J.K. Rowling

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Speaker 1 proposes a sociological comparison between 'Lord of the Rings people' and 'Harry Potter people' in terms of their moral perspective and work ethic. Speaker 2 mentions his younger son read and loved Harry Potter.

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Referenced as an example of stories with strong, well-defined characters that appeal to children, alongside Star Wars and The Hobbit. Used to illustrate the point that what children want from stories—including history—is character, urgency, and narrative tension.

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Referenced in an analogy about different types of people. The speaker says 'There's some grown ups that read Harry Potter, right, and there's something that read pension.' This is part of a discussion comparing hunters who use guides versus those who prefer unguided hunts, using the analogy of different reading preferences to illustrate that there are simply different kinds of people with different values.

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Explicitly mentioned as the source of a quote from the Sorting Hat, described as coming out in 2003

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Explicitly cited as the source for a quote about the Battle of Hogwarts, noted as published in 2007

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The central subject of the episode, explicitly quoted at the opening and discussed throughout. The hosts analyze how this 1997 novel draws on over 150 years of British school story traditions, from Tom Brown's School Days onward. Essential reading for anyone interested in how British literary and educational traditions shaped one of the best-selling book series in history.

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Discussion about naming trends after Harry Potter came out. Speaker mentions that many people named their kids Henry instead of Harry because they liked 'those books' but didn't want it to be obvious they were Harry Potter fans.

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Speaker uses Harry Potter books as an analogy when discussing paddle boarding, suggesting that if humanity were reset, certain things like Harry Potter books wouldn't necessarily emerge again, unlike hunting with projectiles which would naturally develop.