Material Girls

Greetings, Witches!We’re excited to bring you a special something from our partners at Not Sorry Productions. The Real Question is a new podcast from Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile, the magical minds behind Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Like us, they’re two friends who like to put their heads together and pour over their favorite texts as they navigate life’s questions. In every episode of The Real Question, Vanessa and Casper will investigate one of their own questions through the lenses of two texts. They'll reach far and wide, across the broad spectrum of media that's touched them—using shared dialog to uncover new meaning. We hope you'll listen along side us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, Witches, we've reached the end of another book together. We spend this episode, among other things, revisiting the tragic squandering of Hermione's talent and expertise as part of the adventure squad, detailing Gilderoy Lockharts' luscious wardrobe and its implications, tearing up at another round of Marcelle's Devastating Fun Facts from the Harry Potter World, and digging deeper into the Weasley's class status and other lingering questions we have about the series.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beloved bookish witches, join us for a discussion of print culture as it appears in the wizarding world. We'll unpack our own biases and beliefs about the significance of books as physical objects and how capitalism and commodification created the sentimental, coveted idea of the book many of us hold in our hearts. We will page through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in search of printed matter and the ways it circulates in wizarding society, how it intersects with notions of class and ideas of good and evil, and how it governs access to knowledge.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we've brought together the Who's Who of the Wizarding World for the event of the season you won't want to miss – an episode on Celebrity Studies! Notable guests include the winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award (five times in a row!) and Poor Famous Harry Potter, who can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page. With a little help from Colin Creevey's camera, we focus our critical lens on how celebrity is constructed in the Wizarding World and our own, what it means to be a 'reluctant celebrity', and how the fame of a certain Author Who Shall Not Be Named gives her license to publish utter nonsense and get away with it.NB: You may notice that mid-way through this episode, Marcelle's voice starts to sound different. Unfortunately, her microphone failed while recording and we couldn't find the right spell to fix it!Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13!---Citations: Trevor Parry-Giles (2011) Harry Potter and the paradoxical critique of celebrity culture, Celebrity Studies, 2:3, 305-319, DOI: 10.1080/19392397.2011.609338Susan K. Martin & Kylie Mirmohamadi (2014) Harry Potter’s Secret: The Rise of Publishing Sensations from Mary Braddon to J. K. Rowling, English Studies, 95:2, 131-148, DOI: 10.1080/0013838X.2014.882126Su Holmes & Sean Redmond (2010) A journal in Celebrity Studies, Celebrity Studies, 1:1, 1-10, DOI: 10.1080/19392390903519016 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Special guest, Jes Battis PhD, joins us to unpack the history of disability studies and help us understand both the characters in Harry Potter and the world they inhabit as affected by ableism.As mentioned in the episode, Jes wrote a book on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and chosen family! You can check it out here.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beware, Witches! Deep in the belly of a dark and chilly castle lurks an abundance of secrets! In case you hadn't noticed, the Harry Potter books are chocked full of Gothic literary devices. Unraveling the mysteries of the Hogwarts castle and the cast of characters inside reveals new insights about the concepts of monstrosity, disgust, and the boundaries of social acceptability.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season's Greetings Witches!In this most magical of seasons, we are bringing you a bright star from our archives—a holiday special featuring Neale Barnholden! We hope this fun, slightly chaotic episode brings some warmth and joy to your hearts. As this episode comes from an earlier era of Witch Please, there are some things you should know:1. Recorded back in 2015, this episode is a goofy mix of genuine and deeply ironic commentary. For example, our remarks about The Fellowship of the Ring being racist are all genuine; our remarks that a woman riding a horse unaccompanied by a man is unrealistic and lewd are DEEPLY ironic. 2. There are a number of references to and discussion of drinking (we were drinking when we recorded this episode).3. Some of our language is more ableist than we would use today (e.g. "crazy," "dumb," "blind").4. I (Marcelle) refer to baby hippogriff using the pronoun "he," which is incorrect. Eliot uses she/her pronouns.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have an episode for you that, in our professional opinion, is very gay. And by gay we mean inviting expansively, radically, resistantly queer readings of a text that is trying very very hard to perform heterosexuality and binary gender! We breeze by the obvious details—like Lockhart's character flaws as coded within his failure to correctly perform masculinity or Harry & Draco's flagrant obsession with each other—and into some of this text's more subversive queer potentials.This episode acknowledges the existence of sex, so use discretion if in the company of young ears! This episode also discusses the continued abuse of Harry by the Dursleys, so take care of yourselves.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings Witches! We're so excited to be moving on to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with you! Break out your feminist reading glasses, because we're approaching this text with the tried and true (but also ever evolving) principles of feminist theory. We're returning to the origins of Witch Please and pulling from feminism's foundational texts to guide us through this second Harry Potter installment (which, by the way, contains several issues—including: parental neglect and abuse, starvation, gendered violence, violence against animals, violation of bodily autonomy, and death—so please take care of yourselves).Also, a note about feminism, women, and girls: In this episode, we'll be talking about the experiences of characters this text presents as women and girls. But when we talk about women and girls we want to make very clear that we at Witch Please have an expansive definition of what that means and are working, in our own vocabulary to find ways of talking about feminist issues without automatically centering cis women. Trans women are women. People of marginalized genders across a variety of experiences may resonate with characters presented in this text as women and girls, and we support those readings. We've received some very generous feedback from listeners as to how we can use more inclusive and affirming language around gender, and we always welcome these critiques!Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've arrived at the end of our journey though Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but before we dig into the Chamber of Secrets, we have a few loose ends to tie up! This episode is full of some brand new segments that help us work through questions, concerns, musings, and future directions for discussion. We bring back a much beloved segment: Granger Danger (!!!!!!!!) in order to give some airtime to the greatest witch of her age. We spend some time unpacking a metaphorical suitcase full of wizarding fashions and Marcelle presents us with a handful of FUN!FACTS! that may or may not be true of the wizarding world. And there's more. There's always more.Thank you for sticking with us as we renewed the Witch Please spirit and found new ways of viewing this book. We look forward to having you with us as we explore book two!Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Special guest, Lucia M. Lorenzi, PhD, joins us to unpack trauma theory and helps us understand both the characters in Harry Potter and the world they inhabit as affected by traumatic events. We also explore the narrative form of the text itself—its gaps, inconsistencies, and unreliable narration as sites where trauma lives.Content warning: this episode, broadly, discusses various experiences and consequences of trauma throughout. Of particular note are discussions around child abuse and neglect, starvation, parental death, nightmares, and flashbacks. Please take care of yourselves and feel free to skip this episode if you need.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dearest Witches, gather round for some lessons in class solidarity! In this episode, we'll discuss the formation of class structure in Western society, the inherent relationship between race and class, and the ways in which the Harry Potter books reach for but don't quite deliver a vision for a cross-class uprising against the powers that be. How do some characters occupy complicated or shifting class positions? What would it take for Harry, or other characters of privilege to be true class traitors?Content warning: at 01:06:30, there is a brief mention of the history of eugenics as it pertains to Neville Longbottom's early childhood.Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Snuggle up to your familiars, Witches, because today's episode is all about animals (and critical animal studies!). What distinguishes the "animal" from the "human" and why did Western society come to arrive at that distinction? How does separating humans from their fellow animals work to enforce destructive social, political, and ecological power dynamics? What do we make of the way magical and non-magical creatures (and the humans who care for them, commune with them, or use them) are portrayed throughout the Harry Potter books?Content warning: This episode includes discussion of anti-Black racism including racial stereotyping, dehumanization, and physical violence. This discussion largely occurs in the Transfiguration segment of the episode (24:22 to 39:57) and is marked by a content warning at the beginning of the episode and at the beginning of the Transfiguration segment. Please take care of yourselves and feel free to skip all or parts of this episode as needed. Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we unravel the many layers of Orientalist tropes that permeate the Harry Potter world. How do some not-so-subtle visual and narrative cues--turbans, hooked noses, and mysterious powers from the "East" tell readers who to fear, dislike, and distrust in these books? How can we heighten our awareness of tropes like these and call out these negative portrayals when we see them?Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s FINALLY HERE! In honor of Hogwarts day, September 1st, we present to you the first day of class you’ve always dreamed of from your two favourite lady scholars: Witch, Please | Ep. 1, The Chosen One. Our first episode goes back to the very beginning–to the concept of origin stories themselves–to explore how and why Harry Potter fits into a long tradition of “chosen one” narratives. Harry, we learn, is a very special boy in all the ways English literature tells us special boys ought to be. Harry is a hero, following the tidy path of the classical hero’s journey. But what are the limitations of building characters and building worlds this way? What kinds of stories and perspectives are missing when authors rely on such tried tropes? Join us for a thorough unpacking of Harry’s special-boy-hero-complex and don’t forget to prepare your quills and parchment–you may want to take notes. Be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. As always, you can join our Patreon for exclusive content including bonus interviews, Q&As, Watch Alongs and more — our tiers range from $2-$13! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BIG NEWS, WITCHES! Through a brand new partnership with Not Sorry Productions (the brilliant team behind Harry Potter and the Sacred Text), we’re coming back! New and better than ever, which is to say, produced by somebody else and not actively losing money. W O W.Speaking of not losing money, if you’d like to support this reboot, check out our new Patreon! Rewards include unedited audio from the first season, bonus interviews, Q&As, and movie watch-alongs!Enjoy our extremely goofy teaser/reboot announcement, and meet us back here on September 1 for the first episode of the brand new Witch, Please! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WE ARE GETTING ROGUER EVERY EPISODE TBQHSo this one’s on time, but witches? It is pretty. silly. We sat down, in the same room, with our favourite guy-with-a-film-degree, and we talked about the fan-made prequel film Voldemort: Origins of the Heir. If you don’t mind spoilers, this Telegraph review will set the tone for the episode.This episode contains fewer sound effects than usual because it was too hard to fit them in between all the laughter. It also contains an above average amount of us being delighted with ourselves. Strap in!OH P.S. there is brand new merch in our store with more to come, so go get your Malcoy and #NoTallMen swag and hold out for even more in the future!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Witch-Please-Goes-Rogue-On-Prequels.mp3Download this Fan-Made Episode (because we are clearly fans of ourselves)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OH MY GOLLY WE ARE SO ROGUE IT IS RUUUUDE.But we are ever grateful for your patience and love, dear listeners! This episode comes to you after much travel and celebration and exhaustion and desperately-needed rest on the part of your hosts. It means the world to us that you’re so chill about the lag since S03E01. (Also, time is just a social construct so, like, what even is a fortnight?)This episode contains the audio recoding from Marcelle’s keynote lecture at the 86th Annual ABQLA Conference. (Librarians are AWESOME! I had the BEST time!!!) Maybe you want to scroll through the slides as you listen? This is a grand idea because our erstwhile tech support Trevor Chow-Fraser made them and they are beauuuuuutiful. You can find a PDF at the bottom of this post. (Just assume it’s a new slide every minute or so; sorry there’s no indicator of when to flip the page…)In this lightly edited episode, Hannah and Marcelle get heavily silly. We hope you enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/WitchPlease_S03_E02_RogueHistoryLesson.mp3Download this Rogue Lecture about Early 20th Century Canadian Print Culture HermioneSLIDES: Hermione Keynote FINAL (Slide deck c/o Trevor Chow-Fraser, Robot of our hearts!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OKAY IT IS NOT JUNE ANYMORE SO THIS IS LATE but we’re back with a brand new episode for this, the final season of Witch, Please: WITCH, PLEASE GONE ROGUE! We’re coming to you straight from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, except that we didn’t want to bring our recorder into the park and then we were too tired to record a proper episode that night and then we got really busy for a couple of months but LISTEN. It’s a great episode. Just trust us, okay?Mega extra special thanks to Julie Frances for being our Orlando guide and to Raimi and Steph and the Baby Hippogriff and Nana Hippogriff for making the trip so special, and to ALL OF YOU who donated for making it possible, and especially to Katie Robison for setting up the GoFundMe! EVERYONE IS GREAT!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/S3E1-Wizarding-World.mp3Download this rogue episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

image credit: Melbourne Writers FestivalWell, witches, it’s that time of year again for the first time (technically the second time): time to say “later witches” and actually mean “see you in a few months.” This is our first ever (intentional) Season Finale, but don’t desair! We’ll be back again next summer BIGGER, BOLDER, and SEXIER THAN EVER! You’re gonna love it. So, until then… later witches xoxo.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/S02E08_WitchPleaseAndTheMelbourneWritersFestival.mp3Download this Season Finale Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image of courtesy of BuzzfeedEpisode CW: discussion of intimate partner abuseTo record this episode, Hannah and Marcelle sat in a bed together for two hours with a singularly chill-less cat and had wildly divergent opinions about a book, sort of at one another, while the cat purred way too loudly.Does that make it sound fun? TRUST US IT IS. If nothing else, we can promise the horniest episode we’ve ever delivered, as we sit down to talk about Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On and hash out the differences between fan fiction, intertext, and adaptation; the gayness of various cover designs; and why traditional narrative forms are so deeply satisfying.Hang around for a new #trywitches challenge and an enthusiastic installment of #witchpleasetellme. Take it away, Todd!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Witch-Please-and-Some-Other-Novel.mp3Download this episode about some other book that totally isn’t Harry PotterCredit: the exciting plot summary music is “Epic” from bensound.com. Also Hannah sings like two seconds of “The Bare Necessities” at some point. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

photo credit: @wildflowersyegGood evening witches and magicians and wizards of all ages! Welcome to this evening’s musical performance of Witch, Please!This fornight has Marcelle “in the field” interviewing Konstantine Kurelias and Amanda Brace, two staff members of the Winspear Centre, about the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s enchanting production of The Music of Harry Potter! As a special treat, you’ll also hear Marcelle debrief the performance with longtime friend and basically brother Stephen Tchir—a Master of Music and member of the band The Provincial Archive.As always, don’t forget to listen all the way through for our latest #trywitches tournament challenge and the answer to this episode’s #witchpleasetellme question!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/s2e6-witch-please-and-the-symphonic-discourse.mp3Download this spell-bindingly symphonic episodeCredits: In this episode you’ll hear a LOT of music, including tracks from Kesha’s new album Rainbow, which is streaming for free on Spotify; Christopher O’Riley’s piano cover of Radiohead’s “Airbag”; selections from the many Harry Potter tunes (all of which can be found on YoutTube but, honestly, do petition your local Symphony Orchestra to perform the music if they can!); and a few classical classics that are 100% in the public domain we swear. AND we enthusiastically recommend that you check out the books of N.K. Jemisin for more life-changing fantasy.Good gravy it’s after 4am. xoxo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey witches! We’re popping into your feed on a Friday to drop the newest episode of Hannah’s new podcast, Secret Feminist Agenda! We thought this conversation about witchcraft and embracing your inner Hagrid would be particularly up your alley. Enjoy!This week I’m joined by authors/witches extraordinaire Jaya Saxena and Jess Zimmerman to talk about their forthcoming book Basic Witches (preorder it here!). If you’re in the New York area, you can head to the launch at The Astoria Bookshop on August 29th! If you think Jaya and Jess sound dope as heck (which they are, why not check out some of the other stuff they’ve written?Jess references this piece about cultivating ugliness, which is part of her “Role Monsters” series (go read all of them, they’re all great)Want some more Jess? Of course you do. Here it is.This book isn’t Jaya’s first witch-rodeo (first coven meeting? first midnight gathering?) either, as this great Kitchen Witch piece demonstratesActually, while you’re at it, check out all of Jaya’s work for The Toast (including her brilliant collaborations with Matt Lubchansky) and then go read her new stuff on Elle.com http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SFA-1.7-Crossover.mp3The podcast theme song is “Mesh Shirt” by Mom Jeans off their album “Chub Rub.” Listen to the whole album here or learn more about them here.Jaya and Jess’s theme song is “Witch” by The Bird and the Bee. Go listen to it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By popular demand, we sat down and watched A Very Potter Musical and boy did we have some thoughts. Some… thoughts.ANYWAY, if you still like us after this episode and you’d like to chip in to send us to Orlando, you can do that here. If you like the sound of boring self care, check out Hannah Daisy and maybe buy some of her stuff.Don’t forget to listen all the way to the end for our latest #trywitches tournament challenge and the answer to this episode’s #witchpleasetellme question!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Witch-Please-and-the-Fan-Made-Musical.mp3Download this fan-made episode.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Queue neatly and check your ticket, because we’re heading back to England for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour with special on-location guest Rachelle Saunders (of Episode Sigma fame).Check out the photos Hannah took on the tour!Don’t forget to listen all the way to the end for our latest #trywitches tournament challenge and the answer to this episode’s #witchpleasetellme question!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Witch-Please-and-the-Stunning-Studio-Tour.mp3Download this not-entirely-immersive episode  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Howdy partners! Grab yer ten galleon hats and join us as we impose our critical feminism on Calgary, Alberta during the Stamp—er………. that is the Comics and Entertainment Expo that took place this past April. Marcelle hosted a one-witch panel wherein she discussed the rise of fascism in the Harry Potter series. You’ll notice references to slides during the talk; you can view or download them from the links below 🙂In keeping with our shiny new format, Hannah and Marcelle cap off the episode with fanfare, shout-outs, and the latest #trywitches tournament challenge. Plus they answer another #witchpleasetellme question!Mega props to all the folks who came out for the Comics Expo panel, especially those who braved a question, and super thanks to the Expo organizers for letting us rabble rouse just a bit!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/S2E3-Witch-Please-and-the-Rise-of-White-Nationalism_mixdown.mp3 Download this social episodeThe slides! View the slideshow as a PowerPointView the slideshow as a PDF Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well hello again, witches! Thanks for tuning in for this week’s mega super long but mega super lovely episode featuring the Foggo Family. An under-slept Marcelle joins the Foggos as they discuss what the Harry Potter series and the podcast Witch, Please mean to them as a family and as fans.***** OH AND MEGA SUPER APOLOGIES FOR THE AUDIO SHENANIGANS IN THIS EPISODE. IT IS 50% TOO LITTLE SLEEP 50% I FORGET HOW TO PODCAST *****In keeping with our seasonal format, Hannah and Marcelle play catchup before the main event of the episode, and then at the end we get into our new seasonally-appropriate features. We hope you enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WitchPlease_S2E2_Phenomenal_Foggos.mp3Download this familial episodeCredits: In this episode we plug Cheryl Foggo’s books; if you’d like to learn more about her work check out her Facebook page here.We also play the song Cheryl discusses from her daughters’ DADA playlist, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around” (performed by The Roots). You can listen to the whole track here or buy it here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back, witches! We sure have missed you, and we’re excited to get started on Season 2 (new numbering system TBA). The focus of this season will be the Harry Potter fandom, and Hannah kicked things off by attending Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London with HP megafan, author, and journalist Anna James. Join us for a conversation about the liveness of theatre, three-piece suits, and harpsichords!After Marcelle and Hannah are done catching up, this episode gets pretty danged spoilery, so here’s a little chapter guide if you want to avoid them:10:47: first spoiler alert (no spoilers before this)22:03: convo with Anna James starts (so many spoilers in this)1:14:15: new segments and goodbyes (spoiler free again!)Do listen to the end, because we introduce some new segments and their accompanying hashtags. Oh yes, and if you want to take Hannah and Anna’s advice and reproduce your own Cursed Child experience, here’s a completely illicit link to some of the tunes.Speaking of illicit tunes, thanks to http://www.bensound.com/ for the inspirational music, and to the Internet for easily letting us find a three second Hamilton clip FAIR USE WE ARE SCHOLARS.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/WItch-Please-and-the-Curse-of-Live-Theatre.mp3Download this not-quite-live episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image from page 375 of “The Haverfordian, Vols. 26-27, 1904-05” (1905)Hey witches! We're dropping back into your feed momentarily to let you know about three upcoming events!On Sunday, April 23, at 1pm UPDATE: 3:30PM, Hannah and previous guest Rachelle Saunders will be hosting a meet-up at the Parcel Yard in King's Cross. Come hang out!On Sunday, April 30, at 1:30pm, Marcelle (and the robot of our hearts!) will be giving a talk at the Calgary Expo on “Harry Potter and Social Justice” in room Palomino FG. “What can the Harry Potter series teach us about fighting the surge of what is popularly known as “white nationalism” in North America? Lots, as it turns out! This talk looks at allyship and how to resist systems of power that seek to eliminate difference.”On Thursday, May 25, from 5-7pm, HANNAH AND MARCELLE TOGETHER AT LAST will be doing our long-promised Toronto meet-up at The Lockhart Bar. Please be advised that, while it is Hannah's birthday, the rule of Witch, Please meet-ups stipulates that if you bring Hannah a present you must also bring Marcelle a present.Finally, the first episode of Witch, Please 2.0 will be dropping on Monday, June 19. Stay tuned for your erstwhile podcast hosts to tackle the Harry Potter fandom, including a certain much-demanded musical. See you soon, witches!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/WP-Announcement-.mp3Download Announcement Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image courtesy of Huffington PostHold onto your hard drives, witches, because we have an announcement for you!We've been thinking over the past months about ways to make Witch, Please sustainable. After two years of fortnightly episodes, we're worried about fizzling out over the next year. We don't want to fizzle out, dear witches, because hanging out with you is too much fun. And so we have arrived at: A PLAN.Proudly announcing: Witch, Please 2.0, this time with seasons, and maybe an even more incomprehensible numbering system?Starting this summer, we are going to begin producing annual seasons of new episodes. Shorter seasons will let us keep going for longer, and ensure that we can stick around to talk about the next 4,000 Harry Potter movies. Episodes this summer will include Hannah's visit to London, our promised viewing of A Very Potter Musical, a discussion of the music of the wizarding world, and more!Until then, we'll stay on Twitter and in your hearts. But for now: later, witches.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WitchPlease-20170130-Reboot.mp3Download this announcement/episode (announcisode?)Credits: cheerful announcement music courtesy of http://www.bensound.com/!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HAPPY 2017, WITCHES!We don’t believe in resolutions because they are a neoliberal conceit intended to keep you politically docile by convincing you that your very being is a perfectable project. But we do believe in trying to educate yourself every damn day, and in that spirit, this minisode is accompanied by some recommended readings. Enjoy!Content Warning for this episode: discussion of racialized violence and murder.Fantastic Beasts is Not So Fantastic With DiversityTilda Swinton’s Email To Margaret Cho Is Textbook White Feminism How to Make White Movies What Doctor Strange Got Wrong About Asian Representation Light And Dark: The Racial Biases That Remain In Photography10 Black Female Directors You Need To Have On Your Radarhttp://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WitchPlease-20170116-E18B-FantasticAsks.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image source: Miss Nobody on tumblrGreetings from the Roaring Twenties, witches!In this excitingly lengthy new beast of an episode, Marcelle and Hannah are joined by your favourite Guy with a Film Degree: Neale Barnholden! Your hilarious hosts FINALLY talk about that new venture into the Wizarding World by money machines JK Rowling and Warner Brothers: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!Get cozy, because this episode is fantastically long!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WitchPlease-20161219-Episode18-RoaringAnachronismsAndWhereToFindThem.mp3Download this roaringly cute episodeCredits: The jazzy interlude rounding out our six minute CW conversation comes to us from bensound.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image credit: Ashley Hostetter “The Charming Classroom”Welcome back, witches! We are gearing up to tackle Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! In this fantastic minisode, Marcelle sits down with Harry Potter marketing wiz and wandmaker-in-training Rachelle Saunders (of Science for the People fame) to talk about branding and Harry Potter. So grab your House Scarf and an official Witch, Please mug of hot cocoa and cozy up for this magical exploration of marketing in the Potterverse!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WitchPlease-161205-EpisodeSigma-HarryPotterAndTheBrandOfLoyalty.mp3Download this totally on-brand minisodeCredits: The sound effect of the melodious human singing “Sexyyyyyyyyyy” came from maurolupo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Photo credit: Max Lalanne / The Tufts DailyHowdy, witches! This extended universe not-so-mini minisode comes to you hot off the mics in America! Hannah and Marcelle (and Trevor!) (and the hippogriff baby, too!!) had the pleasure of visiting Tufts University to deliver a workshop on podcasting and to speak on a panel with Tufts Experimental College Professor Lydia XZ Brown about disability, race, and queerness in the Harry Potter series. It was awesome!If you’d like to learn more about Lydia and their work (and you really should!), visit their website: autistichoya.netThanks to everyone who came out to the workshop, the panel, AND OUR AWESOME MEETUP AT GRENDEL’S DEN! You fantastic humans truly inspire us and we are stoked to be chipping away at the white supremacist patriarchy by your sides.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WitchPlease-20161121-EpisodeRho-LiveAtTufts.mp3Download this awesome minisode  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image source: Fantastic Beasts “Final Trailer”Welcome to the future, witches! In this episode, Marcelle and Neale tackle the trailers for the first (of FIVE?!?!) movie in the Fabulous Beasts and Their Locations Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film franchise. We honestly cannot believe we are going to do this five more times, but for sure by the second or third movie release we’ll live in the same city as Hannah again so these minisodes will be even more hilarious!HEY! Speaking of being in the same city: Marcelle and Hannah and Trevor and the hippogriff baby will be in Medford/Boston, MA on Monday November 14th and Tuesday November 15th, so check out our twitter account (link to your left) for details about your Fantastic Hosts and Where to Find Us! Here’s the Facebook event for our panel at Tufts with Lydia XZ Brown!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WitchPlease-20161107-FabulousTrailersAndTheirLocations.mp3Download this fabulous minisodeCredits: The sound effect of the melodious human singing “Sexyyyyyyyyyy” came from maurolupo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image from page 988 of “Popular electricity magazine in plain English” (1912) (Internet Archive Book Image)This arbitrarily-categorized Extended Universe Episode saw one of your brave hosts venture out of her cozy living room and into stormy Vancouver in search of a real live theatrical BUT TOTALLY COMMUNITY-DRIVEN AND FREE SO IN NO WAY LEGALLY LIABLE reading of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.Thanks to Laura Fukumoto, Nicole Yukiko, and everyone who took part in this magical event, for letting me record SHORT AND THUS COVERED BY FAIR DEALING segments of the reading, as well as a number of delightful interviews. Enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WitchPlease-20161024-EOmicronWitchPleaseLiveandCursed.mp3Download this cursèd episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image: filmratings.comGather ’round, witches! We’re back with another minisode! This week, Marcelle asks resident Guy With A Film Degree Neale Barnholden all about trailers and somewhat ironically they talk for an hour!PSA: we had a LOT of unexpected technical difficulties before, during, and after recording, so please think of this episode as a rather rough cut.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WitchPlease-20161010-TeasersTrailersAndSpoilersOhMy.mp3Download this re-cut minisode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pull out your rulers, witches, and start measuring your margins, because this episode we’re getting into the nitty and the gritty of book design. Hannah is joined by book designer (and brand new colleague at her brand new job!) Mauve Pagé in a discussion of three different editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. We talk about kerning! We talk about x-height! We talk about widows! And as all those exclamation marks indicate, you should be excited!P.S. Things get visual in this one, so you might want to follow along with the gallery below.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/WitchPlease-20160926-E155HarryPotterandtheDubiousKerning.mp3Download this well-designed minisode  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/WitchPleaseEpisode20160912CuriouserAndCuriouser.mp3Download this even curiouser episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image: Tasha Chawner, flickrGrab 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.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/WitchPlease160829CuriousChild-Hawtfix.mp3Download this Curious Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Source: Flickr, The CommonsGrab 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.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/WitchPlease-20160815-E1655JeremyMasonandtheCursedChild.mp3Download this Theatrical minisode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image source: Deviant ArtAre 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!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/WitchPlease-20160801-E165BritishTechnocraticWetDreams.mp3Download this Ministry-Approved minisodePlease note: as lightning doesn’t actually make a sound, we used thunder instead. But it’s, like, symbolic, you know? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image source: TumblrWelcome 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.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WitchPlease-20160711-E16-WitchPleaseNewAndImproved.mp3Download this New and Improved episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

photo credit: slgckgc on flickrBut 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.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Witch-Please-20160627-E14-GhostOfPodcastPast.mp3Download this episode from beyond the grave Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!)http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/WitchPlease-20160613-EXiProjectFirenze.mp3Download this soft-spoken episode Further Reading:Killer of Enemies, by Joseph BruchacLightfinder, by Aaron PaquetteSummerland, by Michael ChabonThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman AlexieThe Birchbark House, by Louise ErdrichSettler: 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, this is it, witches. Buckle in for an extra long episode, because this is the LAST (third) part of our discussion of the LAST (seventh) book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and we have a lot of ground to cover and old friends to mourn.But don’t you worry. Even though we make about a hundred jokes about it, we’ll be back with more moviesodes and minisodes before the summer is through!{TW for sexual assault, rape culture}http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WitchPlease-20160530-E13CHallowsandGoodbyes.mp3Download this false finale episode  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image Credit: Eric/Kimber on FlickrHowdy witches!Marcelle edited tonight’s episode in a flurry of packing so please forgive the dearth of whimsical sound effects! We hope that even without an obscene number of honks and hoots you’ll enjoy this second instalment of our discussion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But, to be honest, we’re so internet famous now that we might just start making weird avant-garde artsy episodes to fuck with you. Probably not. But we could!{TW: episode contains use of the song “Taps” and references to death}http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Witch-Please-Episode-13B_DeathlyFamous.mp3Download this infamous episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Howdy, witches!While Hannah was off feministing her heart out in Ontario, Marcelle and Trevor and Neale recorded a live episode at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo! A word of warning: the sound quality is lousy but there are some cute hippogriff baby coos AND the attendees were RADIANT! Also there’s a slide show to accompany our panel below if you like visuals.Download this wild slideshowhttp://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WitchPlease-20160502-EN_PoliticallyJoyfulCalgary.mp3Download this wild episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Photo credit: Peter Trimming, FlickrTonight, witches, we bid farewell to a friend and confidante. As the Harry Potter series draws to an end Hannah and Marcelle get selectively weepy because compassion fatigue is real and, like, everybody dies in this book. So pour yourself a stiff drink and, while you’re at it, pour one out for Hedwig that she may soar again in our dreams.{TW: episode contains use of the song “Taps” and references to death}http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WitchPlease-20160418-E13A_HedwigsLastFlight.mp3Download this reminder that life is fleeting—er, this episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pull out your scissors and glue sticks, witches, because today we're bringing you a very special montage-filled minisode. As part of our public lecture, “Witch, Please: Feminist Fandom, Public Pedagogy, and Podcasting,” delivered at the University of Calgary, Marcelle prepared two audio montages of our book and movie episodes. They're pretty charming, and you should probably listen to them and share them with everyone you know.If you'd like to see a little more of our public lecture, you can check out the live tweet stream and some gratuitous gifs on our Storify.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WitchPlease-20160402-E125MontagesThroughTheAges.mp3Download this fragmented minisode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.