Episode #58: Harry Potter Potpourri
The more interviews J.K. Rowling gives, the more show topics we get. This time, J.K. Rowling spoke with the Dutch newspaper Volksrant (not to be confused with Volkswagon or Voltron) and discussed many topics. Amongst them were the issues of life after death in the Harry Potter books, as well as more details on Nazi parallels and her religious background. In this week’s episode, we explore and plumb the depths opened by these recent comments.
Happy Thanksgiving! Instead of going shopping with everyone else in the world, why not order yourself (or a loved one) a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on DVD? Or get them one of our original Harry Potter t-shirts?
In the news:
- Vote for JK Rowling to win Time’s Person of the year.
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is up for a People’s Choice award.
- Casting complete for HBP. Lavender not being kept brown.
- JK Rowling has updated the Rubbish Bin on her website as well as offered more information on the Lexicon Lawsuit.
- WB giving fans the opportunity to win a trip to the HBP set.
- News on James Potter and the Elder’s Crossing.
- Spanish translations of DH coming out in February.
- JK Rowling is one rich lady.
- Beetle the Bard will be on display at Sotheby’s.
UPDATE: We appreciate everyone’s patience with this week’s podcast. Unfortunately the podcast hosting service we were using was a bit messed up so the podcast wasn’t working- but we think it is fixed now. Please let us know if you have any more difficulty with it!
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.
Tags: afterlife, death, Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, immortality, interviews, jkrowling, religion, souls, wiliam penn
November 21st, 2007 at 9:37 pm
podcast not working on itunes or the site and i can not download it in Mp3 format
November 21st, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Alrighty. My earphones are broken, I guess I’ll just listen outloud.
November 21st, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Alex- one of the sites that we use to get the podcast online appears to be down. Please check back soon.
November 21st, 2007 at 11:22 pm
It looks like the place we host our podcasts is busted, temporarily hopefully.
November 21st, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Looks like it may be working now.
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:02 am
HA ha you sound like chip and dale!
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Not allowing access. Saying it’s “Forbidden”404 message. Can’t get it thru iTunes or Zune marketplace either.
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:43 am
I listen and download the podcast episodes on my PSP and am getting the same message. I hope the site gets fixed =P.
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:52 am
*sad face* I need my HPProgs fix!!!
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:36 am
Well it works now. Waiting for some profound comment to make my day!
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:39 am
I’m going to try to re-upload it. Something is wonky with our (free) podcast hosting service.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:45 am
Perhaps something good will have come out of this. First of all, we have heard from people who we have never heard from before. Second, Greg used the word “wonky.” I love that word.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:51 am
I think it should be working now…at least for the time being. Please email us if it’s not. Thanks, and sorry!
November 24th, 2007 at 1:25 am
Cool, Im going to start the download now. Thanks.
Wonky, nice word.
November 25th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Hi there Penny & Greg!
I know you guys have never heard of me before because I’ve never actually been to this site before, but I’ve been listening to your podcast ever since episodes 30’s and so. =)
You guys are H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S and I love listening to HP Progs, it’s so cool.
I just had one thing to comment that doesn’t really have to do with any of your episodes, as its just something to point out, not a major thing.
Well, you know how in OOTP when Harry is asking Nick about returning from the dead:
‘”He will not come back” repeated Nick. “He will have … gone one.”
‘What d’you mean, “gone on”?’ said Harry quickly. ‘Gone on where? Listen - what happens when you die, anyway? Where do you go? Why doesn’t everyone come back? Why isn’t this place full of ghosts? Why-?’
blah blah blah
‘I was afraid of death,’ said Nick softly. ‘I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to have … well, that is neither here nor there … in fact, I am neither here not there …’
So. My point. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in the Chapter King’s Cross, Harry is hanging in a spectrum sort of between death and life, isn’t he?
I just thought maybe that’s what Nick and Dumbledore meant by ‘gone on’. Dumbledore explained to Harry that he could choose to ‘board the train’. Maybe that’s what Nick meant to ‘go on’. Maybe everytime someone dies, they’re in a place like this, only Harry had the option to go back fully himself, and the others to come back, as Snape would put it, ‘imprints of a departed soul’.
So that’s mainly it. I don’t really know exactly where is the right place to post this, because I’m new to the site, but I hope it’s OK here.
Peace out,
Ale [pronounced like A [man] L [love] E [emphasize]]
November 25th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
hi umm i am thinking of starting a podcast but i dont reall understand the whole rss feed and all that stuff can u guys help me please e-mail me if u can help me
November 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I finally got to listen to it.
I thought Greg’s idea about the stone was interesting that it sort of enhances your memories and senses and allows you to recreate an image of your loved ones that have died. So it’s not really like they’re back from the dead, but their memory takes a more physical form or something.
Well, I was thinking and this reminds me of felix felices. FF is a lucky potion but they said it doesn’t really make you lucky per se, It just enhances or heightens your instincts so you know exactly what to do and you know it will turn out okay. So it’s not like you take the potion and you’re not in control of what you do. You sort of have the knowledge of what to do and the potion suspends your hesitations.
This says a lot about the types of magic JKR has created in her world. She really takes real world aspects like memories and instincts into account so that magic is not just spells and charms that make things happen. I think the stone and felix are somewhere in between real life and magic.
November 26th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
lalala: Exactly! Magic in Rowling’s books, at it’s deepest, are expressions of the human soul (psyche, for the humanists, out there).
alex: i would start with Blogspot, and link to your mp3s at the bottom of your post. Then use FeedBurner to create a feed for your podcast, and use the FeedBurner feed for subscribers/iTunes/etc.
November 26th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
I think it is also possible to look at the Elder wand the same way. It is really just a regular wand but because of its aura it provides its owner with a sense of self confidence which then contributes to his invincibility. The reason then that it didn’t work properly for Voldy would then have nothing to do with who the real owner was, but rather with the fact that Harry was himself able through his owmn self confidence to shake Voldy up a bit.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
I think y’all should do an episode on Draco Malfoy and such. I love him so much and I feel that he should be talked about more.
=)
please?
November 27th, 2007 at 2:36 am
I like the way Ms Rowling was left the interpretations of death so open so they would appeal to everyone. I know myself I like to believe that there is something there afterwards (I am not religious so not a heaven like place) but somewhere where you could look on and watch those you love. But my husband being having the scientist in him would like to be one of the ones who believed that Harry was really talking to himself at Kings Cross on some level on consciousness.
I also believe that immortality comes from those who you leave behind and their memories of you that keep your soul alive.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
I don’t necessarily think that Jo takes free will to the scientific, empirical point that Greg is dealing with. All she means, I believe, is that at some point in his life, on some level, Voldemort *could* have renounced evil. His circumstances may have combined to make this extremely difficult for him, but it remained a possibility.
I think it also depends on how far you take ‘circumstances.’ If you want to take it down to the genetic level (which you certainly could) than Voldemort was given a worse deal than Harry from the start, what with that lovely Gaunt bloodline and all. Following that point though, I have to say that I think Harry, being a victim of near constant abuse from the age of one, had it worse than being raised as Riddle was. And obviously, the difference between the two drives the whole series.
The only character I can think of who may fit Greg’s criteria is Quirrell, but there’s an obvious limit on how far we can speculate on that.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Michal you reminded me I meant to say that I believe Neville was acting on free will when he tried to stop Harry, Ron and Hermione from leaving thee common room in book 1.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Oh yes, I have a comment. I know that this doesn’t have to do with the podcast, but the series as a whole. In OotP I do believe nearly headless nick said that ghost could only be men. Well,the Grey LADY, Ravenclaw’s DAUGHTER is a ghost. Well, it could just be an error, but just something to point out. love the show.
~Hi5! Frances
November 27th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Mizz Andy: I think Neville is a perfect example of a lack of free will. The only reason he stood up to HRH was that they told him to. He was just trying to follow their suggestions. Had they not said anything, he wouldn’t have done anything. Of course, I wouldn’t fault Neville, he was the way that he was mostly due to his family situation, which was caused by Bellatrix; and why she went bad…well, I’m sure it was someone else’s fault.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:46 am
Ok now you have me stumped because I thought I had found a good one but I had completely forgotten about them telling him to do it. Will have to go and find my thinking head.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:03 am
for the life of me i can’t seem to figure out what it is exactly that Greg is looking for…
November 28th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I am always amazed and thrilled by the tangents these discussions take. On the subject of views of death and beyond in the HP world I am somewhat relating it to a Shirley Maclain book. On majic being an manifestation of the human physic, that is a cool idea and very deep. Almost too deep for my shallow mind. On Neville having free will. I think he is an awesome example of someone who had the choice of which side to be on more than once. I have to put it into a Star Wars context to see it though. His loss of loving parents, his pure blood background, his hatred for Bellatrix and living with so much fear and lack of self esteem would have easily made him a candidate for the dark side. Neville however overcame these and chose a more enlightened way of the force to become a jedi. You can argue that HRH influenced him but you can also say Neville influenced Harry. Harry and Neville are characters which are almost nearly the same and support each other brilliantly. Neville was just as self sacrificing when he made is sole banzai charge into the death eaters and voldemort gave him the choice even then to join them or perish. It was just like the emporor saying to Luke ,”so be it jedi” and then trying to fry him. Way cool.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:14 am
@ Frances -
What about Moaning Myrtle, also a female ghost as well.