The signs are all there, people! Have you heard the good word (of Firefly)? May the force be with you (and also with you)! Though there’re lots of superficial connections between fandom and religion, could there be a stronger link? Some sort of… divine connection?

In this episode, we’re all over the place, including:

* The appropriation of language from other sources (e.g. canonization)* Fandom filing the role of community and providing hope and meaning* Tons of superficial (?) connections between fandom and religion

And more! All in under thirty minutes.

## Episode Outline

**Topics: **What is a religion, what is religion legally, books of worship for fandom, the sacred texts, forums as interpretive guides, codes of fandom, proselytization, rites of passage, anne rice, blasphemy, star wars, zelda, doctor who, decline of organized religion, conventions, fandom as community.

## Where can I get updates?

If you want to follow us on social media, we’ve got you covered:

* Facebook: [facebook.com/fanthropological](https://facebook.com/fanthropological)* Twitter: [@fanthropologic](https://twitter.com/fanthropologic)

And of course, we can be found where all fine podcasts are found (e.g. [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc3MueG1s)).

Oh, and here at [fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com)

## Special Announcement: Livestream for the Cure 4

The 4th Annual Livestream for the Cure (or the Livestream 4 the Cure?) has been scheduled for FORTY-EIGHT HOURS from May 28th thru the 31st, with a small four hour kick-off event scheduled for the evening before to do final tests (and hopefully wrangle in some amazing guests). This year we’ll be pushing to raise $10,000 for the Cancer Research Institute, and if all of that gets doubled, we stand a very good chance of raising over $20,000 for cancer research. Hitting last year’s goal on day TWO meant that, unfortunately, donations slowed to a trickle for the entirety of day three, so if we happen to hit our goal before the end this year, we’ll be raising the bar by $1,000 every time we hit it and offering additional prizes for people won donate to these flex goals!

As in years past, the event will be LIVE on Twitch, so be sure to head to [http://twitch.tv/epicfilmguys](http://twitch.tv/epicfilmguys) and give us a follow! We’ll be going live with streams and other events where we’ll be mentioning L4TC all the way up until the event begins the evening of May 27th.

More details available at [http://www.livestreamforthecure.com/](http://www.livestreamforthecure.com/)

## What is Fanthropological?

Every week, our podcast, Fanthropological, delivers about an hour of fandom-related "fanalysis" covering a different fandom every week and giving you hard data, history, special guests, and, of course, speculation!

We cover topics spanning the gamut of anime, manga, comics, video games, comics, movies, books, television, and, in general, geek culture.

## Who are you?

We are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek … who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick.

We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom. We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans.

If you want to learn more about us, you can follow us on most social media @thenickscast ([Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast), [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast)), see all of our projects on [thenickscast.com](https://thenicksca