The Various Segments

Eric: So, speaking of keeping it fun, there are various segments on the show that have come and gone throughout the years. Some of them are: Spy on Spartz, Andrew's Listener Challenge, Top Ten, Give Me a Butterbeer, What's Buggin' Micah, Fireside Chats, Crackpot Theory, Make the Connection, Make the Music Connection, Jamie's British Joke of the Day, The Dueling Club, and The Dueling Club Version 2.0. Do you have a favorite?

Andrew: Oh jeez, Eric. You're putting me on the spot. I think Make the Music Connection has always been my favorite because it keeps the show really current, and it's fun.

Eric: Micah, what's your favorite segment that we've done? Because I just listed as many as I could possibly think of.

Micah: You know, going old school, I really like Give Me a Butterbeer because I thought Ben did a really great job with those segments.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Mhm.

Micah: But after - well, I won't say anything, but let's just say that The Dueling Club may have become one of my favorite segments [laughs] as we move to Episode 200.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: That'll be made more clear on Episode 200.

Eric: I think I liked when we changed from The Dueling Club to The Dueling Club Version 2.0, because I guess before we would as a group decide on who we were going to face off against each other the following week and it was kind of in the Google Doc and all that stuff. Then version 2.0, it was more like two of the hosts would have to come up with something on the spot and you didn't know what the other person was going to use so you had to argue characters - and it was a character discussion. It was like a mini character discussion, because you were facing them off against each other and that - I think that there was always something really cool about that. And of course, Jamie's British Joke of the Day and the original Make the Connection are my favorites.

Andrew: That's right. That was another...

Micah: But Ben, you put a lot of hard work into those Butterbeers.

Eric: Yes, yes. Ben definitely did. And I was listening - I've been listening to a lot of Ben's old Top Tens and they're actually really involved.

Andrew: Right.

Eric: And he spent a lot of time doing them and that was really cool.

Andrew: Yeah. I think that's what has made the show so fun, because we've had all these different segments. So there's always something new to look forward to with the different segments. We're always mixing it up, using different ones.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Ben, what was your favorite segment on the show, or has been?

Ben: I mean, I've always liked Micah's news.

[Everyone laughs]

Eric: As a segment, sure.

Micah: I like how that came full circle right there.

[Andrew laughs]

Ben: I mean, it was the thing - things kind of changed when he left the news center in New York.

Andrew: Where did he go?

Ben: Well, I don't know, but he stopped talking about the news center...

[Micah laughs]

Andrew: Oh.

Ben: So I just assumed that he left.

[Andrew and Micah laugh]

Andrew: "That's all from our news center in New York."

Ben: But yeah, I mean the opening of the show is always a good time.

Andrew: Aw, Ben.

Ben: I mean, I never - I was always kind of put off by Jamie's British joke because like...

[Andrew laughs]

Ben: ...they never were really that funny.

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: Or British.

Ben: Yeah, and I'm glad he's not here to defend himself because...

[Everyone laughs]

Ben: ...he'd be [imitating Jamie] "Ben, Ben, Ben! Come on, Ben! Oh geesh, Ben!"

[Andrew laughs]

Ben: There's Jamie for you.

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: He might...

Ben: Yeah, I like the Muggle Mail. I like the...

Andrew: You like all the rooted segments.

Ben: Yeah.

Andrew: The segments we always do.

Ben: I mean, Chapter-by-Chapter when it first came out needed a little bit of work, but I think it's evolved into something quite nice.

Eric: Oh, that's sweet of you.

Andrew: It has.

Favorite Host

Ben: But yeah, what I wanted to ask you guys is who's your favorite host? Who's your favorite...?

Eric: Oh, that's the one question for the record I did not put into this Google doc of Andrew Sims Interview.

Andrew: I really don't have a favorite host.

Eric: No.

Andrew: It's not - it really is a collective effort. It's the chemistry between hosts that make it really click.

Ben: What happened to Laura Thompson?

[Andrew laughs]

Eric: Laura Thompson gets her own question, actually. There is a question specifically about that and I'm going to ask that right now, so...

Andrew: Go ahead.

Eric: MuggleCast only really has one girl host...

Andrew: Yeah.

Eric: Yet the majority of its listeners appear to be female. So what's it like hosting a literary discussion with other males when the responding audience is a bunch - literally a huge bunch of well-read females? And are you at all intimidated?

Andrew: I think it's about 75 percent female and absolutely - intimidated? No.

Eric: Only 75?

Andrew: Bring them on! Yeah, according to our demographics...

Ben: I am definitely not intimidated. I embrace our female audience.

Andrew: Yeah, and that's what makes it fun. Listen, we are very - gosh, how to put it - spontaneous, goofy on the show. It wouldn't appeal to a majority male audience. And I love our male audience, too. [laughs] I mean, I don't know what to say. We've met so many amazing people through the show. Whether it's just meeting each other, the hosts, or meeting members of the audience, it's been something really special.

Eric: Yeah...

Andrew: And I have Harry Potter to thank for everything, everything.

Eric: Okay, second to last question: Where do you see the Harry Potter fandom going in the future?

Ben: [singing] Down, down, down...

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: No, everybody asks this question. Like "Where's Harry Potter going to be after the movies come out?" And honestly, who knows? Especially after the movies come out. Everybody was wondering, what would happen after the books came out. And I say it's still pretty good now...

Eric: One hundred episodes...

Andrew: Granted, after the movies come out, there won't be much more to look forward to, but there's still a great group of friends that everyone has made. Everyone's got their group of friends within Harry Potter, and we'll always have those life-long friendships, even if they're not based around Harry Potter no longer.

Eric: Yeah. All right, and that concludes our interview with Andrew Tiberius/James Sims.

Andrew: Ah, great job Eric. You know, I - it took up a lot of my schedule, but it was certainly a nice ego-booster...

Eric: No, honestly, I think that's very important that we did that, because it's 200 episodes and you've edited like nearly every episode except for like...

Ben: Andrew, the fans are dying to know: What kind of shoes do you wear?

[Andrew and Micah laugh]

Andrew: No, but yeah, that was fun, Eric.

Eric: Yeah, cool.

Muggle Mail: Happy Birthday Gabrielle

Andrew: So now let's move on to Muggle Mail this week. I'll take the first one. Eric put this in, I think. You know, I'm a nice guy, I'm happy to grant this kind of request.

"Hello Andrew, my name is Gigi T. My friend named Gabrielle is celebrating her birthday today, May 11th. As she is a huge MuggleCast fan, I was wondering if it was all possible to wish her a happy birthday on the show, I'm sure she would love it and it would be a nice surprise. She's turning twelve years old, and though she is not the oldest 'Potter' fan, she is certainly one of the biggest. Thank you so much for your time."

Happy birthday, Gabrielle!

Ben: [sings] Happy, happy birthday.

Andrew: Ben, can you read the next e-mail from Michaela?

Muggle Mail: Wolfsbane Correction

Ben: Michaela, 14, from Long Island, New York - Micah, she's up in the hood, dog!

[Micah laughs]

Ben: She says:

"Hi everyone. When you were talking about Lupin taking the Wolfsbane - I think that's the name - Potion, I think you made a mistake. When J.K. Rowling said that they had to take it the week before the full moon I think she meant the week leading up to it, as in you start taking it seven days before the full moon..." [sneezes]

Andrew: Oh.

Ben: Oh my gosh.

Eric: That's written in the Muggle Mail - "sneeze here."

[Andrew laughs]

Ben:

"...and on the day of the full moon. Also, I think when Snape finds Harry watching his worst memory in 'Order of the Phoenix' might be the angriest we see him. He refused to give him Occlumency lessons thus disobeying Dumbledore, which you just do not do. Love the show and keep up the great podcasting. Michaela."

Andrew: Micah, we got a lot of e-mails about this, didn't we?

Micah: We got many e-mails about this...

Ben: You're supposed to be experts!

Micah: ...probably close to 100 or more. [laughs] But...

Andrew: Was this basically what most of them were saying?

Micah: Yes. Yeah.

Eric: So that kind of makes a little bit more sense then.

Micah: Yeah, but she should have done a better job explaining it. Maybe at least - I don't know. I don't understand it. Everyone else seemed to understand it.

Andrew: You guys were analyzing it so much I knew - I just sat there saying, "I bet these guys must be..."

Muggle Mail: Less Serious Crimes

Micah: Anyway, next e-mail comes from Sarah, 15, of New York and she says:

"Hi guys, love the show. Listening to how you guys described Sirius last week made me wonder: Where do they keep the less dangerous prisoners? J.K. Rowling writes a lot about how decrepit Sirius is and how evil the Dementors are but shouldn't there be some guidelines about how prisoners are treated, especially ones that have simply robbed a store or something? Do they go to Azkaban as well or smaller prisons? Do they even go to prison at all? I'm just wondering what you guys thought."

Ben: I feel like Azkaban is the Alcatraz. Like the maximum security prison.

Andrew: Yeah.

Ben: ...where they keep the most dangerous offenders. Because Dementors are very draining on anyone they come in contact with. So it wouldn't be wise for every single prison to have those - to have them there. So I'm sure if you just rob a bank or steal someone's bike or something that you wouldn't have to go to Azkaban because that would be a bit extreme.

Eric: Well see, that's interesting because in Chamber of Secrets they took Hagrid to Azkaban just for being a suspect. It was a pretty gruesome thing, a bunch of petrifications of students but at the same time they had no proof and Hagrid went straight off to Azkaban. It's not like...

Ben: Well maybe because Hagrid's such a big guy that they didn't think they could detain him.

Eric: [laughs] Possibly.

Andrew: Fit him elsewhere.

Eric: I just feel like...

Micah: Well he's also tied to a previous crime.

Andrew: Yes.

Eric: Well at the same time I just feel like there's really - there's only one school for the entire region. I can't see why there would be more than one prison.

Andrew: Yeah - I don't know.

Eric: And I mean, Dementors...

Andrew: I think that maybe there's some cells in the Ministry of Magic where they just throw some people occasionally...

Eric: There are courts there.

Andrew: ...when they have little misdemeanors.

Eric: It just seems like everyone we've known - and they've all been Death Eaters. So it's a very good question because they go to Azkaban, but they're Death Eaters, aren't they? Dementors only make you sad. They kind of make you in fact, Dementors are a kind of a good thing to have at a prison, because you lose track of time and isn't that what serving a sentence is all about, how long it is?

Micah: Yeah, but there has to be some smaller prison though. Guys like Mundungus Fletcher, I'm sure they end up in jail in some point of their life.

Muggle Mail: Time-Turners

Eric: Next e-mail's from another Sarah, this one's from Mississippi. The subject is Time-Turners. Sarah says:

"In Episode 198 you all were talking about the fact that Harry and Hermione end up in the Entrance Hall rather than staying in the Hospital Wing, as happens in the movie. I wondered about the same thing recently as I've been listening to the Jim Dale audio versions lately. I think that the Time-Turner not only reverses time but actually places you at or near where you were at the time you chose. Example: Three turns or three hours before the Hospital Wing the trio was in the Entrance Hall, J.K.R. describes all the flashes of color Harry sees as he's traveling rather than he sees people coming and going around him. So if you were to remain stationary while moving through time, you could end up landing on someone else who may have been at that spot in the past, whereas if you return to a spot at or near where you were in the past, you're less likely to displace someone else. Just my take on a very deep and confusing subject."

What do you guys think about that?

Andrew: I'm still not totally convinced. I just think that Jo just did it for timing to keep things moving quicker. That's the only thing I can think of. I think she just took a little...

Micah: It makes sense, though. If you look at the two different sides of it. Like doing it in the book makes sense this way. Doing it in the movie kind of makes sense the way that they did it.

Eric: Yeah.

Micah: I don't know.

Eric: I agree. It works for the medium that it's presented in. I just think - in a way, time transporting yourself to a place near where you were helps if somebody spots you and that way you're not to far away from where you just were, in a way. But at the same time I feel like you run exactly the same risk as landing on top of somebody as you would if you stayed still. Just because you don't know where - unless it's a place where no one else is going, like if you appeared in the Chamber of Secrets every time you went back in time, there's just no way to tell if it's a public area you run the same risk of running over somebody, I think.

Andrew: I think it's risky either way. Just as risky. I don't know. I think Sarah brings up a good point, but - I still like how they did it in the movie.

Muggle Mail: Wolfsbane Potion

Andrew: Next e-mail comes from Meg, 23, of Atlanta:

"Hey guys! Just a comment in response to your discussion to Lupin and the Wolfsbane Potion in Chapter-by-Chapter. You guys were wondering why he would have needed to take the Wolfsbane Potion on the night of the full moon when he had indicated earlier in the story that he had to take it in, 'the week preceding the full moon.' I think this is just a semantics issue. I think what Lupin's statement means is that he needs to take the potion everyday for a week prior to and including the day of the full moon. This would mean he needed to take it on the night of the encounter at the Shrieking Shack. As to why he wouldn't have just gulped it down before running off to his shack, I don't know. Maybe he just forgot it in his haste to get there. Love the podcast. I listen to it in the car to make the time in Atlanta traffic pass by. I just found out I'm getting to go to the Wizarding World in August. I'm super excited! Can't wait to hear your reports from the grand opening."

So this is a bit of a different take on...

Eric: Andrew, are any of us going to be at the grand opening of the park?

Andrew: I am.

Eric: Cool.

Andrew: Not to brag, but...

Eric: No...

[Micah laughs]

Eric: ...that's cool.

Ben: When is that?

Andrew: See, Ben, here is my invite right up here. I haven't shown it to you yet.

Ben: When is that?

Andrew: June 18th. Yeah, I'm going to be hanging out with Emma. What can I say?

Ben: Is she going to be there?

Andrew: I don't know. I'm going to put the moves on her and she won't run away like she did for you.

Ben: Oh!

[Andrew laughs]

Muggle Mail: Killing Pettigrew

Ben: Right, Andrew. Asia, 18, from Birmingham, United Kingdom writes:

"Hi guys! On the subject of Remus and Sirius deciding not to kill Pettigrew, I believe that perhaps J.K.R. is making a point here when she wants to emphasize the morality of the story, if you can call it that. Besides, as we have seen throughout the books, Voldemort and his Death Eaters have been quick to wipe out their wands and 'Avada Kedavra' anyone who threatens their evil plans or whatever. However, Jo wanted to show the good guys, being Remus and Sirius here, as being, you know, good. Correct me if I am wrong but members of the Order or their allies have not killed unless necessary or being under attack. So maybe J.K. Rowling did not have Pettigrew killed only so that Harry could benefit from this in the later books, but also to have that fairy tale moral kind of ending where the hero lets the villain live. I know that while reading this one might be screaming (I know I was, at least), 'Freaking kill them now!' but Jo wants to appeal to the readers' better nature. Regards, Asia."

Love your name by the way.

Andrew: I do understand. Asia brings up a good point here. It sort of teaches the readers a lesson. You can give people a second chance. You don't have to kill. So, there is sort of a nice little lesson there.

Ben: It is like when Jesus was on the cross and he said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do," in response to the people who were crucifying him.

Andrew: Ahhh...

Eric: How is...

Andrew: ...yeah.

Ben: So, it is the same thing, as it is like we should forgive even our deepest enemies no matter what they do because we need to all be compassionate and understand the predicament we are all kind of stuck in.

Andrew: I guess my point was - on Episode 198 or 197, was that it should have been assumed that Pettigrew would have absolutely tried to escape.

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: And of course he did and it was quite successful...

Eric: Well...

Andrew: ...so...

Eric: ...as we said, he could have at least put the same protection they put on Snape, on Pettigrew.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah!

Eric: Yeah.

Andrew: Exactly! I mean, come on! Use some brains for once.

Micah: Or send for Dumbledore.

Ben: Come on!

Eric: Yeah.

Listener Tweet: Dementors

Andrew: And finally today we have some tweets about Prisoner of Azkaban. cbolterr writes:

"Since the dementors are loyal to Voldemort, if they thought Sirius was a Death Eater, why would they try so hard to catch him?"

Eric Scull, do you have the answer...

Eric: Ooh.

Andrew: ...to this?

Eric: "Since the dementors are loyal to Voldemort, if they thought Sirius was a Death Eater" - at this point the dementors were not under Voldemort's control and - I use that term loosely, where the dementors can be under anybody's control. Voldemort promised them a whole host of souls to eat and that was why they ended up leaving the Ministry. I just - I think at the point where the dementors are - where Sirius Black escaped, the dementors were very much unawakened in that sense, where they weren't - though maybe the dementors - did I get this wrong? Were the dementors on Voldemort's side the first time? Did they abandon the Ministry in the past?

Ben: Yeah, they were.

Eric: Okay. I just get the feeling that at this point, it wasn't on their minds.

Listener Tweet: James in Hogwarts

Andrew: AylaBesemer had this to say about Prisoner of Azkaban:

"'Prisoner of Azkaban' is a fantastic book because it is the first time we really get a glimpse into Harry's father's time at Hogwarts."

Listener Tweet: Funniest Scene

Andrew: That is so true. Anneehd writes:

"Funniest scene from the book: the part where Snape tries to read from the map and it throws insults at him. Hilarious!"

Listener Tweet: Changing Themes

Andrew: That was also a great part in the movie. bighugegiant writes:

"From a cinematic point of view, the 'Prisoner of Azkaban' movie was a huge improvement. It was also less faithful to the book."

I wish the podcast was around when the movie came out because we would have had so many discussions about how the themes changed.

Micah: Yeah.

Andrew: I mean, Alfonso introduced a huge switch.

Eric: Yeah. Actually I know we will have more on this subject next week.

Micah: Yeah...

Andrew: Oh.

Micah: ...we will. There is - whomever we may be speaking to next week, their favorite movie was in fact Prisoner of Azkaban.

Listener Tweet: Snape

Andrew: megan_zero_135 writes:

"This is actually when I started to love Snape. You sort of get a glimpse into his life before he graduated Hogwarts."

Love Snape? Ugh!

Eric: I think the work done in Prisoner of Azkaban by Jo really helps the scene in Order of the Phoenix which we are reading eventually on Chapter-by-Chapter where we learn about that in the past, all this stuff about James. And we were so warmed to the idea of James as a kid at Hogwarts with the Marauders that the scene in Order of the Phoenix when they are all bullies is really upsetting and it unnerves the readers as it unnerves Harry. So, I think that that is partially in sync with Book 3, that scene in Book 5.

Listener Tweet: Eliminating The Marauders

Andrew: Yeah. And the last tweet come from LuisaLucca:

"The Marauders were really what got me addicted to 'Harry Potter'. Eliminating them was the worst decisions the movies ever made!"

Whoa! All right. Well, that about does it for this week's episode.

Announcements: Special Interview and Infinitus 2010

[Show music begins]

Andrew: We want to let you know, of course, our 200th episode is obviously our next show. It will be released on June 7th or 8th or maybe 9th. It will be around there. Last week, Micah and Eric recorded a special interview that will be revealed on that show. It was a great interview. We were so happy to get this person for Episode 200 because they are very involved with the Harry Potter franchise, so you will definitely enjoy the interview. We also want to remind everybody this week that we're going to be at Infinitus 2010. It's going to be in Orlando from July 15th to the 18th at the Universal Resort. I'm looking at their site now. They have a little countdown. Fifty-five days until Infinitus everybody. So, visit Infinitus2010.org for information about the conference and if you do register, we can't wait to see you there. And don't forget to put "MuggleNet" or "MuggleCast" in the referral box so they know how many people we are sending. Yeah.

Ben: They know who is...

Andrew: Ben, do you have any questions about the con?

Ben: The con? Who is getting conned?

Andrew: [laughs] No, like about us doing a podcast or...

Ben: Oh, well, we are doing a podcast, right?

Show Close

Andrew: Yes, we are doing a podcast at Infinitus 2010. Don't forget to visit MuggleCast.com for all the information about the show. You can subscribe to us, rate and review us on iTunes. You can follow us on Twitter, you can fan us on Facebook, and of course don't forget to vote for us at Podcast Alley. And you can get all the information you need about the show right there on MuggleCast.com, including transcripts. Thanks everyone for listening! We'll see you next time for Episode 200! I'm Andrew Sims.

Ben: I'm Ben Schoen.

Eric: I'm Eric Scull.

Micah: And I'm Micah Tannenbaum.

Andrew: Buh-bye!

Ben: Buh-bye!

Micah: Bye!

[Show music continues]


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Written by: The Transcribers