Potterversity: A Potter Studies Podcast
100 episodes - English - Latest episode: 29 days ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsIn the hallowed halls of Potterversity, hosts Katy McDaniel (Marietta College) and Emily Strand (Mt. Carmel College and Signum University) explore the Harry Potter series and wider Wizarding World from a critical academic perspective with scholars from a variety of fields, finding new ways to read and opening new doors. Made in association with http://MuggleNet.com.
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Episodes
Potterversity Episode 50: Teaching, the Hogwarts Way
April 08, 2024 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBIn the last of our episodes featuring contributors to our book, Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter, take a look at two very different teachers: Albus Dumbledore and Dolores Umbridge. Our guests are Dr. M'Balia Thomas (University of Kansas) and Dr. Brent Satterly (Widener University), whose chapters focus on Hogwarts professors. Both found ways to connect with students through Harry Potter and saw examples of what to do and what not to do as a teacher by looking at the...
Potterversity Episode 50: Teaching the Hogwarts Way
April 08, 2024 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBIn the last of our episodes featuring contributors to our book, Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter, take a look at two very different teachers: Albus Dumbledore and Dolores Umbridge. Our guests are Dr. M'Balia Thomas (University of Kansas) and Dr. Brent Satterly (Widener University), whose chapters focus on Hogwarts professors. Both found ways to connect with students through Harry Potter and saw examples of what to do and what not to do as a teacher by looking at the...
Potterversity: A Harry Potter History Holiday
March 25, 2024 14:00 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBHop on a tour of the UK this summer to see Harry Potter and more beloved works of fantasy come to life. On this episode, sponsored by History Bites Tours, Katy and Emily speak with History Bites founder Solomon Schmidt about the literary-inspired tour of England and Scotland he'll be leading in July. Solomon is the author of eight books in his History Bites series and host of the History Bites YouTube channel. In addition to his interest in history, he incorporates his love of fantasy liter...
Potterversity Episode 50: A Harry Potter History Holiday
March 25, 2024 14:00 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBHop on a tour of the UK this summer to see Harry Potter and more beloved works of fantasy come to life. On this episode, sponsored by History Bites Tours, Katy and Emily speak with History Bites founder Solomon Schmidt about the literary-inspired tour of England and Scotland he'll be leading in July. Solomon is the author of eight books in his History Bites series and host of the History Bites YouTube channel. In addition to his interest in history, he incorporates his love of fantasy liter...
Potterversity Episode 49: Playing Potter
March 11, 2024 14:00 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBWe're in for a bit of fun as we look at games in the wizarding world and using games to bring the wizarding world to the classroom. Katy and Emily are joined by two more contributors to our book, Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter. Laurie Beckoff, our producer, and Tison Pugh, Pegasus Professor of English at the University of Central Florida and author of Harry Potter and Beyond, both wrote chapters about games, with Laurie looking inside the series and back at mediev...
Potterversity Episode 48: Self and Others
February 26, 2024 15:00 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBOn this episode, two more contributors to our book talk about their chapters on equality, inclusion, and compassion. Travis Prinzi and Mark-Anthony Lewis join Katy and Emily to discuss how the wizarding world serves as a lens through which to understand the social ethics of our own world, particularly amid racial tensions and diversity. Travis's chapter, "The Problem with Loving Enemies: Kindness and Oppression in 'The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,'" and Mark-Anthony's chapter, "Uncle Remus's...
Potterversity Episode 47: A Question of Character
February 12, 2024 15:00 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBFeaturing more of our book contributors, this episode is about various members of Harry's found family. Katy, technical director Emma Nicholson, and Louise Freeman (Mary Baldwin University) discuss their chapters focused on character analysis: "Arthur Weasley and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts," "Padfoot Revelio! The Life and Love of Sirius Black," and "The Weasley Witches: From Snitches to Stitches to 'Not-My-Daughter-You-Bitches'" (possibly the best title in the volume). Emma was drawn t...
Potterversity Episode 46: Ancient Magic
January 22, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 51.2 MBThe next topic from our book up for discussion is old magic steeped in myth and tradition. Katy talks with co-host and co-editor Emily Strand and contributor Lana Whited (Ferrum College) about their chapters "The Real Magic of Christmas in Harry Potter" and "Here Be Dragons and Phoenixes: A Thematic Direction for the Fantastic Beasts Series." Emily looks at the theological roots of magic and Christmas as a time for darkness turning to light - and thus an appropriate season for Harry to have...
Potterversity Episode 45: Occult Knowledge
January 08, 2024 15:00 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBWe're starting off the companion episodes to our new book with the dark side of Harry Potter. Dr. Beatrice Groves (Oxford University and Bathilda's Notebook) and Dr. Amy Strugis (Lenoir-Rhyne University and Signum University) join us to discuss their chapters "Good Men and Monsters: The Influence of Bram Stoker's Dracula on Harry Potter" and "Dark Arts and Secret Histories: Investigating Dark Academia." They talk about what drew them to the more disturbing and Gothic aspects of the series. ...
Potterversity Episode 44: The Stars Are Bright
December 11, 2023 15:00 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBVenture to infinity and beyond for a look at astronomy in the wizarding world. We're joined by Jane Bright, a PhD candidate in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Arizona. Astronomy is the one subject wizards and Muggles seem to have in common. Why is it important enough to be a required subject at Hogwarts, and how is it different from the astrology that is part of Divination? Jane has some theories regarding the historical split between disciplines and the usefulness of astron...
Potterversity Episode 43: Live! From the Chestnut Hill Harry Potter Academic Conference 2023
November 13, 2023 15:00 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBOn this episode, we dish about this year’s Harry Potter Academic Conference and preview our new book, Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter (McFarland). Katy and Emily welcome Potterversity producer Laurie Beckoff and technical editor Emma Nicholson, as well as Louise Freeman, Mark-Anthony Lewis, and Lana Whited to talk about HPACs past and present. This year’s virtual conference allowed people from all over the world to come together, and we included the comments of oth...
Potterversity Episode 42: Thoughts on Book Banning for Wizards and Muggles Alike
October 09, 2023 14:00 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MBIn honor of Banned Books Week, this episode explores the causes and effects of book banning in the Muggle and wizarding worlds. Harry Potter is one of the most challenged works of the 21st century, frequently appearing on the American Library Association's list documenting book bans around the country. It has long been accused of inspiring interest in the occult and encouraging children to literally perform magic but has also been criticized for featuring characters who break rules, as disc...
Potterversity Episode 41: Terror and Trauma
September 18, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBHarry Potter may not technically be considered a work of horror, but there are plenty of horrifying aspects to explore in this episode. Katy and Emily speak with Dr. Jeff Ambrose about the scariest parts of the series and the lasting effects horrific events have on characters (and readers and viewers). The series has its fair share of monsters, torture, murder, and soul-sucking, with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire bringing in such terrors as Death Eaters, Unforgivable Curses, and a gr...
Potterversity Episode 40: Live from LeakyCon
August 28, 2023 14:00 - 57 minutes - 52.3 MBJoin us for a special episode recorded live from LeakyCon Chicago! Katy, Emily, and producer Laurie give LeakyCon attendees an overview of the current state of Potter studies, including areas of interest, such as social justice, responses to the author and how authorship does or does not affect our reading, and where we see the field going. We also provide a preview of our upcoming companion book, available later this year from McFarland, and consider the symbiotic relationship between sch...
Potterversity Episode 39: Considering Cockroach Clusters: Food in the Wizarding World - Part Two
August 14, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 63.5 MBReturn with us to the realm of refreshment in the wizarding world! Following up on Episode 29, Katy and Emily continue our conversation about the food foundations of Harry’s magical universe, joined by guests Louise Freeman and Emma Nicholson. Australian Emma shares her different interpretation of wizarding foods based on her cultural heritage, including her expectations about butterbeer (why so sweet, America?). We ponder whether wizard butterbeer might have alcoholic content and consider ...
Potterversity Episode 38: Jane Austen in the Wizarding World
July 10, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 66.2 MBExplore connections between the works of Jane Austen and Harry Potter. Katy and Emily compare Austen's novels to the Potter series with Dr. Beatrice Groves (Trinity College, Oxford University), author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter and columnist at Bathilda's Notebook. Bea first noticed a connection when she realized that Filch's cat shared a name with Mrs. Norris from Mansfield Park, and the similarities only continue from there. The hero serves as a focalizing point for the narrati...
Potterversity Episode 37: Magical Mental Health
June 12, 2023 14:00 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBUnpack mental health in the wizarding world and how Harry Potter can serve as bibliotherapy for readers. For insight into these topics, Katy and Emily talk to Nishi Ravi, a psychotherapist pursuing a PhD in Counseling Psychology at Marquette University. She recalls how reading Harry Potter as a preteen and teenager made her feel seen at a formative age - a common experience for many young readers. Who deals well with trauma in the wizarding world, and who struggles? Although there is no si...
Potterversity Episode 36: Galactic Harry and the Intersecting Fandoms
May 08, 2023 14:00 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBFresh off of May the 4th, Emily and Katy talk about their love of and academic interest in Harry Potter alongside another fandom they hold dear: Star Wars. Emily came to Star Wars relatively recently, after the birth of her son and a class at Signum University taught by Amy Sturgis, but Harry Potter was a gateway for her into speculative fiction and imaginative literature. Falling into fandom can be like learning a language - it becomes easier to understand others in the same group once you...
Potterversity Episode 35: Rule Breaking as Resistance
April 10, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 69.7 MBFind out how breaking the rules leads to seeking justice in the wizarding world - and our own. An early critique of the Harry Potter series complained that Harry, Hermione, and Ron often break the rules and don’t always get in trouble for it. In this episode, Katy and Emily talk with Dr. Beth Sutton-Ramspeck about how seeing the limitations of rules and having the courage to break them prepares the series’ characters for political resistance. Beth’s new book, Harry Potter and Resistance (Ro...
Potterversity Episode 34: Hogwarts Forever
March 13, 2023 14:00 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBWe gotta get back to Hogwarts in this episode, where we chat about MuggletNet's Ultimate Unofficial Harry Potter Hogwarts Handbook. Katy and Emily are joined by Potterversity producer Laurie Beckoff and Marissa Osman, two of the authors of the latest release in MuggleNet's Unofficial Reference Library. Following a spellbook, character compendium, and bestiary, this book branches out beyond lists to chronicle every known detail about the wizarding world's most famous school, from history to ...
Potterversity Episode 33: Love and Wonder
February 27, 2023 15:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBWhether it’s love for Hogwarts or love at Hogwarts, this episode will satisfy your wizard school Valentine’s cravings. What theme is more central to the Harry Potter series than love? On this special interactive episode, Emily and Katy open up their podcast to fans and listeners to talk all about love at Hogwarts. Fielding questions and comments from the webinar chat, Emily and Katy consider the various kinds of love relationships at Hogwarts, Harry Potter valentines gone wrong, and love fo...
Potterversity Episode 32: Death Eaters
February 13, 2023 15:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBThis episode grapples with two omnipresent themes in Harry Potter: death and immortality. Although the series has sometimes been deemed too dark for children, death can happen to anyone at any time, making it not purely an adult theme but something kids should also learn to encounter. Katy and Emily are joined by Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and co-host of The Two Cities...
Potterversity Episode 31: Calling In from the Harry Potter Academic Conference - Part 2
January 23, 2023 15:00 - 55 minutes - 51.2 MBFor the second part of our discussion about the 2022 Harry Potter Academic Conference, we discuss current themes in Potter scholarship, including the special section on the transgender community. Katy and Emily continue their conversation with conference presenters and attendees Laurie Beckoff, Lauren Camacci, Louise Freeman, and Lana Whited. After talking about favorite presentations in the first half, we turn to overall themes we noticed throughout the conference. Lana sees difference and...
Potterversity Episode 30: Calling In from the Harry Potter Academic Conference
January 09, 2023 15:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBJoin us as we reflect on one of our favorite annual events, the 2022 Harry Potter Academic Conference at Chestnut Hill College. Katy and Emily talk with attendees and presenters from the 11th annual HPAC: Laurie Beckoff, Lauren Camacci, Louise Freeman, and Lana Whited. The conference was held entirely in person until 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated moving the conference online. In 2021, the organizers decided to try a hybrid approach, which continued this year. We discuss the ...
Potterversity Episode 29: Pondering Pumpkin Pasties: Food in the Wizarding World
December 12, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBIt’s the holiday season, so it’s time for the magic of food on this month’s episode. Food has a special role at this time of year . . . and in the Harry Potter series. Katy, Emily, and Louise Freeman talk about the food of the wizarding world: pumpkin pasties, cockroach clusters, butterbeer, cauldron cakes, and all things wizard food. We look at how food operates as a metaphor and how it develops mood and setting in the series. In the Harry Potter books, food serves important purposes in p...
Potterversity Episode 28: Literary Takes on Harry Potter
November 14, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBFor all its growth into a global media franchise, Harry Potter is first and foremost a work of literature. Katy and Emily talk to Dr. Cecilia Konchar Farr, Professor of English and Dean of the College of Liberal and Creative Arts at West Liberty University and editor of the recent anthology Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter. For all the scholarship the series has generated, many of the literary qualities of the books are frequently overlooked while attention is instead paid...
Potterversity Episode 27: Jim Kay's Illustrated Harry Potter Editions
October 10, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBExplore the whimsical, fantastical, compelling images in Jim Kay’s illustrated Harry Potter editions. On this episode, Katy and Emily talk with artist and fantasy scholar Emily Austin (Signum University) and literary scholar Beatrice Groves (Trinity College, Oxford) about the rich, marvelous world depicted in Jim Kay’s gorgeous illustrations of the Potterverse. Looking at Books 1–4, we dissect Kay’s style and the range of his artistry and also decode some of the symbolic language in his vis...
Potterversity Episode 26: Learning Defense Against the Dark Arts
September 12, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBDiscover how politics can be both Dark Arts and the defense against them in Harry Potter. Katy and Emily talk to Dr. John S. Nelson, Professor of Political Theory and Communication at the University of Iowa and author of Defenses Against the Dark Arts: The Political Education of Harry Potter and His Friends, published by Lexington Books in 2021, about the politics of the series. John feels that the Harry Potter books “hit you over the head” with the interest in politics exhibited by Harry a...
Potterversity Episode 25: The Alchemy of Harry Potter
August 08, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBDiscover the transfiguring effects of reading the Harry Potter series on this month’s episode. Emily and Katy talk with Dr. Anne Mamary (Monmouth College) about her anthology The Alchemical Harry Potter: Essays on Transfiguration in J.K. Rowling’s Novels (McFarland 2021). We talk about the power of the Potter books and films, and how they not only express alchemical themes but also work a kind of alchemical magic on readers and viewers. Anne explains that alchemy is a way to transform not ...
Potterversity Episode 24: Wrock On!
July 11, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 75.2 MBWrock out on this episode about musical fan creations in the Potterverse. We are all about fan culture in this month’s episode. Emily and Katy talk with Paul Thomas (University of Kansas) about his book I Wanna Wrock!: The World of Harry Potter-Inspired “Wizard Rock” and Its Fandom (McFarland 2019). Paul is himself a wrock musician in the band the 8th Horcrux. He first got involved in wrock as a way to impress his crush, who is now his wife and fellow bandmember, Trina. As a result, he’s a...
Potterversity Episode 23: Secrets of Dumbledore: Outtakes and Conversations
June 13, 2022 14:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBEavesdrop 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 outtakes from our technically off-the-record conversations for your listening pleasure. Some topics...
Potterversity Episode 22: Secrets of Dumbledore and the Deathly Hallows
May 23, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 57.9 MBJoin us for our deep dive into Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 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 to decode the symbolic elements of this story and help us understand where it fits within the Harry Potter series. Find out about Bea’s prediction-come-true and hear about how the central beasts ...
Potterversity Episode 21: David Martin FTW!
May 09, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 63.6 MBDavid 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, which questions most stumped him, what it’s like to have become a social media star, and why he i...
Potterversity Episode 20: Noble Blood in Harry Potter and Arthurian Literature
April 11, 2022 14:00 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBUnderstand 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(McFarland, 2018), Carol examines medievalism in popular culture, not only in the Potterverse but also Game of Thrones. She explains both me...
Potterversity Episode 19: Harry's Fantastic Fandom
March 14, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBTake 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 communities unique and persistent. The first Harry Potter book was published at about the same time that on...
Potterversity Episode 18: The Problem with House-Elves
February 14, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBWe at Potterversity love house-elves! 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 College) about how the house-elves keep Harry Potter relevant to social issues today. Given the upheaval this new generation of readers sees in our world, Christine tells us, the Harry Potter stories give us a "training ground" for figuring out how to respond to t...
Potterversity Episode 17: Potter and the Pig
January 10, 2022 16:14 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBLooking 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 The Christmas Pig and the Harry Potter novels. Common motifs include the value of courage and loyalt...
Potterversity Episode 17: "Potter and the Pig"
January 10, 2022 16:14 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBLooking 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 The Christmas Pig and the Harry Potter novels. Common motifs include the value of courage and loyalt...
Potterversity Episode 16: You Can't Over-Nerd Here
December 13, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 29.6 MBTune 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!), and Kat Sas about some of the exciting ideas and controversial issues raised over the course of October's Harry Potter Academic Conference (HPAC) at Chestnut Hill College. Fresh from the conference, we talk about media and social media "mirrors" in the wizarding world, Hogwar...
Potterversity Episode 15: Film, Fandom, and Podcasting in Academia
November 08, 2021 15:00 - 56 minutes - 25.8 MBGet 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 culture from within the "ivory tower" of academia. Were you first attracted to the Harry Potter world...
Potterversity Episode 14: Hogwarts Bullies
October 11, 2021 14:55 - 1 hour - 36.2 MBInvestigate 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 eighteenth-century writers tended to think of bullying as natural to children and inevitable in the sch...
Potterversity Episode 13: Don't Know Much About . . . Arithmancy
September 13, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 33.2 MBDecode 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? Arithmancy is a type of divination using numbers used to predict events in the ancient world. Lana w...
Potterversity Episode 12: Harry and Aeneas in the Underworld
August 09, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 32.6 MBHarry’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 origin story, which also references classical Greek texts like The Iliad and The Odyssey. It explor...
Potterversity Episode 11: Reading the Signs
July 12, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 31.7 MBOn 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 current scholar of the intersections of disability, race, and adolescence in young adult literature,...
Potterversity Episode 10: William Shakespeare's History of Hogwarts?
June 14, 2021 14:00 - 49 minutes - 22.5 MBUniverses collide as we imagine the story of the founding of Hogwarts in the form of a Shakespeare play. In this episode, we're joined by Ian Doescher, author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars as well as Shakespearean retellings other of modern tales. He tells us about how he first embarked on this project and what made Star Wars a natural fit for Shakespeare. Ian is particularly struck by how Shakespeare mines human emotion and provides insight into characters' motives and feelings with s...
Potterversity Episode 9: Harry Meets Dracula
May 10, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 29.8 MBExplore 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 evoke similar impressions of eastern Europe as a place where dark magic dwells. Despite the scarcit...
Potterversity Episode 8: The Puffs' Perspective - Part 2
April 26, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 44.9 MB'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 spoilers of the play. Matt and Stephen explain how they became fans of Harry Potter, and then fan-...
Potterversity Episode 7: The Puffs' Perspective
April 12, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 27.7 MBJoin 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 perspective of students in Hufflepuff in those same years. This is a fan fiction approach that Henry Jenki...
Potterversity Episode 6: The Hero with a Thousand Genres
March 08, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 29.8 MBAre 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 employed in the Harry Potter series. Tison talks about his recent book Harry Potter and Beyond (Univer...
Potterversity Episode 5: Uncle Vernon
February 08, 2021 15:00 - 59 minutes - 27.3 MBA 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 we know about how Vernon grew up, his social influences, and why he loathes the magical world. Enjo...