This week, we finish up our Patterns in Potter discussion for Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  This time, we focus on Harry’s visions (courtesy of Lord Voldemort) and his driving urge to understand the truth of these visions, and what knowledge they can bring in aiding in the fight against evil.  It’s quite an interesting discussion, and we end up talking about Gödel’s Theorem, for those of you who know what that is (for those of you who don’t, that’s why there is Wikipedia), and discuss rationalism, existenialism and religion.

Send us your thoughts, we look forward to hearing from you! You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

In the news:

• Vote for the Beedle The Bard winner.
• JK Rowling received Auther Of The Year Award. Again.
• Emma Watson made Maxim’s Hot 100 List.  Penny came in right before her though.
• No Moaning Myrtle in Half Blood Prince. The actress who plays her is busy checking out nursing homes (oh snap, that was mean.  I know.  I apologize to Shirley Henderson, but come on- she is old.)
• JK Rowling to write a “Story Card” with other notable authors.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

In the week’s episode, we continue our discussion of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the central theme of truth and knowledge, specifically how the book presents the theme in context of Hogwarts, education, careers and experiential vs. learned/taught knowledge. It’s even more exciting that I can describe.

We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at http://audiblepodcast.com/hp.

And, the news:

• Radcliffe, Leung nominated for Best Kiss. BORING.
• Lavender Brown interviewed. Not the real Lavender Brown, mind you.
• Aerial footage of the Potter movie set at Leavesden Studios. This is very cool.
• J.K. Rowling won a trial. Not the trial we’re all interested in, but a trial nonetheless.

Also, check out Pensieve Memories, a new Harry Potter forum.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download directly as an mp3.

In what will go down in history as being HPProgs’ finest hour *or* our worst episode yet, we bring to you Episode #77. We decided to go a slightly different route for part of this episode and after our very short news discussion we re-enacted part of the J.K. Rowling vs. Steve Vander Ark/RDR Books trial. All we can say is that those of you who called Greg’s accent rubbish are going to wish you had saved your insults. On a side note, when I was editing the episode I realized that we botched the name of SVA’s lawyer. It is David Hammer, not Barry. Apologies to Mr. Hammer.

Speaking of accents, we played a voicemail from Potter’s Number One Fan in which he picked up Greg’s gauntlet and gave us a multi-character Harry Potter narration. Excellent job, in my opinion.

We finished off the episode with the introduction to Patterns In Potter for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. You’ll have to trust that we are telling the truth when we say that Book 5 has a good theme.

As promised the links to the court transcripts are here. Thanks to Cris for the tip:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
  

It is a new month so please vote for us on Podcast Alley and as always rate and review us on iTunes and Odeo.

Finally, HPProgs has a Twitter account so please join in the fun and start following us so you can get all of our updates!

We look forward to hearing from you. You can leave comments here on the blog or send in your voicemails to 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

So…we preordered a copy of the Order of the Phoenix DVD, but it didn’t arrive yet…so, we borrowed a copy so that we could watch the extra features and review them for the podcast but…there were no extras on the copy we borrowed….so instead we just watch a few scenes and offer our comments.  Hope you like it.

Mark you calendars: the first ever HPProgs call-in show is set to kick off at 11PM EST this Saturday, December 15.  Call in and talk to us about whatever you like!  It’s going to be awesome.  In case you’re too shy (or chicken) to verbally engage us, we’re pretty sure you can listen live.  The call in number is 646.595.4635, check out the call-in page for more details.

Looking for the perfect holiday present for a Harry Potter fan?  Why stuff their stockings with a Harry Potter t-shirt from the HPProgs T-shirt store.  It’ll guaruntee a Happy Christmas.

In the news:

• Jim Dale was nominated for a Grammy.  “Oh Hareeeeeeee!”
• JK Rowling is Barbara Walter’s Most Fascinating Person of 2007.  Let’s hope she wins the Triple Crown.
• The trio actors will be featured on Biography’s “Potter Kids” documentary.  Not to be confused with the “Cosby Kids”.
• Several HP actors have been nominated for Theatregoer’s Choice Awards.  Well done.  Well done.
• Tim Roth as Snape?  Say it aint so!!!!
• Dan says HBP movie is set to be the funniest of the Potter series.  Yeah, I always found the scene where Dumbledore  died funny.  Didn’t you?
• Happy Birthday Charlie Weasley.  Did you have a party for Charlie?  I did.  In my mind (quote from HP Progs listener David E.).
• JK Rowling has updated her site with some good new info.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

You can now Pre Order Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! Just in time for the holidays, and it goes great with an HPProgs original Always T-shirt!!)

One of our most favorite characters from the Harry Potter series is the one and only Neville Longbottom.  From a shy, sheepish kid in the first book, to Snake-Killer, Neville goes through one of the most noticeable transformations of any other character in the book.  In this episode, we take a look back at Neville, the significant moments in his life, both before and at Hogwarts, and how he progressed from less than a wizard to a full-fledged Wizard Hero.  In particular, we examine how J.K. Rowling uses Neville to show how cultures and societies reinforce images of acceptable traits and tacitly punish or stigmatize those that fail to embody those traits; also, we discuss Neville’s character as a mirror of Harry’s character.

I had to resist the urge to entitle this episode “Neville Longbottom: From Zero to Hero.”

Please check out the new Harry Potter T-Shirt Store on Zazzle, and let us know what you think.  If you’ve purchased a t-shirt from us at either of our stores, please send us a picture (we won’t post it unless you say it’s OK).

As always, please rate and review us on iTunes and don’t forget to vote for us on podcast alley! We appreciate it.

In the news:

• Daniel Radcliffe is one of Moviefone’s “25 Hot Actors Under 25 List”.
• Did you win the JK Rowling book reading sweepstakes? Scholastic and Raincoast have both announced the winners.
• National Braille Press has announced a new Harry Potter auction.
• Nepotism alive and well in the HP franchise. Ralph Feinnes’ nephew MIGHT be playing a young Tom Riddle in HBP. Take this news as rumor until it is confirmed by WB.
• JKR and Emma Watson attended the Pride of Britain awards.
• Emma Watson attending Nickolodeon’s Kids Choice UK awards.
• The OoTP DVD will include downloadable digital files which will allow users to download to PC or portable devices.
• New Harry Potter merchandise available.
• Prague publishing house IN TROUBLE.
• Harry Potter is the new wizard of the month on JKR’s site.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

Last night, at 12:01 AM, we saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Baltimore’s historic Senator Theatre.   Beforehand, we took our video camera and interviewed some of the faithful waiting in line for the movie.  In this episode, we recount the whole experience, from the theories to the costumes, along with our review and discussion of the OotP movie.

In the news:

• The movie is out!
• The book is coming out in NINE days!
• The Baltimore Sun wrote an article about last night’s premiere and interviewed a few local prognosticators.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

If you’re going to the 12:01 screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Baltimore’s historic Senator Theatre, keep an eye out for the HPProgs crew.  Penny and I will be sporting our brand new HPProgs t-shirts, passing out HPProgs bookmarks and interviewing folks standing in the line; we’ll post the video here just as soon as we can figure out how to get it off our camera.  If you’re an HPProgs listener, please say hello!
We’ll be seeing the movie sometime over the next day, and will have a podcast up with our review tomorrow night.

Thirteen minutes with some never-before-seen footage.

How do you take an 800-page book and make it into a 2-hour movie? It’s not an easy trick to pull off (two out of four attempts have failed). In this week’s show, we listen to a few clips from the upcoming Order of the Phoenix movie and discuss the main themes of the book, and how they are addressed in the film.

Plus, we announce the winner of our Logo Contest!

And in the news:

• David Yates will direct Half Blood Prince.
• Yates is looking for actors to play Lavender Brown and a teenage Tom Riddle
• You can rent the suite in the Balmoral Hotel that JKR finished Deathly Hallows in!
• Select myspace users are going to the OoTP movie TODAY!!
• W.O.M.B.A.T. results still up.
• Official website for the OoTP Soundtrack is live.
• Scholastic asks: Will Voldemort be defeated?
• Scholastic to host “Harry Potter Place” in NYC.
• Is Harry Potter addictive? Help a Pennsylvania professor figure this out.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

I know what you’re thinking…you want a podcast delving into the subject of…Occlumency and Legilimency!  Your wish is granted (we always try to anticipate your needs…).  This week, we explore the meaning of the mind in the HP books with a closer look at the inner workings of the wizarding psyche.  We know you’ll like it!

Also, tune in to hear the winners of the “So You Think Our Accents are Rubbish?!?” contenst! 

In the news:

• The last twenty minutes of OoTP will shown in 3-D on Imax
• Trailer for the OoTP video game looks amazing
• WB’s official OoTP site launching this week: Will be called “Dumbledore’s Army”
• The MS Society of Scotland is auctioning off a JKR signed Philosopher’s Stone Poster
• JK Rowling has won Wired Magazine’s 2007 Rave Award for Business
• Bloomsbury pumping up security big time

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download an mp3 directly.

It is a bootleg, but it is still pretty exciting! LOVE the London stuff.