Fan stories, cosplay craft, and character love.
Tales from the Fandom treats fandom as a personal history, not just a list of favorite titles. David talks with cosplayers, costumers, game writers, and pop-culture fans about the characters, communities, and creative projects that shaped them.
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Tales from the Fandom is built on the idea that fandom is easiest to understand through people’s stories. David hosts the conversations with a casual, encouraging style, usually giving each guest space to trace how a character, franchise, craft, or community became important to them. The show is interview-centered and deliberately loose. It does not rush toward hot takes. It lingers on beginnings. A guest might arrive through a cosplay image on Instagram, a convention encounter, a shared love of Kitty Pryde, or a returning connection that stretches back across hundreds of episodes. Those entry points matter because the show treats fandom as lived experience. Recent conversations cover Dispatch, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, K-Pop Demon Hunters, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, video games, tabletop roleplaying games, costuming, cosplay, and prop making. The subjects are recognizable, but the show’s real focus is how people attach meaning to them. A discussion of Miss Marvel becomes a conversation about representation and staying true to the character’s themes. A Star Wars segment turns toward The Clone Wars, the Jedi Order, the clones, Mandalore, and why that animated storytelling gives the prequel era more emotional shape. A costuming episode can move from a hobbit photo with Sean Astin to Regency dresses, bustle gowns, Ren Faire memories, and the comfort of pieces that are easy to wear. Cosplay talk often gets practical. Guests describe sewing, crinoline work, group shoots, prop builds, photo sharing, algorithm luck, and the support that comes from other creators reposting someone’s work. The show is also comfortable with fandom as craft labor. It pays attention to the hours behind a costume, the nerves behind public creative work, and the surreal feeling of seeing people react to jokes or scenes a guest helped write. That gives the series a sweet, specific texture. It is not trying to rank franchises or sound definitive. It is more like a steady record of fan lives, where each episode adds another person’s path through characters, conventions, games, costumes, and online community. The result is warm, nerdy, and unusually patient.
Made for: Best for listeners who enjoy convention-floor conversations, cosplay communities, superhero talk, gaming memories, and fans explaining why certain characters matter. It especially suits people who prefer friendly interviews over polished criticism.
What sets it apart: The show stands apart by focusing less on fandom news and more on personal fan chronology: first exposure, favorite characters, creative builds, community support, and the moments that turn interest into identity.
Tales from the Fandom is a podcast that explores fandoms with a different guest each week. Each guest brings their own insight into fandom. We discuss topics such as television shows, movies, books, cosplaying and more.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Tales from the Fandom catches music at the point where creative references become shared language among makers, players, and fans.
David builds Tales from the Fandom around patient guest conversations, following enthusiasm into the choices and labor behind it. The range is broad: discussions move from Bridgerton character judgments and Star Wars storytelling to superhero adaptation, historical costuming,…
A pocket potato for Sean Astin is your ticket into David's delightfully specific fandom conversations.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Dispatch jokes, Twitch reactions, and first-game nerves land in one warm return visit.
Mayanna Barrett's fourth visit with David keeps Dispatch centered on what happens when a first game starts finding its audience. The exchange has the easy back-and-forth of two people who have known each other since 2017, and it keeps returning to concrete, funny details:…
A hobbit potato photo op leads into a warm look at how friends, events, and images shape costume work.
Vivian of Fresh Frippery comes into Tales from the Fandom through a sharply drawn Lord of the Rings moment: at Fan Expo San Francisco, dressed as a hobbit, she brings a potato to a photo op with Sean Astin, only for him to take it from her hand and turn a planned pose into a…
Miss Marvel, identity, and a fan conversation that stays grounded.
David and Mare, known on Instagram as Super Mare 2.0, settle into a conversation about Miss Marvel, aka Kamala Khan, and why the character keeps pulling fandom talk toward identity and change.
A Kitty Pryde connection opens into Jenna's grounded tour of The Clone Wars, clones, and Mandalore.
Kitty Pryde gives this fandom conversation its cleanest through line. The host starts with the story of a Kitty Pryde Funko Pop that Jenna helped him find, and Jenna carries that into a more personal connection, linking Kitty joining the X-Men young to her own early start…
A chemistry joke opens into a dry, candid story of stubbornness, silence, and one long-awaited yes.
Gabriella Buba's conversation with David starts with an overcommitted chemical-engineering joke, then settles into something sharper when she explains pyrophoric materials: chemicals that ignite on contact with air.
Brittany makes Violet Bridgerton the clear MVB in a warm return built around tea, missing biscuits, and character talk.
A returning guest gives a new Bridgerton fan room to catch up, and the chat settles into an easy rhythm of tea, missing biscuits, and outfits that are not exactly ball-ready.
Leo explains why cosplay begins with recognizing something of oneself in a character.
Tales from the Fandom frames cosplay as a question of recognition first and craft second. David welcomes Leo, known on Instagram as lionbcos, and follows the path into the conversation through Leo's Superman cosplay and an X-Men group shot featuring Laura Kinney.
Fans arguing the Star Wars canon, week by week
Nostalgia with receipts and side-eyes.
Fan culture, taken seriously from the inside.
Star Wars fiction, read aloud part by part.
Host David interviews cosplayer Leo, known online as lionbcos, about their journey into cosplay.
Host David welcomes back guest BajanPrincessBrittany for a deep dive into the Bridgerton fandom.
This episode features an interview with author Myka Silber discussing their book 'Rider's Blood, Moonlit Black' and their work as a writer.
Host David interviews cosplayer E (MangaGirl1114) about her interests in Disney, Barbie, Dungeon Meshi, art, and cosplay on the Tales from the Fandom podcast.
Host David interviews Nat (ScruffySpaceElf) about her fandom interests including Star Trek, House of the Dragon, opera, classical music, and cosplay, starting with the origin of her username.
Tales from the Fandom host David welcomes author Carolina Cardona back to discuss her new novel, The Plague Doctor and The Littlest Sister.
David welcomes Mayanna Barrett back for her fourth appearance on Tales from the Fandom.
Host David interviews cosplayer Leo (Lionbcos) about their work, focusing on their Superman and X-Men cosplays, particularly as Laura Kinney.
Host David interviews Mo (DreadheadCos) about their cosplay and prop making work, discussing how they connected through Instagram and the supportive fan community.
Host David interviews Saint Valkyrie about her cosplay work, interests in video games, tabletop RPGs, and comic franchises like DC and Marvel, while she shares details about sewing a Cinderella ball gown.
Host David interviews DannyVanWebster about his interests in Resident Evil, cosplay, and pop culture fandom.
Vivian of Fresh Frippery recounts Sean Astin taking a potato from her hand at Fan Expo San Francisco, then uses that photo-op to talk about The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and why the movies won her over in college.
David opens by welcoming Mare, who listeners may know as Super Mare 2.0 on Instagram.
Jenna loves Kitty Pryde.
["David opens Tales from the Fandom with a chemical-engineering joke about pyrophoric materials before bringing Gabriella Buba into a talk about fandom and writing.", "Buba traces her fandom path through Supernatural and Sherlock, saying Megan introduced her to fanfiction, cosplay, and the habit of exchanging chapters.", "She says Saints of Storm and Sorrow began as a 350,000-word original draft, survived a blunt publisher rejection, and only clicked when Mia Sai told her the cast needed Filipino characters.", "The episode also covers her grandmother's Florida grove, the Tagalog creation story, Pitch Wars, more than 350 queries, and a sale that came after nine months of silence."]
This episode celebrates the podcast's ninth anniversary with a special interview featuring returning guest Briona, discussing her experiences and adventures in fandom.
Host David interviews Alexis (TakeABreathWithAlexis) about her Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars fandom, including a discussion on meeting Hayden Christensen at a convention.