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Rowling Studies The Hogwarts Professor Podcast

Rowling Studies The Hogwarts Professor Podcast

By: John Granger
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The Artistry and Meaning of J. K. Rowling and Other Greats

hogwartsprofessor.substack.comJohn Granger Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • A Lake and Shed Look at the Golden Threads in the Work of J. K. Rowling (B)

    A Lake and Shed Look at the Golden Threads in the Work of J. K. Rowling (B)
    Jul 26 2025
    Welcome back! John and Nick finish their back-and-forth challenge to come up with three examples of the ‘Fourteen Golden Threads’ in the work of J. K. Rowling, the plot points and story features that run through everything she writes.In this second overview of the Golden Threads, Nick and John talk about Kanreki red caps and tackle three Threads each. Nick gives at least three examples for Evil Government, Occult tropes, and the Embedded Author. John responds with three or more ’for instances’ of the Search for the Real, Embedded Texts, and Shadow Doppelgangers. Enjoy!New to the Lake and Shed Kanreki Birthday series? Here’s what we’re doing:On 31 July 2025, Joanne Murray, aka J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, will be celebrating her 60th birthday. This celebration is considered a ‘second birth’ in Japan or Kanreki because it is the completion of the oriental astrological cycle. To mark JKR’s Kanreki, Dr John Granger and Nick Jeffery, both Nipponophiles, are reading through Rowling’s twenty-one published works and reviewing them in light of the author’s writing process, her ‘Lake and Shed’ metaphor. The ‘Lake’ is the biographical source of her inspiration; the ‘Shed’ is the alocal place of her intentional artistry, in which garage she transforms the biographical stuff provided by her subconscious mind into the archetypal stories that have made her the most important author of her age. You can hear Nick and John discuss this process and their birthday project at the first entry in this series of posts: Happy Birthday, JKR! A Lake and Shed Celebration of her Life and Work.Tomorrow? John and Nick respond to two readers’ requests for a brief introduction to Ring Composition. John reviews the four essential elements in a proper story ring and uses Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as his example. He shifts from his Shed (garage) to the backyard ger (‘yurt’) to deliver his message about the ‘meaning in the middle.’ Stay tuned!Links to posts mentioned in today’s Lake and Shed conversation for further reading:* David Martin reveals the Role of Books in the Hogwarts Saga* When in Doubt, Go to the Library: The Books Within the Books (David Martin Podcast)* Troubled Blood: Every Tarot Card Spread* Rowling Talks Tarot on 60 Minutes (1999)* Harry Potter and The Hanged Man: Part 1 Rowling’s Most Loaded Tarot Reference* Harry Potter and The Hanged Man: Part 2 The Historical and Occult Interpretations* Harry Potter and The Hanged Man: Part 3 Its Meaning in Rowling’s Written Work* Troubled Blood: A Jungian Reading Get full access to Hogwarts Professor at hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • A Lake and Shed Look at the Golden Threads in the Work of J. K. Rowling (A)

    A Lake and Shed Look at the Golden Threads in the Work of J. K. Rowling (A)
    Jul 25 2025
    Welcome back! John and Nick, having finished their Lake and Shed review of the seven Harry Potter novels, the first seven Strike-Ellacott adventures, the three Fantastic Beasts screenplays, and the three stand-alone stories Cursed Child, Casual Vacancy, and Christmas Pig, are open to suggestions about how to fill the remaining week of daily conversations until Rowling’s birthday on July 31st. The first request we received was one asking for more on the ‘Twelve Golden Threads’ in the work of J. K. Rowling, the plot points and story features that run through everything she writes.In this first overview of the Golden Threads, Nick and John go back and fourth with four Threads each. Nick gives at least three examples for Bad Dad, Writing about Writing, Violence against Women, and the Evils of Fleet Street. John responds with three or more ’for instances’ of Mother Love, Ghosts, Pregnancy Traps, and the Lost Child with Grieving Steward. Enjoy!New to the Lake and Shed Kanreki Birthday series? Here’s what we’re doing:On 31 July 2025, Joanne Murray, aka J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, will be celebrating her 60th birthday. This celebration is considered a ‘second birth’ in Japan or Kanreki because it is the completion of the oriental astrological cycle. To mark JKR’s Kanreki, Dr John Granger and Nick Jeffery, both Nipponophiles, are reading through Rowling’s twenty-one published works and reviewing them in light of the author’s writing process, her ‘Lake and Shed’ metaphor. The ‘Lake’ is the biographical source of her inspiration; the ‘Shed’ is the alocal place of her intentional artistry, in which garage she transforms the biographical stuff provided by her subconscious mind into the archetypal stories that have made her the most important author of her age. You can hear Nick and John discuss this process and their birthday project at the first entry in this series of posts: Happy Birthday, JKR! A Lake and Shed Celebration of her Life and Work.Tomorrow? John and Nick talk about the six remaining Golden Threads, namely, Bad Government, Occult Tokens, the Search for the Real, Embedded Texts, the Embedded Author, and Shadow Doppelgangers. Stay tuned!Links to posts mentioned in today’s Lake and Shed conversation for further reading:'Pregnancy Traps' in the Works of J. K. Rowling: A Rowling Studies Podcast* The Golden Thread of Coercive Love that Runs Through Everything She has WrittenThe seven Hogwarts Professor weblog posts that John and Nick reference in that conversation can be found here:Rowling Pregnancy Traps: Merope GauntRowling Pregnancy Traps: Casual Vacancy’s Krystal Weedon, Kay BawdenRowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Bellatrix Lestrange and the Cursed Child DelphiniRowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Leda StrikeRowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Four StrikesRowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Last StrikesRowling’s Pregnancy Traps: Fantastic Beasts, The Ickabog, The Christmas Pig Get full access to Hogwarts Professor at hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • A Lake and Shed Reading of The Running Grave

    A Lake and Shed Reading of The Running Grave
    Jul 24 2025
    Today’s Lake and Shed framed conversation focuses in on the remarkable Strike-Ellacott novel, The Running Grave, the last book in our review of every work of fiction with either of Mrs Murray’s pseudonyms on the cover. Nick confesses to feeling stumped about what to say as his ‘Lake’ contribution to the discussion — before his epiphany on a long walk with Addie that almost every buoy or pillar in Rowling’s metaphorical place of inspiration finds its reflection in the seventh Galbraith mystery. John refuses to go into any detail about the work’s ‘wheels within wheels within wheels’ ring structure but shares instead the symbolic depth of Mama Mazu’s mother of pearl fish pendant. New to the Lake and Shed Kanreki Birthday series? Here’s what we’re doing:On 31 July 2025, Joanne Murray, aka J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, will be celebrating her 60th birthday. This celebration is considered a ‘second birth’ in Japan or Kanreki because it is the completion of the oriental astrological cycle. To mark JKR’s Kanreki, Dr John Granger and Nick Jeffery, both Nipponophiles, are reading through Rowling’s twenty-one published works and reviewing them in light of the author’s writing process, her ‘Lake and Shed’ metaphor. The ‘Lake’ is the biographical source of her inspiration; the ‘Shed’ is the alocal place of her intentional artistry, in which garage she transforms the biographical stuff provided by her subconscious mind into the archetypal stories that have made her the most important author of her age. You can hear Nick and John discuss this process and their birthday project at the first entry in this series of posts: Happy Birthday, JKR! A Lake and Shed Celebration of her Life and Work.Tomorrow? We move into uncharted territory with an overview of the Lake material via John interviewing Nick about the various pillars and pertinent examples. Stay tuned!Links to posts mentioned in today’s Lake and Shed conversation for further reading:The Running Grave’s Structure: A Master Class in Ring Composition* Running Grave: Ring Reading Index* Reading 'Running Grave' as the End of the Strike Series (A)* Reading 'Running Grave' as the End of the Strike Series (B)* Reading 'Running Grave' as the End of the Strike Series (C)Hogwarts Professors’ Reviews of The Running Grave* Nick Jeffery* Elizabeth Baird-Hardy* Evan WillisThe Christian Symbolism of Mama Mazu’s Mother of Pearl Fish Pendant* The Meaning of Robin Ellacott’s fight with Mama Mazu in Part 9 of Running Grave* The Beloved Caravaggio Painting In Which Rowling Encountered the ‘Christian Fish’ Symbolism* The Symbolism of the Pearl in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series Get full access to Hogwarts Professor at hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe
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    57 mins
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