Transcript for MuggleCast Episode #285, Newtcase
Show Intro
[Show music plays]
Andrew Sims: This is MuggleCast, your Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts podcast covering everything about J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. This week’s episode is brought to you by Audible.com. Audible is the leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 180,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including fiction, nonfiction, and periodicals. For a free audiobook of your choice, go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. Welcome to MuggleCast Episode 285. Micah, Eric, and I here this week. Happy Thanksgiving, guys.
Eric Scull: Aww, Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Andrew.
Micah Tannenbaum: What are you thankful for, Andrew?
Andrew: Um, well…
Micah: Aside from the two of us.
Andrew: Hmm. What am I thankful for? Well, actually, I wanted to talk later in the show about if you had to pick one thing that you’re thankful for in the world of Harry Potter this year, what would that be? Because there’s a lot to consider.
Micah: Okay, I’ll let you have about 30 or 45 minutes to think about it. We’ll come back later on in the show.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: I have a Harry Potter idea, yeah, but what I’m actually thankful for outside of Harry Potter? I don’t… the new Adele album, I guess? I don’t know.
Eric: [laughs] Thanks, Adele.
Andrew: Did I steal yours, Micah?
Micah: Yeah, that was totally mine.
Andrew: You want to come over and Adele and cry? It’s the new Netflix and chill. [laughs]
Micah: I was going to actually dress up like Adele and pretend that… what did she do? She did something, right? Where she surprised a bunch of people who like to sing like she did?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Adele wannabes, so to speak. Well, did you see the SNL skit?
Eric: I did. I did.
Micah: I did not.
Andrew: That was great. You’ve got to watch it.
Eric: They’re at Thanksgiving dinner, and heated arguments are washed away when Adele comes on the boombox in the corner.
Andrew: Right. [laughs] It is actually laugh out loud funny. It’s so good.
Eric: It’s pretty good, yeah.
Micah: I’ll have to check it out.
MuggleCast on Patreon
Andrew: So before we get to the news… and there’s a lot of good stuff for us to talk about this week.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: It kind of feels like it happened a while ago, but a lot got unveiled about Fantastic Beasts earlier this month. Before we get to that, we kind of have a little announcement/request. As everybody knows, there’s a lot going on with Harry Potter right now, and we’re currently deciding what to do with MuggleCast over the next few years, because as everybody knows, it’s an exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan. There’s three spinoff movies in the works, there’s the play, and whatever else J.K. Rowling has in store for us. So with so much to talk about these days, we’re interested in ramping up how many episodes of MuggleCast we do, and we’re interested in – wait for it – potentially releasing two or even four episodes a month, like we used to do in the good old days.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: And going back to in-depth segments about the books and characters, etc., and we want to take what we do on the show currently and expand on it, so just offering up more Harry Potter content for you to consume each month. But to do that, we need to make the show more of a priority in our lives, and that means getting your financial support. So what we’re considering doing is launching a Patreon, and a lot of you may be familiar with this. Micah and Eric do one with Game of Owns right now, and I do one with Millennial. It’s basically a Kickstarter for creators like podcasters, authors, etc. So our plans aren’t set in place yet, but we have a bunch of ideas for what we could do in this Patreon, and we’re curious if you’d be interested in seeing them come to fruition. So we would love, love, love if you took this survey we put together. Just go to MuggleCast.com, and right at the top you’ll see a link to this survey. It’ll only take a couple minutes – super easy to fill out – and we’d really appreciate if you’d do that so we can figure out if there’s enough interest for a Patreon, if there’s enough interest for more episodes of MuggleCast, and if you want to support us – which would be amazing – what you would like to receive for supporting us. So I mean, Micah and Eric, you can share your thoughts, but I just want to finally say that the three of us think now is the perfect time to ramp up MuggleCast in a big way, but we can only do it if we have your support, and we know many of you have been with us for years, or even with us since the very beginning, so we see an opportunity here to connect with you guys in a big way.
Micah: Absolutely. And basically, what Andrew is saying is it’s been free for ten years, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t support us. I’m just kidding.
Andrew: It’s time to pay up. [laughs]
Micah: No, but I agree with what you just said, that there is a lot that we can talk about now. Really, since the last film came out, it’s been a bit quiet. There’s been moments, but I think now, with everything that you mentioned that’s going to be going on, we really are interested in continuing this podcast for the long term. And there’s going to be, I think, a strong desire on our part to continue to do episodes more than just monthly. We’re happy to continue to do that, but if we’re going to want and look to expand, we would definitely be appreciative of any support that you’re willing to give. Obviously, we’re very much in debt to all of you for your support over the course of the last ten years – almost 300 episodes of MuggleCast – and we couldn’t have done it without the listener base that we’ve had, and just how passionate and engaged you are about the series, but this is moving things in a little bit of a different direction. Of course, there’s no… you don’t have to support the show; we’re not twisting your arm saying you absolutely… there’s no Unbreakable Vow or anything like that.
Andrew: This show will always be free, too, by the way. I should mention that.
Micah: Yeah, absolutely. But like I said, in terms of moving us all forward and looking to see what we can do in the future, this is an opportunity we wanted to present to all of you, and take the survey and let us know how you feel, and we’ll make decisions based on your feedback.
Eric: Yeah. I mean, the survey is a great way for you guys to tell us what you would want to see in return for any contributions at all, and it will give us a really good idea. So I mean, we’ve always sort of had… we’ve utilized fan input in the past, ever since the very beginning, through voicemails, and basically it influenced where we went for the live shows, too, just hearing from you guys in general. So this is not necessarily new, that we’re listening to what your thoughts are on this, but definitely let us know, and there’s an opportunity to just generally state what it is that you’d like, and we’ll be reading all your comments and your feedback.
Andrew: Yeah. Something I learned this year – and we can get to this later with the Thanksgiving segment – I just really feel like this year, more than any year since Deathly Hallows – Part 2 came out, I’ve been very reassured that there’s a big future in Harry Potter.
Eric: I agree.
Andrew: Even Fantastic Beasts alone. Those films are being released two years apart; that’s six years ahead of wizarding world stuff from J.K. Rowling. And Warner Bros. is going to want to do more after that, so who knows what else is in store? But I think Harry Potter is really ramping up again, and we want to be there through all of it. So again, just visit MuggleCast.com, and there will be a link to take a survey right at the top. And we’ll also offer links on social media if you want to find it that way.
Eric: Yes.
Wizarding World Hollywood
Andrew: So let’s get to the news now. Before we get to Fantastic Beasts, a little… this is kind of a local story, but I wanted to bring it up. Universal Studios Hollywood is currently building their version of Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and they announced the 2016 pass prices. Now, I know these don’t appeal to you guys, but I live literally ten minutes away…
Eric: Nice.
Andrew: … so I am extremely excited to be able to hop over to the Wizarding World whenever I want. I can see Hogwarts from… when I’m driving around town, and it’s…
Micah: From your house?
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Well, on my rooftop. I spoke about this, right? On the rooftop. There’s a tree blocking it; it’s so frustrating. [laughs]
Eric: Cut down the tree.
Andrew: But if I drive around North Hollywood, you can see it from everywhere, and it’s just so surreal to me to be able to look up and see Hogwarts. [laughs] I’m still not over it.
Eric: One of our milestone goals for the Patreon – not to bring that up again – should be to cut down your tree. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. If we raise enough, I will go take a chainsaw in the middle of the night to the tree.
Eric: Absolutely.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: And we’ll bail you out.
Andrew: Yeah, thank you. With the money we raise.
Eric: It’s funny you call that a local story. It’s LA. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, well, local to me.
Eric: No, but I think it’s important, right? Go on.
Andrew: So the price of a pass… if you buy it right now, you can get about 170 days of access to Universal Hollywood for $139. That’s not too bad, right?
Eric: That’s cheaper than Florida.
Andrew: Yeah, and a lot cheaper than the big theme park here, Disneyland. They’re Universal’s competitor. I thought it was pretty cool, because if you went every day… let’s say Wizarding World Hollywood… I’ve heard murmurs that it’s going to open up – soft open up – next month.
Eric: Whoa.
Andrew: And if that’s the case, as soon as I hear that they have soft opened, I am out my door, I am running over to Universal, and I am grabbing a butterbeer. But yeah, those prices are good, right? They were very reassuring to me.
Eric: Now, these passes, are they season passes? Or one day? Because the article wasn’t clear as far as…
Andrew: No, it’s an annual pass, so $139 for… it’s for a year, but there’s a bunch of blackout dates. But if you take the blackout dates out, then for $139 you get about 170 days of access. But by the time the Wizarding World opens, it’ll probably be about 120 days. But still, that’s a lot of days you can go to Hogwarts.
Eric: It’s a lot of days to go get a butterbeer.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs] And then you can get less blackout dates for more money, of course. But yeah, for those of you in the Southern California area, pretty good deal. And maybe we’ll have a meetup or something there, I don’t know, once it opens.
Micah: You should, Andrew. You should do a meetup. Take some photos.
Eric: Live MuggleCast from the Three Broomsticks.
Andrew: I’m sorry, this may be a little unprofessional of me, but I have vowed to my friends – and I’m dead serious about it – I want to get blackout drunk at the Hog’s Head. [laughs]
Eric: Well, you are a legal adult at this point…
Andrew: Yes, yes.
Eric: … and so long as you have a designated driver to take you home afterwards.
Andrew: Of course. I want to drink so much beer that I can’t remember leaving the park. [laughs]
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: And hopefully not getting kicked out.
Eric: Why don’t you just not leave? Why don’t you just hide in Honeydukes or something?
Andrew: Maybe, yeah. Is there a hiding spot in there? I’ll have to investigate.
Eric: Well, the one in Universal at least has several crevices, not that I’ve ever hidden in them, but…
Andrew: Yeah, you sure about that? [laughs]
Micah: Now, is this going to happen all 120 days that you’re going to have access to the park, or just once?
Andrew: Yes, I’m going to become a part-time alcoholic and… no, just one time, just one time. I’m doing it for the Facebook status.
Micah: You’re right, though, the value is great, even if it does open with about 120 days left of the year, because it’s basically like you’re getting a dollar a day access.
Andrew: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Plus, there’s other good rides at Universal Hollywood, but it’s not as good of a park as Universal Orlando. For one, Hollywood just has one park, whereas Orlando has two.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: And now Orlando has the Diagon Alley expansion, which is just amazing, and Hollywood will not.
Eric: It’s really funny because growing up, having known nothing about Universal Hollywood, that always seemed to me like it would be the more magical park, because it was actually in Hollywood, and it wasn’t until we started talking about the first Wizarding World going up that it was really brought up that Universal Hollywood was smaller, so I was shocked. I mean, I just always remember wanting to go, and seeing the commercials and wanting to go to Universal Studios Hollywood, but it looks like, I mean, many of the rides that they had were duplicated in Florida, weren’t they?
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Universal Hollywood is kind of landlocked. The big thing that they have that’s unique to Universal Hollywood is the studio tour, and they’ll take you around the studio soundstages and stuff, and you have a chance of seeing stars and whatnot. It’s pretty cool. So yeah, and again, those in Southern California area may want to pick up one of those passes, because soft openings may be happening soon.
Eric: They’ll go quick.
Andrew: Yep.
Micah: Well, you have a lot to look forward to out there, though. Obviously the grand opening is coming, but they seem to be doing these reoccurring celebrations down in Orlando, which I’m sure maybe they will do in LA as well once the park is officially opened, and I’m sure you’ll get the chance to go in a tent.
Andrew: [laughs] Maybe. If not, I will sit on my rooftop and cry while watching the fireworks from two miles away.
Eric: From either side of the tree.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Micah: No, your fireworks pictures from… I don’t even know how many years ago it is at this point, but that…
Andrew: I think that was 2010.
Micah: Wow, so five years ago at this point. There was one photo… was it with the snowman in the foreground and the fireworks over Hogwarts?
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s nice you remember that, Micah. Yeah, I took some good pictures.
Micah: No, yeah, you should become a photographer.
Andrew: [laughs] I should; I do like photography on the side. We’re going to continue with today’s episode in just a moment, but first, it’s time to remind you that today’s episode is brought to you by Audible.com. They are the Internet’s leading provider of audiobooks, with more than 180,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature, including audio versions of many New York Times bestsellers. For listeners of MuggleCast, Audible is offering you a free audiobook to give you a chance to try out their great service, and I have a big pick for everybody this week. This has been a long time coming. Of course, this is a Harry Potter podcast, but I’ve never been able to recommend the Harry Potter books! They haven’t been on Audible! It’s not because I didn’t want to recommend them; it’s because they haven’t been available. But now, as of last week, all seven books have been added to Audible, I’m very happy to say, and you can get any one of them for free. If you’ve never listened to a Harry Potter audiobook, you must. You must. Now, two different people narrated the audiobooks in English; they are Jim Dale and Stephen Fry, two very well-known people, and the version in the Audible store is Jim Dale, which I’m so happy about, because frankly, I think he did a really great job, a better job than Stephen Fry did. I’m just looking at the bestsellers list. Interestingly… of course, all seven Harry Potter books are at the top of the bestseller list, but they’re in order, so it kind of seems like people are experiencing these books for the first time. They’re downloading them as they go through the series. Of course, we’ve all read the Harry Potter books, but if you listen to an audiobook, it’s a completely different experience, especially with somebody like Jim Dale, who created a unique voice for every single character in the series. You must give one of the Harry Potter audiobooks a try if you haven’t already. Just go to AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast. Pick any of the seven books. Maybe pick your favorite one; see what Jim Dale did with it. I think you’re really going to like it. AudiblePodcast.com/MuggleCast, and get a free audiobook. Thank you, Audible, for your support of the show.
Fantastic Beasts news
Andrew: Let’s move on to Fantastic Beasts news. Let’s start with the cover. So basically, all this information about Fantastic Beasts came out in a first look on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. This was earlier in November. If you look at the cover… which, by the way, I still haven’t seen this in person. I should have looked. But it’s got Newt, Eddie Redmayne, on the cover. Says right across the cover, “Harry Potter prequel.”
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And that kind of bothered me.
Eric: Oh, so this one is a prequel. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. And I kind of raised a fuss about this, I think, in my article, and then people corrected me that J.K. Rowling did tweet at one point that this is a prequel, whereas the Cursed Child is not. So anyway, did you guys have any reactions to this cover?
Micah: I’m shocked, quite honestly.
Eric: Shocked?
Micah: Yes, because they have revealed where to find the fantastic beasts.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Inside Newt’s suitcase.
Eric: Well, that’s only half of the title, Micah.
Andrew: [laughs] That’s a whole other…
Micah: It’s called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Andrew: That’s a whole other issue.
Micah: The whole riddle has been solved. I’m not seeing the movie.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Movie over.
Eric: You got spoiled now, on the first image. Well, I thought that that bit of knowledge, which we have not stated explicitly what it is just yet, was actually sort of cool. But just look-wise, what do you think of Newt?
Andrew: I think he looks very attractive. I’m very pleased with how he is looking. Got the longer hair kind of going over his forehead a little bit.
Eric: It’s a nice jacket, right?
Andrew: Nice jacket as well.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. He’s a 1920s wizard. He is “standing inside the entrance of the majestic Art Deco-influenced Magical Congress of the United States of America (or MACUSA), which is the American version of the Ministry of Magic.”
Eric: So much information came out of this EW article. It’s actually a little bit ridiculous how much there was in it. I mean, it’s Magical Congress; it’s not a Ministry for Magic… a number of other things that came out. But yeah, I like how it looks. That’s all I can say. The film… I mean, from the cover, there’s also a number of stills from the set, including one on a train platform with the supporting characters as well. And in that one, I do want to point out Newt is wearing a Hufflepuff scarf.
Andrew: What? Wait, which still is this?
Eric: This is the one with the… it’s at the bottom of the Hypable article. It’s on the train platform. He’s wearing a Hufflepuff scarf.
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Well, it’s yellow and grey. I mean, do you think he’s actually representing Hufflepuff there?
Eric: I think he’s actually… well, we know that this character is or was a Hufflepuff, so it wouldn’t be… and he’s still maybe just a couple years out of Hogwarts at this point, so who knows? I don’t know. Maybe he embraces it. Could be coincidence.
Micah: I was actually going to point that out as well; I don’t think it’s by mistake that he’s wearing those colors.
Andrew: That’s a cool point. That didn’t dawn on me. That’s actually really cool. Yeah, so we saw the other supporting characters, and there’s nothing really to say about them. I mean, they look good, I guess. There’s one still of David Yates on set, and I thought that was pretty exciting, because he was the director of the four Harry Potter movies, so to see him back…
Micah: Who’s he playing?
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: He’s playing overworked director.
Eric: Aww.
Micah: No, what I really liked about it, though, is we got more of a description of these characters as… it’s great to obviously see them, but also get more insight into who, in fact, they are going to be playing, and how they all tie into this series.
Andrew: Yeah. Which stood out to you most, do you think? We’ll go through them all, but which one do you want to talk about first?
Micah: Actually, the mysterious character that’s mentioned at the end? Credence? Mary Lou’s troubled adopted son. And of course… yeah, go ahead.
Andrew: This is the one played by Ezra Miller, who was in Perks of Being a Wallflower. He’s also going to be the Flash for Warner Bros. in a few years, the movie.
Eric: Oh, no kidding.
Andrew: [laughs] He also had a great role in Trainwreck, if you’ve seen that movie. It came out a couple months ago.
Eric: I have not seen that.
Andrew: Oh, it’s really good. Yeah, right, so he’s described as a “most mysterious character.” He’s the troubled adopted son of Mary Lou, who is the leader of the fanatical Second Salemers, a group looking to expose and destroy wizards and witches. So my assumption is that Credence actually may be a wizard, or he is in support of wizards, unlike his mother.
Eric: Now, was this also in the EW article?
Andrew: Yeah, it was a separate…
Eric: Oh, wow.
Andrew: Yeah. Did you have any other thoughts on that, Micah?
Micah: I think that’s probably going to be the case; either he is, in fact, a wizard, has some sort of magical ability, or is a massive supporter of Newt and whatever his particular cause is going to be. Maybe he helps Newt out. Anytime you have a child of somebody who is portrayed as being extremely narrow-minded and fanatical, it’s often the case that that child ends up being in direct contrast to who, in this case, Mary Lou appears to be. But I think they all sound great. I mean, looking at Colin Farrell’s character, Graves, an Auror. In America, though; not from the Ministry of Magic, as we’ve come to know it.
Eric: Surprised they don’t have another name for Auror in America. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. And he’s being described as the right hand man of the American wizarding world’s president. So what interests me about him being an Auror is that there’s Dark Magic at play here, or Dark wizards, because why else would he have a prominent role in the movie? Which is surprising, because so far, even after this EW preview, we haven’t heard much about any Dark wizards existing.
Eric: Right.
Micah: No, not that we know of yet. But yeah, I like the fact that he is the right hand man of the president. And you actually had somewhat of a scoop on that, didn’t you, Andrew? There was a little bit more information.
Andrew: Yeah, well, and I think I mentioned this on a previous episode of MuggleCast; I’ve heard that they were going to be casting a woman as the wizarding world president.
Eric: Interesting.
Andrew: I don’t know if this is the President of the United States…
Micah: Hillary?
Andrew: … I don’t know if this is some wizarding world president… I guess it would be the wizarding world’s president.
Eric: Right, it would have to be, because otherwise it’s not history.
Andrew: Right, right. Well, and EW describes the person as “The American wizarding world’s president,” so like the leader of the Ministry of Magic?
Eric: Yeah, it would be the Minister for Magic, like the equivalent of that. But it’s going to be very interesting having a Magical Congress, but yet… so I wonder if the wizarding world government is split into three branches like the US government is, or if it’s just the leader of the Congress. I’m wondering how that works, but I’m sure we’ll either understand by the time we see the movie, or not.
Andrew: I just love the idea of Colin Farrell as an Auror.
Eric: Me too.
Andrew: And even the name Graves; you just know he’s going to be gritty and just no-nonsense and kind of an asshole.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Humorous, though. And that’s something that David Heyman pointed out in another article, is that there’s a lot of humor in this movie.
Andrew: Ugh, we’ll talk about that.
Micah: All right.
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Overall, though, I like the descriptions of these characters. We learned that Tina and Queenie are going to be roommates, in addition to being siblings. Queenie is showing a little bit of leg in that poster; I don’t know what that’s about.
Andrew: [laughs] Queenie is also a Legilimens…
Eric: Oooh.
Andrew: … meaning she can read minds, and we all remember that scene in Harry Potter when Snape reads Harry’s mind and tries to train Harry to block out people from coming in, namely Voldemort. So I like this because, like Graves being an Auror, Queenie being a Legilimens is a nice little connection to Harry Potter. It’s a nice little… when you hear about it in this movie, you’re going to be like, “Oh, yeah, I remember that from Harry Potter.”
Eric: Right. Now, I wonder… because in Harry Potter, Harry was forced to relive what was being extracted from his mind, or he watched it as it was being extracted. It wasn’t necessarily mind-reading so much as forcing him to relive… so I’m wondering if Queenie can do it a different way, like if she’ll just be able to sort of be an empath and tell people how they’re feeling before they are feeling it. You know what I’m saying? Because it’s kind of… if it’s Legilimency, it should make the subject completely aware that their mind is being read.
Andrew: Right, right. And then Tina, who eventually marries Newt, works at the Magical Congress of the United States of America, so they’re going to meet at Mac USA.
Micah: [laughs] Sounds so weird.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Mac USA.
Andrew: It’s the Apple Store.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And according to this EW preview, Tina is relegated to an office well below her abilities; after she stood up for the wrong person, she launched a fight for what’s right. So you can see where this is going: Tina is going to admire what Newt is up to, whatever he’s up to, and they’ll work together.
Micah: She’s very Hermione-like, at least in the description.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah.
Micah: And then we have Jacob, who’s a Muggle factory worker/aspiring baker.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: He’s the Peeta of this film.
Eric: I like this idea, though, that he is a Muggle.
Andrew: Yeah, and as EW notes, he is the Harry Potter franchise’s first Muggle main character, which is kind of interesting.
Micah: Cool.
Andrew: Played by Dan Fogler, by the way. I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything.
Micah: The photo reminds me a bit of Vernon.
Andrew: Yeah, he totally looks like Vernon. Agreed, agreed.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So those were the character descriptions. We also… getting back to the cover and the stills, Newt is holding a briefcase, and to somebody who doesn’t know anything about this film, it’s like, “Oh, briefcase. So what?” Well, as it turns out, this Newt… [laughs] I almost said Newtcase.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: This suitcase… let’s call it the Newtcase from now on.
Eric: Newtcase, yeah.
Micah: That’s the title of the episode now.
Eric: Absolutely. The Newtcase. I like that.
Andrew: I like it too. The Newtcase holds a world of magic.
Eric: Oh no.
Andrew: Let me quote the article here. “This case is one of those way-way-way-bigger-on-the-inside magical devices, and within are expansive habitats for a collection of rare and endangered magical creatures from Newt’s travels around the globe. He discovers the American wizarding community is fearfully hiding from Muggles. Fantastic Beasts is the story of what happens when this uniquely skilled English wizard travels to wiz-phobic America and a variety of his creatures, some quite dangerous, get out of their case.” So this is kind of what we speculated on another recent episode. Didn’t we say that beasts would be wreaking habit, and then Newt, the reason he’s staying longer than intended, is because he’s got to get them under control, right?
Eric: Because he’s got to get animals under control. Yeah, the fascinating thing, or the different thing here, what we didn’t predict, is that Newt is carrying these creatures with him to begin with, and…
Micah: It’s all his fault.
Eric: It’s all his fault, and that’s why. And he’s the only one who’s uniquely skilled to get them back, because he caught them in the first place.
Micah: Or is it his fault? We don’t know. I mean, somebody else could release them.
Andrew: Could be Credence…
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Eric: That’s the interesting thing. This plot sounds so similar to the plot of the recent Goosebumps movie. Have any of you guys seen that Goosebumps movie, by the way?
Andrew: I haven’t. I’ve really wanted to, though.
Micah: No.
Eric: Yeah, well, it’s got Jack Black, who plays R.L. Stine, which is neither a reason to see it nor a reason not to see it. But apparently it’s like all the little creatures from the Goosebumps books, all the original 50 or so, are let loose in the real world, and they’ve got to… basically, this child and neighbor kids all have to go and get them back in their books. And just… and certainly a Goosebumps movie of a couple months ago is not the first sort of story to do this – we’ve seen it before in literature – but just having it be that this is the plot of an upcoming movie, it just kind of seems like it’s overshadowed by… it’s not a fully original idea.
Andrew: Yeah. With that said, I like this plot description. I like these ideas. I think it’s really cool that Newt is holding this suitcase, kind of like that bag that Hermione carries around in Deathly Hallows, that there’s a bunch of worlds in it. I can picture him opening up the suitcase, and it kind of expands like a… you know those children books that kind of… pop-out books, I guess you would call them? And I was also just thinking, we live in a pretty remarkable age of CGI work. I can’t wait to see what these beasts look like!
Eric: That’s true.
Andrew: I mean, they’re going to be crazy on screen, I have to think.
Micah: Yeah, this is all going to be done extremely, extremely well, I think. And it does remind me of Hermione’s bag, of even the Knight Bus, how that expands once you’re inside, or the tent from Goblet of Fire when they’re out at the Quidditch World Cup. But what I think differentiates this from, let’s say, a Goosebumps type of plot is that you have so much that seems to be going on from a political undertone standpoint. And I know we mentioned earlier, there doesn’t really seem to be a villain that’s been cast yet – that we know of, anyway – but I don’t even know that this first movie needs that. You’re going to have beasts running all over the place, from the sound of it. You’re going to have a bit of prejudice going on from a political standpoint, it seems like, in terms of Muggle world versus wizarding world, or No-Maj world versus wizarding world, however it gets to be finalized. But I just think that there’s going to be a lot that’s going to be happening here that’ll hopefully carry over into the second and third films. But I don’t think the sole focus of the film is just going to be… somebody put Pokémon in the doc, like, “Gotta catch ’em all.”
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: That’s going to be part of the plot, but I think there’s going to be a lot going on…
Andrew: Oh, for sure.
Micah: … that’s not just focused on the actual beasts themselves.
Andrew: Yeah. I couldn’t help but think about Pokémon when I heard the suitcase thing, because in Pokémon, you get these Poké Balls, and you capture them, and they shrink down and hide in these Poké Balls. [laughs] So I don’t know, I kind of hope that he has some certain way of catching them. Is there a spell that…? How does he get them into the suitcase?
Micah: Accio.
Eric: Speaking of spells, though, it was also… I really want to talk about this. It was revealed that his wand core is not… or his wand is not made from animals. Wasn’t that also in this EW article somewhere? I’m trying to see if I can find it.
Andrew: I don’t know.
Eric: I’m going to get a source on that in a moment. But yeah, his wand core is different, which is weird and interesting.
Andrew: Well, yeah, check on that, and then in the meantime, we will talk about… oh, one other thing I guess worth mentioning about… jumping back to the characters, this second Salemer, Mary Lou. What do we think about that? A Second Salemer. So this is referring to the Salem witch trials, and there will be this Second Salem group that is out to destroy witches and wizards. I kind of love that, that it’s called Second Salem.
Eric: Yeah, I like it too, a lot, except that I wonder where it’s going with this prejudice stuff. I think it’s important to acknowledge that that sort of thing happens in the real world, but as an obstacle for Newt to overcome, I kind of just would rather an adventure story. But we’ll see. I’ll obviously try and withhold a lot of my judgment until the film comes. But it’s just… the Salem witch trials were a couple hundred years ago at this point, and it was shocking, I think, to us all that secrecy was not really accomplished in the US at this point, that wizards are apparently… people know they exist because people are picketing against them; it was like that set report we got. So we’ll see how it works out.
Andrew: Well, we don’t know if… I think there may… I don’t think this is suggesting that there wasn’t secrecy, because wasn’t the secrecy…? Well, I guess you’re right, because if there’s a group, maybe the group forms after the beasts break out of the suitcase?
Eric: It seems like not enough time passes. My whole thing is… I think it’ll be… so Newt Scamander, this highly accomplished beast catcher, is in New York, probably just passing through. Maybe it’s his first time in New York, and he encounters a world that’s drastically different from England, because there’s these picketers, and people don’t like wizards here, and all the wizards live in fear, which, what they have to be fearful from, I don’t know, but we’ll see. And then his beasts get loose, and all the wizards hate him because he’s just made their job so much harder, [laughs] but he’s also going to have to bravely stand up and get the things back and save the day, despite the fact that even wizards don’t like him because he’s making tensions worse?
Andrew: Yeah. No, I mean, that’s not a bad thought.
Micah: I mean, one thing that came to mind for me is we know that this is happening in the 1920s in New York, in the heart of the Great Depression, right? So maybe it’s possible that these people, the “Muggles” or whatever we’re calling them now, they are blaming some of what’s happening on the wizarding world. It’s certainly possible. I am also kind of a bit wary – and Eric touched on this – but of the prejudice that’s going to be, or at least appears to be, at the forefront of some of what’s going on in this movie. It’s interesting that we’re seeing this a little bit more than what we did… certainly it was in the Potter series, with pure-blood versus Mudblood, and it played a very important role between families like the Malfoys and the Weasleys and Hermione and her role in the entire series, but it seems like it’s much more pronounced in this first film, and that it’s more so coming from the nonmagical folk toward the magical folk. And I wonder how that sets up everything that is to come in the future, how that influences relationships between the magical world and the nonmagical world and within the magical world itself.
Andrew: Good questions.
Eric: I’m still looking on this wand thing, but I stumbled upon an interview on SnitchSeeker that actually has some other indication about what the movie might be about. Katherine Waterston, the actor, says that “The most endearing thing is watching Eddie interact with the beasts. It’s so beautiful. He’s worked out all these different dynamics with them.” So apparently it won’t just necessarily be capture and action and this kind of thing, but actually, Eddie had some time to interact with the beasts in some capacity.
Andrew: He’s like a beast whisperer.
Eric: Yeah, exactly.
Andrew: Or like Chris Pratt’s character in Jurassic World. He kind of…
Eric: Yeah, he knows all about them.
Andrew: He’s the trainer of the raptors, and he gives them names, and he can control them.
Eric: Here’s a quote from Eddie on J.K. Rowling that I’d like to share: “She could talk you through everything, every intricacy. You’re not playing a ‘real character,’ but in J.K. Rowling’s mind, Newt is entirely three-dimensional, and you can talk to her about what his life was like.”
Andrew: That must be so fun.
Eric: So this is really cool, actually. Yeah, I’m really kind of interested in… it just seems like a lot of… it’s a complicated plot.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. I don’t think J.K. Rowling will be letting us down. So finally, the third… well, actually, there’s kind of two more things. The next big reveal was J.K. Rowling… it turns out, she created a American word for Muggle, and this drove people crazy in all different directions.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: So the word is “No-Maj.” It’s spelled N-O-hyphen-M-A-J, but pronounced “Madge,” like Madonna’s nickname.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: And this is what will be used, not by everybody, but this is the American word. We did learn later that “Muggle” will still appear in Fantastic Beasts. I presume that Newt will use “Muggle,” whereas Americans will use “No-Maj.”
Eric: Right, right. That seems safe.
Andrew: So I mean… I didn’t really mind this revelation. I think it makes sense.
Eric: I’d like to know what historical precedent there is for a hyphenated word like this.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: That’s what I want to know. I want an example of somebody in the 1920s or sooner making up a word that has a hyphen in it. And “No-Maj” for just “You don’t have magic,” that just seems kind of unintelligent.
Andrew: Yeah. It does seem to bother people, largely because it just seems so weird.
Micah: Right.
Eric: Yeah, but I mean, I can remember being…
Micah: Weird?
Eric: I can remember thinking that Muggle was a silly word. It just sounds silly at first.
Andrew: Right, but we’ve gotten used to it now.
Eric: Oh, yeah. 14 years later, it’s just like, “Oh, okay. No, that’s the normal word, and now I hate this other word.”
Andrew: [laughs] What do you think, Micah?
Micah: I don’t really know what to think. I don’t know that Americans need their own word for Muggle. I think somebody pointed out the fact that there are American editions of the Harry Potter books, and not once is the word “No-Maj” used in those editions. So if that was, in fact, such a big deal, why not use it in the American edition of the books?
Eric: Ohh.
Andrew: No, no, no, no. Hold on, hold on. They don’t use it in the American edition of the books because it’s still set in England.
Eric: Well, okay, coming at it from this angle, then, America was founded in the 1700s or 1800s, decades and centuries long after the British, who eventually, some of them would go off and colonize America…
Andrew: True.
Eric: … had had the word Muggle. So it’s a word that developed after Muggle, and therefore doesn’t need to have developed after Muggle?
Andrew: Well, I would still argue that wizards came over to America and they didn’t know what the lingo was over in England, necessarily.
Eric: Or they wanted to be different, I guess, right? Because America is all about wanting to be different than the Brits.
Andrew: Yeah. And really, it’s just short for “No-Magic.” But you can’t call somebody, “Oh, you’re a No-Magic.”
[Eric laughs]
Micah: Right.
Andrew: That doesn’t really… that makes less sense.
Eric: I mean, unless there’s a drastic difference in population, Muggles… wow. Wizards are still the minority here. There are not near as many wizards as there are No-Maj people.
Micah: Yeah. I mean, we don’t know the history here. Perhaps we’ll learn about it in the film; perhaps J.K. Rowling will provide some more context. But I was just looking at the article that Selina had put together, saying that there were other words for Muggle that have existed long before No-Maj came about, and that would also… that’s what made me think back to the American editions of the book, because obviously, words were changed from the British editions to the American editions, so if this is, in fact, what Americans use to refer to nonmagical people – or sorry, what American wizards used to refer to nonmagical people – why wasn’t it in the American edition of the Potter books?
Eric: I mean, Selina’s article – which I love, too – is talking about translated words. They made a word up to translate. This is actually just…
Micah: Right, but isn’t that what they’re doing when…?
Eric: No.
Micah: They’re taking British phrases that may not be understood by American readers, and they’re “translating” it into American English. That’s exactly what they’re doing.
Eric: They’re not. No, it’s different.
Micah: They’re not.
Eric: It’s more of a nickname. It’s more of…
Micah: Well, no, you’re saying because this is a term that’s used within the series, that makes it different, but does it really?
Eric: No. Think of the word “soup” in French is a different word than “soup” in Finnish, in Danish, in Portuguese… the word “soup” is an English word.
Micah: Yes.
Eric: So it’s called something else in these different languages. “Muggle” and “No-Maj” are both English language words for…
Micah: No, but if you read both the American and British editions of the book, not every word in them is going to be the same.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: That’s true.
Eric: Well, that’s due to editing, yeah. “Taps” and… can’t think of another.
Micah: It’s due to Americanizing the series, which we could have a whole ‘nother discussion about.
Eric: Yeah, some people argue that that shouldn’t be a thing. I think it should be more of a thing.
Micah: But anyway, I don’t know how to feel about this at the end of the day. I don’t really know… it kind of ties into this feeling about how American society is being portrayed, at least in the 1920s in New York, about having these sorts of feelings towards nonmagical people. I don’t know how to feel.
Andrew: Well, get used to it. I’m buying you a No-Maj shirt for Christmas. “I’m a No-Maj.”
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: So should we change our name to No-MajCast because we’re American?
Micah: No.
Eric: Uh…
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: I don’t like the ring of it.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: I agree.
Eric: Can you do a hyphen in the…? Oh, I guess you can, in a URL.
Micah: In the Twitter handle?
Andrew: I didn’t change the Twitter handle, but I did change, as a joke, our Twitter name. So if you go to Twitter.com/MuggleCast, you’ll see “No-MajCast” is our name.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: And also, I bought the domain Yes-Maj.com, and I will soon be launching a pro-wizard site…
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: … for us 1920s Americans, so stay tuned for that. I believe they deserve equal rights here in the US of A. So Yes-Maj.com is your resource for everything beasts. [laughs] I saw that MuggleNet bought NoMajNet.com.
Eric: Yeah, we did.
Andrew: If you go to NoMajNet.com – no hyphens – it’ll redirect to MuggleNet.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: I think we were all buying domain names that morning.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, you’ve got to squat all of them.
Eric: [laughs] It’s good business.
Andrew: Final Fantastic Beasts story today: So in honor of the tenth anniversary of Goblet of Fire opening in theaters – it opened November 2005 – EW released one more tidbit from their Fantastic Beasts set visit. This came a couple weeks after the cover story. They spoke to producer David Heyman, who also produced the Harry Potter movies, and they asked, “Which Harry Potter film does Fantastic Beasts most… is it most similar to?” And David Heyman said Mike Newell. He said… sorry, David Heyman said Goblet of Fire. [laughs] And then David Heyman said, “Fantastic Beasts has got the charm of the fourth. It’s like the fourth. Mike [Newell, the director] talked about the fourth as being like an Indian musical – and it’s not that, but it’s got the humor of that film. It has the romantic comedy, that fish-out-of-water humor, that very human, natural character comedy. And now David [Yates] is always looking for truthful, human moments. It’s never just a gag. He’s grounding the storytelling moments in a reality. Beasts is very funny, it’s got a big heart, and there’s darkness too.”
Eric: Hmm.
Andrew: Yeah, so… now, Goblet of Fire, the movie and book, are not my favorite movie or book, so I was a little taken aback by this.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: But I don’t think we should take the comparison too seriously, because Heyman is just saying that the truthful human moments and the comedy… so okay. What do you guys think?
Eric: I mean, yeah, there’s nothing wrong with the fourth book. The fourth movie, where all the Hogwarts students are like hooligans, I don’t care for, but that said, Mike Newell actually went to a boarding school and spent some time there, and knows more than I do about them, so hey, maybe that’s how the world is. But I do think that it’s just about the romance, right? Because you have the Yule Ball. I love this subtitle of this article: “Angry Dumbledore included?” It’s just kind of… it’s funny to compare the two. But for me, the big comparison would have been – and Heyman did not say this – the dragons, right? Because I keep thinking about this massive beast…
Micah: The merpeople, the Grindylows…
Andrew: Right. Why…?
Eric: There are probably more beasts in that movie than there are in the other ones.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, yeah.
Eric: More creatures.
Micah: Yeah. And I was just remembering back to the book, the fantastic beasts that were in the maze, right? There was…
Eric: The sphinx?
Micah: The sphinx is the one that really stands out, probably more than any others. But there was other creatures there as well, like an Acromantula. There was a Blast-Ended Skrewt. There was a Dementor; I don’t really know what category that falls into.
Eric: Right.
Micah: But it’s just… there was a lot that was omitted from the maze itself. It was more, I think, psychological in the film than anything else. But from an actual creature standpoint, that was probably their biggest opportunity to include what would be considered fantastic beasts, and they didn’t. So it’s just kind of funny that he’s comparing it, in that sense, to Goblet of Fire. And Eric, like you mentioned, he doesn’t talk about the dragons; he doesn’t talk about any of the other creatures that we do, in fact, see in the film. But there is a certain humor to Goblet of Fire. It’s very lighthearted at points; the Yule Ball, of course, even going back to the Quidditch World Cup… so I’m looking forward to all this. I mean, I like the fact that we’re back here, we’re debating, we’re speculating, we’re theorizing, we don’t have the answers, and that is what makes all this great, is that we can talk about it, we can share what listeners think as well, and a lot of times they’re more on point than we are.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Micah: So this is all going to be a lot of fun as we head into this film being released late next year.
Andrew: Yep, less than a year away now. And by the way, we did a poll on Hypable about No-Maj, if people liked it or not, and 41% liked it, approved of it, and 59% said no.
Eric: Huh.
Andrew: So there’s a big outcry, but it wasn’t the large majority.
Micah: The 59% are all Americans.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, probably. Well, I doubt people in the UK and elsewhere are happy about it either. I mean, we all just have really… like Eric said, we’ve known “Muggle” for 14 years, so to change such a big word is kind of surprising.
Eric: 18 years for anyone who started with the books. Or actually, sorry, 17, because ’98. But yeah, so it’s a long time.
Andrew: So we asked on social media if there’s anything else you guys want us to talk about related to Fantastic Beasts. Justin said, “Do you think David Yates will helm all three films? I’m crossing my fingers for a new director/cinematographers to helm the succeeding movie so as to encourage other talented filmmakers to further envision the wizard world in all its potential glory.” What do you guys think? Would you like to see David Yates stick with all three, or somebody else?
Micah: I would. I mean, I want the consistency there, and I know he’s worked on other films before. Whether people like what he did with the series in the last four films or they don’t is certainly up for debate. But I want the level of consistency; if he’s going to start this series and introduce us to this world of the 1920s, he’s going to introduce us to these characters and these creatures, I want him to be there the whole time.
Andrew: I agree. Hannah offers some feedback about “No-Maj.” She says, “It just sounds awkward and clunky. There’s no way I could use it in a proper sentence or to describe someone like I could with Muggle. ‘He is such a Muggle’ versus ‘He is such a No-Maj.’ Doesn’t sound the same. Plus, why change it for the sake of changing it? Muggle is iconic and is known by everyone, even those who don’t know Harry Potter. No-Maj sounds, in my opinion, obvious. A wizard – Hagrid, for example – would walk around London saying about the things Muggles do in front of everyone. Muggle doesn’t give away its meaning. No-Maj, however, does.”
Eric: I can see that.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s a point. Maggie says, “Not sure Fantastic Beasts being similar to Goblet of Fire is a positive thing. Goblet of Fire had inaccuracies that were hard to ignore, with the most prominent being angry Dumbledore, and Hermione’s dress color. Pink is nowhere close to periwinkle! But then again, we don’t have a book to compare with this time around, so maybe it’ll be better.”
Eric: Bingo.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean, that’s the thing you’ve got to remember. I don’t think David Heyman was implying that there’s going to be critical differences, adaptation differences that piss everybody off.
[Andrew and Eric laugh]
Andrew: Zemer says, “I think I may be the only one who doesn’t want to be spoiled. Here’s the reason: The Harry Potter series was first a book series, then movies. Because this series is brand new, we have a chance to be surprised and be taken into the magic, just like the first time we read the Harry Potter books. Yes, we may get a few spoilers from the film synopsis, or the random trailer or TV spot that are sure to come, but if we want to get the true J.K. Rowling experience, we need to avoid street reports and rumors. I’m even sorry that I heard the story from Entertainment Weekly, and I regret hearing about No-Maj. I want to be surprised, as Newt will probably be when he hears that word for his first time.” [laughs]
Eric: That’s an interesting point. Maybe Newt is going to learn that word along with us.
Andrew: I think J.K. Rowling’s writing and her world in general are so detailed, so vast…
Eric: They are.
Andrew: … that there will be plenty of surprises over the next three movies. And the first one. There just has to be. I mean, you’ll look in the background of scenes and you’ll be like, “Oh my gosh, what is that? What is that? What is that? What is that magical object?”
Eric: [laughs] “What’s this?”
Micah: Are you saying there’ll be some Easter eggs there as well, you think?
Andrew: Yeah, I bet so. I mean, they got all the props still laying around from the first eight movies. [laughs]
Micah: There’ll be some name dropping?
Andrew: Maybe J.K. Rowling will finally make a cameo as well.
Eric: Oh, maybe. I hope so. I hope she does.
Thanksgiving wrap-up
Andrew: So finally, to wrap up the show today, if you guys had to pick one thing you’re thankful for in Harry Potter this year – one thing – what would it be?
Eric: All right, I’ve had some time to think about this. I am thankful for… this year we celebrated our tenth anniversary as a podcast, and so I’m thankful for ten years of Harry Potter podcasting.
Andrew: Aww. That’s true. That’s a good point. Micah?
Micah: I just… it’s hard to not go with what Eric just said.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: No, it really is. And the fact that we have been around doing this for ten years – hopefully we’re here doing it for ten more – and outside of that, I would just say the fact that this fan community continues to thrive. There’s no shortage of news, it seems. We’re just alive and kicking, right? It’s something that still continues to be important to so many people around the world. And whether we’re talking about a new theme park opening, or we’re talking about a new film being released next year, the list just continues to grow, whereas you would think, however many years now… what, eight years after the last book was released? I don’t think we would have thought that we would be sitting here today, still doing this podcast.
Andrew: Yeah. Like I’ve said before earlier in this episode, this year has definitely made me realize that Harry Potter is really getting started again in big ways. I mean, we haven’t had a year like this in a very long time.
Eric: It’s true.
Andrew: But if I had to pick one particular thing this year, I would say the Cursed Child, because I was recently talking to friends about this, and I think it’s going to be so cool to see this show in two parts. And the days I got tickets for I’m seeing it… the two parts are two days apart, so I’ll see one part on Wednesday and one part on Friday, and I’m just thinking it’s going to be so cool in between the two shows to be digesting what happened in the first part and then speculating about what’s happening in the next. [laughs]
Eric: I sense a special MuggleCast episode coming.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Micah: But I will say… unless you had something else.
Andrew: Well, and just it’ll be cool to see a Harry Potter sequel for the first time in a while. [laughs]
Micah: Yeah, no, it’s definitely true. But I think one thing the three of us can agree on is that we’re all thankful for the listeners of the show, whether they’ve been with us for ten years or they’ve just started listening in the last couple of months. They are the lifeblood of what we do, month in and month out right now, but that may change in the not-too-distant future.
Andrew: Yeah, and that’s a good reminder to please visit the MuggleCast website, and you’ll find a link to this Patreon survey. We want to know what you’d be interested in, if you’d be interested in supporting us, and what you would like to get out of that support. And I think our ultimate goal is to increase the number of episodes we do per month. Right now, we do one a month, but we would like to increase that, but we’re going to need your help, and so check out that survey, and we’ll decide from there what we do. So I think that’s all for this week. Thanks, everybody, for listening, and we’ll be back in December for our next episode. I’ve noticed J.K. Rowling has been a little quiet on Twitter lately. Maybe she’s… I need her to start talking again. I miss all her tweets.
Micah: Well, she’s been out doing all that publicity for her – or, I’m sorry, Robert’s – new book, Career of Evil, which dropped last month. Did you guys have a chance to read it? I finished it.
Andrew: Oh, you did?
Micah: This past week, yeah.
Eric: What did you think?
Micah: I liked it. It’s much different than the first two, in that you get more of a look into the characters of Strike and Robin in particular. You learn a lot more about their background, and I think that takes up a very large portion of the book, but it’s also part of the case that the two of them are trying to solve. So I definitely recommend it. I don’t even think you’d have to necessarily read the first two to read this book, which makes it a bit unique, but clearly you want a bit of the background of these two characters and what they’ve gone through. So I would certainly recommend the book. And it’s another mystery by J.K. Rowling, much like the Potter series was.
Andrew: Yeah. I’m 65% of the way through it, according to my Kindle, and I’m really enjoying it too. It’s definitely the darkest of the three so far, for the reasons Micah stated. It’s more personal; it’s more focused on Robin and Strike, which I really like, because they are the reason I read this series.
Eric: Right.
Andrew: The case is actually kind of hard to follow. There’s a ton of characters, and I just… I don’t really study that part as much.
Micah: And they’re very much… they’re not exactly the same, but a lot of what has happened in their history is kind of similar, so it’s a little bit difficult to keep track of all the suspects.
Andrew: Yeah, right, right. All right, well, that’s what we’ve got for everybody this week. Thanks again, everybody, for listening. One final reminder: MuggleCast.com and our social media channels will keep you updated on the latest episode news and everything else. Twitter.com/MuggleCast and Facebook.com/MuggleCast. I’m Andrew.
Eric: I’m Eric.
Micah: And I’m Micah. And for those of you who are celebrating, have a happy Thanksgiving.
Andrew: Happy Thanksgiving to y’all.
Eric: Happy Thanksgiving.
Andrew: See you next month. Goodbye.
Micah: Bye.