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Harry Potter After 2020

Lorrie Kim and JC

How does it feel to read Harry Potter after 2020?

The words on the page don't change.

But times change. We, the readers, change. And that changes the story.

Join podcast hosts Lorrie Kim and JC on a re-read of the series, chapter by chapter. As we delve into the story, we'll remember what the books meant to us when they were first published and analyze what we see differently now.

For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.

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35 episodes
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Avg 1 hr 14 min
English

Episodes 35

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Yesterday · 1 hr 26 min
6.29: The Phoenix Lament
LK: One of the most blessedly generous archives of fan imagination, collectively, is the Remus and Sirius fanworks world. Anybody who's wondering what is behind this devotion to a different reading of Remus Lupin than the one the author is giving us here… It's not hard to find. JC: If you're going to Google image search, be careful, as always. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S8 · E6
Tuesday · 1 hr 32 min
8.6: Expelliarmus Quilt and the Billionaire Author
Snape deliberately taught Harry and Draco to use Expelliarmus instead of attack. This early training in defensive disarmament became the signature magic of both boys, the only magic that these seventeen-year-old boys needed. You don't have to be wealthy, and no amount of power or wealth can necessarily defend you against this simple thing that even a kid can do. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E28
November 4 · 1 hr 7 min
6.28: Flight of the Prince
Snape, the true Snape, does not want Harry to cast an Unforgivable because it would damage Harry's soul. He knows that because Snape, having just cast an Unforgivable, is just about to die from the pain of it because we know Avada Kedavra -- if you cast it successfully -- rips your soul apart. He's just killed Dumbledore; his soul has been ripped apart, it's incredibly painful. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E27
October 28 · 1 hr 30 min
6.27: The Lightning-Struck Tower
This astonishing, incredible, generous thing: Dumbledore says, "We have ability to protect you, your mom, and then, when he gets out of prison, your dad." This is the kind of thing that Death Eaters, and a lot of people, think is weakness. It cannot help but change Draco to hear this offer. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E26
October 21 · 1 hr 16 min
6.26: The Cave
JC: You need two competent people in some way to get through this. Who was the wizard and who was the victim? It took the two of them working together to get in and out. So not a victim, but someone who was willing to take on that sacrifice. That's the thing that Voldemort maybe couldn't imagine someone doing. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E25
October 14 · 52 min
6.25: The Seer Overheard
Snape is completely the kind of adult that has no love life and would be really mean to teenagers about theirs, but it's for real; it's topical. His having no love life is because he's in the middle of atoning for past regrets, because he chose the kind of dangerous wartime life to make up for them. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
October 7 · 1 hr 31 min
6.24: Sectumsempra
Harry and Draco seeing each other in the cracked mirror: Your fear, your terror, is like my fear and my terror. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E23
September 30 · 1 hr 28 min
6.23: Horcruxes
Splitting your soul and hiding it away from the rest of yourself so that that part remains unchanged… This is a form of self-harm when there's something in yourself that causes you so much misery that you disown part of yourself. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E22
September 23 · 1 hr 25 min
6.22: After the Burial
The lure of being told that you could earn back forgiveness (or that you could somehow make repairs or amends) is the fantasy that's powerful enough to overcome a shame that's so deep that you would literally let thousands of people die rather than face yourself. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E21
September 16 · 1 hr 19 min
6.21: The Unknowable Room
The question that Ron's been asking this entire year feels so current and contemporary: "Anyone we know?" Because that is the risk, right? That's been contemporary life. Okay. In the news, who's being targeted today? Is it trans people again? Is it queers in general? Is it libraries and librarians? Is it legal immigrants? Is it birthright citizens? Is it farmers? Childhood cancer researchers… That's who's being targeted today. Canadians! For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E20
September 9 · 1 hr 34 min
6.20: Lord Voldemort's Request
This curse really hampers a lot of good learning that those students had been entitled to. This is the "think of the children" fight for the soul of education. Do you want to teach people to be strong and defend themselves? Or do you want to keep them ignorant and easy to exploit? For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
September 2 · 55 min
6.19: Elf Tails
Lorrie: Then we get the line that an entire mammoth AO3 ship lives and dies on. JC: Oh, yes. Yes, we do. "Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy." I'm pretty sure people had that tattooed on their bodies at some point. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E18
August 26 · 1 hr 14 min
6.18: Birthday Surprises
Between the time that this book was first written and now, I've seen consent culture become much more widespread and better understood. That's only a good thing. That's a difference I've seen in our lifetimes, a change in the popular culture. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E17
August 19 · 1 hr 29 min
6.17: A Sluggish Memory
There's something about Harry approaching Slughorn that will give good, positive reason for Slughorn to be able to overcome his shame and release the true memory, and Dumbledore is not it. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E16
August 12 · 1 hr 9 min
6.16: A Very Frosty Christmas
Everything about what Lupin has been up to is so fascinating, because he says that he has been living amongst werewolves and they don't trust him because he's obviously human-coded. This is so similar to Snape's espionage post being that he has to go back to the high school where he was bullied. This is pure trigger, right? For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E15
August 5 · 1 hr 37 min
6.15: The Unbreakable Vow
If anybody is marked to be a failure, it's Crabbe and Goyle, so if almost all the teachers have given up on them, you can be in Snape's position as the one person who hasn't given up on them, knowing that there's no guarantee. It may turn out that all your colleagues are looking at you like, "I told you you were wasting your time." Yeah, that might happen, and that's not why you do it, right? You do it because everybody is worth somebody caring that you get a chance. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E14
July 29 · 56 min
6.14: Felix Felicis
It's a beautiful way to teach Ron that whole lesson of, 'Yes, it's taking place in your head, but that doesn't mean it's not real.' You can learn to do things in life without having to go through them while you are able to think yourself into knowing how to do things. So yeah, this is Harry moving into his baby Dumbledore era. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E13
July 22 · 1 hr 32 min
6.13: The Secret Riddle
JC: Here is finally an adult who can set a boundary that Tom can't cross, and it makes sense then that later on, people say, "Oh, Dumbledore was the only one he was ever afraid of." I was like, "Well, yeah, he imprinted on that." For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
July 15 · 57 min
6.12: Silver and Opals
JC: It's an interesting point to think, when you're interacting with the author or the creator of any text, that you are interacting with a past version of them that hadn't yet become the person they are now… LK: And how much can you hold the earlier, younger, more naive persona accountable for things that that person is going to have done in the future? For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.
S6 · E11
July 8 · 56 min
6.11: Hermione's Helping Hand
Quidditch is used as a metaphor in this series for other ongoing struggles… If he's now Quidditch Captain and legitimate and popular and interesting, and all of these people are showing up out of interest, these are who your allies are going to be in the fight. For full show notes, transcripts, ways to contact the hosts or support the show, and more, visit hpafter2020.com.

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