To Leak or Not To Leak? That's The Fandom Question
ICYMI
Slate Podcasts
3.9 • 800 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by journalist and creator Princess Weekes to discuss the ethics of consuming leaks. Ten years ago, a fan with access to leaked material from their favorite artist or creator was considered elite. But now, fandoms like Avatar: The Last Airbender worry that watching the now-leaked most recent film is a slap in the face to the artists. But if the choice is between exploiting an artist’s work, and being exploited by the streaming services and corporations that are making ethical consumption even more expensive, then does anyone win?
This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, I'm Kate Lindsay, and you're listening to I-C-Y-M-I, or in case you missed it, Slate's podcast about internet culture. |
| 0:21.2 | And today I am once again joined by pop culture expert, journalist, and YouTuber Princess Weeks. |
| 0:27.5 | Welcome back, Princess. |
| 0:29.0 | Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be back. |
| 0:32.2 | Yeah, that encapsulates all. |
| 0:34.1 | It's always so many good things. |
| 0:35.7 | Like I would just tell them you before we started |
| 0:37.9 | recording, I've been just binge listening and thank God for your work. Oh my gosh. Well, you are |
| 0:43.0 | braver than the troops because even just having to like listen back to myself twice a week is |
| 0:47.6 | more than enough for me. So I appreciate you putting in the ever. |
| 0:58.9 | Last time you were here, you joined us to talk about something that was very near and dear to my heart, |
| 1:02.5 | and that is the Harry Potter fandom and how they were reckoning with J.K. Rolling. |
| 1:07.0 | We're here today, I would say, to talk about a pretty similarly complicated topic, |
| 1:13.5 | which is leaks and how fandoms feel about leaks, as in when an artist's new album gets leaked early or someone maybe uploads a pirated version of a movie or TV show to some |
| 1:18.6 | sort of online platform. Do you remember, as people who have been in the fandom trenches, |
| 1:24.2 | what the first, like, leak you either consumed or decided not to consume was. |
| 1:30.1 | Oh, my goodness. I tried to avoid leaks as much as possible, but I have a vivid memory of |
| 1:36.2 | when the leaks for the finale of Game of Thrones came out. And it was a big thing. And everyone |
| 1:41.6 | just said, it sounds so ridiculous. |
| 1:44.8 | There's no way Danny is going to be like triggered by bells. |
| 1:48.3 | Like that's really dumb. |
| 1:50.5 | And then it happened and it was just this terrible moment of, oh no, they were right. |
... |
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