Harry Potter and the Sacred Text

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince starts next week! As is our custom, we’ve released an animated YouTube video to celebrate the start of a new season. We’re sharing the audio here, but go check out Hannah O’Neal’s amazing animations on .

Our new podcast, Hot & Bothered, officially launched today. We’re so proud to share our first episode with you: Justice for Dragons. This is the only episode of Hot & Bothered we’ll drop in this feed, so please go subscribe wherever you find your podcasts! — Vanessa Zoltan thinks that happy endings are the best part of romance novels. Bryce Gilfillian is writing his first romance novel and refuses to write a happy ending. On our very first episode of Hot & Bothered, we explore the trope of “Updated Fairytale.” Bryce sets out to write the gay fairytale he never had growing up. Meanwhile, Vanessa wrestles with her own princes, witches, and dragons. Along the way we get a little help from Professor of Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University, Maria Tatar, and receive our first writing assignment from our own fairy godmother, #1 New York Times best-selling author, Julia Quinn. You can follow along on .

What does the 4th of July mean and what should it mean? It’s Independence Day in the United States and so Casper sits down again with Professor Matt Potts to talk about tradition. They touch on marriage equality, Lectio Divina, and Matt’s favorite Christian Theologian - Julian of Norwich. This episode we also hear owl post from Rachel, Emily Ross, Ariel Weeks, Rachel Quint, and Mike Murphy. We’re taking two weeks off before we start Season 6: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. But do check back July 16th to listen to our first episode of Hot & Bothered!

In the final episode of season five, Vanessa and Casper pull out a few key insights from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They give Luna Lovegood her due praise, analyze Harry’s relationship to gifts, and Vanessa comes around more to the importance of Quidditch. Throughout the episode they unpack the growing presence of death in Harry’s life and this series. Next week, we're rounding out the season with a final Owl Post and a conversation with our mentor, Matthew Potts. Don't forget to hop over to on July 1st, to hear our episode on Lily Potter.

Vanessa and Casper explore the theme of "love" in the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This week we come to you live from our London show, where we were very lucky to be joined by John Green. We discuss Luna’s lost objects, John’s history with bullying, and Vanessa’s perspective on the afterlife. Throughout the show we consider the question: How can we best meet people in their grief? Next week we're doing a wrap-up of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Thanks to everyone who came out to the Indianapolis show. We have more events coming up in the fall; you can check them out at: