How fanfiction took over the world (and stayed free)

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September 19, 2025 • 30 mins

Fanfiction has gone from photocopied zines traded at conventions to millions of stories shared online. From smut-filled Harry Potter ships to the fic that birthed Fifty Shades of Grey, we explore fanfiction's growth, its influence on writing and culture, and how Archive of Our Own has stayed free and fan-run in an internet that charges for almost everything. GUESTS: Danielle Binks, fanfiction (and regular fiction) writer, literary agent, and lecturer in Creative Writing at RMIT University Rachel Linton, board member at the Office of Transformative Works, the group that runs one of the biggest fanfiction sites out there, Archive of Our Own (AO3) This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land and in Naarm. Technical production by Adrian Jones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}How fanfiction took over the world (and stayed free)