MuggleCast 50 Transcript
Show Intro
Andrew [Show Intro with music in background]: [Andrew and Ben alternate saying “This”] This is MuggleCast, MuggleNet.com’s brand-new podcasting feature.
Episode [Casters alternate counting Episodes 1 through 49] 50 – Whoa! – for August 08th, 2006.
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[MuggleCasters sing “Happy Birthday”]
Jamie: Okay, this is ridiculous! What a waste of time!
Andrew: No, it’s not. It was good.
Ben: MuggleNet! MuggleNet!
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: MuggleNet!
[Singing Elton John with Eric]
It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside
[Singing by himself]
I’m not one of those who can easily hide that it’s MuggleCast 50!
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Wooo! Sorry.
Andrew: Hello, everyone. And welcome to this very special edition of MuggleCast – Episode 50, which means we are halfway through our lifespan. We can only last 100 episodes.
Laura: Wooo!
Jamie: Did we say that?
Andrew: Well, no. But… Well, I don’t know.
[Eric laughs]
Jamie: Oh my god, no! God, I’m going to cry.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
Andrew: I’m just kidding.
Ben: It’s like knowing you’re going to die. It’s the same exact thing.
Andrew: I’m Andrew Sims.
Jamie: Welcome to MuggleCast.
Ben: I’m Ben Schoen.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Jamie: [fake coughs] I’m not even going to say my name. That’ll do. [fake coughs]
Laura: And last again, last again, it’s…
Jamie: [fake coughs] That’s it. That’ll do. I’m Jamie.
Laura: Come on, Jamie. [laughs]
Jamie: I’m going to start being friendly and just saying “Jamie.”
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: And I’m Jamie.
Andrew: Maybe we should start doing that. It’s very down-to-earth. What were you going to say, Ben?
Ben: I was going to say…
Jamie: [Singing] I can’t lie…
Ben: It’s like, it’s like knowing you’re going to die, you know?
[Jamie groans]
Ben: If you knew you were going to die when you were 75, you would plan things out a lot better, but nobody knows when they are going to die, so they take all these chances. So, if we knew we were going to stop doing the show at Episode 100 then we would actually make sure we got everything we wanted to and know that we have to plan things out more. So, I say we don’t stop at 100, we stop at like 188 or something. But, I’m just saying.
Eric: Oh my gosh! Fifty shows in, Ben that was wonderful.
Laura: Ben, you’re just depressing me.
Eric: That was Ben’s first…
Jamie: No.
Laura: I am going to go cry now.
Andrew: That was pretty sad.
Jamie: Should we go have a group cry, then we’ll…?
Eric: …emotional…
Andrew: Yeah, group cry. Show is over.
Ben: Well, hanging around Jamie really changed me these last few weeks.
Jamie: What can I say? Ben’s a changed man.
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: He used to be involved in gang crime…
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: …and carry around four guns. Now, he’s a man of God.
Andrew: Oh, god.
Jamie: He really is.
Andrew: Before we go anywhere else, Micah Tannenbaum is standing by in the MuggleCast news center with the past week’s top Harry Potter news stories for the, oh, 46th time?
News
Micah: After six years, author JK Rowling arrived on American shores for two nights of charity readings with authors Stephen King and John Irving to benefit the Haven Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. Academy Award winning actress Whoopi Goldberg opened up the festivities on both nights, while author JK Rowling was introduced on the first evening by comedian Jon Stewart and on the second evening by actress Kathy Bates.
During a Q & A session, Rowling told what she thought Hermione would see in the Mirror of Erised, hinted at possible redemption for a certain Slytherin, explicitly stated that Dumbledore is dead – so, there goes my theory and sorry DumbledoreIsNotDead.com, you should have sold the domain name while it was hot. She also stated that she may have decided to change the title of Book Seven while in the shower Wednesday morning.
All three authors read from the same passages both nights with Jo choosing Chapter 13 of Half-Blood Prince, “The Secret Riddle”.
Videos, pictures, and a full report from both evenings of Harry, Carrie, and Garp are available over on MuggleNet.com.
Our LIVE NYC podcast was a huge success. Thanks to everybody who came out and saw us. Audio and transcript of the show will be available shortly.
Thanks to all your nominations, in what is being called Wizard Rock the Vote, we’re asking Harry Potter fans to get out and vote at the 2006 Podcast Awards homepage for both MuggleCast and PotterCast. Simply go to PodCastAwards.com and vote for MuggleCast under People’s Choice Podcast and PotterCast under Best Entertainment Podcast. You can fill out the ballot once every 24 hours. Voting ends August 11th.
Speaking of nominations, Nickelodeon Australia has nominated MuggleCast at the 2006 Kids Choice Award in their “Fave Podcast” category! Go to Nickelodeon.com.au, create a Nickname, and vote for all the categories. The Podcast category is number 15 on the ballot.
Also, Harry Potter is up for best book, Goblet of Fire is up for best movie, Daniel and Rupert are both up for fave actor, and Emma is up for fave actress.
The award ceremony will be held on October 11th.
WB has confirmed that the sixth film, Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince, is set to be released on November 21st, 2008.
Steve Kloves will return to write the screenplay for Half-Blood Prince. A director has yet to be chosen. The fifth film, Order of the Phoenix, will hit theaters July 13th, 2007.
Finally, as we wished author JK Rowling and Harry Potter a happy birthday this past week, after 50 episodes, we wish a happy birthday to MuggleCast, which is officially one-year old.
That’s all the news for this August 08th, 2006 edition of MuggleCast. Back to the show.
Andrew: All right, and thank you, Micah.
MuggleCast Turns One
Andrew: And as we mentioned earlier in the show, this is Episode 50. We are one-year old without absolutely zero problems along the way. I can hardly believe it.
Jamie: No, no Andrew, you’re absolutely right.
Laura: With none at all.
Jamie: Never.
Ben: Except maybe the ten or so times Jamie would get online when it was time to record and ask for a three-hour nap and for us to wake him up at 4 a.m.
Jamie: Okay, I am not the only one who did that.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: So…
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Announcements
Andrew: So, a few announcements and then we’ll move on to listener rebuttals. Don’t forget to purchase you’re MuggleCast t-shirt. We gave away a lot of Lumos t-shirts back in Vegas and everyone really enjoyed them and we’re probably going to have some more printed up soon to sell in the store.
Also, big credit to Sam of SamAndNate.com, they are always helping us with these t-shirts and they’re our cheap designers. So, we thank them very much. And if you guys, any of you out there listening need a t-shirt designed or some t-shirts printed, then check out Sam and Nate because they really do a great job on all their work.
Also, don’t forget to vote for us at Podcast Alley – at PodCastAlley.com. We need a new vote from everyone, at least once a month to stay in the Top 10 there.
And don’t forget a big one, the Podcast Awards – the 2006 Podcast Awards. Voting is going on. We are nominated in “People’s Choice” and PotterCast is nominated in “Best Entertainment.” So, we need everyone to vote once a day at PodcastAwards.com, by voting for us in “People’s Choice” and PotterCast in “Best Entertainment,” so we can both all go to California and have a lot of fun. Right, Ben?
Ben: Remember folks, that is MuggleCast in “People’s Choice” and PotterCast in “Best Entertainment Podcast.” We cannot stress the importance of this.
Jamie: Yes.
Ben: See, in the past we’ve seen with charity drives and stuff like that, how when the Harry Potter fans unite, they can do great things. So, we’re asking you all to do it again, but this time with the Podcast Awards. Show these people at the Podcast Awards that we’re not just some lame Harry Potter talk show that just talks about some children’s book.
Andrew: Right.
Ben: We’re for real. We’re a real podcast with a hardcore audience. So, it’s on you!
Andrew: Yeah, man. We’re for “realz.”
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: That was beautiful, Ben.
Ben: Thank you, thank you.
Listener Rebuttals – Wizarding Population
Andrew: Listener rebuttals this week, the first one comes from Jonathan, 15, of Vermont. He writes:
“During Episode 49, you debated how many wizards there were in the world. I think it was Andrew who mentioned the World Cup and that huge to Harry could be 2,000 people, but when I looked through Book Four, I noticed that Mr. Weasley mentioned that the stadium seats 100,000. So, there must be at least 100,000 wizards and probably many more, since it is mentioned several times in the book that it was very difficult to get tickets.”
Very good point there.
Jamie: That’s… Yeah! That’s just completely – our argument was completely wrong then. That’s brilliant, yeah! [smacks lips] So, there has to be over 100,000.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s pretty ironic too because that’s how many listeners we have tuning into MuggleCast each week.
Ben: Practically.
Jamie: Yeah, times four million. Then you’ve got how many people are listening.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Exactly, Jamie.
Listener Rebuttals – Wizarding Population With Jo Excerpt
Andrew: Next rebuttal comes from Melanie of Australia. She has a rebuttal regarding the wizard population as well. She actually quotes the interview between Emerson, Melissa, and JK Rowling. How last year, when Emerson asked her how many wizards there are in the world and she talks about Hogwarts, and she says:
“Here’s my thing with Hogwarts. Way before I finished Philosopher’s Stone, when I just amassing stuff for seven years between having the idea and writing the book, I sat down and I created 40 kids who enter Harry’s year. I am delighted I did because it was so useful. I got 40 pretty flushed-out characters. I never have to stop and invent someone. I know who is in the Year. I know who is in what House. And I know what their percentage is. And I have a few personal details on all of them. So, there were 40. I never consciously thought, ‘That’s it! That’s all the people in this year.’ But, that’s kind of how it worked out. Then, a I’ve been asked a few times how many people – and because numbers are not my strong point – one part of my brain knew 40 and another part of my brain said, ‘Oh, about 600 sounds right.'”
So, she goes on to say there will be the odd kid whose parents don’t want them to go to Hogwarts, but 600 out of the whole of Britain is tiny.
Ben: Well, see I don’t really understand what the importance – unless you’re nitpicking, with the importance and how many people there really are.
Jamie: But, we do nitpick.
Andrew: Right, and the reason that I brought this one up is because, basically it’s saying – Jo’s saying that she really has no official number for it.
Listener Rebuttals – Homeschooling And International Government
Jamie: Our last Listener Rebuttal is from Andrea, age 16 from Pipersville, PA. She talked about homeschooling and international government.
“Hi everyone. I had a couple of comments about the issue of homeschooling like you talked about in Episode 49. What reason would wizarding parents have to home school their kids? Magical transportation like Portkeys make it possible to go anywhere for school. So, if parents, for example, the Malfoys, didn’t like the school close to them, they could just send their child to a different school. Also, unlike in our world where public schools don’t always give a good education or can be considered dangerous, Hogwarts has some of the best witches and wizards as professors and many safety measures. I also have a rebuttal: the wizarding world does have at least some kind of international government. On pg. 95 of the US hardback edition of Order of the Phoenix, it is mentioned that there is an International Confederation of Wizards. I love the show!”
I thought that this is very good, but we don’t know that Hogwarts has some of the “best witches and wizards.” Obviously, Dumbledore and – are very powerful, but we don’t have anything to compare them to. We’ve seen Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, but we don’t know the extent of their ability and stuff like that.
Laura: Now, I’m curious. Last week, when you guys were talking about homeschooling their students, were you talking about primary school, like what would come before Hogwarts?
Ben: We were talking about homeschooling with – like for the entire magical education, not before Hogwarts. Well, it’s kind of like homeschooling people throughout high school. It just doesn’t really work. They get a substandard education.
Laura: [laughs mockingly] You’re so funny Ben. You’re so funny.
Ben: Where the students usually aren’t as smart. That’s just usually how it works.
[Jamie laughs]
Laura: No.
Ben: I’m kidding, I’m kidding.
Laura: Yeah, this coming from a kid who is in the Kansas public school system. I don’t even want to hear it from you.
Ben: I’m kidding, I’m kidding.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: The only reason I say that stuff is because Laura’s home schooled.
Jamie: He’s the only one in Kansas public schools.
Ben: Please don’t bombard me with e-mails, I’m sorry.
Laura: I thought, I mean, didn’t Draco say that his Mom didn’t want him to go because of the distance? I mean, I don’t see why it would be a big deal to home school your students.
Andrew: It’s not a big deal. We were just trying to figure out how many wizard students there are in the wizarding world.
Laura: Oh, okay. Sure.
Andrew: We’re just not sure if students who go to Hogwarts could have been home schooled.
Laura: Well, I’m not really clear with that.
Jamie: Yeah, well they still could be home schooled, couldn’t they? It doesn’t mean that – just because…
Laura: Yeah. Sure they could.
Jamie: People have completely different perceptions. Some people could think that Hogwarts is good, but people who don’t believe in the education system might… You know?
Laura: Yeah, because Jo even said that Mrs. Weasley home schooled all of her kids before they went to Hogwarts.
Jamie: No, but that’s earlier.
Laura: Yeah, but why…
Jamie: I think she’s talking, kindergarten man.
Laura: Yeah, but if you could do it then, why couldn’t you do it for ages 11 on up?
Jamie: I think you could, yeah. I think you could.
Laura: I think you could.
Jamie: It goes back to what we were saying about learning magic – being a sort of inexact science. So, it’s more you learning it yourself than being taught it. Because, the teachers, I mean, we haven’t seen enough classes, but they just say “do this, do this, do this.” It seems like, especially in the practical magical subjects and then the people – the students- try to do it.
Laura: Mhm.
MuggleCast: One Year Later
Andrew: All right. So, moving on now. It was a year ago today – at least when we were recording, August 7th – that MuggleCast was released. Our very first episode featuring me, Ben and Kevin and it was just us three. It was a terrible episode.
Ben: Can you really believe it’s been a year?
Andrew: I know.
Laura: Awwww. [laughs]
Ben: Oh geez, I don’t know. Time flies when you’re having fun.
Andrew: Yeah, and it’s…
Ben: It’s rough being Ben Schoen.
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Andrew: And it’s just weird to think that the majority of these listeners have been with us for a year now. We’ve basically been through everything with them [laughs], like holidays and just everything they’ve been through and just week after week it’s been – we’re like friends now. We’re like a family. But, a question for you guys, did any of you think that this wasn’t going to work, or you were just skeptical of the whole concept, or people would just hate it from the start?
Jamie: No, I knew it was going to work right from the beginning.
Laura: I wasn’t.
Jamie: Oh my god.
Ben: Oh yeah.
[Ben and Laura laugh]
Jamie: I was thinking… No, I’m being sarcastic.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: I had no idea.
Ben: I wasn’t. I actually wasn’t skeptical.
Andrew: Well, maybe not so much skeptical, but…
Ben: It was the…
Andrew: …just like, unsure of how things would take off like they really did.
Laura: I didn’t really quite envision the scale…
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: …that it reached, but I thought it would be…
Ben: I don’t think anybody…
Laura: …pretty successful just because of how many people come to the site.
Ben: I don’t think anybody would actually think it would become this popular because… I’m not saying this to be arrogant, but we have our own…
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: We have fans now and it’s the fans of the fans type of thing and it’s really kind of neat.
Laura: Yeah, basically I didn’t expect to be signing things. [laughs]
Jamie: Yeah, same.
Laura: That was the big shock. It’s like, the people hand me their Harry Potter books and I feel like I’m kind of defiling them. I’m like, I didn’t write this.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: But, I don’t know, it’s kind of odd.
Andrew: I know. I felt weird writing in people’s books too because it’s the Harry Potter books and really it should just be Jo signing it. But, who would have thought that a year from now – a year from August 7, 2005 – we would have already done three LIVE podcasts and we’d have these signings afterwards. And we’d be – people would be just really involved in the show. Episode 1 though, I’m surprised people caught on to it so quick because I didn’t think it went too hot. [laughs]
Ben: Well, actually I hosted that first episode, so I was actually pretty impressed with how it turned out…
[Laura laughs]
Ben: …the quality. Actually, I never want to listen to that thing ever again.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: The audio quality was bad, the content was bad, it was poorly planned. But hey, you live, you learn.
Andrew: Right, and I really wish all episodes on this show were as easy to produce as that one. I mean, now, they’re so much more involved. We have five co-hosts a week now, and our schedules are more conflicting than ever before [laughs] and it’s just, there’s a lot of pressure on this show. But that first episode, it’s so hard to get over your first episode – get past that first episode – because people don’t know your personality. They don’t know what the show is going to be like. But, once you get past that first show, it’s so easy to connect with the listeners.
Ben: Yeah.
Laura: It’s scary.
Ben: Any podcast has to know…
Laura: I was really nervous.
Ben: Yeah, it’s difficult at first. But, something else that I’d like to point out is I really do – like, sometimes people make me out to be this grumpy old man. I really am not. I really enjoy when all the fans come out and see us at these live events.
Jamie: You’re a grumpy young man.
Ben: But anyways…
[Laura laughs]
Ben: I really enjoy when the fans come out to see us at these live events. It really makes you feel – it really makes us feel like we’ve, you know, even if it’s in some minor way, changed some people’s lives to some extent. And so, if you get the chance, if you’re in the area of any of these live podcasts we’re doing, please come out and see us because we enjoy meeting you, I’m sure you enjoy meeting us and it’s nice to just be able to mingle with the fans.
Andrew: Right and I mean, I’ve said this before, there’s nothing better than the support from the listeners. I mean, the e-mails are great and we love reading them, but there’s something more to actually meeting the people and giving them hugs and talking with them and interacting with these people who – they’re always listening to us, but we never really get a chance to hear from them.
Ben: What I really – like I said before –
Jamie: It’s the best part of it, yeah.
Ben: Because when you go to these events, it’s…
Jamie: I love meeting…
Ben: We get to hang out with each other for a week, which is – it has its ups and downs. Hanging out with Andrew can be a bit rough.
Andrew: [laughs] Especially when you steal my bed.
Ben: Going to meet all these fans, you meet people from all different walks of life. For example, at both Vegas and New York City, there was a young lady from Australia and she was really, really nice and it was just – it was great.
Andrew: And Jamie, your first experience with meeting the fans was there in Vegas when – at the Scholastic Podcast with Emerson, Melissa, and Cheryl Klein.
Jamie: I know, I couldn’t believe it. I sort of – somebody handed me a book and I turn around in case there was a celebrity standing behind me and they were trying to give me the book to sign instead.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Did you guys get anyone asking you for autographs at Radio City Music Hall?
Ben: Yeah, I got quite a few people, actually.
Jamie: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: As we were walking away, there were people that were asking for pictures…
Jamie: It’s weird. It was cool though.
Ben: It sort of makes you feel like a phony because you don’t – like we don’t really think that we’re actually celebrities.
Laura: Well, especially since we were there in the same building as…
Ben: JK Rowling.
Laura: JK Rowling, Stephen King, [laughs] and John Irving. And I’m like, why are you asking me?
Jamie: Yeah, exactly.
Ben: People who didn’t know anything about Harry Potter walked and were like, “Who are those bozos?”
Laura: [laughs] Exactly.
[Jamie laughs]
Ben: I’m like, “I’m Ben Schoen, people! You don’t know who I am?” [laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: There’s actually a funny story about that from the New York Podcast. When we… When me, Emerson and Jamie when to the reliever?
Jamie: The uh, the uh, the uh, bathroom?
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs] Inside joke people. And we went to the bathroom and we come out – there were two girls and they asked to take a picture with us, so we say okay. And they get this random guy who’s reading the books standing there to take a picture with us with them and he’s like, “I don’t know who these three guys are, but I want a picture with them too once you’re done.”
[Ben and Laura laugh]
Andrew: So, we take the picture with the girls, and then we take a picture with the random guy.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Yeah. So, we asked him what his Ebay username was, because it’s clearly going on there.
Ben: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: For four million dollars.
Ben: So, to sum up the past few weeks – even for the regular listeners who didn’t come out to see us, I hope you enjoy the live stream we did from Lumos. And, recordings of the live Podcast will be put up. It’s a lot more interactive if you’re actually there and next time, try to come out but we’re back to our regular – the regular swing of things here for at least a few months. [laughs] And yeah, I just – the last few weeks have been great fun. Can’t even put it into words.
Andrew: Now Jamie, this was a special trip for you…
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: …because of course, you came all the way from the UK and this was your first time in the US since, when was it again?
Jamie: 2001. But yeah, I went to Orlando, though, which was completely different. Completely different.
Every Time We Touch
Andrew: Yeah. And while you were here, you were introduced to – as we talked about on the live New York City podcast – a new song. [laughs]
Jamie: Hmmm. Well, yeah.
Andrew: You should sing this because this is a very important song to you. It goes a little something like this.
[Plays recording of “Every Time We Touch” by Cascada]
Jamie: Do I actually have to sing to it? I can’t really. I’ll wake everyone up and they’ll kill me.
[Andrew stops recording]
Jamie: Just play the – just play the recording you got in…
Andrew: Okay, yeah. We’ll do that in a minute.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ben: [sings] I need you by my side. [laughs]
Jamie: But, but I mean, yeah. There’s a story behind this as I said on the…
Andrew: I’ll play it in the background while we… [starts playing “Every Time We Touch”]
Jamie: There’s… There’s a story behind this, as I said on the New York Podcast. We were sitting in Vegas by the pool at the Aladdin Hotel on the strip – we were all, you know, sunbathing, enjoying ourselves. And suddenly, this song came blasting through the speakers, which they positioned all around the pool and…
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: …I hadn’t heard this song before and I thought it was absolutely awesome, even though the lyrics are the cheesiest lyrics you would ever hear in your life, it’s still such a good song.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: So I – I ask Andrew who sang it, he told me, and then immediately I rushed upstairs onto his laptop and I downloaded it through iTunes for about 99 cents or something like that, but it was worth every single penny.
Andrew: You actually paid for it?
Jamie: No, of course I didn’t…
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: …but I’m not going to say I downloaded it through Acquisition, am I?
Andrew: [laughs] Too late now.
Jamie: Yeah. Anyway, so, best…best…
Andrew: Oh geez.
Jamie: …99 cents or whatever I’ve ever spent. So, after that I put it on my mp3 player, and I plug my headphones in, turned it up to the maximum volume, jumped onto our very nice bed – well, the bed isn’t very nice now. But I…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …I jumped onto it, turned it right up, and sang, well, screamed the lyrics as loud as I could and this was repeated several times throughout the entire holiday to this song.
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: And my throat hurt so much by the end of it, but it was – it was completely worth it. But, I’ve got to point out that it really was screaming it. It sounded absolutely terrible and Andrew, I think you have a snippet of it, don’t you?
Andrew: Yeah. It’s very, very, very small, but we have more clips that we’ll also play at the end.
Jamie: Okay.
[Andrew plays clip of Jamie singing part of “Every Time We Touch”]
Andrew: That’s all I had a chance to record, [laughs] but I have – we have two more songs that we’ll stick in that he sang, but are really, really funny.
Jamie’s Proud To Be An American
Ben: Well, there’s actually another song that made its rounds while Jamie was jumping up and down on the couch.
Jamie: Oh really?.
Ben: Right, Jamie? [laughs]
Jamie: Yeah. This trip was a trip of songs. We, in Vegas, we were – we went for a stroll down the strip to the Bellagio hotel, where we stood by the fountains, which are featured in the movie Ocean’s Eleven and what happens is every 15 minutes, the fountains come on and they perform their water show thing to a different song each time. And we happened to get there when the song was “I’m Proud to be an American” or “God Bless The USA” by Lee Greenwood. And it was brilliant. All of us were in floods of tears.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: We were comforting each other. It was the biggest display of manly love I have ever seen. We were all hugging and so I heard this song and I felt strangely patriotic, even though I’m British. So, we – we went back to Andrew’s house and I…
Ben: We actually went back to the hotel…
Jamie: …downloaded the song, put it on the mp3 player.
Ben: …and downloaded it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Huh?
Andrew: [laughs] We went to the hotel.
Ben: Yeah, honestly. We – we didn’t leave Vegas.
Jamie: What did I say?
Ben: We just went back to Andrew’s house. Yeah we left – we left Vegas…
Jamie: [laughs] Oh, sorry.
Ben: …and flew back to Andrew’s house, downloaded the song…
[Everyone laugh]
Ben: …flew back to Vegas. [laughs]
Jamie: Yes. We’re that rich, we can just go back to Andrew’s house to download a song. No, sorry, we went to the hotel, I downloaded it, and again, this was followed by jumping up and down on the bed and every time I did it, it brought a tear to my eye because I felt so…
Ben: American. [laughs]
Jamie: …patriotic to – yeah, to America. So, now I think that for each time I sung that song, it sort of added five percent to – American to me.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Jamie: So, I’m sort of – I’m slowly getting there. Slowly getting there. In a couple of years, I could have lost my British-ness completely and turned American. So yeah, those were the two best songs of the trip.
Ben: Actually, I had two better songs but we’ll get to those later.
Jamie: God bless the USA. [laughs]
Andrew: Well no, Ben – Ben, you got into Elton John [laughs] regrettably for the rest of us.
Ben: That’s because I actually was walking down the strip and the water show was going on, on the other side of the street and I heard Elton John’s “Your Song”. I just heard [sings] “I hope you don’t mind” and I just, I went to download it and stuff.
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: Laura, do you have any fun stories from Lumos to tell us about? Maybe some, some musical adventures that you experienced yourself?
Laura: No, you know, all I got the whole time there was Ben berating me for my Green Day obsession, so I have nothing to say.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: Ooh.
Laura: I have nothing to say.
Andrew: Awww.
Jamie: [sings] There she was just walking down the strip, singing “God Bless The USA!”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Jamie: That’s the best song.
Favorite Moments
Andrew: So, we all have our favorite moments from the past 49 episodes of MuggleCast that we would like to play for everyone now. So first, we’ll start off with Ben’s favorite moment.
Ben and Micah’s Favorite Moment
[Audio starts]
Jamie: Unless you swing that way Ben.
Ben: Okay.
Andrew: Well, we should talk about how Emma, how Hermione is portrayed in the films.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: Because…
Ben: Very, very…
Andrew: …some people take it the wrong way. See it badly, poorly.
Laura: Mhm.
Ben: Okay.
Jamie: Ben thinks, Ben thinks she’s portrayed very, very, very, very well.
Andrew: We’ll get to that in a minute.
Jamie: Don’t you, Ben?
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Oh yeah.
Jamie: He has dreams at night. He has dreams at night of running through a cornfield and they’re chasing each other and their arms are open…
[Everyone laugh]
Ben: Oh, come on.
Jamie: …and you can hear like “Chariots of Fire” going…[hums the tune]
Ben: Okay, enough of embarrassing me. Okay, about Hermione.
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
[Audio ends]
Andrew: Aw, poor Ben.
Laura: Oh, memories.
Jamie: I remember that. [sings] Memories.
Andrew: And my voice sounds like I haven’t spoken in the past ten years. All right, now we have Laura’s two favorite moments.
Laura’s Favorite Moment #1
[Audio starts]
Micah: I know I’m not a scientist or anything, but isn’t there a relation between an otter and a weasel, somewhere along the line?
Jamie: Is there? Oh my god!
Laura: It would make sense.
Jamie: Oh my god, that’s amazing! Oh my god!
Ben: Oh my gosh.
Jamie: Oh my god, Micah. That’s absolutely awesome!
Ben: Oh my god. Micah Tannenbaum has discovered the key to the Harry Potter shipping series. Do you guys see this?
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: Fans, send a letter to the P.O. Box.
Andrew: Give us a call.
[Everyone is still laughing]
Jamie: No.
Ben: Send him fan mail. Give us a call. Oh my gosh, Micah.
Andrew: 218-20-MAGIC. Seriously though, no, he makes a good point.
Jamie: That’s an awesome point!
Ben: That is true, that is true.
Micah: Now I’m going to have to look that up. Let me look that up.
Laura: That’s really cool.
Andrew: I’m going to do Google image searches and compare. Weasel.
Jamie: Can we have ten seconds of silence to appreciate that amazing revelation by Micah?
Andrew: [disgusted noise] Nobody Google image search weasel. I’m sorry I mentioned that.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Really? I’m doing it right now of course.
[Audio ends]
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: All right, now number two.
Laura’s Favorite Moment #2
[Audio starts]
Jamie: Actually, Ben, this is a perfect moment for this. I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a – for a while now. I’m afraid I can’t get down on one knee, but Ben?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Ben: Yeah?
Jamie: [laughs] Ben Carla Schoen…
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Carlo. His middle name is Carlo.
Jamie: Will you marry me?
Laura: Can I be the flower girl?
Ben: Of course, Jamie.
Jamie: Oh, yes!
Ben: Of course.
Jamie: Yes, definitely. Definitely.
Ben: Yeah. [laughs]
Eric: Can I be the best man?
Jamie: Eric, you aren’t doing the speech.
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Eric, you are not doing the speech.
Ben: Yeah, you’re definitely not.
[Audio ends]
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Is it just me or…
Jamie: Awww.
Ben: …I’ve forgotten half of the stuff we say on these shows.
Andrew: I know. [laughs]
Jamie: I know.
Laura: Yeah, me too. [laughs]
Ben: [laughs] Actually, I’ve forgotten 99 percent of the stuff we say on these shows.
Andrew: Yeah.
Ben: I just hate listening to them because I hate hearing my own voice.
Andrew: Yeah, exactly.
Jamie: Yeah, same here. I can’t listen to it.
Laura: I’m the same way. I don’t listen to any of the shows.
Jamie: Same.
Laura: [laughs] I feel like such a bad person.
Bad Moments on MuggleCast
Andrew: We’ll play the moments from myself and Eric in a little bit. And, by the way, Eric dropped out because he was at a Barnes and Noble using wireless internet but then it broke down on him and he’s going back to his house where power is now restored. He had lost power earlier today. But Laura, you’re going to tell us a little bit now about some bad moments that we’ve had recording MuggleCast because every once in a while, we do run into a hiccup.
Laura: [laughs] Well, actually, I was kind of hoping Eric would be here to recount those because I don’t remember them very well.
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah.
Ben: There were quite a few.
Laura: But there was – there was Episode 46 which I’m sure we all remember very well.
Jamie: Oh my god.
Laura: This was our attempt to record our first live show…
[Ben laughs]
Laura: …over the Internet and well Andrew, you – you had a very good description of what it sounded like whenever we went into that room, so why don’t you tell us a little bit about that.
Andrew: What had happened was we were using SkypeCast to do this live show because we thought, “Oh, it’s Skype. There couldn’t be any problems.” We use them every day to record and talk to each other. So, we created a SkypeCast and you can fit up to 100 people in a room and for some reason – because we had two rooms open or something – whenever we tried to talk to each other, just us co-hosts, there was this huge noise that sounded like wind and it almost sounded like a hurricane?
Jamie: But Andrew…
Andrew: Or…
Jamie: …can I interrupt very quickly…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: …and just point out one glaring error in the name you just gave?
Andrew: Oh. What?
Jamie: It wasn’t SkypeCast. It was SkypeCast Beta.
Andrew: Ohhh. That does explain a lot.
Laura: Ah, yes. [laughs]
Jamie: Very important in this story.
Andrew: It does.
Ben: [laughs] Yeah.
Jamie: I think it is very prominent in this story you are about to tell.
Andrew: Yes. It does explain a lot. So, we just heard this giant hurricane, wind-like noise so we all had to yell over top of each other because – not over top of each other, over top of this…[laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: …gigantic noise that we heard. It was so funny and we were all in tears from laughing.
[All laugh]
Andrew: It was…
Ben: [laughs] That was so funny. That was so funny.
Laura: It really did. [laughs] It really was. It got to the point where we were just dying laughing and I don’t even know what was so funny about it, but… [laughs]
Andrew: It was the funniest thing we’ve ever done [laughs], but it was also a pretty bad experience, because we kind of screwed all the people we were hoping to listen to us record the show live. Now, another bad experience we had was Episode 13, which was our Halloween Episode. It was timed nicely, because it was on lucky 13, but it was also a very unlucky episode for recording [laughs]. Right, Laura?
Laura: I think we recorded that one twice, didn’t we? I think we recorded it twice, and then we had to record it again because I think Eric’s computer was messing up, and I don’t even remember if Jamie was on. Ben probably wanted to go to sleep. I was probably yelling at everybody to shut up.
Ben: Well, actually, I hadn’t been on for three episodes, and finally, I was like, “Yes! I’m finally back on the show again!” And I come on the show, and record – record an episode, and I think it’s fine, and then I go (I probably left to go get some food or something), and I come back three hours later. I’m a big eater, you know? I come back three hours later, and Andrew tells me, “Hey! We re-recorded the show while you were gone.”
Andrew: Hee hee hee!
[Laura laughs]
Ben: I was like, “Uh… thanks for calling me!” Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: I can’t remember actually why I didn’t call you.
Ben: So, I… Yeah.
Laura: I don’t even remember why we decided we needed to re-record it. It was just – I think we decided it wasn’t a good show. It was bad and rushed.
Ben: Just a washed episode.
Andrew: Every once in a while, we’ll hit a show where we just can’t get everyone…
Ben: Well, every once in a while, we’ll lay here on Skype for four hours trying to start…
[Laura laughs]
Ben: …and then finally, we’ll just be like, “Let’s do this tomorrow.”
Laura: Yeah, if by – if by, “Every once in a while,” you mean almost every week…
Ben: Yeah [laughs].
Laura: … then, yes [laughs].
Andrew: It’s too bad Eric’s not here right now, because he could tell us all those horrific stories about how he’s lost his audio file quite a few times.
Laura: Yes. [laughs]
Ben: Guys. Guys, guys, guys, my Audacity crashed. Guys… [laughs].
Andrew: That’s the number one thing we hear from him.
[Andrew, Ben, and Laura laugh]
Eric’s Favorite Moment
Andrew: All right, now, here is Eric’s favorite moment. Of course, it’s a moment of his:
[Audio starts]
Eric: Okay. So, no – okay. Quiet, Micah. All right. So now, you think Tootsie Rolls…
Micah: Because I say so much.
Eric: Now, everybody knows what a Tootsie Roll is. Everyone’s had a Tootsie Roll. Everyone, if they haven’t, they’re going to have a Tootsie Roll. So, I’m thinking, I’m sitting here, looking at this whole tube of what used to be Tootsie Rolls (actually, I ate them all), and I’m thinking, “Who manufactured these?” Nobody knows! Nobody knows what company owns Tootsie Roll, unless you work for that company, I’m thinking, but they’ve sold millions. I mean, how many Tootsie Rolls have you sold – have you bought in your life? That’s a lot of Tootsie Rolls.
Andrew: [laughs] So, what’s your…
Eric: So, the point…
Andrew: [Continues laughing] So, what’s your point?!
Eric: So, the point is, Andrew and Micah and Laura and viewers at home, that you don’t know who manufactures Tootsie Rolls, yet you buy them anyway. And in the case of MuggleCast t-shirts, you know who manufactures them. You know that you’re going to get your money’s worth from MuggleCast. You know exactly who that money is going to and why it’s going to them. And you can support the show by buying this, just like you support Tootsie Roll manufacturers. Like the CEO of Tootsie Roll – the CEO of Tootsie is sitting there on a desk chair, and he’s not doing anything for Harry Potter fans, but we are, and that’s why you should buy a MuggleCast t-shirt.
[Audio ends]
Andrew: Wow. That was inspiring. Long, lengthy, and inspiring…
Eric: Hey, hey Andrew? Andrew?
Andrew: …but we really appreciate it.
Laura: And full of Tootsie Roll plugs [laughs].
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: The thing that I found funny about that [laughs] is that, is that all of us picked somebody else’s comment so we didn’t seem arrogant…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: … but Eric’s favorite bit…
Andrew: Yeah.
[Ben and Laura laugh]
Jamie: … Eric’s favorite bit just happens to be a half-an-hour monologue by himself.
Andrew: How typical.
Ben: But still – actually, I’ve given Eric a lot of crap back in the day, well, actually, every day. And…
Laura: Back in the day?
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Not even close.
Ben: And I just thought that actually, that was pretty funny, and his little spiel there.
Andrew’s Favorite Moment
Andrew: All right. And now, here’s my favorite moment, which is mainly for the comment that Laura makes later in this audio clip:
[Audio starts]
Andrew: But think about the situation: Lily was born among two mudblood – she’s not…
Laura: Muggleborn!
Ben: So was Hermione.
Andrew: Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa…
Laura: Muggleborn…
Ben: Yeah!
Laura: … Andrew, gosh!
Ben: Geez!
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: What?
Laura: Muggleborn!
Ben: Muggleborn, not mudblood!
Laura: God, you’re so prejudiced!
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Geez!
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Andrew: Okay! So… Oh, oh, I see, you guys are trying to be courteous.
Jamie: What did you say, Andrew?
Andrew: I didn’t catch it, you dorks.
Jamie: What did you say? I missed it.
Andrew: I said mudblood! [laughs]
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Andrew! Andrew!
Andrew: All these dorks are like, “Don’t say that!”
Eric: They’re both mudbloods. They’re both worth nothing, anyway.
Jamie: Hey…
Andrew: You guys are such dorks [laughs].
Laura: Shut up! You work for the site, too!
Andrew: I thought I was actually using the… [laughs] I thought I was using the wrong term. You made me feel all stupid.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
[Audio ends]
Ben: Did you…
Laura: You should’ve felt stupid, Andrew. I’m just kidding.
Ben: To me it sounded like you arbitrarily chose ten seconds of a random show…
Andrew: No, I didn’t!
Ben: …and called it your favorite moment [laughs].
Andrew: No! I thought that was a funny clip.
Laura: No, actually, I’ve seen – I’ve seen people with that whole thing quoted in their profile over at the forums. So, apparently…
Andrew: Oh, really?
Laura: Yeah. Apparently, people find it funny.
Jamie’s Favorite Moment
Andrew: Oh, cool. Well, here is Jamie’s favorite moment, now:
[Audio starts]
Ben: Everybody, welcome to MuggleCast Episode 32, coming to you live from Moundridge, Kansas. I’m Ben Schoen.
Andrew: Sims, Andrew.
Ben: [Impersonating Kevin] I’m Kevin Steck.
Eric: [Impersonating Jamie] I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Andrew: [Imitating Laura] I’m Laura Thompson.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Ben: [Impersonating Micah] And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Ben: We have a full house here this week, people.
Andrew: We do.
Ben: We have Eric, Andrew, Kevin, Jamie, Laura. Geez!
Andrew: [Impersonating Laura] Yeah, this is great. I love this.
Eric: [Impersonating Jamie] Can somebody post the schedule? Can somebody post the schedule?
Andrew: [Impersonating Laura] No, why do you keep asking?
Eric: [Impersonating Jamie] Give me the schedule. I want the schedule.
Ben: Okay, Jamie. I gave you the schedule three minutes ago.
Eric: [Impersonating Jamie] Go into the Writely. Dude, go into the Writely and get the schedule.
Ben: [Impersonating Micah] Hey Ben, I forgot to do the News this week.
[Ben laughs while this is playing]
Ben: [Impersonating Micah] What are we going to do about that?
[Jamie laughs while this playing]
Ben: Micah…
Andrew: Micah, can you stop asking questions?
Ben: Andrew, what are we going to do about him?
Andrew: I don’t know. Laura?
Ben: [Impersonating Kevin] Hey, don’t be so mean to Micah! Micah is a good person. I am backwards compatible with Windows 3.1.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: [Impersonating Laura] No you’re not. You’ve got Windows XP. Windows 3.1 doesn’t exist.
Ben: Okay. The jig is up. The jig is up
Eric: Oh, quiet down Laura. I used to have Windows 3.1.
Andrew: [Impersonating Laura] What are you talking about?
Ben: Okay.
Eric: Laura, okay, whatever.
Andrew: [Impersonating Laura] Stop it!
Ben: Okay. Okay, guys.
[Audio ends]
Laura: Way to go, Andrew. You made me sound slow. Thank you.
Andrew: [laughs] That was my best portrayal of you.
Laura: You’re such a good Laura impersonator. I think you should – that should become your profession.
Andrew: Oh, thank you.
Ben: That was definitely a good opening for that.
Jamie: I thought that was funny. That was funny, funny, funny, funny.
Andrew: Ben, you kind of sounded like you were getting annoyed at the end of that, though, with us doing the impersonations.
[Jamie and Laura laugh]
Ben: No, I’m talking about the [impersonating Kevin], “I’m Kevin Steck.”
An Evening With Harry, Carrie and Garp
Andrew: Well, all right. That concludes our Episode 50 talk. We’ll discuss a little bit later in the show just a little bit more, but for now, of course, there was a big event this week: An Evening with Harry, Carrie, and Garp, featuring, JK Rowling, of course. What did you guys think of it? It was a huge event. We all went. What’s up, Laura?
Stephen King
Laura: Well, what did you guys think of Stephen King?
Ben: He was awesome. I really thought he was cool.
Laura: I thought it was……
Jamie: Stephen King rocks.
Laura: … absolutely awesome to see him.
Ben: Lard Ass Hogan.
Andrew: Yeah [laughs]
[Laura laughs].
Andrew: Jamie, what did you think of Stephen King?
Jamie: Well, I read It. I think I read It a very long time ago…
Ben: You read what?
Jamie: … or I saw the film. I thought it was…
Ben: You read what?
Jamie: It. Stephen King’s It, you know?
Andrew: The book he wrote.
Ben: I know.
Jamie: Oh [laughs].
Ben: I’m messing with him [laughs].
Jamie: So, anyway. I read that a while ago, and I thought it was absolutely awesome. And I think it’s interesting because everyone thinks of him as a sort of weird horror writer who comes up with disgusting stories, but he’s really, really normal. And he explained how he comes up with these stories in very practical, logical ways. So, I think it was really, really interesting to hear that. Yeah, I thought it was fun. I thought John Irving told an extremely good story, and as Eric said, he answered his questions very well, but Jo just stole the night, obviously. But it was an awesome, an absolutely awesome event. I thought it was really, really, really good. And fun. And I’m so glad I went to it.
Andrew: Yeah, me, too. And Stephen King’s entry was also – his big entrance – was also pretty cool [laughs]. Because it kind of reminded me of – I feel like an idiot saying this. I know Ben – Ben knows what I’m thinking [laughs].
Ben: Because he looked like Bono from U2 coming out to City of Blinding Lights.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah.
[Jamie laughs].
Andrew: No, but it was very U2-ish. It was like these six lights pointing out onto the – towards the audience, and he walked out, and you could only see his silhouette, [laughs] and it was just kind of cool, and then the lights came up and stuff. I just thought that was neat. And it’s a shame J.K. Rowling didn’t come out that same way. She just walked out, although she still had a big entrance with the applause.
Jamie: Mhm.
Eric: Oh, come on!
Laura: Jo doesn’t need an entrance.
Eric: She doesn’t need an entrance!
Andrew: Well, that’s what I’m saying.
Eric: She still got a standing ovation. She had the biggest applause. You know that.
Andrew: Right, right. Definitely. And it was funny, because we mentioned this on the live NYC Podcast, too, but every time her face came up on the intro video, this huge applause…
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Everyone just freaked out, yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Andrew, Eric, and Laura laugh]
Jon Stewart
Andrew: And then, of course, another big surprise for almost everyone in that audience was when Jon Stewart came out to introduce Jo on that first night, and that was really exciting [laughs].
Laura: [Gasps] Oh!
Eric: Oh, my gosh!
Jamie: Andrew, Andrew literally…
Laura: Oh, I got very excited.
Jamie: Andrew, I…
Laura: Poor Micah! He was sitting next to me, and I screamed when I saw Jon Stewart come out [laughs], and I felt him kind of flinch.
[Andrew laughs]
Jamie: I have never seen Andrew so excited.
Ben: Micah did?
Jamie: Andrew, you looked so excited when that happened.
Ben: Micah looks like Jon Stewart.
Andrew: Well, it was a big surprise.
Laura: No he doesn’t.
Andrew: And I’m always watching him on TV. It was the first time I actually saw him in person.
Eric: [To Ben] A little bit.
Andrew: So, it was pretty cool [laughs]. Ben, would you care to explain for our listening audience, for those who weren’t at the event, could you tell everyone the order of the events?
Rundown of the Evening
Ben: It started off with Whoopi Goldberg doing an introduction that was written – it was written for her by… I don’t remember who wrote it for her. It was probably Scholastic. And the intro – she was reading it, and it sort of fell apart, so she had to improvise a bit, but she did a really nice job. She was really funny. And then she called out Kathy Bates, who came out and started talking about her personal connection to Stephen King, all these types of things, and then she introduced him. Stephen King came out and read a section of a story he wrote called, The Body, and it was, “The Legend of Lard Ass Hogan,” which has a lot of throwing up in it.
Andrew: Hmmm.
Ben: It’s a very funny story.
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Ben: But, it can also make you sick to your stomach if you’re not feeling too well. And then I forget the name of the guy who came out to – after Stephen King – to introduce John Irving. Do you guys remember?
Laura: Ummm…
Eric: It was a different guy both nights.
Ben: I’ll talk about the first night…
Laura: Wasn’t it…
Andrew: I’m not sure, but whoever it was, he wasn’t very interesting.
Ben: Yeah, I don’t remember. But anyway, a guy came out and introduced John Irving.
John Irving
Ben: John Irving read… Jesus, I forget…
Eric: A Prayer for Owen Meany…
Ben: Yeah, A Prayer for Owen Meany. That was very good. He was probably the best performer over all, because…
Laura: Mhm.
Ben: I think Stephen King was the best storyteller because he was able to keep your attention, I thought. Because even though I was really tired, I was awake for most of his reading. But John Irving, what really impressed me about him is that he had a great ability to set his characters apart, and do a lot of really good different voices, and – but I think that’s why, I think, for example, Andrew’s little brother was really entertained, because he was doing a different voice for each character. He was able to do a high-pitched female voice very, very well. Overall he was very entertaining.
Andrew: It was interesting, because my brother, who’s only ten-years-old, he was actually very entertained by John Irving’s reading. It was for that exact reason that Ben brought up, because he can do a lot of different voices, and he really enjoyed that story, because of all the nastiness that was involved with it.
Ben: But the reason 90 percent of the people were there was to see JK Rowling.
JK Rowling Q&A
Andrew: Right, and JK Rowling did have two special question and answer sessions, one each night. The first night was a little bit of a disappointment; we didn’t really learn anything new, other than what Hermione would see in the Mirror of Erised, which, of course, would be Harry and Ron alive.
Laura: The questions the second night were definitely more deep, I would say.
Eric: Yeah. We found out…
Laura: Definitely what the hardcore fan would want to hear.
Rowling: Dumbledore Is Dead
Andrew: One thing, one big thing she answered was that Dumbledore is actually “for-realz” dead.
Laura: Yes. So, now, which of us here, on the Dumbledore show, thinks that Dumbledore is still alive?
Ben: It was Micah and Andrew.
Laura: Was it you, Andrew?
Andrew: [says innocently] Ah, no, I don’t know what you guys are talking about. Whoever edited that show must have made it sound like I thought Dumbledore was actually alive, which is just silly.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I don’t know. Who would have done such a thing?
Laura: So, I have a question. I went to Dumbledoreisnotdead.com, after this, and you might want to cut this because it might sound like I’m being mean, and I’m really not. But, on their site, they’re saying, “We never…” – something along the lines of, “We never said that he was absolutely dead.” Or something along those lines. [laughs] And I’m like, “Well, your url is Dumbledoreisnotdead.com.”
Andrew: They went into a huge stage of denial, when they first found out, and they made this post on the site, and they were like, [puts on a distraught voice] “But, but, she’s probably just fooling with us. She can’t be for real. She wouldn’t do it this early before Book Seven, blah-blah blah…”
Eric: Those fans are – you know, I don’t see what they’re complaining about. They got what any fan could ask for, which is personal recognition by JKR…
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: She stopped everything and said, “And there’s a website, Dumbledoreisnotdead.com, that will be very upset with me for saying this.” You know, she plugged them in front of 6,000 people, and if JKR…
Jamie: Yeah, it’s because she felt sorry for them, that …
Eric: You know…
Jamie: It’s because she felt sorry for them…
Eric: Yes!
Jamie: …that she was completely destroying their heritage, Eric.
Eric: Yes, but that’s how you show you affect the author of your books. Even in such a miniscule way that she sees about your website. But that was just – okay – that was touching.
Children’s Book and Librarians
Andrew: We also found out from Jo that she’s working on a young children’s book, which actually, we already knew, but she said it’s about halfway written, and she’ll release it after the Potter series is over with. She also brought up librarians, which was pretty funny, and she said that the reason librarians in Hogwarts are so mean is so that students in the school will actually have to do the research themselves. And her perfect example was Hermione, [laughs] which I thought was pretty funny.
Laura: Yeah. Well, she actually apologized to that one woman, because she was a librarian…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah. [imitates JK Rowling] “Sorry!”
Laura: [laughs] I can see how that would be kind of awkward.
Eric: She said, “Please don’t dislike me, I love librarians. The thing is, the answer is always in a book, but if we had good librarians, Hermione would never have to search and find it.”
Andrew: Yeah, that was pretty funny.
Book Seven
Andrew: We also found out that she was ready to change the title of Book Seven, when she was taking a shower before the second reading… [laughs]
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: [puts on a mock scandalized voice] Oh my gosh.
Andrew: Which was kind of funny.
Eric: We found that out night two.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: So, what happened was, when we went there night one, she had a 98 percent certain title for Book Seven in her head, and night two she had a completely different set title.
Andrew: Yeah, at least we know now that she’s been thinking about the book even while she’s on a vacation, here in the States. But she’s not going to use that title. I thought she said it was too late, or something.
Laura: No, she said that – she said that she was kind of on-the-fence about it, but that she thought the newer one was better. Something along those lines. But do you guys think this bodes well for a Summer ’07 release?
Jamie: Never in a million years. I will eat 50 more sausages if…
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: If it’s released in 2007 – Summer, 2007…
Laura: I’ll be right there with you, Jamie.
Jamie: Thank you, because there is no way it’s going to be released in the Summer of 2007.
Eric: They’ve already ruined the date…
Laura: I really don’t think so…
Jamie: Of course it won’t.
Laura: I really don’t think it will…
Jamie: It would be ridiculous. She can’t write that much in that short amount of time. As I’ve said to Ben in a previous episode, she can’t pull it out of her rear end. She’s got to write it, and Book Seven, it’s the concluding part of her entire septology. She can’t just – so she has to think about ever loose end, she has to leave no stone unturned, she has to make sure it’s absolutely 100 percent finished before she gets it out. Why would she try and get it out then, when all the hype of the movies are around? And we shouldn’t really get into this again, but…
Ben: Right! And the first night – the first night of the reading, she said that she had written a good portion of Book Seven, but she felt like she had a lot left to write. And it’s important to…
Jamie, Eric and
Laura:
Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: And it’s important to remember that she has to submit the manuscript to the publishers, the publishers have to do their editing, which is what Hot Cheryl does.
Eric: Cheryl Klein.
Ben: And they have to pass around the manuscript, doing all their editing, and then they have to compare the British version to the American version and make sure that everything is – the integrity is preserved through each of them. So, I just – I wanted it Summer 2007, but now I’m pretty sure we’re looking at 2008.
Jamie: It’s not going to happen. Yeah.
Laura: Yeah. I think it’s…
Ben: We can count on 2008.
Laura: I think it’s pretty safe to assume… Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that if we haven’t heard anything by Christmas, like we did for Half-Blood Prince, then…
Andrew: Yeah, definitely.
Laura: …we probably won’t have a book by next Summer ’07.
Ben: And with Half-Blood Prince, we had the title a year before the release. We had the title…
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: …about right now. If we get the title within the next two months, then maybe, but I just… I don’t want people to get their hopes up, because she said that she – she said in her interview with Emerson and Melissa, last summer, that she was hoping to have the book written and release it in Summer 2007. But, I’d rather have her take her time and have it be really good, rather than…
Laura: Same.
Ben: … have her rush it and try to make it for the fans.
Laura: But what is with this… I mean, she’s making it sound like she’s got a long way to go, but then…
Eric: Well, no…
Laura: …we’ve got representatives from Scholastic predicting Summer ’07.
Ben: Yeah.
[Everybody laughs[
Andrew: I know!
Eric: She said…
Laura: That’s what’s confusing me.
Eric: What she actually said at the Podcast, was not that she had gotten…
Andrew: Wait! She was at our Podcast?
[Laura laughs]
Eric: I’m sorry, at the live – yes she was, but she was wearing a black wig…
Laura: She was sitting with the staff, Andrew.
Eric: …and no one noticed her but me.
Andrew: Awww!
Eric: On the floor. Anyway, what she actually said at the reading, was that she had written – she’d gotten quite a far way into Book Seven, but she felt that she hadn’t answered questions, answered a great deal of questions. It wasn’t that she felt she had a great deal more to go, she just said a lot of the big questions still haven’t been answered. And that was what upset me. But, she didn’t say anything about how much she was actually going to answer, in Book Seven. So, Book Seven could be very close to being ended – very close to being finished, which is what threw me off. But she said, “I am a great deal into it. I’m pretty far in, but I really don’t feel like I’ve answered a lot of the major questions,” and she kind of shrugged it off, like, [imitates JK Rowling’s hesitation] “Ah, yeah…”
Ben: But the simple fact that Warner Brothers chose Summer, 2007 for the movie really…
Eric: Which was a stupid idea.
Ben: Well, it really doesn’t bode well for having the book done by then. And so I just I would love to have it be next summer, but with a movie, next summer it’s going to be busy enough. So, I mean…
Laura: Yeah. Oh, if the book came out next summer, our whole summer…
Ben: Yeah.
Laura: [laughs] Would be Harry Potter.
Ben: It will probably end up being that way, anyways, but I just think…
Laura: [laughs] Yeah.
Ben: I just think that I might get a little bit burnt out. Because it would be so much fun, but I’d rather have it been drawn out more, and have something to look forward to…
Eric: Me too.
Ben: …rather than have it all…
Laura: Yeah, I think so, too.
Ben: …all at once.
Andrew: Not to mention Jo’s on a vacation now, up in the Hamptons, so I doubt she’s getting much writing in during her little vacation. Which is good.
Ben: Well, you don’t know how much writing she’s doing.
Laura: [laughs incredulously] On vacation?
Eric: We’ll see.
Ben: No, no, writers – no. No! Writers… No, that’s not what…
Eric: Well, why not? If something comes to her…
Ben: Okay, writers need, they need inspiration…
Laura: Yeah, well, if something comes to her, but…
Ben: They need inspiration, so it doesn’t matter if it’s 3:00 a.m. in the morning, and she just got done breastfeeding her latest born. She’s…
[Laura laughs]
Ben: …going to pause to go write a chapter…
Eric: Mackenzie?
Jamie: [sings] Father Mackenzie… [continues to hum]
Laura: No, it’s not that, it’s…
Andrew: Good song.
Laura: …if something came to her, then I’m sure she’d jot it down, but I don’t think she’d say, “Okay, Neal and everybody, I’m going to sit down for three hours today while we’re on vacation, and I am going to write.” I just don’t see that happening. I think that since she hasn’t been here in six years, and she’s here on vacation, she’s probably here having fun with her family. And, I completely support that.
Ben: And, anyways, it’s just two weeks. It’s not…
Andrew: Yeah. Laura makes a good point, though. Good point, Laura.
Salman Rushdie: Snape Good Or Bad?
Andrew: Now, Salman Rushdie, who is a famous author, came up with his son and proposed to Jo a “Snape: good or bad” theory. And, Eric you got the gist of it. Most of us didn’t.
Eric: So, the guy at – the guy at the reading went up to her, and this was the question that she answered the Dumbledore is truly dead thing, too. But. he talked about Snape! He went through – it was him and his son, and they went up to JKR, and they said something about how they feel that Snape is a good guy and that him and Dumbledore planned Dumbledore’s, you know, attack and death, and all that stuff. But, as a result, since Snape is good, that means Dumbledore isn’t really dead. And, he went through this elaborate thing about how Snape and Dumbledore could, you know, play off each other, and how Snape was really working for Dumbledore against Voldemort, and tricking him and stuff. And then he said, “Well, just because Snape is good, that means Dumbledore isn’t dead,” and Jo just said, “Uh, well, unfortunately, Dumbledore, Dumbledore is dead.” And, then, that’s – that’s all she said. She didn’t even touch the Snape thing. It wasn’t even – it wasn’t even like a fleeting moment…
Laura: No…
Eric: …where she was going. She just completely didn’t say anything at all. So…
Laura: Yeah. She said, “Your opinion on Snape is correct.”
Eric: Oh.
Laura: But, that’s what I thought was interesting, that she used, “opinion.” Like, she didn’t just come out and say, “You’re right about Snape.” She just said, “Your opinion on Snape is correct.” So, it just… I don’t know if she was trying to throw us off, or something. It just seemed weird to me that she did that.
Andrew: I think that was just the safest way, to her, of answering it without giving anything away.
Coming To Dinner
Ben: Okay, I have a question. What did… What was the way that Jo worded when she got asked about the five people she would get asked – she would ask from Hogwarts, or whatever, to come to dinner with her? What did she say that lead people to believe that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are going to live through the series?
Andrew: What happened, was Soledad O’Brien asked each author to name five characters from their book, that they would take to dinner. And, when it was Jo’s turn, Jo said, “Harry, Ron, and Hermione,” and then she paused to think about it. She put her head in her face and she was like, [imitates JK Rowling] “Aaah! I can’t!” Like, she gave the idea that, you know, she was having a hard time coming up with five. And then people started yelling out characters, from the audience. But then, that’s when Jo said, “Yeah, but I’m the only one who knows who lives through Book Seven.” And that was when everyone realized that she was trying to name people who, who lived through the series. So, that’s what gave away that Harry, Ron, and Hermione do live. And then she – someone was like, “Well, if it could be any character…” And then, Jo said, “Okay then, Dumbledore and Hagrid, too.”
Laura: Well, it’s not like it matters, because Emerson pretty much confirmed it…
Ben: Okay…
Laura: … for everybody at the live show.
Ben: No, that’s not true. He didn’t… No. Okay, if…
Laura: Well, if she said that they’re all going to live through the end, then…
Ben: Okay, that was so long ago. Things could have changed a million times by then. And she… It was back…
Laura: They could of, but I don’t know.
Ben: That was back when… Right now, JK Rowling’s harder to meet than the President of the United States. That was back when she was doing these smaller bookstore tours. And, I honestly – I said this in both live podcasts; if all three of those – if the Trio, if everyone of them makes it through the series, I just don’t feel that it’s actually realistic. Because Jo, I think she’s going to have to give one of them the axe. Because, as she’s said before, that they didn’t go after the extras. She does not target the extras. She goes after the ones who are closest to the main character, and the only way that she can actually do that is by nailing one of the three. And, I just don’t see how it’s realistic for us to expect all three of them to make it through. And I just don’t want it to end up, “Oh, everything’s so happily ever after! The trio went on and got married, blah blah blah.” I think you can interpret what she said that night differently.
Andrew: No, I’m telling you, you should listen to the recording, if we can find one.
Ben: Well, then, what’s the point of even – what’s the point of even reading Book Seven?
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: You know Harry’s going live.
Andrew: To see what happens to Hagrid?
Ben: I’ll just throw in the towel now.
Eric: To see the details, the in-between.
Laura: Yeah, just because – I don’t know. Just because they all live doesn’t mean everything’s going to be hunky-dory. I mean, what if something just terribly awful goes on, and Harry ends up separating himself from Ron and Hermione forever? I mean, what if he just goes and holes up somewhere and becomes a hermit? Who knows? Just because they all live does not mean it’s going to be a happy ending.
Eric: Not at all. And, the crap they go through – I mean, my God, we might be begging for something happy. I know some of us were reading Book Five and were begging for Harry not to be such a piss-ant about everything.
Laura: Yeah. And, you know, on those lines, something so terrible might happen that we might be begging for one of them to die, to just stop being miserable. I mean, who knows what’s going to happen to them? It’s a war, and I think that, like Dumbledore said, there are worse things than death. So…
Andrew: Yeah, oh, geez, yeah.
Laura: I’m with him.
Andrew: That’s a good point.
No Gandalf For Dumbledore
Eric: When she knows… You know, also, didn’t she say something like, “Dumbledore wouldn’t pull a Gandalf, but any other…”
Laura: Yes!
Eric: Well, she said that, but also she said – she kind of hinted that he might still be able to affect Harry or something. He does, maybe – to guide Harry, like maybe a portrait, or something like that. Because I think someone asked her that question, and she just said, “Well he’s not, you know, you couldn’t expect him to pull a Gandalf.”
Laura: You know, I felt so vindicated when I heard that, because the first night after the reading, I’m walking out of Radio City Music Hall and there is this guy, and he’s just going insane and telling everyone around him that Dumbledore is alive because Dumbledore made a Horcrux.
[Eric sighs]
Laura: And this guy turns to me and he’s yelling at me to go to Dumbledoreisnotdead.com, and he’s like, “Dumbledore made a Horcrux!” And I’m like, “No, he didn’t.” And he said, “Yes, he did.” And I’m like, “Dumbledore does not have the type of malice that a person would need to have to want to create a Horcrux, because even if he did kill somebody, he’s not going to split his soul, because that would make it impure.” And this guy is in my face yelling at me.
[Andrew laughs.]
Laura: And I just felt so…
[Eric laughs]
Laura: I just – I threw my arms in the air. I was like, “YES!” And Jess, you know, who’s the Dumbledore hater, she was beside me and she’s just freaking out, and she’s all happy. So, it was a wonderful moment.
Andrew: [laughs] It was probably the guy from Dumbledoreisnotdead.com. [laughs]
Ben: I’m going to think of a way to twist and contort what Jo said that night.
[Laura snorts]
Ben: Distort…
Eric: Into what?
Laura: Okay, I have no idea why, but I just spit soda, like everywhere. [laughs]
Ben: No, I’m going to – I’m going to find a way to prove to you that there’s still room to kill Ron and Hermione.
Andrew: I’m telling you, man. Listen to that audio and you will be very convinced that they are going to die, because it definitely came off as a slip-up.
Ben: No, okay, she’s very deceptive. You know she’s very deceptive. She’s very tricky. There’s – so, I wouldn’t put it past her.
Andrew: Yeah, but you could tell she didn’t do it on purpose. I’ll show it to you later.
Eric: But, later that night, too, there was, like – one of the final questions she was asked was so big. It was one she absolutely had to ignore and she said, “You guys should feel happy. I gave you Harry, Hermione, you know? I gave you Dumbledore. I gave you Petunia.” She was listing all these things she thought we clearly were given by her and, so you know, I don’t think that’s still the question.
Petunia
Eric: And the things she said about Petunia was that there is, quote, “more to her than meets the eye,” which makes it seem like she’s a witch to me, but I guess that could be interpreted…
Laura: No, didn’t she debunk that?
Eric: Maybe somewhere, but she said there’s – someone asked her about Petunia. Oh, yeah! “Will Petunia be sad that Harry’s last time on Privet Drive is this summer?” Or something. It was like that question, and she answered it kind of like that.
Ben Knows The “Truth”
Ben: Well, guys, something I want to point out is that, even though I know several of you probably enjoy seeing one of the Trio die with me, you’re just holding out for popularity, or something.
[Andrew laughs.]
Ben: Got to say they’re all going to live…
Laura: No, you know what? If it…
Ben: So all the fans love me. I’m sorry, I’m not saying this to be hated…
[Laura laughs.]
Ben: I just – this is just the way I feel.
Andrew: You feel very strongly about this, Ben.
Ben: I’m standing up for what I believe in.
Final Thoughts On The Evening
Laura: No, you know what? I – I mean, I would be very sad if one of the members of the Trio died, but at the same time, I would understand that that’s reality. I could go with it either way. Although okay, I had one thing that I wanted to say. Was anyone else surprised that Stephen King and John Irving did not read from Carrie and The World According to Garp?
Jamie: Yes
Laura: Since that was what it was called! [laughs]
Ben: Well, it’s just what they’re – it’s just what they’re really famous for reading. That’s what – no, famous for writing. So, it was…
Laura: Yeah, but I just figured that if that’s what they were calling it, then…
Eric: Well, “Harry” is so vague. “Harry” could be any of the books, so that’s not really fair to the authors to call it “Harry, Carrie, and Garp,” if they are actually going to make them read those novels…
Laura: Yeah, I guess.
Eric: Because, what JK Rowling novel is Jo not going to read that isn’t a “Harry” book? The rabbit one?
Ben: Yeah, that’s… So, that’s what I was going to say. The rabbit book she wrote when she was six.
Andrew: That would be interesting to hear, at least.
Eric: Dude, that would be cool. That would be fun.
Laura: But, apart from that, I had a great time.
Andrew: Yeah, it really was an excellent…
Laura: Awesome.
Andrew: …event put on by Scholastic, and hopefully she’ll do something like this in the future. Maybe in another six years.
[Laura and Eric laugh.]
Laura: I hope she does, but one of the reasons that I was so adamant to go, is because, I mean, it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even it we do see her again, we’re not going to probably see her reading alongside such great authors such as Stephen King and John Irving. So, I’m not sure we’ll ever get to see anything quite like it again.
Andrew: Right, yeah, combined with those two other authors, it really was a unique night.
Laura: Mhm.
Gifts
Laura: We actually had a lot of cool people at the Vegas and New York shows who brought us things. I think… I want to say…
Andrew: I think I know who you’re talking about.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Jennifer and Kelly.
Laura: Yes!
Eric: Time to thank them.
Jamie: In New York.
Andrew: They made us nice little goodie bags filled with chocolate and hats…
Ben: Goodie bags.
Andrew: …and a few other different things. Oh, we all got a little personalized letter. It was very nice. And we also got a little kangaroos from – who was it again, Jamie? What was her name? The Australian girl.
Jamie: Erica. Erica.
Andrew: Yeah, thanks to her for those little kangaroos. I also – I don’t know if anyone else did – I got a little iPod carrier from someone. I forget your name, please e-mail me and then I’ll thank you. It has a little “A” on it, and it’s in Gryffindor colors, it’s really nice.
Laura: In New York, a really lovely, wonderful girl, named Katie, brought me a bunch of Save Darfur bracelets, because she and a friend of hers are really into the cause. And they made a little movie about it, and it was at their school’s Academy-Award-type thing for student-made movies. So, I wanted to thank her for being really into that cause, because that’s something that’s very important to me, and it was really sweet of her to bring those for me.
Andrew: And we also got cards from a girl named Christina. She all made us little personalized cards with a little note.
Laura: Oh, yeah, those were so cute!
Andrew: Yeah, so thanks again to everyone who came out to the live shows. We had a great time meeting everyone. Anyone else got anything to add?
Ben: [singing] And you can tell everybody, that this is your show…
Jamie: I’d just like to say…
Eric: [singing] This is your show…
Jamie: I’d like to say something very quickly. This is going to be brief. I’d just like to say to everyone, that every time we touch I feel the static…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …and every time we touch I reach for the sky. Can’t you feel my heart beat slow? I can’t let you go. I want you in my life. All of you.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Oh, wow!
Jamie: So, thank you very much.
Andrew: That’s very nice.
Ben: [singing] You can tell everybody, that this is your show…
Show Close
Andrew [Show Close with music in background]: So, once again, thanks to everyone for listening in for the past year. We really appreciate everyone’s support. All the e-mails. All the thank-yous. All the everything that we get.
Laura: We love you guys.
Andrew: Exactly. On that note, let’s give you our contact information one last time. The PO Box, Ben?
Ben: PO Box 223, Moundridge, Kansas, 67107.
Andrew: You can also leave a voice mail for us. In the United States dial, 1-218-20-MAGIC. If in the United Kingdom, you can dial 02081440677. If in Australia, just for Erica, you can dial 0280035668. Don’t forget, you can also email us, mugglecast at staff dot mugglenet dot com. Skype the username, MuggleCast. You can leave a voice mail that way, too. And do not forget to vote for us at the 2006 Podcast Awards. Vote for MuggleCast in “People’s Choice” and PotterCast in “Best Entertainment.” Once again, I’m Andrew Sims.
Ben: I’m Ben Schoen.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson
Jamie: And I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Andrew: Oh my god, Eric and Jamie, that was the most depressing goodbye.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: Sorry. And I’m Jamie Lawrence. Goodbye! [smacks lips]
Eric: And bye! Done!
Andrew: That’s better. We leave you tonight with voice mails from listeners like you, who can recall some favorite MuggleCast moments from the past year. Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone, for listening. And we’ll see you next week for Episode 51.
Jamie’s Singing
Jamie: [singing off tune] Who wants to live forever?
[To Ben] Come on.
Ben: I don’t know that one.
Jamie: [singing] Who wants to live forever? Who wants to live forever?
[Everyone laughs]
Jamie: Come on!
[Still singing off tune] Oooooh….. Who dares to love forever? Aaaahh!
Melissa: The maids are laughing hysterically at you.
Jamie: Sorry?
Melissa: The maids are laughing hysterically at you.
Jamie: Oh, really?
Melissa: Yeah, they’re cracking up.
Ben: Do I’m Proud to be an American?
Jamie: Sorry?
Ben: Do I’m Proud to be an American?
Andrew: Yeah, that’s the best.
Melissa: What? Nobody is videotaping this!
Jamie: [singing off tune]
New York to L.A.
In every American heart,
And it’s time we stand and say,
That I’m proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I’m free.
I won’t forget the men who died,
Who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
Next to you…
There ain’t no doubt I love this land…
God bless the USA.
[Andrew laughs]
[Jamie takes a long pause to breathe]
Jamie: [resumes singing]
And we’re proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I’m free.
Kevin: [laughs] You’re going to fall.
Jamie: [still singing]
And I won’t forget the men who died,
Who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up…
[Stops singing to speak] Oh my God, I’m so tired!
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Andrew, do you have to pay for Acquisition?
Jamie: [still singing]
…still today.
And there ain’t no doubt I love this land.
God bless the USA!
Kevin: Wait what?
Andrew: That was beautiful!
Listener Favorite Moments
[Audio]: Hi, MuggleCast, this is Marissa Bowers, 14, of Pennsylvania. And I wanted to call about the favorite Podcast numbers and moments. And I have to say that one of my favorite moments is Jamie’s proposal. I laughed for ten minutes, of course. Or more. And rewound it about five times. And my other favorite moment is Jamie’s bet with the sausages. Mmmm. Good times. Can’t wait. And you know what? I just really want that to happen. As much I don’t want Harry to die, I just still want that to happen. Thanks! Love the show! Bye!
[Audio]: Hello, MuggleCast, this is [inaudible] from Canada. My favorite MuggleCast moment has to be this: “This is MuggleCast Episode 18, December 04, 2005.” Want to know why? Because it’s the first ever MuggleCast episode I’ve ever listened to. So, Muggle-Show, you can keep it up! Bye!
[Audio]: Hey, guys, it’s Nicole from New Hampshire, and I just want to say, Happy 50th Episode. And I love the show. One of my favorite moments is when Matt Vines said Jo was full of it. I love the show! Bye!
[Audio]: Hi, this is Tori from Texas, calling in for Episode 50, our favorite MuggleCast moments. I think my favorite moment, pretty recently, is Dumpster-Diving Jo. Every time I listen to that one, I just crack up and can’t stop laughing. So, that would have to be my favorite MuggleCast moment. All right, guys, keep up the show! Bye!
[Audio]: Hi, MuggleCast, I was just calling to tell you one my favorite moments from MuggleCast. One of my favorite moments was when, on Episode 23, Melissa called into the Advice Segment and pretended to be Julie even though you guys probably knew it was her, but, I just – it took me a while to figure it out, and when I did figure it out, it was really funny. So, I really liked that! Bye!
[Audio]: Hey, MuggleCast, this is Katie from Florida, and I just wanted to say, I love, absolutely love, your show. And you sure make me feel like I’m not the only nerd out there. And I love you, Ben! Bye!
[Audio]: Hi, this is Liz from Maryland, and I was just at your live show in New York City, and I had a great time! When I first saw you all come out there, it just reminded me how much joy you guys actually bring to my life. And I know I speak for a lot of MuggleCast fans when I say that you guys definitely make the week a whole lot better. And I would seriously, truly, I don’t know what I would do without MuggleCast. You guys are amazing. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. Um, yep, I want to marry Ben Schoen! Okay, bye!
[Audio]: Hi, Andrew and Ben! [receives prompting] It’s Ryan Sims! Have fun in Las Vegas! Okay, bye!
[Audio]: Hello, my name is Johnny. And I live in Georgia, which is very close to where Laura lives. And I want to meet up with her, and we’re going to have several little Muggles! Bye!
———————–
Written by: Micah, Allison, Amanda, Eloise, Margaret, Martina, and Roni