Superfan Podcast Explores Ancient Fandom Roots from Roman Chariot Races to Taylor Swift

The second episode of the podcast Superfan, hosted by Viola Stefanello, traces the history of fandom from ancient Rome to modern pop culture. It opens with a 2,000-year-old tombstone inscription of a 19-year-old who supported the Blues, one of the four chariot-racing factions in Rome (Blues, Greens, Reds, Whites). The historian Pliny the Younger expressed bewilderment at fans who cheered for a colored jersey rather than the skill of charioteers or horses. The episode features interviews with historian Daniel Cavicchi, an expert on 19th-century music lovers; media historian Andrea Horbinski, who examines pre-internet fandom; and Federica Pepe, who built a Taylor Swift fan community in Salerno, Italy, in the early 2000s. It also covers medieval pilgrims traveling across Europe for saint relics, 19th-century music lovers spending savings on concerts, and clandestine readers of early gay and lesbian pulp novels. The podcast argues that deep human needs—intense emotions, safe spaces for marginalized groups (women, queer people, sci-fi fans), and shared passion—have remained constant across centuries.