fandom | The Walrus
Newsletters
Subscribe
Donate
Sections
Latest Stories Business Environment Society Politics Arts & Culture
Explore
Newsletters Events Listen Games Magazine The Walrus Lab
Support
Donate Subscribe Merchandise The Walrus Plus Annual Report The Walrus Gala
Follow
Twitter LinkedIn YouTube TikTok Facebook Instagram Bluesky
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Manage Subscriptions
POPULAR   →
Regional Bureaus
Trade War
Rare Minerals
Politics
Games
Skip to content

The Walrus

Fact-based journalism that sparks the Canadian conversation

[hmenu id=2]
  • home
  • Articles
    • Business
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Politics
    • Arts & Culture
    • Society
  • Special Series
    • Hope You’re Well
    • For the Love of the Game
    • Living Rooms
    • In Other Worlds: A Space Exploration
    • Terra Cognita
    • More special series >
  • Events
    • The Walrus Talks
    • The Walrus Video Room
    • The Walrus Leadership Roundtables
    • The Walrus Leadership Forums
    • Article Club
  • Subscribe
    • Renew your subscription
    • Change your address
    • Magazine Issues
    • Newsletters
    • Podcasts
  • The Walrus Lab
    • Hire The Walrus Lab
    • Amazon First Novel Award
  • Shop
  • Donate

fandom

A teen stares at a computer screen in the dark
Arts & Culture

When Online Fandom Goes Too Far

January 9, 2023January 11, 2023 - by Zarmminaa Rehman

K-pop got me through my teen years, but celebrity obsessions have a dark side

Read More
A hand with its fingers crossed accompanied by text that reads, "Please make the playoffs or I snip a toe a fan."
Sports

The Team, the Fan, and the Severed Toes

June 23, 2021February 16, 2023 - by David Swick

What’s a person to do when their team loses year after year? For one diehard fan, it meant chopping digits

Read More
Above: Hands holding up a soccer ball. Below: Hands holding up phones
Sports

When Sports Fans Change the Game

June 16, 2021January 20, 2023 - by Shireen Ahmed

Equal pay across genders, renaming racist teams—owners are finally listening and boardrooms will never be the same

Read More
Portrait of George Armstrong in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey against a blue background.
July/August 2021 / Memoir

The Paradox of Being a Leafs Fan

June 9, 2021October 10, 2024 - by Waubgeshig Rice

Generations of Indigenous fans have followed the Toronto Maple Leafs through close calls and decades of despair. Ultimately, it’s the hope that connects us

Read More
Screenshot of the actress who plays Anne Shirley on the TV show Anne with an E. She has red hair and freckles and is looking towards the top of the frame while wrapped in a grey blanket.
Arts & Culture

When Anne with an E Fans Waged War against Netflix

August 5, 2020October 13, 2020 - by John Semley

In their campaign to save the show, fans stopped behaving like an audience and started acting like owners

Read More
A wax figure replica of Céline Dion at Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas
Arts & Culture / September 2019

Céline Dion Is Everywhere

August 28, 2019January 13, 2023 - by Suzannah Showler

At fifty-one, Dion is wrapping up her Vegas residency with a world tour, an album, and two movies in the works. Why has it taken forty years for the world’s most talented singer to finally become cool?

Read More
Wikimedia Commons/Yevhenii Dubinko/iStock/The Walrus
Uncategorized

When Comic Fans Become Villains

March 15, 2019July 12, 2019 - by Anna Peppard

The Captain Marvel backlash shows that fandom can be cruel. And Stan Lee is partly to blame

Read More
Screenshot from The Third Man
Technology

How the Internet Ruined Fandom

May 26, 2016November 18, 2019 - by Jason Guriel

Being a cult follower once tested your mettle. Now it’s all too easy

Read More
Photograph by Jonathan Kay
Arts & Culture

Ron Weasley Made Me Sad

September 9, 2015February 13, 2021 - by Jonathan Kay

Fan conventions are supposed to empower subcultures. But paying $260 for a photo deadened my nerd soul

Read More
September 2009 / Sports

The Boys of Autumn

September 12, 2009April 15, 2020 - by David Macfarlane

A Tiger-Cat childhood

Read More

Our Latest Issue

The July/August 2025 cover of The Walrus magazine featuring an image of a woman reading a book while listening to music. She is sitting in a room filled with plants that also has a window through which a city skyline can be seen. July/August 2025

Explore how tariffs are testing ties between Northern neighbours, the death of the middle class musician, Afghanistan’s lost generation, and more.
The Walrus newsletter
Stories this good should be paywalled—but they’re not. Sign up today.
View all newsletters
The Walrus

About The Walrus

About Us Our Staff Contact Us Careers Fellowships Submissions Advertise with Us

Events

Get Tickets The Walrus Talks The Walrus Gala Get in Touch

Subscribe

Customer Care Purchase a Subscription Renew Your Subscription Games Newsletters Shop The Walrus Store

Podcasts

Articles The Conversation Piece The Walrus Podcasts

The Walrus Lab

Amazon Canada First Novel Award Content Services Podcast Services Our Clients Get in Touch

Follow Us

Twitter LinkedIn YouTube TikTok Facebook Instagram Substack Bluesky

Support Independent Canadian Reporting and Storytelling

The Walrus
Accessibility Help Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

The Walrus is located within the bounds of Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. This land is also the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples.

© 2025 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved.
Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001

© 2025 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved. Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001
Accessibility Help Privacy Policy Cookie Policy
© 2023 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved.
Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001

​​The Walrus is located within the bounds of Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. This land is also the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples.

The Walrus uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. Learn more or change your cookie preferences.

×

Fund Canadian journalism to help you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.


×

Fund Canadian journalism to help you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.


×

Fund Canadian journalism to help you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.


×

Fund Canadian journalism to help you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.


×

How’s The Walrus?

As the executive director, I am frequently asked this question. These days, I reply: “The Walrus was made for this moment.” From on-again, off-again trade news and negotiations to a new prime minister, we are committed to Canada’s conversations. We launched six regional bureaus earlier this year to ensure comprehensive coverage across this great country of ours. But we can’t do this alone. As a non-profit newsroom, this work isn’t possible without our readers’ support. If you believe in Canada’s stories, support our paywall-free journalism with a donation today.

Our team is small, but our commitment is big; just like our country. Every story we publish is the result of writers, artists, and editors going the extra mile (well, kilometres) to bring Canada closer together through compelling, fact-checked, and regionally grounded reporting.

Thank you for your support.

Jennifer Hollett
Executive Director, The Walrus


How’s The Walrus?

As the executive director, I am frequently asked this question. These days, I reply: “The Walrus was made for this moment.” From on-again, off-again trade news and negotiations to a new prime minister, we are committed to Canada’s conversations. We launched six regional bureaus earlier this year to ensure comprehensive coverage across this great country of ours. But we can’t do this alone. As a non-profit newsroom, this work isn’t possible without our readers’ support. If you believe in Canada’s stories, support our paywall-free journalism with a donation today.

Our team is small, but our commitment is big; just like our country. Every story we publish is the result of writers, artists, and editors going the extra mile (well, kilometres) to bring Canada closer together through compelling, fact-checked, and regionally grounded reporting.

Thank you for your support.

Jennifer Hollett
Executive Director, The Walrus

×