Podcasts by Darin Tries to Understand Harry Potter

S3E2 - Prisoner of Agrabah or Whatever - Chapter Two from 2020-03-11T23:55:58

Strap yourselves in for a whole lot of discussion about theories of justice. Which is what I know you came here for.

S3E1 - Prisoner of Agrabah or Whatever - Chapter One from 2020-03-10T01:43:25

Wherein Harry Potter sits around like a freaking emo kid the entire chapter. He chases around a book at one point, but even that isn't particularly interesting.

S2E18 - Book 2 Chapter 18 from 2019-03-16T20:23:23

Wherein the book comes to a thankful end. And I get all whiny about a bunch of stuff. This one's good, I swear.

Please rate and subscribe. Alternatively, do not do those things. I'm not ...

S2E17 - Book 2 Chapter 17 from 2019-01-24T00:46:45

Wherein a single sentence derails this entire project, Tom Riddle does a Rod Serling impression, and some other nonsense happens.

The best practices of content creation in Capitalist A...

S2E16 - Book 2 Chapter 16 from 2018-08-29T21:47:49

Wherein we finally find out who has been singing those Fury of Five covers (It's a snake). Some other stuff happens, too, but frankly I don't really remember anymore.

Music by the Futu...

S2E15 - Book 2 Chapter 15 from 2018-08-29T21:37:47

Wherein the Hogwarts nursing staff is as incompetent as everyone else in the wizarding world; Harry and Ron sing Social Distortion songs with a spider king; and, really, what would this podcast ...

S2E14 - Book 2 Chapter 14 from 2018-07-22T18:45:48

Wherein we meet a Keebler Elf with a questionable sense of due process rights, Hogwarts undergoes some frankly much-needed personnel changes, and I discuss the role of humor in the book.

S2E13 - Book 2 Chapter 13 from 2018-07-18T01:06:12

Wherein Bossy Girl tries out the furry lifestyle, Harry Potter finds a book that doesn't have anything written on it and keeps it anyway, and Ginny hires a dwarf to beat up Harry Potter. There's...

S2E12 - Book 2 Chapter 12 from 2018-06-16T23:11:28

Wherein Harry forgets to take off his shoes, figures out how to make a Buddhist Monk jealous, and learns about the Hogwarts to Azkaban Pipeline. Oh, and Ginny tries to understand “Darin Tries to Un...

S2E11 - Book 2 Chapter 11 from 2018-06-01T21:18:02

Wherein people don't like Harry Potter anymore; some guy named Justin takes a nap; and I wonder, when I sing along with you, if everything could ever feel this real forever.

S2E10 - Book 2 Chapter 10 from 2018-05-21T23:16:46

Wherein I had to cut out a whole section of this episode about my idea that Quidditch is just a figment of Harry's imagination because a) I didn't actually believe it; b)I discovered an even better...

S2E9 - Book 2 Chapter 9 from 2018-05-11T18:12:57

Wherein Harry and the gang discover that the Chamber of Secrets has something to do with ethnic cleansing, the metaphysics of ghosts are as baffling and nonsensical as everything else in this book,...

S2E8 - Book 2 Chapter 8 from 2018-05-01T17:23:24

Wherein Harry gets in trouble for tracking mud through the floor like he's freaking Marmaduke or something; some ghost has his birthday on Halloween because he's an attention-starved diva who can't...

S2E7 - Book 2 Chapter 7 from 2018-04-20T00:04:56

Wherein the racial politics of wizards and muggles is discussed at a length that borders on tedious, we get some fun celebrity cameos, and Darin tries to set the record straight about Nas's sophomo...

S2E6 - Book 2 Chapter 6 from 2018-04-12T17:22:06

Wherein the author has a lot of nothing to say about the nature of celebrity, some dork in a Mid-Atlantic accent comes in to ruin the book, and the Pixies put on a rowdy concert.

S2E5 - Book 2 Chapter 5 from 2018-04-04T19:28:13

Wherein Harry and Ron fly to Hogwarts, Harry and Ron get in trouble for flying to Hogwarts, and Darin blathers on about Weberian disenchantment for some reason.

S2E4 - Book 2 Chapter 4 from 2018-03-27T18:24:49

Wherein a whole bunch of people go shopping, and two grown men display some serious toxic masculinity.

S2E3 - Book 2 Chapter 3 from 2018-03-23T18:54:16

Wherein gnomes are thrown and lampshading abounds.

S2E2 - Book 2 Chapter 2 from 2018-03-20T20:02:30

Book 2 Chapter 2

Wherein Harry meets a masochistic slave elf, and I try to figure out how anyone could possibly enjoy the prose.

S2E1 - Book 2 Chapter 1 from 2018-03-16T18:13:11

Wherein Harry has a birthday, the narrator continues to be fatphobic, and the book is fascist.

S1E17 - Chapter 17 from 2017-11-21T19:09:18

Wherein the book ends.

S1E16 - Chapter 16 from 2017-11-16T16:54:04

Wherein Harry and the gang walk into a room. And then another room. And then another room. And then another room. And then anoth...

S1E15 - Chapter 15 from 2017-11-13T23:04:25

Wherein Hogwarts' disciplinary system is just as nonsensical as everything else about Hogwarts, and we are introduced to not one, not two, but three Centaurs.

S1E14 - Chapter 14 from 2017-11-10T01:44:15

Wherein there's a dragon, for some reason. Oh and we find out that wizards have the power to completely upend ontological foundations. So that's cool.

S1E13 - Chapter 13 from 2017-11-07T20:42:03

Wherein we find out who Nicolas Flamel is, we become insanely dissapointed by who Nicolas Flamel is, and I complain about how I don't like the villains.

S1E12 - Chapter 12 from 2017-11-03T19:36:23

Wherein some actually endearing and intriguing things happen for once.

S1E11 - Chapter 11 from 2017-11-02T19:12:29

Wherein Bossy Girl becomes not bossy, Bossy Girl sets a dude on fire, and Harry eats a ball that's also a bird.

S1E10 - Chapter 10 from 2017-10-06T22:54:46

Wherein the rules of Quidditch are discussed, and so is the bullshit concept of being a "natural."

S1E9 - Chapter 9 from 2017-09-15T01:06:02

Wherein I complain about the narrator, and about Harry's characterization, and about Hogwart's baffling pedagogy.

S1E8 - Chapter 8 from 2017-09-14T18:23:54

Wherein I decide I don't like any of the characters and then drone on and on about Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom, and how that maybe relates to Harry's predicament.

S1E7 - Chapter 7 from 2017-09-13T00:42:14

Wherein Harry and, conveniently, everyone else we give a shit about all go to Gryffindor. And we have to pretend to be impressed by a singing hat.

S1E6 - Chapter 6 from 2017-09-12T19:00:40

Wherein we meet a bossy girl and some evil kid and some other kid. And the ideological implications of educational institutions are tediously discussed. Oh and I make fun of the prose.

S1E5 - Chapter 5 from 2017-09-12T01:10

Wherein Harry goes shopping, there's some bizarre sexual innuendo, and the narrator seems to exhibit some strange anti-semitism.

S1E4 - Chapter 4 from 2017-09-12T00:15

Wherein I struggle to figure out the allegorical significance of the muggle/wizard dichotomy.

S1E3 - Chapter 3 from 2017-09-03T22:24:38

Wherein Harry goes through extreme psychological torture, the Dursleys still completely baffle me, and the wizard school bureaucracy is totally inept.

S1E2 - Chapter 2 from 2017-09-02T22:22:34

Wherein I stumble upon some serious body shaming, toxic masculinity, and snakes on a plane. I didn't like this chapter very much :(

S1E1 - Chapter 1 from 2017-09-01T22:08:41

Wherein I try to figure out what a muggle is, and why there are all these dudes in weird robes, and whether I should care about the interior life of some guy named Dursley.

S1E1 - Chapter 1 from 2017-09-01T22:08:41

Wherein I try to figure out what a muggle is, and why there are all these dudes in weird robes, and whether I should care about the interior life of some guy named Dursley.