Witch, Please

Welcome back, witches! Today’s episode wraps up our discussion of the second half of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and after this we’ll never speak of it again—at least, not until the next edition of play script gets published with all that sweet, sweet paratext you know we crave…….. Seriously, though, we’re stoked for the re-issuing of the post-production script with, like, photos and shit. But for now we make do with the incomprehensible stage directions and many, many title pages.

Enjoy!

Credits:
Dramatic reading background music once again care of Bensound. In fact, we like Ben’s work so much that this week the delightful tune “Cute” accompanies the Twitter list! And the melodious songstress singing “Sexyyyyyyyyyy” came from maurolupo.

Download this even curiouser episode

Grab your contraband Time Turners, witches, because we’re zipping back in time to episode 15A: the first half of our discussion of the play script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Speaking of time, in this episode Hannah and Marcelle dive into recording from two different timezones! The results are PRETTY GOOD!

Dramatic reading background music by Bensound.

Download this Curious Episode

Grab your opera glasses, witches, because this week Hannah is joined by actor, director, and playwright Jeremy Mason for a discussion about the pleasures of reading plays, and why Rowling might have turned to the theatre for her newest addition to the Harry Potter canon. Don’t forget to take notes, because we’ll be asking you for your questions about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the coming weeks.

Download this Theatrical minisode

Are you prepared for a rambling, margarita-fuelled discussion of pamphlets, propaganda, British fascism, lightning bolts, and how to browbeat your beloved hosts into getting your very own episode? No? Then you should probably skip this one. But if you actually love all those things, plus gratuitous lightning sound effects*, then this minisode is for you!

Download this Ministry-Approved minisode

• Please note: as lightning doesn’t actually make a sound, we used thunder instead. But it’s, like, symbolic, you know?

Welcome to our brand new podcast, The Harry Potter Hour, Starring Feminism! It’s a lot like our old podcast Witch, Please except, uh, Newer and Different!

This truly is the last episode of classic Witch, Please, though. After this it’s all paratexts, minisodes, and shenanigans! No more rules, no more social decorum, no more consistency. If the episode seems a little early, that’s because the Internet screwed up and we didn’t know how to fix it we wanted to give you a special present before leaving you NOT FOREVER PLEASE DON’T FREAK OUT. Look to your podcatchers on August 1 for the next minisode. Until then, you can settle in comfortably with your reliably clever and hilarious hosts as we’re joined by the über popular Guy With A Film Degree Neale Barnholden to talk about the last official Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

Download this New and Improved episode

But we’re not dead yet! cry your coven mistresses as we claw our way back into your podcast apps. That’s right, witches! We still have two more official (and, like, scores more unofficial) episodes for you!

Tonight we’re joined by real life guy with a film degree, Neale Barnholden, for the ultimate—no, no then penultimate—wait no! the antepenultimate—WHATEVER, FOR ANOTHER EPISODE! Turn on all your lights and settle in with a companion species for a spooky episode from the podcast boneyard about the second-last (or is it?!) of the Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One.

Download this episode from beyond the grave

With Marcelle a million miles* away, we’re presenting to you a live event organized by Edmonton Potterwatch. “Project Firenze: Minority Representation in Fantasy Literature” was the organization’s first-ever live panel on that topic, focusing this time on the Magic in North America stories and the representation/appropriation of Indigenous cultures. We were joined by Lucinda Rasmussen and Roxanne Harde from the University of Alberta, and moderators Emily Hoven and Nina Legesse, to talk about YA, North American history, and the empowerment of owls in Rowling’s work.

(Please pardon the sound quality: it was a live venue and we had one mic to share amongst six speakers of wildly varying volumes!)

Download this soft-spoken episode

 

Further Reading:

• Killer of Enemies, by Joseph Bruchac
• Lightfinder, by Aaron Paquette
• Summerland, by Michael Chabon
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
• The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich
• Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada, by Emma Battell Lowman and Adam J. Barker
• “My Year of Watching Only Women on Netflix”

 

*11, 134 km