Critical Magic Theory: An Analytical Harry Potter Podcast

Yes to the “It’s My Turn!” T-shirt

Hi I am a kid and have read all of the HP books and love them soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch!I am currently listening to Tonks (I don’t know how to spell her first name). I first heard this podcast in the car while my mom was listening to Fred and Georges fits and giggles.And I was like, I need this podcast on my iPad! I love trying to think critically about HP and please get to Hermione Granger soon,Thanks! Hashtag,I love Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!! Love it,but stupid guy get to the Harry Potter. I MEAN IT!!!!!!!!

It’s hard to come across genuinely thoughtful podcasts - this is one of them.

(I mean that tongue in cheek) As a Harry Potter fan, it’s been difficult to remain one when I staunchly disagree with the views of the author. I can’t tell you how excited and relieved I was when I discovered Professor Julian Wamble’s content on IG and TikTok - and Critical Magic Theory. This podcast goes character by character analyzing them - as well as the Wizarding World and the institutions that make it up. Each episode builds on ideas and concepts such as Wizarding Supremacy, Pure Blood Supremacy - and how that is different from Voldemort Supremacy. These, of coarse, are stand-ins for systems of oppression that is reflected in our own world. Race Theory, Feminist Theory, Class Theory, and more are brought in as well to help analyze the Harry Potter series. I appreciate that this podcast engages folks in discussion about institutionalized oppression even when they may not otherwise feel comfortable to do so other wise. For long time Harry Potter fans who’ve struggled with whether or not they should continue being fans, it give us an outlet to examine the material for where the author may have inserted her problematic views. By being able to identify where she has inserted them, we can examine - because we read the books or watched the films as kids - if we may have accidentally also internalized these views. It gives us a chance to examine ourselves and decide if what we’ve gained in internalizing the Wizarding World should stay or needs to go. Additionally, I love that the podcast fosters conversations through the Patreon’s Post Episode Chats and Discord where people can engage in healthy civil conversation. It remains a rare space online where people can discuss and debate ideas - and folks are nice even if they strongly disagree. It’s helping to bring the art of civil conversation and lively debate back. Prof, of coarse, is also energetic and fun to listen to - but will also cause us to think deeply about how we’ve viewed characters, institutions, houses, and classes… and even ourselves. His reflections and Prof Responses are not to be missed. If folks want to take my advice, start from ep 1 and listen in a linear fashion so you can best understand the foundational analysis as the podcast progresses. So definitely buckle up, settle in with a beverage of choice, and listen to Critical Magic Theory.

What Professor Julian is doing for the HP community with this podcast is AMAZING! I discovered his TikTok first and as soon as he launched CMT I’ve been a devoted listener. The ONLY thing that I would gently critique is his audio quality and the ads. Sometimes the episodes are so low that I have to crank up the episode to full max but the ads are SO LOUD and I hate the type of ads that are on the episode but I don’t know if he has control of that. I will continue to listen and love the content and just wait for the day those two things change!