My friend Becca randomly texted me one day, “Why don’t we have a podcast?” I responded with, “IDK, why don’t we?” We jokingly talked about starting one. Then it became serious. 

And so our podcast was born: “When the Girls Talk Boys.” On our show, we talk about entertainment and fandoms (like 5 Seconds of Summer, One Direction and the movies and shows we grew up with), combining our passions with our careers and life experience. 

Becca and I have been best friends for almost 20 years. Ballet practically ran our lives growing up, but we were always talking about some form of entertainment — obsessing over the Jonas Brothers, getting hyped for the latest Disney Channel Original Movie  or discussing a part of the Percy Jackson series in our book club. We spent hours trying to learn the “High School Musical” dances in my living room, and we even won a costume contest at a “High School Musical”-themed party, going as Sharpay Evans and Kelsi Nielsen. 

After our Saturday morning ballet class, my mom would often bring us to the movies. We were inseparable. But like so many stereotypical teen movies, I moved away when I was 14, and suddenly our routine was broken.

Like many people, being a part of fandoms was a huge part of our lives — and it still is. In the eight years we’ve been apart, enjoying the same content and being part of the same fandoms has helped keep us connected. We always have something to talk about that keeps our friendship alive; there’s no dead air between us. 

Fandoms often have a bad reputation, especially when they are primarily made up of teenage girls, but they’re also places where people who enjoy a common interest can interact. Now, I’m not ignoring the fact that fandoms can be toxic; they definitely can be. But they also bring people together, whether they are people who would otherwise never be friends or friends who have known each other since childhood. Becca and I are a perfect example. 

There are various reasons to start a podcast, whether it’s to get big and profit off it or to have an excuse to discuss a specific topic. Like most people, we started “When the Girls Talk Boys” for many reasons: to give our fellow fans another space to listen and join in on our discussions, to provide a voice for 20-something-year-old fangirls and stans, to talk about life and our experiences and even to put it on our resumes. And maybe there’s a tiny bit of hope that we’ll make it big. 

But the biggest reason we started the podcast was to use it as an excuse to get together via Zoom and talk about the things we love. It’s a new way we can foster our friendship and keep it from becoming stagnant. Becca is my oldest friend, and I never want to lose her, so we constantly find new ways to keep our friendship alive; “When the Girls Talk Boys” is just the latest way. 

Our podcast may be reaching a small audience (with some fans in New Zealand, Italy and Ireland), but that’s OK. We’ve recorded four episodes so far, most of which are related to fandoms, but we don’t just talk about fandoms. We plan on discussing some more serious life-related topics like self-worth and maintaining a long-distance friendship. 

You can listen in on Spotify and Anchor, and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date.