This is an ABC podcast.

In her 40s, a boy band changed Barbara Delapinia's life.

I accidentally came across a show called Explained.

So it's a documentary series on Netflix,

and one of the topics was K-pop.

K-pop, if you're unaware, is Korean pop music.

And then when I was watching the show,

there was one interview that mentioned that

K-pop has always been huge in their country,

but they've never really penetrated mainstream music until BTS.

Make some noise for BTS!

It's like when they got to LAX, it was like the Beatles were here.

So my first question was like, well, how come I don't know what, what or who BTS is?

Barbara had always enjoyed music and boy bands, but never in an obsessed superfan kind of way.

That was about to change. I went to YouTube. The first video that I saw was DNA. And I was just mind

blown. Just the colors, the music, the synergy, the aesthetics, the dancing was so on point.

I remember repeating the last couple of seconds of that video over and over and over again.

As they say within the fandom, you see one video, you go into the rabbit hole and there's no turning back.

Since at least the days of Elvis or the Beatles, we've had documented evidence of fans going wild for their object of affection.

But it's not just a music thing.

So what is it about bands or movie franchises or sports teams that inspire such passionate fan bases?

Taylor, I love you so much.

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