Disclaimer: I am a lot farther along with processing and letting go of HP than the 2/3rds of the hosts. I am no longer a fan of anything Harry Potter and I don’t participate in the fandom.
I enjoy literary criticism, and this podcast offers thoughtful and perceptive deconstructions of various aspects of Harry Potter. E, as a first time reader, is especially clear-eyed and astute. I love their takes and perspective. They are what keeps me listening.
The other two hosts …. frustrate me. The show has made an editorial decision to avoid praising the author, which I appreciate, but as a result it’s often impossible to tell how or why Zoe or Adela like anything about the books. AT BEST their continuing fandom is incoherent, at worst, it often reads as an unstated defense of the trans misogyny, racism, etc. of the HP universe. Or like their beliefs against these things aren’t real, if they can identify and deconstruct them all and then enthusiastically adore something like book four?!?? it can be a bit triggering and tbh often leads me to set aside the pod, but the incisive e brings me back.
Nostalgia is a heck of a drug, I guess, but I wish the fan hosts could be more…honest? direct? about their feelings for this property. If they continue with book five, I would like zoe and adela to grapple more with how or why they continue to feel anything for the books, characters, and fandom.
