Remember about fifteen years ago when we all went a little nuts for sweet potato fries? What was going on there? Well it turns out, that beloved appetizer was more than a tasty treat circa 2007. In this episode, Marcelle leads Hannah through research about the “orange-flesh sweetpotato” and its relationship to GMOs, cash crops, fat phobia and food imperialism. She pulls on the work of Joe Kobuthi for an analysis of food systems that informs her understanding of the sweet potato's zeitgeist-y moment.and she ends with a thesis that's got quite a bite to it.We'll be back in two weeks for another episode, but until then, be sure to check out all the bonus content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. You can learn more about the show at ohwitchplease.ca and on our instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Want more from us? Check out our website ohwitchplease.ca.***Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was so much more to say about Wonka and Twilight. In Part I of this bonus episode (aka a 'Material Concern' episode), we talk about fatphobia in children's literature, the "representation" of indigeneity in Stephanie Meyer's the Twilight Saga, and so much more. If you enjoy this episode, head over to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease for Part II! The rest of the conversation is available at all our tiers. For just $5 USD/month you'll have access to the rest of this conversation, all the bonus perks we've already released, and Hannah McGregor's new video podcast, Making Worlds.And, if you liked this episode, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.* Share the show today!***Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.We'll be back in one week for a regular episode!*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're so excited to announce that our new show, Making Worlds, begins January 25th!This video podcast, hosted by Hannah McGregor (maybe you know them?!?), will be released monthly via our Patreon. In each 30ish-minute episode, a guest will bring Hannah a text that has helped them imagine the liberatory possibilities of another world. We’re talking sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction! Hot!!!! Our first episode? Why it simply had to be about Our Flag Means Death! What says liberatory possibility more than gay pirates!? And, we're really lucky to have writer Hope Rehak as our first guest. That name sound familiar? Well that's probably because she's kind of beloved on the internet for, among other things, her OFMD content! She's also Coach's sister. :) The episodes we’ve recorded so far have been full of passion, enthusiasm, and genuine joy and we can’t wait for you to see them. Audio-only versions will be available on Patreon as well, but you should tune into the video versions if you’re able. Hannah’s makeup is worth it.Want to see our logo? Subscribe to our Substack or our Youtube channel. Want to get access to the show? Become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease for just $54 USD/month. Have questions about what's going on with our other to-be-launched show Gender Playground? Answers are in the Substack! Special thanks to Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle who wrote our theme song! Used by permission. All rights reserved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Witch, Please Productions is on break for the holidays! Of course we still wanted to put some fun content out while we’re away from our computers, so we recorded a holiday bonus that features Gaby, Zoe, Hannah, Marcelle and Coach mostly speaking over one another while they attempt to play Material Pursuit — a game of trivia that Marcelle created by pulling on content from Material Girls and our previous show, Witch, Please. If you want to listen to the whole thing, you can! For free! Just head to patreon.com/ohwitchplease and you’ll see the UNLOCKED post. It’s titled: Merry-terial Girls: An Incomprehensible Holiday Bonus!Thank you so much for your support as we transitioned to our new show this year. We’re so excited for more Material Girls in 2024 — and a couple of fun surprises we have up our sleeves, too!Happy holidays!***Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.We'll be back in two weeks for another episode, but until then, be sure to check out all the bonus content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. You can learn more about the show at ohwitchplease.ca and on our instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Want more from us? Check out our website ohwitchplease.ca.Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We hit our fundraising goal for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund in October and this is the bonus episode we promised as a thank you for your support. As of today, you, our listening community, have raised $8900 — and our goal was $5000! That’s incredible and we’re so grateful for your resource sharing and messages of solidarity. This bonus episode is a conversation between Marcelle and Hannah about a paper Marcelle published in 2015 called Comic relief: the ethical intervention of 'Avodah 'Aravit (Arab Labor) in political discourses of Israel–Palestine. The text of the article available for you on our episode page at ohwitchplease.ca. You can read it by heading to our site, or just listen to Marcelle read the abstract in the opening part of the episode. Here is the direct link: https://www.ohwitchplease.ca/all-episodes/materialgirls-sitcomandreframingisraelpalestineAs a heads up, this paper was written in 2014 in response to anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism in North America. That racism wasn’t new in 2014, and it remains powerful and widespread today, amplified by the mainstream media’s dehumanizing portrayals of Palestinians in its coverage of the so-called “Israel-Hamas war.” Marcelle's conversation with Hannah is very much about that racism and that dehumanization; about the discourses that perpetuate dehumanizing stereotypes about Palestinians and Arabs. You may not have the spoons for this conversation right now, and that’s ok! It’ll be here for you when you’re ready, and you’re always welcome to pass the episode along to someone who’s looking for more information about the crisis.Thanks again for supporting Witch, Please Productions and our collective contribution to the urgently needed financial aid for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The link to contribute is here: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/ohwitchplease. We'll be back next week with an episode about pop culture. ***Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.Show less Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had to talk about Taylor Swift more — especially as so many of you had great comments, feedback and specific inquiries! We structured this bonus like our usual Patreon-only Q&A episodes, except this time we only answered questions you submitted about Ms. Taylor Allison Swift. We talk Gay-lore, billionaires, private jets, the Jets and holding many feelings at once.Part II of this bonus will be available on Patreon this week to all of our tiers! Join today for just $5 USD/month to get the rest of the conversation in your feed and for all the bonus perks we've already released! Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease!And, if you liked this episode, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.* Share the show today!***Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.We'll be back in one week for a regular episode!*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're so lucky to be joined this episode by Erin Keif (she/her) of the beloved Headgum podcasts Hey Riddle Riddle and Sitcom DnD. If you're a fan of Les Mis, or any musical, you'll appreciate this really special episode that covers Stuart Hall's theory of encoding/decoding, while also getting into the lyrics and musicality of the megamusical: Les Misérables. Hannah guides Marcelle and Erin through a history lesson that covers Thatcherite England and defunding of the arts in the 70s and 80s, while bringing her own relationship to Claude-Michel Schönberg's music and Alain Boublil's lyrics into the conversation. Erin, a musical enthusiast (among other things), brings some much-needed levity (as well as a catchphrase) to a discussion that touches on some more difficult themes including: death, parental loss, and violence against the oppressed. If you like our show, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.* Share the show today!***Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.We'll be back in two weeks for another episode, but until then, be sure to check out all the bonus content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. You can learn more about the show at ohwitchplease.ca and on our instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Want more from us? Check out our website ohwitchplease.ca.*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had to talk about Avatar more — especially James "horny for the ocean" Cameron. We structured this bonus like our usual Patreon-only Q&A episodes, except this time we only answered questions you submitted about Cameron's blockbuster hit. We talk colonialism, pony tails and doing whatever Coach tells us to! Thanks for submitting such thoughtful questions.Part II of this bonus will be available on Patreon this week to all of our tiers! Join today for just $5 USD/month to get the rest of the conversation in your feed and for all the bonus perks we've already released! Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease!And, if you liked this episode, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.* Share the show today!***Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.We'll be back in one week for a regular episode!*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had to talk about the Barbie movie! We structured this bonus like our usual Patreon-only Q&A episodes, only this time we only answered questions you submitted about Greta Gerwig's blockbuster hit. We talk mainstream feminism, satire, the limits and possibilities of camp, aesthetics and so much more! If you needed a hearty discussion about the movie after viewing it as a thinking person in 2023, then we have you covered! Thanks for submitting such thoughtful questions.Part II of this bonus is available on Patreon to all of our tiers! Join today for just $5 USD/month to hear the rest of the conversation! Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease!And, if you liked this episode, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.* Share the show today!Note: Hope Rehak's Newsletter, mentioned in this episode, is called Obsessions This Week!***Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.We'll be back in one week for a regular episode!*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment. Music Credits:“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Material Girls! A new show from the team behind the beloved podcast, Witch, Please. Every episode you'll get your pop culture fix with some academic theory added to the mix. Join feminist scholars Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman for episodic dives into the zeitgeist. Together they ask the materialist question "why this, why now?" about books that are on everyone's nightstands, songs that are on rotation, movies that have captured Twitter discourse — and so much more. Subscribe to the feed and get ready for the pilot episode coming July 25th! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well Witches... we're here, at the end of Witch, Please the podcast. If you've been following us on Instagram, then you know that we are so grateful for the last eight seasons AND we're so excited for our new flagship show: Material Girls, a scholarly podcast about popular culture.You'll notice that, much like our usual Wrap Up episodes, this final episode is pure chaos. We were lucky enough to record this final Witch, Please episode in person which means what we lack in sound quality and coherence, we (hopefully) make up for in glee and games. Tune in for the giggles, stay for the Devastating Fun Facts™ and listen to the very end for a blooper Coach decided to keep in.We hope this is a fun episode for you but fear not, we'll be back in two weeks with **serious theory** in our pilot episode of Material Girls. And heads up! We're keeping our Witch, Please feed, so stay subscribed to be notified when Material Girls drops! If you're wondering about our other show, Gender Playground, you can head over to ohwitchplease.ca/gender-playground to learn more.AND if you want to be a part of this next chapter featuring more perks and more content than ever before, head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease to support Witch, Please Productions, feminist media for a radically* inclusive world. We need your support now more than ever!*fuck terfs we're taking back radical*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our final regular episode, we decided to revisit Fan Studies! We begin with a review of our episodes on Foucault and authorship, Michel de Certeau and the tactics of the disempowered, Jane Tompkins and circulation and Michael Warner's idea of discourse publics. Even though it's our last regular Witch, Please episode, don't be fooled, our Transfiguration segment is a HEADY one and Hannah leads us through mind-bending theory about affective economies and affective economics (two different things!!). If you like feminist theory, you'll love the discussion of Sara Ahmed's 2004 article “Affective Economies," and if you're a media theory nerd (which we suspect you may be...), you'll appreciate when Hannah brings Henry Jenkins into the mix to think about the relationship between media industries and fandoms.Ultimately, the conversation, inevitably, gets a bit meta and we apply our newly discovered/uncovered/learned theory to the test with a discussion about the changing face of the Harry Potter fandom, the fandom around Witch, Please the podcast and the radical possibilities AND limits of both.For this episode, we invited our Faculty Club to join in for OWLS so if you hear some unfamiliar voices and brains at work, that's why! Big shoutout to our Faculty Club (a high Patreon tier) for helping us with this last episode and for the financial support. You're why Coach has the hours to add so many sound effects. Hoot, hoot. ***Hey you! We're launching a new show called MATERIAL GIRLS! We've shared our first two episodes on Patreon to get the input of all our Patreon supporters as we develop the series which will launch this summer after we wrap up the Appendix Season. Join our Patreon today to listen to the first episode of our new show and to get access to a ton of audio perks like unedited audio, bloopers, comics, Q&As, and so much more! Become a supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. We need your help to start this next chapter of Witch, Please Productions! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're thrilled to share the pilot episode of Gender Playground!Gender Playground is a new show from Witch, Please Productions and is co-hosted by longtime friends Marcelle Kosman and Raimi Marx. This podcast is all about gender-affirming care for the kids in your life, and YOU are the intended audience! Whether you're a caregiver, parent, family-member, chosen-family-member, teacher, doctor, childcare professional, or just someone who wants to create a more loving world for kids, this show is for you!This first episode is about gender expression and gender euphoria. In it, Marcelle and Raimi talk about Marcelle's daughter playing dress up, Marcelle's desire to balance her daughter’s creative freedom and safety, and what caregivers can do to better expand their own imaginations around gender and self-expression within and beyond the binary.For more resources and information about today's topic(s), head to ohwitchplease.ca/gender-playground!Note: We briefly touch on the current panic around "permanence" and although we don't name the buzzword "detransition" in this episode, we are aware that it's used in mainstream discourse to limit access to gender-affirming and life-saving care for trans and nonbinary youth. We will touch on this topic more in the following episodes and we plan to dedicate a full episode to it once we can sustain the show past our mini-season.Until then, head to ohwitchplease.ca/gender-playground for some useful research on the low rate of detransition.Links to the Recommendations from Our Pilothttps://www.flamingorampant.com/https://jesslove.format.com/picture-bookshttps://booksaremagic.net/item/oh62l0dfkY5ldh2RwcbyWghttps://socialjusticebooks.org/sparkle-boy/https://modernrascals.ca/Heads up! We’re trying to reach $7000/month in Patreon support by August 1st to ensure the sustainability of this new podcast! We’ve produced a mini-season of four episodes to test whether there’s an audience for the show. With financial support from our listeners, we’ll be able to produce new episodes that continue tackling this complex issue from a place of joy and love.Join our Patreon today to get access to the following three episodes released over the next few weeks and to show your support of this show. Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease, find a tier that works for your budget and DM us to let us know you joined in support of Gender Playground! Thanks for listening. We really hope you enjoy the show!Special thanks to the folks that made this episode and its accompanying resources happen: Reese Carr, Erik Magnus, Gaby Iori, Zoe Mix, Hannah McGregor, Hannah Rehak and AJ Jaramaz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Hannah and Marcelle are joined by comedian and podcaster Ely Kreimendahl (she/her) for a discussion about shame, relationships, being adults and podcasting! If you haven't already fallen in love with Ely's show, Shame Spiral, check it out! Now is the time! We'll be back in two weeks with a regular Witch, Please episode that adds to the Appendix! Note: This conversation was recorded in February 2023!Enjoyed the episode? Get more bonus content just like it on Patreon! You can become a supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're joined by Nia (they/them) for a conversation about critical adoption studies — a field of scholarship that explores adoption as a legal, political, and economic institution that severs and creates familial bonds. We begin with a review of our episodes on motherhood, class, feminist literary theory, queer theory, critical race theory and the nation-state before heading into a chat about narratives of adoption. Through a closer look at the way Harry and Voldemort are both positioned as orphans with vastly different destinies, we consider how their unique relationships to kinship, motherhood and reproduction inform our understanding of them as a hero and a villain, respectively. ***HEY!!! We're launching a new show! We've shared our pilot on Patreon to get the input of all our Patreon supporters as we develop the series which will launch this summer after we wrap up the Appendix Season. Join our Patreon today to listen to the first episode of our new show and to get access to a ton of audio perks like unedited audio, bloopers, comics, Q&As, and so much more! Become a supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're so excited to be joined by Aubrey Gordon (she/her) for an episode about anti-fatness in the Harry Potter series. We begin with a quick review of disability studies, monstrosity, and sentimentality before jumping into a conversation about anti-fatness, body positivity and fat liberation. Aubrey is the co-host of (beloved podcast) Maintenance Phase and the author of What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat and "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People. With her help, we talk about the relationship between eugenics, white supremacy, mass media (specifically young adult fiction) and anti-fatness as it shows up in our relationships, the books we read, our political landscape and beyond.If you've been waiting for us to do a deep-dive on Dudley, then this episode is for you! What can we make of his forced dieting throughout the series? What ideology underpins the characterization of Petunia as it relates to her son's weight? Why do we read Molly Weasley's parenting differently? We also discuss Hagrid, Madame Maxime and Horace Slughorn as they align with familiar stereotypes of fat people. We love Aubrey and we figure you're already a super-fan! Still, it's worth noting that if you want more Aubrey you can learn more about her at her website, check her out on Twitter or Instagram, read her books, and listen to her incredible podcast with Michael Hobbes, Maintenance Phase.***HEY YOU! We're launching a new show! We've shared our pilot on Patreon to get the input of all our Patreon supporters as we develop the series which will launch this summer after we wrap up the Appendix Season. Join our Patreon today to listen to the first episode of our new show and to get access to a ton of audio perks like unedited audio, bloopers, comics, Q&As, and so much more! Become a supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As you know, we love to laugh! That's why we were thrilled when a brilliant listener, Dix McDevitt (she/her), pitched us an episode about giggling in the Harry Potter series. In Revisions, we talk through Disability Studies, Queer Theory and Trans Studies to prepare for a framework devised by Dix herself about diegetic, semi-diegetic and non-diegetic laughter. Intrigued? You should be! This episode made Coach gasp in awe many times over and had Hannah and Marcelle laughing even more than usual. Tune in for a conversation about Harry's various responses to all kinds of laughter — and his particular distaste for giggling girls.Did you know that we're launching a new show? WELL WE ARE! We've shared a pilot on Patreon to get the input of all our Patreon supporters as we develop the new show! Have strong opinions? Know what you like in a podcast? Want to help us co-create the next iteration of our show? JOIN TODAY and you can be part of that dialogue AND you can get access to a ton of audio perks like unedited audio, bloopers, comics, Q&As, and so much more! Become a supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We said we would and so we did! Here is our episode on l'auteur! In this episode, Marcelle leads us through a brief Revisions segment because there is just too much to get into! We talk ideology, discourse, structuralism, celebrity and capitalism before heading into a chat about two dead French guys (Barthes and Foucault) and 'the death of the author." Then in Owls we put our theory to work as we think through J.K. Rowling's presence in the circulation of the Harry Potter series and the way new technologies of publishing have changed the scope of her "author function."If thinking about "the author" makes you crave a great way to say fuck transphobia and transphobes, please donate to our fundraiser for Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre — an organization that's been directly affected by JKR's transphobia. You can find the link here and on our website ohwitchplease.ca. We're halfway to our goal of $5000 by April 30th. We can do it with your help!Also, did you know that we're launching a new show? WELL WE ARE. We've been talking about it a bit over on Patreon and that's where you should go if you want to be totally clued in to the happenings at Witch, Please. But, to give you a taste, here's what you need to know: We're launching two pilots in the next month on our Patreon to get the input of all our Patrons regarding which show we should keep making! Have strong opinions? Know what you like in a podcast? Want to help us co-create the next iteration of our show? JOIN TODAY and you can be part of that conversation AND you can get access to a ton of audio perks like unedited audio, bloopers, comics, Q&As, and so much more! Become a supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Marcelle is joined by Michelle Thompson to discuss Hogwarts Legacy! If you've been curious about this game and the shitstorm surrounding it, think of this convo as your primer! We'll be back in two weeks to add to our Appendices. If you want more of Michelle, check out her podcast Never Was a Gamer! If you want to watch Stephanie Sterling's full video about Hogwarts Legacy, check it out here!Enjoyed the episode? Get more bonus content just like it on Patreon! You can become a supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we bring in a guest, Niki Fitzgerald (she/her), to talk about Witch Hunts. Niki is an NHS doctor specialising in Care of the Elderly and General Internal Medicine. She has recently completed her Masters in Applied Medical Humanities and her dissertation was titled Is Medicine Obsolete? An Abolitionist Feminist Reimagining with Flourishing and Care. Niki joins us for a rich conversation about the shift from feudalism to capitalism which corresponded with the Witch Hunts of the 16th and 17th century. She gives us some really helpful new context to better understand the long history of female subjugation — and some new tools for making sense of Wendelin the Weird from the Wizarding World! If you liked our episodes on Class, Magical Capital, Feminist Theory and the Nation State, you will love this episode!Longtime listener? Help us produce this show by supporting us on Patreon! You can become a supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to our Appendix Season — a chance to look at the Harry Potter series as a whole.In this episode we bring in a guest, Andrea Dara Cooper (she/her), to talk about Holocaust Studies. Andrea is Associate Professor and Leonard and Tobee Kaplan Scholar in Modern Jewish Thought and Culture at UNC-Chapel Hill — and she is the author of Gendering Modern Jewish Thought (Indiana University Press, 2021). Tune in for a conversation about the function of allegory in Harry Potter. When does it work in this series? When does it fall short? What are the political implications of relying on the Holocaust to make new meaning in a fantasy world both chock full of stereotypes and severely lacking in diversity? If you enjoyed our episodes on Animal Studies, Eugenics, and Werewolves as Metaphor (just to name a few!), this is required listening!Note: Hannah's computer crashed while recording so we apologize for the poor quality of her sound! Help us produce this show by supporting us on Patreon! You can become a supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our Appendix Season — a chance to look at the Harry Potter series as a whole. To kick it off, we're revisiting Sentimentality with a deep dive into Beth Driscoll’s book The New Literary Middlebrow! "But middlebrow is not synonymous with sentimentality?!??!" That's right, but by halfway through this episode you'll understand why Hannah had to bring in Driscoll's writing for a broader conversation about the appeal and mainstream success of the Harry Potter series. If you liked our previous episodes on Sentimentality and Eugenics, you'll love this first-ever Appendix Season episode! Start this season off right and join our Patreon! You can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're on a break! Please enjoy this episode of #WitchPleaseTellMe, a monthly Patreon perk we're sharing with you in between seasons! We'll be back in two weeks with our first episode of Season 8, "The Appendix Season." Until then, please enjoy a rambling, fun and chaotic episode featuring the entire Witch, Please Team (Hannah, Marcelle, Coach, Zoe and Gaby). You'l hear all about our plan for Season 8, along with way too many intimate details about everyone's relationship to parasociality (other stuff, too!)If you like this episode, hop over to Patreon and become a supporter for just $5/month to hear the rest! If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. For access to our transcripts, visit ohwitchplease.ca. To stay in touch, follow us everywhere @ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we wrap up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and thus Season Seven of Witch, Please. We talk about Hermione and Ron's sex life in Granger Danger and the history of white wedding dresses in Lewk Book. And, of course, we round out the episode with Marcelle's Devastating Fun Facts TM. This may be the end of Season Seven. but don't fret. We're going to be back in a few weeks for our eighth season (still about Harry Potter) that we've affectionately and aptly titled "The Appendix Season." Listen to the episode to hear more about what we have planned (hint: lots of special guests!). As always, you can become a Patreon Supporter for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. For access to our transcripts, visit ohwitchplease.ca. To become a Patreon supporter head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease.To stay in touch, follow us everywhere @ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We'll be back in two weeks for our final Season 7 Wrap-Up Episode, but this week we're sharing a bonus interview from Patreon. We were so honored to have been joined by Kiana and Vicky in December for a conversation about Women for Iran (formerly Women for Liberty of Iran) an organization comprised of Iranian women supporting the people of Iran from the UK. In this conversation, Kiana and Vicky answer Hannah and Marcelle's questions (ones you may have, too) about the state of the protests in Iran, what context we need to understand the ongoing revolution, why the death of Mahsa Amini marked a turning point for the movement and how we might be able to support the ongoing fight for justice.Please take a listen and be sure to follow @WomenForIran on Insta and Twitter! For more information about Women for Iran, you can click here. Kiana also recommends this Twitter account and this news outlet for updates. Note: This episode was recorded in early December. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're finally here, Witches — at our long-awaited House Elves episode. We've been talking about Dobby, Kreacher, Winky and the general house elf population for so many seasons and we finally have a perfect guest joining us for discussion. Jessica Marie Johnson (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Johns Hopkins University and a Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She is also the Director of LifexCode: Digital Humanities Against Enclosure. Jessica is a historian of Atlantic slavery and the Atlantic African diaspora. She is the author of Wicked Flesh: Black Women, Intimacy, and Freedom in the Atlantic World, and, if you believe it, she used to babysit Coach!If you're a longtime listener of the show, please consider becoming a Patron before the New Year. We're hoping to reach 1000 patrons by January 1st and we're really close! For just $2 USD/month you can help us pay our producer, our apprentice, ourselves, our website costs, etc. Patreon support is simply what what makes producing this show possible. If you find yourself with a spare $24 this year, we'd be really grateful for your financial support. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, please leave us a review instead! Reviews help more listeners find us and that's a huge help! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wise words of Lizzo, it's about damn time! Our latest episode is all about Sentimentality, an 18th century philosophical intervention that emerged in opposition to rationality. Hannah (whose recent book, A Sentimental Education, is all about this topic) guides the episode. We revisit our discussions on Orientalism, Animal Studies and Print Culture, before jumping into an overview of what Sentimentalism is all about— and how we might read Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows as a novel written in that literary tradition.If you like thinking about character development, intersectional feminism and the power (or lack thereof) of the written word, then this episode is for you! We also get a little meta and think through how books become sentimental for a reader. For example, how a series about friendship and the fight between good and evil inspires two lady scholars to make an entire podcast about it for a dedicated listenership of people 25 years after it was first published. Just as an example!!If you're a longtime listener of the show, please consider becoming a Patron this time of year! We're hoping to reach 1000 patrons by January 1st and we're really close. For just $2 USD/month you can help us pay our producer, our apprentice, ourselves, our website costs, etc. It is truly what makes producing this show possible. If you find yourself with a spare $24 this year, we'd be really grateful for your financial support. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, please leave us a review instead! Reviews help more listeners find us and that's a huge help! We have aa lot planned for the New Year (including merch now available on our website ohwitchplease.ca), so be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected.Special thanks to our Witch, Please team: Gaby Iori, Erik Magnus, Zoe Mix, and Hannah Rehak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re taking a little break to gear up for the holiday season. So instead of enjoying a regular episode, please enjoy this episode of Comfort Creatures, a podcast hosted by Ella McLeod and Alexis B. Preston. Comfort Creatures is a show from Maximum Fun — the folks who brought you classic podcasts like My Brother, My Brother and Me, Still Buffering, The Adventure Zone and many others. In this show, Ella and Alexis bring on guests to chat about pet ownership and the power of furry friends! We were lucky enough to be guests on Comfort Creatures back in August and we had such a good time. Of course, that means we talked for far too long and so the episode was broken up into two episodes.This is Part One. After the episode if you want to hear Part Two, head over to their show feed wherever you catch your podcasts and check it out.We’ll be back in two weeks for another episode about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.To support the show, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for extra perks and bonus content including episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected.Special thanks to our Witch, Please team: Gaby Iori, Erik Magnus, Zoe Mix, and Hannah Rehak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we do a deep dive into eugenics, a nineteenth-century pseudosciences that justified a lot of racist, ableist, and generally violent oppressive behaviours. We review our conversations about class, critical race theory, disability, neurodivergence, and trauma from our episodes with K. Alex, Jess Battis, Tea Garbeza, Lucia Lorenzi, and Addie Merians, before taking a close look at Cecily Devereux's Growing a Race: Nellie McClung and the Fiction of Eugenic Feminism. Tune in OR skip this one if that would be better for you! Take care of yourself first! We'll be back in two weeks with another episode about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.To support the show, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for extra perks and bonus content including episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected.Special thanks to our Witch, Please team: Gaby Iori, Erik Magnus, Zoe Mix, and Hannah Rehak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Potts is back to talk about resurrection! We first revisit theory Matt introduced to us last season on our episode about "the soul" and then consider the nature of Harry's death in the Deathly Hallows. What can we make of Harry's sacrifice? The scene in King's Cross? The conviction of the series and... (Matt said it first...!) the conviction of the New Testament! Tune in for an episode about zombies, Jesus, and Harry Potter.To support the show, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for extra perks and bonus content including episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected.Special thanks this week to AJ Jaramaz (who edited this episode) along with our Witch, Please team: Gaby Iori, Erik Magnus, Zoe Mix, and Hannah Rehak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back with a new episode on New Media! To begin, we revisit Print Culture, Critical Archival Studies and the work of Canadian theorist Marshall McLuhan before jumping into a conversation about the phonograph! Well, kind of... We take a look at Lisa Gitelman’s book Always Already New: Media, History, and the Data of Culture, to better understand how new technologies are normalized and made familiar such that we forget information is being mediated at all. We talk about Potterwatch radio, Dumbledore's deluminator, horcruxes, patronuses and more while taking a very close look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.To support the show, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for extra perks and bonus content including episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey Witches! We'll be back on Tuesday with our regularly scheduled episodes, but we thought we'd give you the promised sneak peek at Hannah's new book A Sentimental Education. On September 22, Hannah launched her book at Iron Dog Books through a conversation with Minelle Mahtani (Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Justice at UBC) and Lucia Lorenzi (artist and recovered academic). In this bonus episode, you'll find that conversation as well as a sneak peek of the audiobook version of A Sentimental Education (which is now available on Kobo). If you'd like to learn more about Hannah's writing, you can check out her website hannahmcgregor.com or head over to your local bookseller to scoop a copy of A Sentimental Education! You can always order it online as well anywhere you find books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maia Kobabe (e/em/eir) has been censored enough! We're putting this exclusive bonus interview out to the public because it was just so dang fun to record and Maia is a true gem who deserves as big an audience as we can give em. We'll be back with regular episodes in two weeks (October 18th).If you don't already know Maia, e is the author of Gender Queer and the brilliant mind behind other zines, comics, and social commentary sprinkled throughout the internet. You may recognize Maia from Instagram, Tumblr, or from the loud and constant conservative backlash around eir memoir since its publication in 2019. As you'll hear in this bonus interview, Maia is a gift to the fan communities e occupies — and e is a fan of our show (which is just a really nice thing we get to talk about a bit). To get to know Maia better, check out eir book reviews on Goodreads and Storygraph. Or take a look at eir work on Patreon and Tumblr. Happy listening and a very happy belated Banned Books Week! What a way for us to celebrate! We're honored!If you want more Patreon exclusive content, become a supporter here for as little as $21.60/year: patreon.com/ohwitchplease Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We continue our journey through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with another special guest, Erin Wunker! Erin is a settler scholar and an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Dalhousie University in Halifax Nova Scotia. She is the author of Notes from a Feminist Killjoy: Essays on Everyday Life and the forthcoming Routledge Introduction to 20th and 21st Century Canadian Poetry. She join us for this episode to talk about mothers in the Harry Potter series! We discuss how motherhood has been constructed over the last few centuries and what we can learn from the characterization of Petunia Dursley, Molly Weasley, and Lily Potter. We also think through subversive modes of motherhood and representations of care throughout the book, looking at Hagrid in particular.To support the show, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for extra perks and bonus content including episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We continue our journey through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with a special guest, Shira Lurie! Shira joins us to discuss historical memory in the Wizarding World. We're talking statues, stories, memorials and archives. If you enjoyed our episodes on Critical Archival Studies, Chosen One Narratives, Hauntology and Life Writing, then you'll love this episode! You can follow Shira Lurie on Twitter @ShiraLurie.Help us kick off Season 7 by joining our Patreon! You can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we begin Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! We cannot believe we're already at the start of Book 7, but honestly, we're so excited to finally get into it! We decided to go back to the start and revisit 'Chosen One narratives' which we discussed in Season 1, Episode 1 of the reboot. We pull on Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism and Joseph Campbell's work about "monomyth." But, you know us, we hate letting boring old white guys go unchecked, so we also review works by Alise M. Wisniewski and Na’amen Gobert Tilahun who unpack the function of “chosen one” narratives in popular culture. Tune in for a conversation about Harry's journey as a "chosen one" and the ways the book adheres to and subverts our expectations of this western literary tradition. Start this season off right and join our Patreon! You can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content include episodes, interviews, bloopers, comics, merch and more. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're still on a break and gearing up for our seventh season all about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Of course, we didn't want to leave you with nothing to listen to so please enjoy this unlocked Patreon perk: Witch, Please Tell Me! We do Q&A episodes every month for our $10+ tiers. They're goofy and meandering and very fun to record. You can submit a question to our Q&A through this google form. Be sure to follow us on social @ohwitchplease to stay totally up to date on all things Witch, Please. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're in between seasons and thrilled to bring you a one-off bonus conversation with beloved podcasters Lark Malakai Gray and Jessie Blount. You may know them from Hashtag Ruthless, a podcast network that "creates hilarious chapter-by-chapter media analysis podcasts with a queer and trans focus." Lark and Jessie are the minds behind The Gayly Prophet, Esgaype from Reality, The Gay Pirate Podcast, and We are the Gayers. In this episode, they join Hannah and Marcelle to talk about their work with Fandom Forward, a rad nonprofit that brings activism to fan communities with free toolkits and activities.Like us at Witch, Please, Lark and Jessie (along with the whole team at Fandom Forward) are committed to ethically and intentionally engaging with fandoms. If you're someone whose ever thought about how fan spaces can be empowering, hurtful and everything in between, then this episode is for you! Tune in and find out more about Fandom Forward.Learn all about Lark and Jessie here! Read more about "Firing JKR" here. Get involved with Fandom Forward here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we wrap up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and thus Season Six of Witch, Please. We talk Hermione in Granger Danger and fashion in Lewk Book, and of course we round out the episode with Marcelle's Devastating Fun Facts TM. Tune in for this goofy episode that gathers some loose threads but mostly just contains chatter about moments in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that we were particularly tickled by.As always, you can become a Patreon Supporter for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. For access to our transcripts, visit ohwitchplease.ca. To become a Patreon supporter head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. To stay in touch, follow us everywhere @ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss Life Writing. We begin with a review of the monomyth and Structuralism, followed by a deep dive into the work of Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson. Using their book Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives, we consider the Pensieve in the Harry Potter series. How can we read the memories that go into it as life writing? What do we know from the texts about the 'credibility' or 'truthfulness' of each character's recollections? How does the unreliability of the Pensieve memories drive Harry's desire for honesty from the people around him?For access to our transcripts, visit ohwitchplease.ca. To become a Patreon supporter head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. To stay in touch, follow us everywhere @ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we dig into Marginalia! After a brief revision of our episodes on Print Culture and Fan Studies, we take a look at the it's long histoy using Heather Jackson’s book, Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books (2001). Marcelle begrudgingly leads us through the contribution of the Romantics (specifically Samuel Taylor Coleridge) and we ultimately get to take a long hard look at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Not just the book! We actually get to think through Harry Potter and his relationship to the Half-Blood Prince! How can the history and study of marginalia help us think through young Snape's notes? Why are the annotations in Harry's Potions textbook so enticing? For access to our transcripts, visit ohwitchplease.ca. To become a Patreon supporter head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. To stay in touch, follow us everywhere @ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we are joined by Matt Potts, co-host of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Matt is a reverend and a professor at Harvard specializing in literature, literary theory and Christian theology. He joins us for an episode all about "the soul" in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. You'll hear that we can barely contain our excitement in this episode as we dig into theology for the first time, all while pulling on some theory and frameworks from our episodes on Hauntology and Critical Race Studies. Thanks to everyone who helped us reach our goal of having 1000 patrons by Hannah's birthday on May 25th. We re-scheduled our LIVE Witch Please Tell Me Q&A for this coming weekend, June 4th at 1 pm Pacific so you can still become a Patron this week if you want to join our live show! Just visit Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we get into Security Theatre — and what a timely topic it is! We go over what we learned from Book 3, Episode 6 with Mercedes Eng who walked us through the carceral logics of the Wizarding World. And we review Book 4, Episode 2 about the nation state and the way Benedict Anderson theorized nations as “imagined communities” that are imagined as limited, sovereign, and in need of protection. Then we play a game Cloaks or Hoax! A goofy opportunity for Hannah to make Marcelle laugh before deciding which security measures from the Ministry are performative and which ones might actually keep people safe. Followed by a breakdown of Security Theatre as understood by Bruce Schneier in his 2003 book Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. This episode is a great listen for those of you trying to make sense of the "safety measures" put into place after 9/11 that we still encounter two decades later (not to mention how those persist in stark contrast to the rapidly lifted mask mandates).As a reminder, we need your help to reach 1000 Patreon supporters before Hannah's birthday on May 25th! Reaching 1000 supporters would be a financial game-changer for us and we're promising you a LIVE Witch, Please Q&A if we reach the goal — we're only about 70 supporters away! You can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Tell a friend about the show or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — everything helps keep our boat afloat. And be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we're talking about Masculinity Studies with our special guest, Aspen!We begin with a brief review of our episodes on Feminist Theory, Celebrity Studies, Trans Studies and Chosen One Narratives (just to name a few) before getting into a discussion about masculinity in the Wizarding World. Aspen offers us a brief historical overview of the roots of Masculinity Studies, as well as an analysis of the field's shortcomings and ever-evolving scope. We learn a bit about Gayle Rubin's work, Rae Wyn Connell’s groundbreaking book Masculinities, Dana D. Nelson's National Manhood, and other contributors to the growing field. Tune in for an episode that digs into Harry and Draco's respective indoctrinations, and takes a closer look at the way masculinity is defined, created and policed in the series. To get in touch with Aspen you can email aspen.urning@gmail.com.Help us hit 1000 Patreon supporters before May 20th! Reaching 1000 supporters would be a financial game-changer for us and we're promising you a LIVE Witch, Please Q&A if we reach the goal! You can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Tell a friend about the show or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts — everything helps keep our boat afloat. And be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey friends! Please skip this episode if that feels right for you. We'll be back in two weeks and we want you to take care of yourselves first!In this episode, we discuss Rape Culture. We begin with a brief review of our episodes about discourse, queer theory and classism before diving into the pervasiveness of rape culture in our daily lives and in the Harry Potter series. We'll dig into what it means that Ron feels entitled to be angry at Hermione's interest in other men, how Harry comes to understand he has a crush on Ginny, the role of love potions in the Half-Blood Prince (and in Voldemort's family history), and so much more.Note: In this episode we quote from a New Statesmen article by Laurie Penny. While Penny's article is a useful source in unpacking rape culture in the west, our citations are not endorsements for either the author or the publication.And a heads up! If you join our Patreon at the Prefect tier before May 1st, you'll receive our forthcoming enamel pin in the mail! You'll also help us inch closer to our goal of having 1000 Patreon supporters before Hannah's birthday in late May! Reaching 1000 supporters would be a financial game-changer for us and we're promising you a LIVE Witch, Please Q&A if we reach the goal! You can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are talking ghosts! Tune in for a conversation with our guest, Lydia, as we consider Hauntology as an analytical tool for better understanding the Harry Potter series — specifically the Half-Blood Prince. Lydia guides us through a revisitation of Jacques Derrida and an introduction to Avery Gordon (among others) who ask us to consider the meaning of absences in narratives, histories, and our own imaginations. What haunts Harry? What haunts the Wizarding World in the aftermath of a war? What haunts the Harry Potter series in 2022? Tune in for a truly epic conversation that leans on our episodes about the Gothic, Critical Race Studies, Disability Studies, Trauma and others to establish an exciting new framework for us to explore.And a heads up! If you join our Patreon at the Prefect tier before April 15th, you'll receive our forthcoming enamel pin in the mail! As always, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 research largely focuses on the critical comparative study of race, class, and gender as it relates to culture, social movements, and comparative/historical sociology — which is all very helpful when trying to understand the way professors in this series are helpful, hurtful, or both to their students.And a heads up! If you join our Patreon at the Prefect tier before April 1st, you'll receive our forthcoming enamel pin in the mail! As always, you can become a Patreon Supporter at any tier for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 pay annually, you’ll get 10% off. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Thanks for listening and thanks for your support!We’ll be back with a new episode on March 22nd all about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.Heads up, in two weeks we will be putting out content usually reserved for our Patreon subscribers! So stay tuned and be sure to follow the show so you're notified when we release that extra special episode. As always, you can become a Patreon Supporter for more perks and bonus content. If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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" mad characters who exist within the series. If Order of the Phoenix isn't your favorite book because of Harry's attitude and general dismay, then this episode is for you! Not only are you in good company (Aisha is not a fan of this particular book), but you may also walk away with some more insight as to why it doesn't work for you!Content Warning: We just want to give you a heads up that we discuss mental illness, suicide, forced incarceration — and trauma more generally. Of course do what's best for you and skip this episode if that feels right!Become a Patreon Supporter today and watch the footage of our Live Witch, Please Tell Me Q&A from last month! If becoming a paying subscriber isn't in the cards right now, no stress! Please leave us a review instead — it truly helps sustain the show. Of course, you can always follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 two people have ever had with McLuhan's work but maybe you'll listen and have even MORE fun. Let us know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your shows!And don't forget, if you become a Patreon Supporter TODAY you can join our LIVE Witch, Please Tell Me Q&A on Saturday, January 29th, at 1 pm Pacific. Patrons at every tier are invited to attend this Zoom Webinar where we'll be answering your questions in real time! If you can't attend, don't fret! We will release the video footage through Patreon afterwards! Follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease to stay connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.You can follow jaye on Twitter @fka_jayesimpson and support their GoFundMe for gender affirming care, here. They're the best and deserve all the love — which will be obvious when you listen to this fun and engaging episode!***Shoutout to everyone who helped us reach our $5000 USD/month goal by becoming Patrons or upgrading their Patreon Tier. Everyone who joined our Patreon, no matter the tier, is invited to attend a LIVE recording of #WitchPleaseTellMe (our Q&A series) on January 29th. Join Patreon today at $2/month (or $5, $10, $13, or $30) to attend the Zoom!Stay connected and follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the show through a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support keeps Witch, Please running! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Patreon — so you can listen to this bonus episode as a podcast, but if you become a Patron, you can WATCH us chaotically record it with a crying, barfing baby-screwt. If you pay annually, you’ll get 10% off and if you join before January 1st, you’ll help us unlock a Live Witch, Please Tell Me Q&A for all patrons. We're hoping to $5000/month and we're just inches away!If becoming a patron is currently not in the financial cards — we get it! You can support our work by continuing to share the show with your hot friends, rich crushes and fun cousins. By far the best part of making Witch, Please is getting to know you, our listeners, who share unique interests and expertise with us on social, via Patreon, and in our Apple Reviews. Thank you for listening and happy (almost) New Year. We'll be back in two weeks with a new episode about The Order of the Phoenix.***Stay connected and follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support keeps this show running! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, in particular. Let's get to know one of the most beloved queer icons from the Wizarding World a bit better, shall we?Note: The sound on this episode is a little funky because we recorded it in-person! Just know that any hiccups you hear (other than the ones caused by Baby Blast-Ended Screwt) are the price we paid to enjoy one another's company during an in-person recording for the first time in two years!***We are running a Holiday Patreon Drive! If we earn $5000 USD/month from our Patreon by January 1st, 2022, we are going to host a LIVE Witch, Please Tell Me (*Our q&a bonus content!*) for all Patrons at every tier! Join today at a monthly rate that works for you and you'll bring us one step closer to our goal! Our tiers range from $2-$13 and we're just $300 away from hitting our goal!Stay connected and follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support keeps this show running! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Phoenix. Content Warning: We discuss the taboo nature of some fan fiction "ships" (i.e. Snape/Hermione and Hermione/McGonagall), as well as some tropes and conventions of non-consent, coercion and forced marriage and reproduction. For listeners interested in understanding the ethics surrounding fan fiction writers' tendency to include graphic and disturbing elements within fan fiction (rape, non-consensual situations, torture, etc.), an excellent and helpful text is Kristina Busse's Framing Fan Fiction: Literary and Social Practices in Fan Fiction Communities. In particular, listeners might be interested in the tenth chapter, "Fictional Consents and the Ethical Enjoyment of Dark Desires." [Busse, Kristina. Framing Fan Fiction: Literary and Social Practices in Fan Fiction Communities. U of Iowa P., 2017.]***Don't forget, we are running a Holiday Patreon Drive! If we earn $5000 USD/month from our Patreon by January 1st, 2022, we are going to host a LIVE Witch, Please Tell Me (*Our q&a bonus content!*) for all Patrons at every tier! Join today at a monthly rate that works for you and you'll bring us one step closer to our goal! Our tiers range from $2-$13.Stay connected and follow Witch, Please on Twitter and Instagram @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode through a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support keeps this show running! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 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! For Witch, Please merch visit our TeePublic shop. Your support keeps this show running! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Potter books. Now, as we think about The Order of the Phoenix, Addie helps us make sense of Harry's behavior in the aftermath of Cedric Diggory's death, the culture of PTSD and silence within The Order itself, and so much more.Content Warning: We speak explicitly about PTSD as a diagnosis, different types of trauma, and specific symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety. Please take care of yourselves and skip this episode if you need — and feel free to check out some helpful resources of support from our guest, Addie, below:Suicide Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 (Dial 1 if you are a veteran for the Veteran's Crisis Line)RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization and leading authority on sexual violence. Call 800-656-HOPE for the National Sexual Assault Hotline.For more information on PTSD click here. The National Center for PTSD has information about PTSD for everyone, not just veterans. People can learn more about what PTSD is, different treatments, and find information for friends and family members of people with PTSD.PTSD Coach offers crisis resources, help finding local care, information about PTSD, symptom assessments, and a variety of tools to help manage symptoms.COVID Coach was developed to help folks with pandemic stressors and includes tools to manage stress and symptoms, information about a variety of topics related to mental health, assessments to track anxiety/depression/PTSD/well-being, and resources.***Stay connected and 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! For Witch, Please merch visit our TeePublic shop! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 ever-unveiling bylaws of the Ministry of Magic, and even the collection of portraits lining the halls of Hogwarts.Stay connected and 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! Note: If you join at the $10 or $13 tier before October 30th, you can attend our Halloween Watch Along of Hocus Pocus. Get on the discord and join in on the fun for an afternoon spent with the Witch, Please community! For Witch, Please merch visit our TeePublic shop! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 talk artificial scarcity, the arbitrary delineation of squibs, the "domestication" of cats, the power of wand access and so much more.If you'd like to hear our full backlog of Patreon bonus content, you can become a patron today! And if you join at the $10 or $13 tier you'll be just in time to join us on Discord for our Hocus Pocus Watch Along on October 30th. Of course, if becoming a paid subscriber is just not in the budget right now, we understand! It's just as helpful to tell your friends and family about the show, to leave us a review, and to follow us on Instagram or Twitter @ohwitchplease. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 moments in The Goblet of Fire we were particularly tickled by.Heads up, next week we will be putting out content usually reserved for our Patreon patrons! So stay tuned and be sure to subscribe so you're notified when we release that extra special episode.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! Note: If you join at the $10 or $13 tier before October 30th, you can attend our Halloween Watch Along of Hocus Pocus. Get on the discord and join in on the fun for an afternoon spent with the Witch, Please community! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 and consider what access to magic (through education, buying of wands, "innate" talent, family bloodlines, magical cultural capital, etc) tells us about the class stratification of both beloved and despised characters who populate this series.Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ohwitchplease and let us know what you think of the episode! And check us out on Instagram for pics of Marcelle's new baby, Witch, Please fan art, and random polls and questions we ask to help influence future episodes and Patreon content! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus 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 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 journey? Why is Fleur's "Veela blood" both monstrous and eroticized, while Madame Maxine's "Giant blood" only the former? And how do Molly Weasley's fits of anger fit into this feminist reading?Tune in for a powerful new way to read some of the series' most beloved and interesting women characters.Follow Jess Zimmerman on Twitter @j_zimms and scoop her book at any local bookstore or online! And be sure to follow Witch, Please on Twitter @ohwitchplease and Instagram and let us know what you think of the episode. 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'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 obvious flaws (like...being a Death Eater)? With a little help from Jane Gallop's book, PEDAGOGY: The Question of Impersonation, we dig into the man, the myth, the Moody: Barty Crouch Jr. Tune in for what might be the most lively discussion about pedagogy ever caught on tape.Content Warning: In this episode, we briefly discuss child abuse and grooming as it pertains to Barty Crouch Jr.'s teaching style.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 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 evolution of Trans Studies and Trans Theory, then you'll love this episode that stems from the work of Susan Stryker, Grace Lavery, Patricia Elliot and Lawrence Lyons — just to name a few.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.

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 acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 think through the characterization of beloved characters like Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, Parvati and Padma Patil — and Hermione, just to name a few.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.

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 talk all about the formation of communities (imagined or not) in and outside of the Harry Potter world through a thorough overview of scholar Benedict Anderson's work and some light bullying of him as well, (of course).Note: In this episode we refer to Uganda as the only African nation mentioned in the series, but we talk about Egypt a bit earlier on! Our mistake!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.

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 Tournament, we need some tools to help us think about plot! Tune in for this brain-bending overview of structuralism and post-structuralism through the ideas of Barthes, Foucault and Borges — and Hannah and Marcelle, of course. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, and bracing ourselves for another round of Marcelle's Devastating Fun Facts. 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, 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 linked to incarceration, settler colonialism, racism, police brutality and sexual assault.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 specifically the history of AIDS and its metaphors, and examine how reading Lupin as a character with AIDS reinforces rather than challenges dangerous narratives about queer and disabled folks.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!Resources:How She Read by Chantal Gibson Illness as Metaphor + AIDS and its Metaphors by Susan Sontag Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 character whose existence and bodily difference as a werewolf marks him in sharp contrast to normative wizarding society. We explore alternate futures for Lupin where, instead of social isolation and mistreatment, Lupin is met with the resources and accommodation he needs. We discuss the vital importance of community support for disabled people that goes beyond the limitations of formal institutions. For Tea, to read Lupin as disabled is to resist the failure of this text to meaningfully include disabled perspectives, and we invite you to join us in this expansive, resistant reading!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.

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 rendering of certain people as animalistic or less than human, is a tool of state violence.Content note: Throughout this episode, there are references to historical and contemporary instances of racism, violence, and dehumanization as enacted upon Black people and Indigenous people.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!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 predict the future and to change the past. How fixed is our reality? How much agency do we have over our fates? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 kind? How can looking at Hogwarts help us to understand our own educational institutions and our place within them (or outside of them)? Ready your quills and refer to your books, witches, because we've got a lot to say on this topic!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 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.

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.

Settle down students because class is about to begin! Cheer for your U of A Champions Hannah and Marcelle as they swoop into the University of Calgary’s English Department on their shiny new Red Arrow broomsticks. It’s kind of like the Triwizard Tournament, except it’s like really safe for all involved.Graciously invited by Dr. Derritt Mason and his Children’s Literature class, Marcelle and Hannah have a topical back-and-forth before opening up the floor to questions that will challenge their wits and long term memories. Will our covenheads reign supreme? (Spoiler alert: everybody wins in this scholarly romp!)PS: Special thanks to photographer extraordinaire @sarahraemurray for this perfect image of Academic Joy.Update: If you’d like to read along with us, here are the relevant articles!Maria Tatar: No More Adventures in Wonderland Native Appropriations: “Magic in North America”: The Harry Potter franchise veers too close to homeNative Appropriations: Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh. Righting Red: Magic & Marginalization: Et tu, JK? 🙁http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Witch-Please-20160317-EpisodeN-LiveAndScholarlyAtUofC1.mp3Download this schoolgirl romance/episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get your adult colouring books ready, witches! In tonight’s minisode Hannah and Marcelle descend the rabbit hole of adult colouring books, producing a relatively unedited stream-of-consciousness discussion about books, libraries, censorship, Nazism(?!), racism in general, and how good Snape would look in jewel tones.Aaaaaaand! if you live in the Calgary area we hope you’ll come to our public talk at the University of Calgary on Thursday March 17th. Details about the event can be found here! We look forward to seeing you there!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/WitchPlease-20160307-EpisodeM-TheTechnicolorDreamSnape.mp3Download this meditative minisode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image Source: Martin Fisch on FlickrGet ready for a sexy romp with our favourite witches and wizards in this week’s critical analysis of the sexy film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. If you haven’t seen the sexy trailer, check it out here as it features sexily in our sexy critique.And if that isn’t sexy enough, break out your Malcoy flirting fans because beloved guy-with-a-sexy-film-degree Neale Barnholden returns to explain all the sexy technical terms necessary to understand this sexy teen comedy.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WitchPlease-20160222-E12_TeenSexRomparoo.mp3Download this sexy episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Image from tiffany terry on flickrThis outrageously tardy episode marks our FIRST birthday as a podcast, which means it’s also our first anniversary with YOU! We’ve come a long way these last twelve months and our coven has reached farther than we ever dreamed. We even got a fancy-pants makeover to celebrate! Above all, YOU are all the very best, and, to show our appreciation, we bring you our silliest and smartest episode yet!Get your chips ready as we continue our analysis of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Witch-Please-Episode-11B_The-Half-Coy-Stint.mp3Download this wicked episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Hey witches!Our discussion of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince is on hold for a fortnight as we bring you our adventures at Nerd Nite Edmonton! We drank a bunch of wine and got up on a stage to talk about literary criticism, feminist criticism, and fan theories. It was the best.Enjoy!UPDATE: If you’d like to follow along with the slides, here they are!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WitchPlease-20160125-EΛ_LiveAndSurprised.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey Witches!It’s late and there’s a hippogriff baby in need of attention, so let’s get right to it: here for your listening pleasure is the first half of our discussion of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (see what I did there?).Enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Witch-Please-Episode-11A_The-Full-blood-Patriarchy.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ho Ho Ho, Witches! We’re back in the expanded universe of the podcast with Episode Kappa in which we cackle at fraternity, get a lil’ tipsy on vegan egg nog, and VERY bravely sing some songs. We wrote the songs just for you, dear listeners, so scroll down to find the lyrics and sing along!Word of caution: if this is your first time tuning in to Witch, Please, this episode is probably not the best introduction to the podcast itself (though it is most definitely the best intro to your podcast hosts and regular guest stars). Listen at your own risk of confusion!We’ll be back to our regularly schedule fortnightly shenanigans in January, so blow the dust off your copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince so you’ll be ready to follow along.Sending you hugs, kisses, and shitty jingly bell sound effects, Marcelle, Hannah, Neale, & Trevor.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WitchPlease-20151214-EKAVeryWitchPleaseHolidaySpecial.mp3Download AudioWitch This?T. Chow-Fraser; D. Elfman.What’s this? What’s this? There’s elvish everywhere What’s this? A dragon in its lair What’s this? I can’t believe my eyes I must be dreaming Me oh my this isn’t fair!What’s this?What’s this? What’s this? There’s something very wrong What’s this? That goblin’s singing songs What’s this? The hills are full with Elves and dwarves and hobbits Out for gold and secret treasure Through the mountains on adventure What is this?What’s this?There’s wizards singing folk songs Instead of blasting spells They seem to live forever Unlike Nicholas Flammel Can Gandalf really magic? He’s really good with swords Is history the real magic here? I simply can’t decide…Oh, look! What’s this? He’s forged an evil ring One ring! To give to every king. Inspired! One ring to rule them all and in the dark To him he’ll bind them, oh my gods What’s this?What’s this? It’s Sam, gaze deep in Frodo’s eyes. How queer Get up that mountainside Or die! If Sau-ron gets the ring of power Elves and humans all will cower And war will come to everyone So, now, correct me if I’m wrong This looks like fun? This looks like fun! Oh, could it be? I got my wish?What’s this?Oh my, what now? The dwarves are all kaput And look, a balrog underfoot Nazguls Orcs and trolls and orientals Oliphaunts and trees Don’t start making coney stew You’ll never get to eat… *sigh*What’s this?The ministry is missing And no death eaters in sight And in their place there seems to be A big red flaming eye Instead of He Who Can’t Be Named, hear ringwraiths on the wing If you want him come and claim him What’s with this damn ring?!The sights, the sounds they’re everywhere And all around I’ve never felt so good before This empty place inside of me is filling up I simply cannot get enough I want it, oh, I want it, oh, I want it for my own I’ve got to know I’ve got to know What is this place with so much mirth? What is this?!Middle Earth, hmm…Poor HacksH. McGregor; D. Elfman.What have we done? What have we done? How could we read so blind?List’ners lost, where were we? Spoiled all, spoiled all.Everything’s gone all Tolkien… What have we done? What... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahoy witches! Join us for another mat leave minisode as we travel back in time to learn about Quidditch IRL! This recording comes from the 2015 Edmonton Comics and Entertainment Expo and features the vocal talents of the Edmonton Aurors Quidditch team. We hope you enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/WitchPlease-20151130-E1055QuidditchIRL.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, as Marcelle and our erstwhile tech support selfishly abandon us to care for a newborn, Hannah and genuine guy-with-a-film degree Neale Barnholden go on magical tour of cinematic and material history, featuring dragons! It’s a Q&A minisode, minus the mini. Buckle in, dear listeners, because things are going to get shouty.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/WitchPlease-20151117-E105GaddingWithGuys.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tonight is a magical night for citizens in the North Land called Canada. In addition to a Federal Election with a potentially record-breaking voter turnout, there’s also some kind of sports event starring some carnivorous birds that people are taking pretty seriously. Also, the latest episode of Witch, Please!In tonight’s episode Hannah and Marcelle tackle the fifth movie without any actual film expertise from our favourite Actual-Guy-with-a-Film-Degree, Neale. But fear not, covenmates, Neale will be back. And on the topic of absenteeism, this might be Marcelle’s last episode for a little while because she’s gonna have a baby or something. Possibly tonight! Who knows! The important thing is that you can rely on Hannah to keep things going and something or other about when things get dark look to the light.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/WitchPlease-20151019-E10OneMemberShortOfAOrder.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

**Just a wee correction to keep this episode in line with our outrageously complicated numbering system! The real number 10 will be uploaded as scheduled on Monday!**Nothing gets your magical blood pumping quite like a room full of Harry Potter fans ready to talk about feminism! Witches, we are just over the moon on a Firebolt to bring you our first ever live episode, recorded at the Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo.Special thanks to all you listners who made it out that afternoon! You sure know how to make an angry feminist team feel special.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/WitchPlease-20151005-E10LiveAndUnruly.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know what, witches? Growing up is hard. In tonight’s episode your hosts Hannah and Marcelle relive their teenage years and cry a bunch.Get your hankies and enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/WitchPlease-20150921-E9BTheTearsOfAge.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it getting hot in here or is it just that cleansing fire? Either way, we are thrilled to bring you the long-awaited first half of our discussion of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/WitchPlease-20150907-E9TheCleansingFire.mp3Download Episode  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gird your loins, witches, because it’s time for ANOTHER #witchpleasetellme minisode. Thrill to the sounds of Hannah bravely confronting Trevor, the erstwhile robot troll of our hearts. Will she defeat this perilous foe? Only time will tell! (Spoiler: no.)Don’t fret if your question wasn’t selected. Now that the episode is recorded, we’ll re-post your queries on Twitter so that everyone can see how brilliant our listeners are.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/WitchPlease-20150824-E85EncountersWithTrolls.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here it is. The episode that’s too hot to upload through a mere, smear mobile phone.Game on, witches.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/WitchPlease-20150810-E_GamersATheGate.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Howdy, witches!We recorded this episode in Marcelle’s rasberry-filled yard, all the while stuffing our faces with these spectacularly tart backyard berries. If only we realized at the time how entirely à propos our snack choice was! Can you find all the “raspberries” in tonight’s episode? Listen and find out.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/WitchPlease-20150727-E8WinnerOfTheRaspberryCup.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Hello, dear witches!Tonight we present to you… our second minisode! While Hannah rubs elbows in Montreal, Marcelle answers your questions with the help of our erstwhile tech support and the robot of our hearts: Trevor.Thanks to everyone who submitted #witchpleasetellme questions! We love interacting with our listeners even more than we love the Harry Potter series. And, now that she’s allowed to look at the twitter feed, Marcelle will re-post all of your excellent queries for everyone’s enjoyment!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/WitchPlease-20150713-ADraughtOfVeritaserum.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back, witches! We are thrilled to bring you our second (too-long) episode of Witch, Please about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In today’s episode, “The Goblet is Political,” guest host Andrea Hasenbank helps us wrap our heads around the issue of labour (domestic, craft, and pre-industrial) in the wizarding world.We’re dealing with a lot of big, serious topics, so you may notice a slight derth of whimsical sound effects. We’re pretty optimistic that the discussions themselves will compensate for this absence.xohttp://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/WitchPlease-20150629-E7B_The-Goblet_Is_Political.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here we are, witches, with the first of TWO too long episodes about Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. Marcelle is back from her adventures in the Eastern Standard Time Zone (a mystical land whose residents think Witch, Please episodes appear on Tuesdays!) and joins Hannah for an 85-minute discussion about displacing racial violence onto “grievable subjects,” precarity, sexual violence, Game of Thrones, and more.Spoilers ABOUND in this episode, so proceed with caution.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/WitchPlease-20150615-E7AThe-Tri-and-fail-to-fit-everything-into-an-hour-Tournament.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first ever, surprisingly long minisode. Sylvie and Rebecca join Hannah for some unusual segments and old-timey foley work.http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/WitchPlease-20150601-BecSylvieMinisode.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was a real adventure–not just the editing, but the recording process, too. An extra long wait for an extra long episode: it makes sense, if you think about it!We are excited to present to you Witch, Please Episode 6: Neale Barnholden and the Final Cut, which would make a pretty decent band name IMHO.Extra special thanks to CJSR fm, the Edmonton Public Library, and the wonderful viewers and organizers of Edmonton’s Accio Books.Enjoy!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WitchPlease-20150518-E6NealeBarnholdenAndTheFinalCut.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh hi there! You’re still waiting for the second half of Episode 5, huh? Well you’re in luck! Episode 5B is ready for your listening pleasure.xohttp://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WitchPlease-20150504-E5BEscapeFromTimeConstraints.mp3Download Episode   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Part one of two!(no time for whimsy)http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WitchPlease-20150420-E5PrisonerOfTimeRestraints.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book lovers, we're back from our week-long hiatus. It's been too long. Without further ado (but with so very Much Ado), we present to you Episode Four!Bisouxhttp://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WitchPlease-20150406-E4ChamberOfWhiteness.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get ready to level up, Second Years!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WitchPlease-20150316-ChamberOfSpoilers.mp3Download EpisodeIt’s time we stop pretending there won’t be spoilers in this podcast. We’ll do our best to give you ample warning when a spoiler is coming, and we won’t discuss the spoilers at length, so hopefully our listeners reading along with us don’t have the magic ruined for them. But if you are reading along with us—and for the first time—we really want to encourage you to go on and read ahead. xo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are excited to bring you the second episode!http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WitchPlease-20150302-E2SophomoresStone.mp3Download EpisodePS: It’s a Monday, and we’re going to keep releasing on Mondays. If you prefer to listen to Witch, Please on Fridays, you are responsible for securing your own time turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feast your magic-loving ears on THIS:http://ohwitchplease.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/WitchPlease-20150213-E1SortingCeremony.mp3Download Episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.