The Quibbler: Back to Hogwarts
Hi Friends,
September is here, which means it's back to Hogwarts for the wizarding world. Nobody has ever made back-to-school season quite as appealing as J.K. Rowling, who truly understands that there's something magical about the promise of newly purchased school supplies. We spent Labor Day weekend banking a couple episodes. So, if you're listening in the northern hemisphere, rest assured The Quibbler will be with you as the days get shorter and the nights turn colder. Of course, summer isn't quite over, no matter what Starbucks and the academic calendar says, so there's still plenty of time to soak up some sunshine. Besides podcasting, we spent the weekend doing some urban hiking in Inwood Hill Park at the northern tip of Manhattan.
Now that we've arrived at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a number of you have asked about our post-Quibbler plans. We definitely plan to keep podcasting and we're starting to zero in on our next project. To be all vague and Dumbledore-y about it, we're hoping to make something that continues the spirit of The Quibbler while also challenging us in new ways. In the meantime, however, there's still plenty of Harry Potter left. We've got more than a dozen episodes of Deathly Hallows to go, plus movie minis and maybe even a few special features. We also have unfinished business with a certain vampire saga.
Mischief Managed,
Alex & Heather
Latest episode: Ep. 81—Dora the Ex-Auror
Currently reading (besides Harry Potter): A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (Heather—yes, it's taking her forever). Insurrecto by Gina Apostol (Alex).
We also endorse: Derry Girls on Netflix, which we are rationing because there are only about a dozen episodes.
Easter eggs: The opening for Episode 81 is a reference to Gen. Douglas MacArthur's farewell address to Congress in 1951. MacArthur famously quoted from an old West Point barracks song: "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." The first outro clip is from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket Raccoon for sure would have pilfered Mad Eye's eye. The second outro is a nod to Col. Henry Blake's death in M*A*S*H, an iconic moment in television history. Combined with MacArthur, that's two Korean War references in one episode, which Alex only realized after the fact. The emotionally-manipulative background music for the Hedwig retrospective from Episode 80 was the hymn Nearer My God to Thee, which is said to be the last song played by the band on the Titanic. Also, a listener alerted us that CNN planned to broadcast the song in the event an apocalyptic nuclear war.
Also of note..
I saw Goody Rowling with the Devil! The Tennessean reports that a pastor at St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville ordered the Harry Potter books removed from the school library after consulting with several exorcists. "These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception," the Rev. Dan Reehil wrote in an email to parents. "The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text." Dunk on the good reverend all you want, but he clearly read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and took it very seriously. We can't wait for Rev. Reehil to appear on Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.
The price of fame. Please stop asking Dame Maggie Smith to turn you into a cat. She doesn't think it's cute.
A specter is haunting Hogwarts. An eagle-eyed Twitter user spotted a hammer and sickle in Hagrid's hut in a scene from Prisoner of Azkaban. Yer a worker, Harry! This inspired a re-watch by a Quibbler user who found some not-so-subtle Nazi imagery in the note Draco passes to Harry. Yeesh.
Read another book, or don't. In defense of reading the same thing over, and over again. Via Vox. For what it's worth, The Quibbler's official position is that there's nothing wrong with rereading Harry Potter, but yes, read other books too.
Quidditch in the heartland. A profile of Kansas City's Major League Quidditch team. Via Flatland. We dunked on muggle Quidditch in the sports special, but the more we think about it, J.K. Rowling's vision of gender-inclusive professional sports is one of the more progressive aspects of the books, and that bears out in the real-world sport it inspired.
Hogwarts meets the New York Times real estate section. An interior design firm finally answers the burning question, what if Dumbledore's study looked like it belonged to a hedge fund manager living in Greenwich, Connecticut? Via Today
And finally, owl news. Researchers have discovered that white barn owls are more successful hunting during the full moon, because the moonlight shining off their feathers leaves voles paralyzed with terror. Via The New York Times. Meanwhile, in Sonoma, vineyard owners are installing nest boxes for barn owls in the hopes they'll protect their vines from rodents. “They’re killing machines,” zoologist Nancy Lang told the Sonoma Index-Tribune. “They’re voracious.” Lest you think barn owls don't have a softer side, here's footage of a baby barn owl hearing thunder for the first time. It's OK little buddy! Soon, you will glide swift and silent across the fields, moonbeams shining off your feathers. And voles will know you as the angel of death.