In this episode, we begin Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by revisiting pedagogy! If you've enjoyed our past episodes about the professors at Hogwarts then you will love this episode digging into Horace Slughorn, Severus Snape, and (if you believe it) Albus Dumbledore! Tune in for a conversation based around the article “Collectors, Nightlights, and Allies, Oh My: White Mentors in the Academy,” by Dr. Martinez-Cola, an assistant professor of sociology at Morehouse College. Martinez-Cola's...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we’re releasing some insider Patreon bonus content instead of a regular episode! Please enjoy this #WitchPleaseTellMe Q&A from May 2021. It’s a goofy little episode where we talk about our favorite lipsticks, where to store “eating chocolate,” and books that changed us! Join at the $10 USD/month tier ( Wizarding World Feminist Utopia ) to gain access to over a year of bonus episodes, unedited episodes from our original run, and #WitchPleaseTellMe Q&As. Hot Tip: If you choose to...
Mar 08, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we wrap up The Order of the Phoenix, and thus Season Five of Witch, Please. We talk Hermione in Granger Danger and fashion in Lewk Book. We make a list of what we want to keep our eyes on in the coming book and round out the episode with Marcelle's Devastating Fun Facts TM (all of which make Hannah cry). Tune in for this wild episode that gathers some loose threads but mostly just contains chatter about moments in The Order of the Phoenix that we were particularly tickled by. He...
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we're joined by Aisha Wilks (she/her) for a dive into Mad Studies. Pulling on past episodes about Disability Studies, Critical Race Theory, Lycanthropy as Metaphor, PTSD and The Prison Industrial Complex, we take a look at St. Mungo's, the Longbottoms, Luna Lovegood and other representations of madness throughout Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Aisha guides us through a review of the social and medical models of disability — and helps us understand the "good" and "bad"...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode Marcelle leads us through an overview of famous Edmontonian and Media Studies scholar, Marshall McLuhan! We tackle McLuhan's “Tetrad of Media Effects” (a chart!) and use it to think through the DA's gold coins, Umbridge's Educational Decrees, The Daily Prophet, and other forms of communication that flood Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We also draw on previous episodes about ideology, class, magical capital, books and archives. We're pretty sure this is the most fun tw...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we are joined by jaye simpson to talk about centaurs! jaye is an Oji-Cree Saulteaux Indigiqueer from the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. They are a writer, advocate and activist published in several magazines including Poetry Is Dead, This Magazine, PRISM international, SAD Magazine: Green , GUTS Magazine, SubTerrain, Grain and Room. They are in two anthologies: Hustling Verse (2019) and Love After the End (2020) . jaye joins us to discuss Firenze and the characterization of centaurs i...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hey Witches! We’re dropping this Bonus Episode into your feed as a little end-of-year thank you for everything you’ve done to make the Witch, Please reboot such a success. You’ve listened to the show, shared it with family and friends, and joined our Patreon . Instead of making resolutions for the New Year, give yourself the gift of bonus content from Witch, Please by joining at the $2, $5, $10, $13, or $30 tier! We are releasing the Zoom footage from our recording on our...
Dec 28, 2021•2 hr 30 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we take a closer look at the range of shapeshifters we meet in the Harry Potter series. Between Animagi, Werewolves, Metamorphmagi, Veelas, and Boggarts there is a lot to cover— and we need the Greeks, scholar Llewelyn Negrin, a history of Calvinism, and, of course, Judith Butler, to do it! Join us for a discussion on shapeshifting, as we apply what we've learned from our episodes on lycanthropy, female monstrosity and animal studies, to take a closer look at Nymphadora Tonks, i...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Well Witches, we finally did it — we recorded an episode about fan studies and fan-fiction. And our wonderful guest, Amanda K. Allen (she/her), made it possible! Amanda is a professor of Children’s Literature at Eastern Michigan University who she came onto the show to discuss fan fiction conventions and genre at the intersection of power, adolescence, and the early days of the internet. Join us as we explore the rich history and legacy of fan-fiction through Harry Potter and the Order of the Ph...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we dig into publics ! The Order of the Phoenix is absolutely brimming with secret, self-organized clubs and we're taking some time to consider how they're formed, what makes them powerful and why we see similarities between the Order, the Death Eaters and Dumbledore's Army. Join us as we defamiliarize the very idea of organizing through Michael Warner's definition of publics, building on what we already know about ideology and discourse. It's a good one folks! Stay connected and follow...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we are joined by the wonderful Dr. Addie Merians. Addie (she/her) is a postdoc in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has her PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota and her research focuses on trauma and resilience, especially in relation to systemic oppression. In Season One of our reboot, we spoke with Lucia M. Lorenzi, PhD, to unpack trauma theory and to explore gaps, inconsistencies, and unreliable narration as sites where trauma lives in the Harry Pott...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's time for Season 5! You know what that means, Witches? It means we have a whole season coming your way about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This week, we kick it off with Critical Archival Studies: the study of archives (how they're built, sustained and naturalized) at the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. We'll discuss the interrelated (and at times competing) archives of the Wizarding World including The Hall of Prophecy, Dumbledore's Pensieve, the ev...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hey Witches! We're dropping into your feed today with a special bonus episode featuring guest Ella McLeod. Ella joined Hannah and Marcelle in June for a Patreon-only episode to discuss policing of magic in the Wizarding World. It's a great chat originally released to Witch, Please patrons in our $5, $10 and $13 tiers — and we thought, you know what, as we get ready to launch into season 5, why not give our general audience a taste of what we get up to on our Patreon ? In this conversation, we ta...
Oct 20, 2021•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's hard to believe, but we are at the end of season four and thus at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! In this wrap-up episode, we discuss the transformation of Hermione into an object of desire via her relationship with Viktor Krum, the demarcation of class and gendering through clothing, the Riddle of the Sphinx, Hagrid's personal journey as a teacher, and so much more. Tune in for this playful episode that gathers some loose threads but mostly just contains chatter about momen...
Oct 12, 2021•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we return to a question that has challenged us since the beginning of this podcast: what’s the deal with the Weasleys’ class status? Are they working class, impoverished gentry, or something else altogether? To answer that question, we add some new critical tools to our discussion of the way class operates at Hogwarts and the Wizarding World at large by exploring magical capital. As in our previous episodes, we draw on the work of revolutionary Marxist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor an...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we are joined by author Jess Zimmerman (she/they) to discuss the history of monstrous representation in cultural texts across history. Jess, who recently published a wonderful book, Women and Other Monsters, offers her vast knowledge about Greek mythology and metaphor to our investigation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. We ask questions like: what makes monsters monstrous? How do representations of femininity get used to characterize monstrous threats to "the hero" of our...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're revisiting pedagogy, Witches! We first tackled this topic to kick off Season Three by defining the term and considering the teaching methods of various Hogwarts professors (using a D&D Alignment Chart, of course). In this episode, however, we get a bit more granular and look closely at the teaching style of Barty Crouch Jr. and his impersonation of Professor Moody. Ultimately, we get to ask the question: Is Professor Moody AKA Barty Crouch Jr. a great teacher? Can he be one despite his...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast This is a must-listen, Witches! Guest Taylor Allgeier-Follet joins Hannah and Marcelle for a conversation on Trans Studies and The Goblet of Fire. Taylor (they/them) is a PhD candidate at University College Dublin who brings their expertise as both an academic and a person who has read the Harry Potter series over forty times. In this episode, Taylor, Hannah and Marcelle dive into transcoding and transphobia as it relates to the characterization of Rita Skeeter. If you're interested in the evolu...
Aug 17, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when Marcelle asks Hannah to do an episode on gay whimsy? We get an episode on post-critique! Dive into this theory with Hannah and Marcelle as they discuss what post-critique offers readers and its downfalls in a world where critique has real, material value. In other words, come for the theory and stay for the discussion about Blast-Ended Screwts. Ron's love of Viktor Krum, and the Prefect's bathroom (all whimsical, pleasurable details of The Goblet of Fire!). Hosted on Acast. See...
Aug 03, 2021•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast You don't want to miss this episode, Witches! Guest K. Alexandra joins Hannah and Marcelle for a conversation about Critical Race Theory and The Goblet of Fire. Noted by some as a Harry Potter trivia queen, K. Alex is also an educator, activist and member of communities such as Black Girls Create, Black Hotties at Hogwarts, Fandom Forward, and Wizards in Space Literary Magazine. She's basically a badass who swooped in to catch us up on this academic discipline and how we can use it to ...
Jul 20, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Imagine this... imagined communities! In this episode, Hannah and Marcelle talk all about the Triwizard Tournament and the Goblet of Fire's relationship to nation states and nationalism. If you've read this book and thought, "Huh... why are they all rooting for Ireland?" you may finally find yourself with some answers. And if you've just celebrated Canada Day or the Fourth of July or you're just thinking about borders and patriotism (as one does), you won't be disappointed – Hannah and Marcelle ...
Jul 06, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Guess what Witches, it's time to jump on the Hogwarts Express because we're back with our fourth season — all about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! In this episode we get down and dirty with the structuralists. You may be thinking, aren't those a bunch of old white guys who thought everything could be reduced to the same component parts? To which we say, yes kind of. But as we begin a book that's all about tasks, quests, and our "hero's journey" towards victory in the Triwizard To...
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Well Witches, it’s time to hop on the back of the nearest hippogriff and fly into the sunset, because we’re officially wrapping up Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Oh how time flies when you’re examining disability, metaphor, and the prison industrial complex! It's almost as if time is... a construct? (Kidding, kidding, physicists please don't come for us.) We spend this episode sorting Harry Potter characters into Dungeons and Dragons classes, interrogating the magic of boggarts, ...
Jun 08, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Special guest, poet and educator Mercedes Eng, joins us to take a closer look at Azkaban, the carceral logic of the wizard world, and how it reflects our own ideas about monstrosity, punishment, and innocence. We take a look at restorative and transformative ideas of justice and debate whether the nightmarish portrayal of Azkaban is a radical call for prison abolition or an insidious device meant to make our own prison system look reasonable. Content warning: this episode discusses trauma ...
May 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Greetings, Witches! Our last two episode on Animal Studies and Disability Studies laid the groundwork for this week's episode all about how to read Remus Lupin and his Lycanthropy. In an ebook released on Pottermore, J.K. Rowling stated that she meant Lupin's werewolf condition to be a metaphor for AIDS. This week we look at the way that metaphors of illness circulate ideologies about those who are ill - implying certain truths about their worthiness, deviance, and threat to society. We discuss ...
May 11, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Greetings, Witches! In this episode, we're once again applying a disability studies lens to the wizarding world. This time, we're looking at questions of access, accommodation, and community support for characters we might read as disabled in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We're joined by disabled poet and visual artist, Tea Gerbeza, who is an MFA in Writing candidate at the University of Saskatchewan. With Tea, we dive deep into the interpretation of Remus Lupin as a disabled charact...
Apr 27, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Witches, meet us at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. We're returning to the rich territory of animal studies to understand the limitations of human vs. animal hierarchies. We'll spend some time with marginal figures in the wizarding world who cross the human/animal divide, challenge social and political norms, and invite us into new ways of being. In particular, we'll be spending quite some time with Remus Lupin and his fellow marauders. We'll also discuss how systemic dehumanization, or the re...
Apr 13, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Greetings, Witches! As always, we're eternally grateful for the time you spend listening with us. In this episode, we're unpacking the mechanics of time and time- travel as they play out in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We identify the connections between western time -travel narratives and the industrial revolution and the infinitely insidious force of capitalism. We plunge into the philosophical implications of this book's particular kind of time- travel narrative, which desires to...
Mar 30, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Attention, class! This is the episode all of you superbly studious witches have been waiting for! We draw upon our own expertise as longtime students and educators to discuss the, frankly, wild and unpredictable pedagogical approaches of Hogwarts faculty. Have any Hogwarts faculty managed to create affirming and generative learning environments, even within a school that routinely places students in dangerous circumstances, wields discipline unevenly, and lacks student support services of any ki...
Mar 16, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 l...
Mar 10, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
