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Never have I ever listened to a podcast that made me (at various moments) cry, curse aloud while alone, and immediately recommend it to no less than just about every person I know. Until this summer.
I have limited time in my day during which I’m in a state to consume media for fun. That state for me involves being 1) alone 2) not working. I have two kids so the math is there; if I’m not working I’m momming and thus not alone and when I’m alone it’s almost always because I’m working. In those small windows I do have (read: 1 hour in the morning and 2 at night), I try to fill them up with books, TV, or podcasts.
While I have a go-to podcast for my commute to daycare in the morning, I strayed this summer and tuned into The Witch Trials of J .K. Rowling. It’s a seven-part podcast that is described as “an audio documentary that examines some of the most contentious conflicts of our time through the life and career of the world’s most successful author.”
I can say with zero hyperbole that since I listened to this podcast four months ago I’ve thought about it once a week. For those whose don’t know, J. K. Rowling, the once nearly universally beloved author of the Harry Potter series of books, has become an intensely contentious figure in the past five years. This is due to comments she’s made (via Tweets at the start) about gender, sexual identity, and transgender rights. That is the nugget of information that this podcast is ostensibly based on. But, in truth, the layers to Rowling’s situation and this podcast are a veritable onion and intimidating to try and sum up.
The thing is though, I am 100% not going to sum them up. Nor am I going to talk about my opinions on the subject matter of this podcast. That’s a conversation that demands more nuance than a newsletter can provide. Instead, I want to talk about all the elements that made this particular podcast so damn compelling for me in hopes that if you listen you’ll find a lot to mull over as well.
I also want to make it clear that I am not recommending this podcast from the standpoint of thinking everything in it is innately correct, accurate, or true. For me, it’s just as important to read and listen to media that challenges my views as it is to consume media that affirms my views.
Now let’s dig into what struck me about this podcast and why I think it could be worth your time.
A peek behind the curtain
I did zero research before listening to this podcast. It was a suggested listen from the host of another podcast I love. Being a Harry Potter fan and having grown up alongside the characters in the books, I figured why not? I was shocked almost immediately to discover that the narrator and co-producer of the show (Megan Phelps-Roper) had actually gained access to Rowling. She was even invited to sit with Rowling in person in her home to conduct more than one interview for the podcast. Entering this podcast blindly as I did, I suppose I was expecting a journalistic take on the controversy surrounding Rowling but not necessarily to hear from the woman herself.
J. K. Rowling’s level of celebrity cannot be understated. She is the author of the best-selling book series of all time. ALL TIME. The Harry Potter series has sold 600 million copies. Rowling’s celebrity being what it is and the topics on offer for dissection in this podcast being far from fun, I did not expect the level of detail we are privy to as we listen. The ground covered is wide-ranging and spans from Rowling’s 20s spent in a physically abusive relationship to her present which is still very much embattled. To hear directly from the celebrity being discussed and for that person to sit in the discomfort of looking all of their controversy directly in the face (and relive an abusive past while she’s at it) lends an authenticity and grit to this podcast that immersed me in the experience almost immediately. Whether you love or hate Rowling after this podcast (or are somewhere on a spectrum) the vulnerability she shows is rare.
The mystery of a moment in time
The second and third episodes of this podcast delve deeply into the culture of the late ‘90s and early 2000s—a cultural moment I lived through and remember in detail. Or thought I did. The cultural backdrop of the podcast is laid out to “set the scene” and give us context as to what the world looked like when the tides began to turn against Rowling. But more thought-provoking for me than her singular experience with the world as it was then, is what was unfolding in the world of the Internet at that time and how it quite literally shaped the exact moment we’re living in now.
The podcast explores the rise of online fandom and the forums where they lived. Harry Potter was one of the first and biggest fandoms to use the Internet as a place to connect. That forum culture created ripples that would eventually evolve into new, more free-wheeling spaces including the two mentioned in this podcast—Tumblr and 4Chan. In many ways the rise and evolution of these two forums (and their inevitable antagonism of each other) was the precursor to the extremism we see playing out today in our politics, media, and online spaces. The significance of these two platforms—for good and ill—was something I was completely oblivious to in the moment but with hindsight it was incredibly interesting (and frighteningly relevant) to delve into.
The elegance of parallel plots
At various times during this podcast, the listener is ushered through the viewpoints of, in no particular order, die-hard Harry Potter fans, Fundamentalist Christians, concerned parents, feminist activists, trans rights activists, and Rowling herself. What emerges is a theme that the narrator introduces very subtly in the first episode. She asks Rowling about the significance and allure of magic. Rowling says that she believes magic appeals so much to people, and especially children, because “magic gives a person agency they wouldn’t otherwise have.” That statement in and of itself is thought-provoking and profound but what I appreciated about this podcast is that when you step away and digest it, you realize that Rowling’s acknowledgment of our desire for agency is not just an interesting but passing quote, it’s the whole point. It’s the quieter story, the parallel plot being unfolded alongside the flashy one where Rowling throws her reputation off a cliff (or doesn’t, depending on your POV).
There is a deep, uncomfortable discussion in this podcast of the differences that arise as we begin to self assign to “us” vs. “them,” but it’s the the motivations we share that are more shocking. The very thing the podcast begins with discussing—agency. Control—over your life, your surroundings, your legacy—is a human concern no matter your viewpoint or rallying cry and that point comes screaming through this podcast in a way I’ve never seen it do before.
Even more elegant and subtle is the concept I feel emerges (though it’s never discussed in the podcast) of the witch as a symbol of the true individual, a figure with real agency owing to supernatural ability. A witch may be hated, feared, or admired for wholly possessing the agency we all crave and she is almost always the foil to the “mob” set on making her fall in line. I found myself asking often during this podcast who was the witch and who was mob. That question is one the narrator does pose eventually.
The danger of black and white thinking
This will be the one and only moment in this email where you get a little glimpse at my own POV on a topic covered in this podcast. Something that troubles me a lot lately is what I observe as a loss of nuance in public discourse. To be a centrist on any issue seems to be increasingly looked down upon by both the supporters and detractors of any cause. I walked away from this podcast with more questions than answers, more confusion than clarity, but I’ve been thinking about how strangely comforting it felt to sit with a piece of media that didn’t ask me to decide one way or another.
Thank you for reading, I promise next week we’re on to lighter fare.
Still thinking about…
(a few things haunting me on the Internet)
I don’t need this. You don’t need this. But look at it!
Apparently Banana Republic is fancy now and has the prices to prove it. Jury is out on whether the quality has gone up but EVERYONE is talking about the sheets from their new home line.
Maybe the most accurate depiction of the Uber ride home after a drunk night out that I’ve seen.
The Sephora sale is happening and the former beauty writer in me is happy as a clam. It’s a good time to pick up the best tinted moisturizer ever and a fancy ass lipstick for holiday season.
Deep into this book and getting the medical education I never knew I needed.
Considering investing in an LED face mask like this one and this one that supposedly improves skin texture, reduces wrinkles, and brightens skin.
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