Potterversity Episode 23: Secrets of Dumbledore: Outtakes and Conversations
Eavesdrop on the Potterversity faculty in the staff lounge as we dish about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore! NOTE: This episode contains spoilers! On this special episode, hear uncensored opinions and on-the-spot analysis about The Secrets of Dumbledore from some of our Potterversity regulars, Beatrice Groves, Emma Nicholson, Louise Freeman, and Lana Whited. We’ve pulled together ...
55m Jun 13, 2022
55m
Potterversity Episode 22: Secrets of Dumbledore and the Deathly Hallows
Join us for our deep dive into Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (https://www.mugglenet.com/fantastic-beasts/fantastic-beasts-films/fantastic-beasts-film-three/) and its literary allusions, beastly lore, and continuation of the plot points in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. NOTE: This episode contains spoilers! Dr. Beatrice Groves (Trinity College, Oxford) joins Katy and Emily...
1hr 3m May 23, 2022
1hr 3m
Potterversity Episode 21: David Martin FTW!
David Martin, one of the winners of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, talks about his amazing experience on the show. On this episode, Katy and Emily talk with our friend David Martin about being on the victorious Hufflepuff team on the Tournament of Houses quiz show, which aired on TBS November to December 2021. He tells us how the auditions went, what it was like to be on the show...
1hr 9m May 09, 2022
1hr 9m
Potterversity Episode 20: Noble Blood in Harry Potter and Arthurian Literature
Understand the ties that bind – blood and otherwise – in Arthurian legend and the wizarding world in this episode. Emily and Katy discuss with Dr. Carol Jamison (Georgia Southern University) the links between Arthurian literature and Harry Potter through the concepts of blood lines, noble (or “pure”) blood, and blood feud. Author of Chivalry in Westeros (https://www.amazon.com/Chivalry-Westero...
53m Apr 11, 2022
53m
Potterversity Episode 19: Harry's Fantastic Fandom
Take a closer look at the Harry Potter fandom in this month's episode! What aspects of the fandom are your favorites: festivals, online communities, cosplay, fan fiction, or something else? On this episode, Emily and Katy talk with Dr. Marianne Martens (Kent State University), author of The Forever Fandom of Harry Potter (Cambridge University Press), about what makes Harry Potter fan communiti...
1hr 8m Mar 14, 2022
1hr 8m
Potterversity Episode 18: The Problem with House-Elves
We at Potterversity (https://www.mugglenet.com/mugglenet-family/potterversity/) love house-elves (https://www.mugglenet.com/2020/03/why-house-elves-are-not-a-metaphor-for-transatlantic-slavery/) ! Join us for our valentine to Dobby, Winky, Kreacher, and Hokey and their persistent relevance for understanding injustice. House-elf fans Emily and Katy talk with Dr. Christine Schott (Erskine Colleg...
1hr 3m Feb 14, 2022
1hr 3m
Potterversity Episode 17: Potter and the Pig
Looking to recover lost love? Discover the connections between the Harry Potter stories and The Christmas Pig.  Designed for younger readers, The Christmas Pig features a young boy going on a perilous quest to thwart a materialist villain, The Loser, and reclaim his lost, beloved best friend, Dur Pig (DP). In this first episode of the new year, Emily and Katy explore the similarities between T...
59m Jan 10, 2022
59m
Potterversity Episode 16: You Can't Over-Nerd Here
Tune in for the latest Potter Studies insights from the tenth annual Harry Potter Academic Conference! In this special episode, Emily and Katy have an in-person roundtable with Laurie Beckoff, Kat Miller (Alohomora! (http://alohomorapodcast.com/) ), and Kat Sas about some of the exciting ideas and controversial issues raised over the course of October's Harry Potter Academic Conference (http:/...
1hr 4m Dec 13, 2021
1hr 4m
Potterversity Episode 15: Film, Fandom, and Podcasting in Academia
Get a little "meta" in this episode about Harry Potter fandom and pop culture podcasting!  Emily and Katy talk with film and fandom scholar - and fellow podcaster - Michael Boyce, Professor of English Literature and Film Studies at Booth University College and host of the Geek 4 podcast. We investigate how the Harry Potter films have affected our fandom and explore podcasting about popular cul...
56m Nov 08, 2021
56m
Potterversity Episode 14: Hogwarts Bullies
Investigate bullying at Hogwarts on this month’s episode. In this episode, Emily and Katy talk with Ithaca College’s Katharine Kittredge and Carolyn Rennie about the history of bullying and how it relates to the social and educational environment at Hogwarts. We talk about what makes a bully and how that conception has perhaps changed over time in the western world. Katharine explains how eigh...
1hr 18m Oct 11, 2021
1hr 18m
Potterversity Episode 13: Don't Know Much About . . . Arithmancy
Decode magical numbers on this month's episode! Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Lana Whited (Ferrum College) about one of the more mysterious of the magical subjects at Hogwarts: Arithmancy. We discuss where this subject fits in the Hogwarts core curriculum, its historical and etymological roots, and its meaning within the Harry Potter series. And, for that matter, how do you even pronounce it? A...
1hr 12m Sep 13, 2021
1hr 12m
Potterversity Episode 12: Harry and Aeneas in the Underworld
Harry’s explorations of loss, grief, and the nature of death borrow heavily from classical visions of the underworld, especially Virgil's Aeneid. In this episode, Katy and Emily talk to Dr. Vassiliki (Lily) Panoussi, Chancellor Professor of Classical Studies at William and Mary, about references in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to Virgil's Aeneid. Lily tells us about this ancient Roman ...
1hr 10m Aug 09, 2021
1hr 10m
Potterversity Episode 11: Reading the Signs
On this episode, we're reading Harry Potter through trauma theory, Fat Studies, and semiotics - and from the perspective of a nonbinary trans scholar of young adult literature. What does it meant to be a Potter scholar? Get a glimpse of one academic's research into a variety of topics in the Harry Potter books. In this episode, Emily and Katy talk with Tolonda Henderson, former librarian and c...
1hr 9m Jul 12, 2021
1hr 9m
Potterversity Episode 10: William Shakespeare's History of Hogwarts?
Universes collide as we imagine the story of the founding of Hogwarts in the form of a Shakespeare (https://www.mugglenet.com/2017/06/literary-allusion-harry-potter-shakespeare-harry-potter-part-3/) play. In this episode, we're joined by Ian Doescher, author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars (https://www.amazon.com/William-Shakespeares-Star-Trilogy-34-inch/dp/1594747911?tag=mugglenet06-20) as...
49m Jun 14, 2021
49m
Potterversity Episode 9: Harry Meets Dracula
Explore the many dark connections between Harry Potter and Dracula, two stories of love, death, and the conquest of evil. In this episode, Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Beatrice Groves (Literary Allusions in Harry Potter, Bathilda’s Notebook) about the many parallels between Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the Harry Potter series.  Hogwarts evokes Count Dracula’s castle, and J.K. Rowling and Stoker ...
1hr 4m May 10, 2021
1hr 4m
Potterversity Episode 8: The Puffs' Perspective - Part 2
'Our Puffs-palooza continues as we talk with some of the talented people behind the play Puffs.  We continue our conversation about the wonderful fan re-vision of the Harry Potter series, the off-Broadway play Puffs. Emily and Katy discuss with Matt Cox (Puffs creator) and Stephen Stout (Puffs actor and producer) the creative process behind the making of the play. Note: This episode contains s...
1hr 38m Apr 26, 2021
1hr 38m
Potterversity Episode 7: The Puffs' Perspective
Join us for the beginning of our Puffs-palooza!  In this episode, we talk with Dr. Melissa Aaron and Dr. Lauren Camacci about the off-Broadway play Puffs - how you can see it at home, why should see it (if you haven’t already), and why we love it so much. Warning: Spoilers abound in this episode!   Puffs imagines the seven-book Harry Potter series in a compressed timeline and from the perspec...
1hr Apr 12, 2021
1hr
Potterversity Episode 6: The Hero with a Thousand Genres
Are the Harry Potter novels fantasy, mystery, school story, bildungsroman, allegory, or something else? Harry Potter’s blend of genres shapes reader expectations and creates fascinating intersections. In this episode, Dr. Tison Pugh (Pegasus Professor of English at the University of Central Florida) joins Katy and Emily to discuss the wide variety of genre conventions, patterns, and themes emp...
1hr 4m Mar 08, 2021
1hr 4m
Potterversity Episode 5: Uncle Vernon
A Valentine for...Uncle Vernon?  In this episode of Potterversity, Katy and Emily talk with scholar Tim Jennings about Vernon Dursley in a way that, if it doesn’t redeem Harry’s uncle, does seek to humanize him. Why is Uncle Vernon the way that he is? What motivates him? Why is he so awful to Harry? We explore Vernon’s relationships with his wife Petunia and his sister Marge to determine what ...
59m Feb 08, 2021
59m
Potterversity Episode 4: Violence and Civilization
What does the prevalence of violence in the Harry Potter series tell us about magical civilization - and our own?  Despite its theme of nonviolence, there’s a fair amount of violence in the Harry Potter series. On this episode, Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Aurélie Lacassagne, Associate Professor of Political Science at Laurentian University - Sudbury, in Ontario, Canada. Aurélie explains how t...
1hr 12m Jan 11, 2021
1hr 12m
Potterversity Episode 3: A Very Harry Christmas
Uncover the meaning of Christmas in the Harry Potter novels.  On this episode, Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Beatrice Groves (author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter and blogger at Bathilda’s Notebook) about the Christmases at Hogwarts and how they culminate in the final book’s graveyard scene at Godric’s Hollow. Emily points out that J.K. Rowling uses Christmas as a way to highlight the ma...
56m Dec 14, 2020
56m
Potterversity Episode 2: Good Trouble
Rule-breaking for the right reasons on this episode of Potterversity. Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Beth Sutton-Ramspeck about her analysis of rule-breaking and creativity in the Harry Potter series. In the early 2000s, some parents wanted the Harry Potter books banned because the students at Hogwarts often broke the rules without consequences. We talk about why this misbehavior may actually po...
52m Nov 30, 2020
52m
Potterversity Episode 1: Orientation
Catch a glimpse of the latest in Harry Potter scholarship and get oriented to our new podcast!  In our first episode, Emily and Katy introduce the virtual Potter Studies education you can expect from Potterversity. We discuss the Harry Potter Academic Conference (HPAC) at Chestnut Hill College, which this year was held virtually. Kudos to Karen Wendling and Patrick McCauley for pulling off thi...
53m Oct 31, 2020
53m
Episode 46: A Bridge to Something Magical
In imaginative fiction, bridges provide access to magical and dangerous worlds.  During this month’s episode, Katy and Emily talk about bridges in the Harry Potter books and movies. We’ve scoured the books and films for bridge images and references to see where they’re used and how. There are not many bridges in the books - though the Brockdale Bridge’s destruction at the beginning of Book 6 a...
42m Sep 28, 2020
42m
Episode 45: Alchemical Weddings in Harry Potter and Beyond
Literary alchemy provides clues to the romantic pairings in Harry Potter.  Why did Ron and Hermione, Remus and Tonks, and Bill and Fleur end up paired together? Literary alchemy holds the symbolic answers. Katy and John talk this month with Elizabeth Baird Hardy (Mayland Community College) and Beatrice Groves (Oxford University) about the alchemical pairings of elements that reveal themselves ...
42m Aug 10, 2020
42m
Episode 44: The Ickabog: Thoughts in Progress
Far from an offhand or casually constructed story, The Ickabog intentionally continues many of the themes and structures of the Harry Potter books in a fairy tale genre.  In this month’s episode, Katy and John talk with Harry Potter scholars John Pazdziora (University of Tokyo-Komaba) and Lana Whited (Ferrum College) about our first analyses of The Ickabog, which was released in installments f...
1hr 4m Jul 20, 2020
1hr 4m
Episode 43: The Wizard and the Hopping Plot
Explore the surprising relevance of Beedle the Bard’s first tale - “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot” - in this week’s episode.  “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot” seems like a simple story on the surface, but Katy and Emily with their guest Travis Prinzi (Harry Potter and Imagination) uncover the challenging complexities of this tale.  We look at the fairy tale motifs Rowling uses, and also ways t...
42m Jun 08, 2020
42m
Episode 42: Spinning Ginny Weasley
Take a closer look at the fierce and fine Ginny Weasley in this bonus episode.  Katy and Emily talk with Louise Freeman (Mary Baldwin University) about Ginny Weasley, examining why some fans dislike her as well as what is admirable about her. We compare book-Ginny with movie-Ginny and consider the effect of scenes left out of the films on our impression of the character. Romantic love is at the...
41m Jun 01, 2020
41m
Episode 41: Breaking Babbitty
Deconstruct Beedle the Bard’s tale “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump” with us in our latest bonus episode!  Katy and Emily talk with Katherine Sas (University of Pennsylvania) about the wizard fairy tale featuring the wily and witchy Babbitty Rabbitty. We discuss how J.K. Rowling developed the concept and how it connects with the themes of the Harry Potter series. Is this a story about ...
33m May 25, 2020
33m
Episode 40: Unpacking Petunia
Take a surprising closer look at Petunia Dursley in this week’s episode.  Harry’s Aunt Petunia is one of the lesser villains of Rowling’s fantasy series, but in this bonus episode, Katy and Emily hear Emma Nicholson’s rereading of Petunia in light of what we find out at the end of the last book. Considering how Petunia was rejected from the wizarding world in her childhood, and other hints of h...
39m May 18, 2020
39m
Episode 39: When in Doubt, Go to the Library: The Books Within the Books
Which of the wizarding world books mentioned in the Harry Potter series would you most like to have on your bookshelf?  Join us in considering the funniest, most important, and most intriguing books within the Harry Potter books in this bonus episode. Emily and Katy talk with Professor Lana Whited (Ferrum College) about the many books J.K. Rowling invented for the wizarding world. Which ones ar...
30m May 11, 2020
30m
Episode 38: Harry Potter and the Deathly Virus
Graduating seniors connect their experiences this spring to the final Harry Potter book.  In this special episode, Emily, Katy, and Lana Whited (Ferrum College) talk with high school and college seniors who are separated from their friends and schools this spring because of the COVID-19 crisis. Neil Fredericksen (Franklin County High School), Jamie Gilbert (Ferrum College), and Miranda Veal (UN...
1hr 21m May 04, 2020
1hr 21m
Episode 37: Troubled Blood and The Faerie Queene: Strike 5
Prognostications about the next Cormoran Strike novel, based on the clues so far.  In this bonus episode, John and Katy predict what will happen in the next novel in the Rowling/Galbraith Cormoran Strike series with the help of Elizabeth Baird Hardy (Milton, Spencer, and the Chronicles of Narnia) and Beatrice Groves (Literary Allusion in Harry Potter). Given the Strike 5 title Troubled Blood, J...
43m Apr 27, 2020
43m
Episode 36: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Harry Potter
Enjoy a special bonus mini episode of our show about how we’re “holding on to Harry Potter.”  Katy and Emily talk with MuggleNet’s Laurie Beckoff about how to navigate our love of Harry Potter with new revelations from J.K. Rowling that challenge what we thought we knew. Laurie explains her theory that the wizarding world extends beyond the books and has become a common language for our culture...
26m Apr 20, 2020
26m
Episode 35: Lessons in Magical Manipulation
Explore the more-than-magical power of words and rhetoric in the wizarding world.  This month’s episode explores Albus Dumbledore’s wisdom that “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic.” Mark-Anthony Lewis (Bristol Community College and School on Wheels of Massachusetts) helps Emily and Katy understand how speech and rhetoric operate in the wizarding world. He explains why “Harry Potte...
1hr 28m Apr 13, 2020
1hr 28m
Episode 34: Werewolves of Wizard London (And Other Animal Transformations)
Get to the heart of werewolves in the Harry Potter series in this month’s special double episode! In this supersized episode, John and Katy talk with literary scholars and werewolf specialists Dr. Melissa Aaron (California Polytechnic State University) and Dr. Renée Ward (University of Lincoln, UK) to reveal the true nature of beastly transformations in the Harry Potter series. “Everything you ...
1hr 56m Mar 09, 2020
1hr 56m
Episode 33: Revela Draconem: Draco Malfoy Revealed
**This episode is dedicated to our friends in Australia, including our fabulous editor Emma Nicholson, who are still dealing with the aftermath of the recent fires. Our hearts are with you.** Whether you love or hate - or love to hate - Draco Malfoy, you will thoroughly enjoy our deep dive into this controversial bad boy of the Harry Potter series. In this month’s episode, John and Katy talk wi...
1hr 29m Feb 10, 2020
1hr 29m
Episode 32: Re-Enchanted: Medievalism, Children's Literature, and Fantasy
Discover the origins, influence, and magic of medievalist children’s fantasy literature in our conversation with Dr. Maria Sachiko Cecire about her new book Re-Enchanted: The Rise of Children’s Fantasy Literature in the Twentieth Century (University of Minnesota Press). In this episode, Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Maria Cecire (Director of the Center for Experimental Humanities at Bard College...
1hr 33m Dec 09, 2019
1hr 33m
Episode 31: Books! And Cleverness! The Harry Potter Academic Conference at Chestnut Hill College
Eavesdrop on our conference conversation recorded at Chestnut Hill College! This episode showcases both the new and enduring trends in Harry Potter scholarship, as seen at the Harry Potter Academic Conference at Chestnut Hill College in October 2019. Katy and Emily talk with a panel of scholars who organized, attended, and/or presented at the conference: Laurie Beckoff, Lauren Camacci, Elise Tr...
1hr 5m Nov 11, 2019
1hr 5m
Episode 30: Harry Potter Voices Across Borders
Harry Potter empowers us to speak across borders of difference and find our authentic voices. In this month’s episode, Katy and Emily talk with Dr. M’Balia Thomas (University of Kansas) about the border-crossings of students like Harry and Hermione, which M’Balia calls the “Harry Potter Border-Crossing Analogy” (HPBCA). Wizarding world characters’ experiences of going into a different world, wi...
1hr 12m Oct 15, 2019
1hr 12m
Episode 29: Tolkien and Rowling (Part 2)
Fandoms and film adaptations of Middle-earth and the Wizarding World in this week’s episode. Katy and John continue the conversation with Dr. Sara Brown and Dr. Amy Sturgis, this time focusing on the fans and the film versions of the iconic fantasy series of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling. We discuss whether the Rowling and Tolkien fandoms are oppositional or intersecting, and what the newer R...
49m Sep 24, 2019
49m
Episode 28: Tolkien & Rowling (Part 1)
What does the wizarding world owe to Middle-earth? This month, Katy and John talk about the fantasy worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling with guests Dr. Sara Brown (Rydal Penrhos School and Signum University) and Dr. Amy Sturgis (Lenoir-Rhyne University). Though Rowling has minimized the influence of Tolkien’s saga on her own world-building, readers can spot several connections at the supe...
1hr Sep 09, 2019
1hr
Episode 27: Humor and Harry Potter (Part 2)
J.K. Rowling’s comedy helps us connect with the darker themes of the Harry Potter story. Join us for Part 2 of our discussion of “Humor and Harry Potter,” where we continue our conversation with Emily Strand (Mount Carmel College of Nursing), Louise Freeman (Mary Baldwin University), and Caitlin Harper (NYDA - Harry Potter Alliance, New York City). Exploring humor theories, we analyze how Rowli...
49m Aug 26, 2019
49m
Episode 26: Humor and Harry Potter (Part 1)
What are your favorite funny moments in Harry Potter? J.K. Rowling’s deft use of humor is one of the core reasons for the success of the Harry Potter series, yet one which is not much discussed. In this first of a two-part episode, we remedy that lack! Katy talks with Emily Strand (Mount Carmel College of Nursing), Caitlin Harper (NYDA, Harry Potter Alliance—New York City), and Louise Freeman (...
1hr 6m Aug 12, 2019
1hr 6m
Episode 25: Literary Alchemy and the Mythic Context
Uncover the literary secrets within Harry Potter, Cormoran Strike, and Fantastic Beasts! In this episode, Katy and John do a deep dive into the symbolism and transformative power of J.K. Rowling’s work. First, John describes the concept of literary alchemy and how literature can effect an alchemical transformation on readers. Then, special guest Evan Willis (University of Dallas) explains how R...
1hr 21m Jul 08, 2019
1hr 21m
Episode 24: The Wand in the Stone? Harry Potter and King Arthur
Explore the many Harry Potter references to King Arthur in this month’s episode!  Three generations of Potter scholars gather to talk about J.K. Rowling’s Arthurian influences. From significant naming of characters to points of plot and theme, Katy and John discuss the many connections between the wizarding world and the medievalism of the King Arthur stories with special guests Laurie Beckoff ...
1hr 18m Jun 10, 2019
1hr 18m
Episode 23: Harry Potter: The Movies
Whether you love the movies or hate them, this episode will open your eyes to the challenges and artistry of the Harry Potter movies. In this episode, Janet Batchler, screenwriter (Batman Forever, Pompeii) and professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, helps us understand the Harry Potter movies, what we love about them and why - as well as what bothers us a...
1hr 19m May 14, 2019
1hr 19m
Episode 22: Transfiguring Adoption
You do not want to miss this compelling, poignant episode about the power of reading (and reading Harry Potter in particular) in our emotional lives. Harry Potter helps adoptive and foster families deal with trauma, questions of identity, and family relationships. In this episode, Katy and her co-host Emily Strand investigate the use of Harry Potter as “bibliotherapy,” especially for adoptive ...
1hr 2m Apr 08, 2019
1hr 2m
Episode 21: Divination Class: Tarot, Astrology, and Games in Harry Potter
Who could have predicted this episode? Join us in Divination Class for this episode on tarot, astrology, and games in the Harry Potter series. With the help of guests Eglantine Pillet (Sorbonne, University of Paris) and Beatrice Groves (Oxford University), Katy and John examine the symbols of prediction, destiny, and cosmic interconnection in J.K. Rowling’s universe.
1hr 15m Mar 25, 2019
1hr 15m
Episode 20: Investigating The Crimes of Grindelwald
This month join us at alchemist Nicolas Flamel’s house, where we’re searching for answers to the profound questions raised by the second film in the Fantastic Beasts series. Spoilers abound! The Crimes of Grindelwald left a lot of fans and critics scratching their heads. With our guests Elizabeth Baird Hardy (Mayland Community College), Megan Kelly (SpeakBeasty), and Lana Whited (Ferrum Colleg...
1hr 41m Mar 11, 2019
1hr 41m