Episode 11: Toxic Offenders & the Dark Side of Fandom

As great as internet is for creating a safe place for people to enjoy all manner of geeky hobbies, there’s a dark side of fandom. From Gamergate to 4chan, there are some segments of geek culture that have a reputation for being toxic. A reputation hat sadly threatens to tarnish the public perception fo geek culture overall. Today, inspired by the recent story of internet bullying that prompted Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran to leave social media, we examine the dark side. Mav and Wayne are joined by a returning Abby and David J. Fielding, who starred as Zordon in the original cast of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, to dissect geek culture and toxic behavior. Citations and Links: * This episode’s Call for Comments * “What is Cultivated Identity” by Peter Coffin * The Liberal Redneck Manifesto by Trae Crowder * “La mort de l’auteur (The Death of the Author)” by Roland Barthes * The Order Indiegogo campaign * this weeks bumpers use clips from Little Rascals and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers * Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme * Follow David J. Fielding on Facebook, Twitter(@DavidJFielding) or Instagram(@djfielding_zordon) * Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast, @chrismaverick, and @wayne_wise * Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast * Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com * Follow Wayne’s Personal Blog: http://wayne-wise.com