No, not THAT historical event from November 1963! This week, V and Emily take a trip back in time to a notorious week to explore how a real-life major event in history-history almost caused a major event in fandom history to die at the starting line! We're talking about how Doctor Who, the juggernaut fandom that's been on the air for over 50 years, almost never became a thing just because someone (not named Bucky Barnes...) assassinated JFK a mere 12 hours before the first episode debuted. Rude. It was hard for the little scifi show that could to pick up steam after being overshadowed in such a major way, but look at them go! They're still around and we love 'em!

Sources

Wikipedia
TARDIS Wiki

We'll be attending TGIF/F aka TGI Femslash, which is a small femslash fan con in southern California over Valentine's Day weekend in February. It'll be the con's ten-year anniversary, and they've asked us to do a special, live podcast episode about the history of the con as their special highlighted programming. If you love femslash and want to come meet us and be a part of this wonderful, small event, you should register! A 3-day pass starts at $120. You can register for the con and find lots more details at tgifemslash.com!

Promo Codes

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory.
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

And he was like, BLEGHGH! IT'S ME! Or rather, it's us! We're back. This week, Emily and V take a look at the ways that Thor: Ragnarok divided the MCU fandom as a controversial entry into the Thor trilogy and, therefore, the MCU Infinity Saga as a whole. Emily was a long-time Thor fangirl when it came out; it was V's second or third MCU movie, ever. How did these different perspectives inform the ways that they enjoyed -- or didn't enjoy -- the movie?

Also, a bit of The Business up-front: we're back, and we're going to quickly burn off the remainder of the 2025 episodes before getting back on track with being "this week" in fandom history later this month. Thank you all so much for your patience in 2025 as we both had a totally horrible year that affected our schedule so much. We love you!

LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT!

We'll be attending TGIF/F aka TGI Femslash, which is a small femslash fan con in southern California over Valentine's Day weekend in February. It'll be the con's ten-year anniversary, and they've asked us to do a special, live podcast episode about the history of the con as their special highlighted programming. If you love femslash and want to come meet us and be a part of this wonderful, small event, you should register! A 3-day pass starts at $120. You can register for the con and find lots more details at tgifemslash.com!

Promo Codes

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory.
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

We don't know enough about this fandom to have a silly exclamation at the start of this summary, tbh! This week, V and Emily stumble along in the dark as they try desperately to fulfill a request from @thesilverstarling: the posting of the massive, massive MCYT Dream SMP RPF, "Heat Waves." We do our best. Truly. But we're so very old and uncool. That said, there are some genuinely fascinating aspects of RPF culture at play here, and we're happy to wade through these waters even if they are much too deep for us!

Sources

Fanlore
ABC Triple J

Promo Codes

Aim High Brooch Designs - For 25% off any order on Aim High Brooch Designs on Etsy, including a custom brooch, bag charm, keychain, or magnet design, use the promo code TWIFH.

• Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory
• You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory.
• If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via our website.
• Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!