Before the mass media, people actively engaged with culture through storytelling and expanding well-known tales. Modern fan culture connects to this historical tradition, and has become a force that challenges social norms and accepted behavior. Whether the issue is gender, sexuality, subversiveness, or even intellectual property law, fans participate in communities that allow them to think outside of what is possible in more mainstream scenarios. "Fannish" behavior has become its own grassroots way of altering our society and culture, and a means of actively experiencing one's own culture. In a sense, fans have changed from the faceless adoring masses, to people who are proud of their identity and are stretching the boundaries of what is considered "normal". Featuring: Prof. Francesca Coppa, Muhlenberg College Chris Menning, editor at Modern Primate Amanda Brennan, researcher at Know Your Meme Dr. Whitney Phillips, lecturer at NYU Alexa Dacre, fan fiction writer Naomi Novik, Organization for Transformative Works Music: Professor Kliq - soundcloud.com/professorkliq/electric-telepathy-1 Geotic - soundcloud.com/leonas/geotic-and-upon-awakening-napo Broke For Free - soundcloud.com/broke-for-free Dexter Britain - soundcloud.com/dexterbritain soundcloud.com/azoora/cirque-du-lune-part-2 Bliss - soundcloud.com/blisshenrikjose/bliss-music-by-telephone Yusuke Tsutsumi - soundcloud.com/yusuke-tsutsumi Binarpilot - soundcloud.com/binarpilot Anitek - soundcloud.com/anitek And Here's A Link to All the Images: docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq_fU6bY-l5BdGlubl9QTDdfR1VhNlpac0NhTWtLRFE More Off Book: Our last video on The Art of Animation & Motion Graphics: youtu.be/X0hVEH4se-0 Our short documentary on Glitch Art: youtu.be/gr0yiOyvas4 We took a look at The Art of Logo Design: youtu.be/x3jTSB2ez-g A sweet piece on the amazing Worlds of Viral Video: youtu.be/eWTx-NDCwSk A meditation on slow-motion, time-lapse, photo micrography, and astrophotography: youtu.be/nWX4O7K5pyA Follow Off Book: Twitter: @pbsoffbook Tumblr: pbsarts.tumblr.com/ Produced by Kornhaber Brown: www.kornhaberbrown.com