really do any of those things.

769
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:45,320
Speaker 1: But rather than try to take up any new activities,

770
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:47,279
Speaker 1: they decided to start a club that catered to their

771
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 1: own dull taste. You know, like we've been saying, we

772
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 1: really are living in the golden age of fandoms. You

773
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,320
Speaker 1: know that there's a community out there for people of

774
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,560
Speaker 1: all interests, and if not, you can always start up

775
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:01,360
Speaker 1: your own one. And you know, actually, if you remember,

776
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,439
Speaker 1: back in our our mental Floss days, our two best

777
00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 1: researchers were a married couple and they met as members

778
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:11,400
Speaker 1: of a Queen Queen the band, Right, Yeah, that was

779
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,160
Speaker 1: pretty amazing. Yeah, I love that story. And did you

780
00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:17,400
Speaker 1: know there's there's even one group that has this ritual

781
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 1: where the members go back and forth sharing random bits

782
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:22,960
Speaker 1: of trivia with each other in rapid fire succession. That

783
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,040
Speaker 1: sounds suspiciously like the fact off Mango. So I guess

784
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,399
Speaker 1: it is time for that. Why why don't you go first?

785
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:41,440
Speaker 1: H Okay? So this one's about fans who share in

786
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,080
Speaker 1: the rational belief and so you know how people line

787
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:46,960
Speaker 1: up for limited release sneakers or before a new Apple

788
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,600
Speaker 1: product comes out. Apparently Star Wars fans started lining up

789
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 1: seven weeks before Star Wars Episode three opened, and specifically

790
00:40:54,719 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 1: they did it at Groundland's Chinese Theater, which is doubly

791
00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 1: strange because the employees kept tell on the line that

792
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:02,880
Speaker 1: the movie wasn't going to be playing there. I mean,

793
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,279
Speaker 1: the fans just assumed that because the first two Star

794
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,919
Speaker 1: Wars prequels had debuted there, they'd be showing the third

795
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,839
Speaker 1: one as well, despite what the employees were telling them.

796
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,560
Speaker 1: And it wasn't just the employees, like twentieth Century Fox

797
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 1: released a statement about it, but the fans just thought

798
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:17,600
Speaker 1: they were trying to get rid of them for standing

799
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:19,920
Speaker 1: outside the building for two months in Star Wars costumes,

800
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:22,640
Speaker 1: so I have to know what happened on opening day.

801
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: So a group of volunteers and Stormtrooper outfits finally just

802
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:28,800
Speaker 1: escorted them to a different theater where they got to

803
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,239
Speaker 1: watch it. That's pretty amazing, all right, Well, did you

804
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:34,240
Speaker 1: know that Elvis's manager used to sell I Hate Elvis

805
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:37,320
Speaker 1: badges and merchandise with the same slogan on it. He

806
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,319
Speaker 1: was just trying to make sure that Elvis was able

807
00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:42,160
Speaker 1: to make money off of the people who didn't like him.

808
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,640
Speaker 1: I love that. Have you ever heard of gadget hack Wrench?

809
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,360
Speaker 1: Apparently she's this totally adorable pilot mechanic and inventor in

810
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:54,719
Speaker 1: Chippendale Rescue Rangers. And she's also a mouse, and and

811
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,040
Speaker 1: she is insanely popular with fan clubs in Russia. They

812
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,680
Speaker 1: composed songs to her and play sticks of her wherever

813
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:04,760
Speaker 1: they go, apparently. And when that great site English Russia

814
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:07,839
Speaker 1: asked members why Russians are obsessed with her, one member

815
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:11,719
Speaker 1: responded this way, quote, she is the divine being, the

816
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:14,959
Speaker 1: most untouched and perfect sibling of the great God on earth.

817
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:18,479
Speaker 1: Why I love her? It's stupid question? How I can't

818
00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:22,719
Speaker 1: love the goddess. He is strict, cute, optimistic, and her

819
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:26,440
Speaker 1: level of technical knowledge is unachievable for immortal being. I

820
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:29,359
Speaker 1: think she needs to meet the roundabout dude. That's pretty great.

821
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:31,160
Speaker 1: All right, Well, speaking of fans, did you know that

822
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:36,120
Speaker 1: Richard Nixon loved rap music? According to the Washington Post,

823
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 1: there's an audio tape at the Nixon Presidential Library where

824
00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,719
Speaker 1: he said, I've often thought that if there had been

825
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:44,040
Speaker 1: a good rap group around in those days, I might

826
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:48,040
Speaker 1: have chosen a career in music of politics. I don't

827
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,880
Speaker 1: believe it's true. It's actually in a number of sources,

828
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,640
Speaker 1: and when it became common knowledge in Christopher Buckley and

829
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,319
Speaker 1: Paul Slansky started writing imaginary verses for raps Nixon could

830
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 1: have written. So it's fan fiction about Nixon being a fan.

831
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 1: Exactly amazing. So I think you've earned the championship felt today.

832
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,120
Speaker 1: All right, Thanks so much, and that's it for this

833
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:10,480
Speaker 1: week's episode. Thanks so much for listening, and in the

834
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:27,439
Speaker 1: immortal words of rapper Richard Nixon, he sweet out, thanks

835
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:29,759
Speaker 1: again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production of

836
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:32,560
Speaker 1: how stuff works and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant

837
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 1: people who do the important things we couldn't even again

838
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:38,040
Speaker 1: to understand. Chris and McNeil does the editing thing. Noel

839
00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,120
Speaker 1: Brown made the theme song and does the MIXI mixy

840
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:43,680
Speaker 1: sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gave

841
00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:46,280
Speaker 1: Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the research

842
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:49,360
Speaker 1: Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams. And

843
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 1: Eve Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.

844
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,200
Speaker 1: If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,

845
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 1: And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe

846
00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:58,080
Speaker 1: you could leave a good review for us. Do we do?

847
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:04,360
Speaker 1: We forget Jason Jason who depicts depict the depict the

848
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 1: Party defended b