logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2022
44m 18s

521. I’m Your Biggest Fan!

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
It’s fun to obsess over pop stars and racecar drivers — but is fandom making our politics even more toxic? 
Up next
Today
Is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset? (Update)
<p>The iconic department store calls the parade its “gift to the nation.” With 30 million TV viewers, it’s also a big moneymaker — at least we think it is: when it comes to parade economics, Macy’s is famously tight-lipped. In this 2024 episode, we try to loosen them up. (Part on ... Show More
52m 31s
Nov 21
654. Is the Public Ready for Private Equity?
tail spinning
1h 3m
Nov 14
653. Does Horse Racing Have a Future?
<p>Thoroughbred auction prices keep setting records. But tracks are closing, gambling revenues are falling, and the sport is increasingly reliant on subsidies. Is that the kind of long shot anybody wants? (Part three of a series, “<a href="https://freakonomics.com/the-horse-is-us ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2019
Fangirls Just Wanna Have Fun
<p>As a culture, we are uncomfortably comfortable with mocking fangirls. Why is that? Spoiler alert, it's sexism. Anney and Samantha trace the history of fangirls and our dismissal of them, and discuss why fangirls run the world.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a ... Show More
36m 28s
Jun 2023
Fandoms : besoin de rien, envie de toi (8 juin)
<p>NOUVEAU - Abonnez-vous à Nouvelles Écoutes + pour profiter du catalogue Nouvelles Écoutes en intégralité et en avant premières, sans publicité. Vous aurez accès à des enquêtes, documentaires, séries et fictions exclusives passionnantes, comme « Au Nom du fils », « Roulette rus ... Show More
21m 28s
Feb 2020
For the love of fangirls | Yve Blake
<p>When you think of fangirls, what comes to mind: large swaths of fandom (usually for a boyband) whose feelings culminate in tears and joyful screams? Perhaps you grimace or roll your eyes at the thought. In this fun, lively talk, playwright Yve Blake asks us to reevaluate our r ... Show More
12 m
Oct 2023
Doja Cat & The Problem With People Pandering to Edgelord Celebrities
<p>It seems impossible to go a week without Doja Cat stirring up a new controversy; from sporting a tshirt featuring an alt-right figurehead, to appearing in racist chatrooms and isolating her fanbase. As her behaviour appears to veer away from simple trolling and towards an actu ... Show More
31m 32s
Jan 2023
Monday Mini: What's Going On With DC Fandom?
It's not a bird, or a plane, it's toxic fandom! It's not super, man. Bad jokes aside, SMNTY investigates what exactly is going on in DC fandom, and particularly, the Snyderverse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
32m 2s
Sep 2023
Juiciest Unpopular Opinions! (Molly-Mae’s 24hr in a day comment, Love Island Allstars, Cheating and more!)
This week, we’re spilling the tea on OUR unpopular opinions, and trust us, things are about to get wild! Lewys is throwing down the gauntlet with a bold statement: Is Megan Thee Stallion the ultimate queen of this generation’s female rap performers? Meanwhile, Isla’s got a hot ta ... Show More
32m 10s
Aug 2021
have we destroyed our capacity to love?
<p>in this episode, we talk about modern love and all the ways it intersects with politics. we explore the age-old question "is love political?" we talk about all the things that sustain love, as well as the things that undermine it. we differentiate between healthy love and unhe ... Show More
27m 37s
Mar 2021
celebrity culture
A lot of us grow up wanting to be famous, but is fame really all it’s cracked up to be? Having gotten a little taste of popularity in her own world, Emma talks about what it’s like having a following and being in the public spotlight. Plus, what it’s like for other major celebrit ... Show More
1h 13m
Aug 2018
Pop Star Philosophy
Broadcaster and comedian Steve Punt scours the archives to exhume the often pretentious and opinionated philosophical outpourings of pop stars through the ages. With the help of music journalists Paul Morley, Kate Mossman, DJ and record producer Ras Kwame and surprising soundbite ... Show More
57m 46s
Apr 2022
Is Pop Music Obsessed With Nostalgia?
Spencer Kornhaber, Shirley Li, and Hannah Giorgis assess the state of pop music following the Grammys. While the much-derided awards have improved at celebrating the diversity of modern music, they still tend to reward safer throwback sounds. And modern music as a whole seems to ... Show More
45m 47s