The Witch Trials of JK Rowling

[CrossPurposes]

An in-depth intervietw with JK Rowling by Megan Phelps-Roper coming next week: twitter.com/meganphelps/status/1625465141046247425?s=20

Indeed. Pass the smelling salts!

It's excellent!

And Ms Rowling is so straightforward, honest & thoughtful - gosh, I want to be her friend - not for her novels, but just because she seems so interesting, intelligent and nice.

I've really enjoyed what I've listened to so far. Both Megan and JK have done a brilliant job with this.

Also enjoying the podcast and looking forward to the next chapter. I really hope it helps increasing awareness on these issues.

I love these. Thank you OP for alerting me. Did anyone else think ‘wow, how crazy are those American Christian’s’ as they listened to episode 2? I’m frightened that people like that are allowed to vote anywhere. These people really hate women, don’t they?

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-i-made-a-podcast-with-jk-rowling-in-her-scottish-castle-klfvxz2h7

I've not listened to the podacst yet, but I did read this interview in the Times, and have to say how disappointed I was with it. To my mind Phelps seemed to spend far too much time pandering to the " transphobia" accusations, without actually countering them or investigating the validity of them. Maybe she is assuming everyone will go on to listen to the podcast, but for the many that don't if was a missed opportunity. The last sentence didn't make up for that.

I didn't feel that at all. The first two episodes don't really touch much on trans issues other than to note that JKR has come under attack from two very different sides. The first episodes have mostly focused on how the far right condemns her for the 'witchcraft' of Harry Potter.
I suspect more on the transphobia accusations will be covered in future episodes but so far it is very thoughtful, sensible and thought provoking.
It's certainly very interesting.

Sorry, just to add I've not read the article yet, just listened to the podcasts. Desperate to know when the third is out!

Apparently the episodes will be released weekly, so there should be one or hopefully two more out next Tuesday.

In the meantime, enjoy these fine reviews:

The Daily Beast: The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling’ Is a Mind-Numbing Exercise in Digression
Jezebel: New J.K. Rowling Podcast Is Just Pretending To Be Insightful
The Mary Sue: Please Stop Giving J.K. Rowling More Platforms!

Bloody hell. They sure love torturing themselves.

"Pretending to be insightful"

That gave me a laugh!

I thought it was really great and very interesting. I know next to nothing about Christian fundamentalism in the US or why anyone would have objected to Harry Potter on religious grounds so it was an interesting insight. It’s not that focused on JKR really so far but the conversations between them add a lot of helpful context.

The Mary Sue writer hasn't even listened to it. 🙄

One of the other articles had this gem:

The effort to ban Rowling’s books was fantastically unsuccessful

This was in the context of the Evangelical Christians efforts to ban it. There's no sense of irony that the current ideologists have also been remarkably unsuccessful in their efforts to ban the franchise.

I had more of a creepy ahah! moment. I’m a Christian and went to church and youth groups when I was a teenager in the 2010s. The youth leaders would sometimes use American work books for the obligatory bible bit each session which always have a tone of persecuted virtue about them that puzzled me. No one in my life cares enough about my religion to persecute me for it?!? My best friend at school was an atheist of the angry bitter variety and she couldn’t care less what I believe! But those crazy Americans sure do! They care so much about how other people are wrong and out to get them, they forgot to check that they’re actually right first! I can definitely tell how their version of Christianity is descended from one so destructive and annoying it got persecuted out of Europe centuries ago. And it seems the attitude has stuck stubbornly all over the US, even in places the religion has waned. Scary stuff.

I have loved listening to these two episodes and can't wait for the next (although I will probably re-listen to these).

It is good to hear her voice and what she says is reflected in the Robert Galbraith books too. I thought the background to the objections from the US Christian groups was really useful to hear for someone in the UK and the further thoughts of the man that lost his court case fascinating.

I kind of expected it to be just JKR so all these other viewpoints came as a surprise and there is so much to take in - which is why I have to listen again.

My daughters best friend was very Christian, and banned from reading Harry Potter so this aspect is particularly interesting. I just smiled and nodded with an internal eye-roll at the time.

I kind of expected it to be just JKR so all these other viewpoints came as a surprise and there is so much to take in - which is why I have to listen again.

I think that's it's strength, to be honest. It's not 'the JKR show' but more of an examination of the culture.

It's a considered conversation, not a pally showbiz interview trying to make her detractors like her again.

And in doing so it again shows her intelligence, compassion and fortitude and how it is a million miles away from anything the likes of The Onion or India Willoughby can comprehend.

I enjoyed the first two episodes. The context around Christian fundamentalism was fascinating, but I also loved the scene setting and the 90s segment. I liked the interview with the lawyer who had changed his mind over time and befriended his opposing counsel in the book banning case. The podcast shows an openness to ideas, dialogue and critical thinking which is sorely needed.

Dragonsarecool your phrase about the 90s bringing ‘a tone of persecuted virtue’ to US Christian fundamentalism really puts it in a perfect nutshell.

That seems to have a parallel in the TRA culture of today where the (to me) baffling claim is sometimes made that there is a desperate struggle for trans and non binary people ‘to exist’.

To most people quite clearly other people who adopt whatever gender identity, exist just as much as anyone else exists. We all know that other human beings are not like the fairies in the Peter Pan story (who will die if children don’t clap for them to show they ‘believe’). It seems a quite bizarre claim, and makes sense only if it were rooted in (unfounded) persecution fears. Who’s gaining from spreading that unjustified fear?

All of which ‘tone of persecuted virtue’ also can be seen to be provide a justification effect or legitimising effect on authoritarianism/book burning and other intimidation and violence by TRAs, just as it has done for other groups back to time immemorial.

It wasn’t even the eugenicist’s surname!

He was Robert Galbraith Heath, cited in most of his works as RG Heath or Robert G Heath, & apparently known to colleagues throughout his life as Bob Heath.

It’s a bit like the thing about whether Douglas Adams wrote jokes in Base 13, only vicious.

Does anyone know when the 3rd episode comes out?

Probably next Tuesday, the episodes are supposed to be weekly.

I'm guessing next week. I'd like to know how many eps there are and when to expect them!

Megan Phelps-Roper is shortly to be interviewed on Radio 4 on the Today programme. No indication of when, let's hope it's not the 8.55 slot done in a tearing rush before the pips at 9am.

It's on now.