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Harry Potter and the Sacred Text — Books
Harry Potter and the Sacred Text

It’s the English class you didn’t know you missed and the meaningful conversations you didn’t know you craved. Join Vanessa Zoltan and Matt Potts as they bring thought, reflection and laughter to Harry Potter; not just as novels, but as instructive and inspirational texts that will teach us about our own lives. Relive the magic of Harry Potter chapter by chapter as Matt and Vanessa explore themes such as commitment, revenge and forgiveness. This podcast creates time in your week to think about life’s big questions. Because reading fiction doesn’t just help us escape the world, it helps us live in it.

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text is produced by Not Sorry Productions, a feminist organization that produces podcasts, educational content, live shows, and immersive experiences with the explicit goal of addressing the spiritual needs of its participants. Through community, rigor, and ritual, we treat traditionally secular things as if they were sacred. To learn more about what we do, visit https://notsorryworks.com/.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © 960614

Latest Episodes:

Celebration: The Keeper of the Keys (Book 1, Chapter 4) May 20, 2021

Show notes

Vanessa and Matt explore the theme of celebration in chapter four Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This week we discuss Harry’s birthday feast, the relentlessness of the Hogwarts letters, and the way that Hagrid intimidates the Dursleys. Throughout the episode we consider the question: Does celebration need to be joyful? Or is the ritual of it the important thing?

Thanks to Didi for this week’s voicemail! Next week we’re doing an Owl Post episode with Naomi Westwater on Wizard Supremacy.

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It’s two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Obedience: The Letters from No One (Book 1, Chapter 3) May 13, 2021

Show notes

This week we're lucky to be joined by Jolie Doggett as we explore the theme of obedience in chapter three Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This week we discuss Vernon's toxic masculinity, Dumbledore's manipulation, and whether Petunia fell in love with Vernon because he's so dominant. Throughout the episode we consider the question: How do you choose what to be obedient (or disobedient) to?

Thanks to Zoe for this week’s voicemail! Next week we’re reading Chapter 4, The Keeper of the Keys, through the theme of Celebration.

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It’s two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hope: The Vanishing Glass (Book 1, Chapter 2) May 06, 2021

Show notes

Vanessa and Matt explore the theme of hope in chapter two Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This week we discuss Harry's scar, descriptions of Dudley's body, and the 'foreignness' of the escaped boa constrictor. Throughout the episode we consider the question: Are small sources of hope helpful or cruel?

Thanks to Olivia for this week’s voicemail! Next week we’re reading Chapter 3, The Letter's from No One, through the theme of Obedience.

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It’s two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frustration: The Boy Who Lived (Book 1, Chapter 1) Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

Vanessa and Matt explore the theme of frustration in the very first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This week we discuss how the Dursley's are raising Dudley, why Vernon is so offended by seeing men in robes, and whether it's okay to just leave a baby on a doorstep (Spoiler: it's not). Throughout the episode we consider the question: How do we react to frustration productively?

Thanks to Dallas for this week’s voicemail! Next week we’re reading Chapter 2, The Vanishing Glass, through the theme of Hope.

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It’s two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Special Edition: New Series, New Host, New Us Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

We made it all the way back to Book 1 and there are some changes happening around Harry Potter and the Sacred Text! Namely, we have a brand new co-host: The brilliant and wise Matt Potts.

This week, Vanessa and Matt get together to talk about what they’re excited for in the first book, share their thoughts about sacred reading, and introduce a new critical lens to our reading practice.

Next week, we’re reading Chapter 1 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Boy Who Lived, through the theme of Frustration.

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It’s two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Witch, Please: Queer Theory Apr 15, 2021

Show notes

We have one more week off between seasons of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text! While we're off, we thought we'd share a recent episode from our sister show, the brilliant feminist Harry Potter podcast Witch, Please.

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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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Real Question: Grandparents Apr 08, 2021

Show notes

We're taking a two week break between seasons of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text! While we're off, we thought we'd share a recent episode of The Real Question.

Casper wants to feel closer to his paternal grandparents. But there’s a problem: they’ve been dead for a few years now. Is there a way, as he grows older, for him to keep his grandparents an active part of his life? Drawing upon The Suitcase by Frances Stoner Saunders and Children and Art from the musical Sunday in the Park with George, Casper and Vanessa think through how grief changes over time.

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Transitions: The Boy Who Lived (Book 1, Chapter 1) - Live From Vanessa’s Living Room Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

This week, Vanessa and Casper finish their time together by reading Book 1, Chapter 1 through the theme of Transitions. We recorded this episode live in front of a streaming audience in partnership with 6th and I in Washington, D.C. It's Casper's last episode and we love him so much!

Thanks to everyone who made it to the live stream! We’ll be taking the next week off. Book one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, starts April 22th with our new co-host, Matt Potts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Special Edition: Whole Series Wrap-Up Mar 25, 2021

Show notes

Vanessa and Casper look back at the past five years of making Harry Potter and the Sacred Text and their experience reading all seven Harry Potter books. What surprised them along the way? What do they wish they had done differently? And will they ever write that book about the failed pedagogy of Hogwarts?

Next week, our final episode of the series! We'll be reading Book 1, Chapter 1 through the theme of transitions.

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It’s two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Owl Post Edition: The Importance of Re-Reading with Stephanie Paulsell Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

This week, Vanessa and Casper are joined by mentor Stephanie Paulsell to discuss why we re-read sacred texts and what we should keep in mind for starting again at Book 1.

Thanks to Ali, Julianne, Scott, Melissa and anonymous for their beautiful voicemail contributions. Next week we’ll be doing a whole series wrap-up episode covering all seven books.

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It’s only two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollar to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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