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A Completely Political Conversation About JK Rowling | Sacred Symbols+, Episode 278

Weeks ago, I (Colin) endeavored to cover the controversy surrounding Hogwarts Legacy with as much balance as I could. I feel like this is the kinda stuff Sacred Symbols+ undoubtedly does best: Diving deep into sometimes-heated, often-complex issues in and around our industry. To that end, I sought out two different people in the political sphere that I thought could help me deconstruct this mess, but I only partially succeeded. As you'll hear during this episode's intro, I failed to find someone to take on the so-called anti-Rowling side, one prominent seemingly everywhere except for in front of a microphone in a challenging setting. And frankly, I don't find this surprising, as the attacks on JK Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy have been indefensible. Nevertheless, I would have liked to deliver and defend my case, but found no takers. I did, however, find a taker 'on the other side,' and that's previous + guest Noam Blum. Thus, we had a decision: Publish only the Noam conversation, which was meant to be half of the show, hold out for the unlikely event someone says yes to us, or simply publish what we have. We went with the first choice. Please understand: This episode has nothing to do with Hogwarts Legacy as a game, but the culture surrounding the drama. By clicking play, you understand that you're getting a completely political conversation. With that said, enjoy.

Comments

Devon McCarty

Between this and the spoiler cast, wands up for a magical weekend!

Michael Ferrari

On your comments at the end about how people should look into what she really said. They don’t want to, they don’t care, and many of them probably know but pretend not to, because it’s not about actually helping people, it’s about taking advantage of another opportunity to get angry, tear somebody down, and look like a “hero” to the rest of the people yelling like maniacs.

yoel

I’m not anti-JK necessarily, but there’s a sharp gaming/political streamer on YouTube named Destiny who could’ve provided the anti-JK side. He’s a pretty controversial/heated guy though. Also I’m not sure how he and Noam would gel in a podcast like this. Nevertheless, it’d be interesting if you got him in on a convo like this. Maybe in the future. 🤔

Michael Ferrari

Great episode, it was awesome to listen to people living in reality talk about this subject for a change.

patrick spellman

There is no reality where “the other side” prepares any cogent argument. There is no compromise with those who promote chemical castration of children. Any pretending there is compromise, you have lost the battle already.

Sean Hatfield

Great episode! If anyone wants to know what J.K. said, listen to the The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling podcast. It does a great job of putting the situation in context without editorializing. Megan Phelps-Roper interviews Rowling, has her read the tweets herself, and comment on them.

ConorJTobin

Can anyone explain the difference between the first and third options LSM considered in publishing this episode? Surely publishing solely Noam's contribution is the same as publishing an episode with only what they have, isn't it?

Matthew Cooper

I've never heard someone explain transgenderism in a grounded, logical way. A man cannot become a woman, it would involve completely changing that person's DNA, which is total science fiction. Everyone knew this until, like, 5 seconds ago. Adults can live their lives how they want, including living a lie if they want, as long as they only hurt themselves. But young people under 21 need to be protected from the madness and men don't need to be in spaces set aside for women. It's kind of amazing how far some people get removed from reality in the modern world. There's so much wealth in the West, people spending so much time being over-educated, spending too much time online; in many ways, people are too comfortable. It can lead to becoming completely detached from the facts of reality and living delusions.

TreelineMars

Weak men make hard times, hard times make strong men. Some leaders know this and some are incompetent.

PRETENTIEUX

I like to imagine the white part of Noam's headset are his ears.

Wyvborn

Some of these comments are rough :/

Hozi

There is a huge investigation done by a BBC presenter named Steven Nolan called "Noland investigates Stonewall". Podcast series on the trans issue in the UK and the huge effects, recommend if your interested of how things got this far at least in the UK.

Gene Park

hmm. maybe i would’ve attempted to try to do the “other side” but i also actively don’t like harry potter beyond anything social either, and i doubt i’d be the best representative of that side, especially since i wasn’t for any “boycotting.”i don’t know if i’d have a ton to say. always good to hear from noam. listening atm

LastStandMedia

You're not trans. I wanted a trans person. I asked multiple prolific trans people. In anycase, this book is closed. Time to move on. <3

Pyo

usually avoid these topics but it was a very good discission

Joey

I don’t why identifying as trans should be a prerequisite for coming on the show and arguing against your positions. Someone could come on the show and identify as a car and it would still have absolutely no bearing on their stance on Rowling. Unless, of course, you just wanted a trans person to come on for the opposition, which seems rather self-limiting, especially since there’s a plethora of anti-rowling figures out there. Whether they take you up on the offer is a different matter. Cool episode nonetheless. I also don’t find it at all weird or strange that a person would not want their trans identity publicly acknowledged on a platform as big as LSM, considering all the hate and harassment trans people go through. (Noam casually mentions a trans suicide and murder in this very episode.)

Taylor Laduron

You should have Destiny on the show to speak on this topic! I don’t think he completely buys into the typical left wing narrative and I feel like he might be able to shed some light on the negativity surrounding Rowling’s effect on the trans community. He is not trans himself but I don’t think that should be a prerequisite for coming on the show to talk intelligently about providing the other side to the argument.

Chris Evans

If I had a daughter playing sports I'd lose my ever living fucking mind watching her get her ass kicked by a biological male. That's just one of the litany of issues I have with "gender ideology". Anyways Colin, great discussion as always.

LastStandMedia

The Lia Thomas situation was a complete embarrassment, and showed me just how gutless and spineless so many people are. We are living in a legitimate Hans Christian Andersen story, but with incredibly ratcheted-up misogyny at the center. Thanks for listening.

OnkiDonkGinkGonk

This is pretty much the main issue I have too. I was having a conversation with someone and they actually said that if Conor McGregor identified as a woman tomorrow, he should start fighting women because not only is he now identifying as a woman, but he was actually a woman the whole time before that. You can’t have a productive conversation with someone when you can’t even agree on basic reality.

RoughSlpr

JK Rowling aside some of the discourse surrounding this issue and how it relates to kids is wild. How many children are hurt in this country by transgenderism vs how many will develop childhood obesity resulting in a condition that will inevitably kill them? We're talking thousands vs millions yet we live in a society where one is considered child abuse while the other is perfectly acceptable. Let people live their lives and let adults raise their children unless they're overtly harmed. I've worked with mentally ill kids in the past and this issue ranks fairly low on a list of actual causes of trauma and even lower on overall impact.

Anonymous

wholeheartedly agree. Also, I would rather hear a conversation on the other side with somebody rather than nobody..

Zeldaholic

I completely agree. But it seems a large part of this conversation is derived from the stance that trans women are not women and must always be identified as a trans. I don’t agree with that though because personally whether someone is trans or cis is not information I’m entitled to and would not hinder my interaction with them. I’m about 2/3rds through the episode and Noam is definitely a good counter to Colin but I am incredibly disappointed in the exclusion of the anti-Rowling perspective just because this potential guest did not want their identity as trans to be the focus of their inclusion. When the episode was initially being pitched on Sacred it did not seem like the opposition was required to be trans merely anti-Rowling and maybe it should have been tabled rather then released half completed.

Kyle Fox

Could someone tell me if JK Rowling's public statement on transgenderism is referenced in this discussion before listening?

Keith Huntington

i agree. when colin mentioned working on this a few weeks ago i was really looking forward to a both sides perspective, but the final product unfortunately fell short of that. hopefully he will reconsider and go ahead with a part 2, but he'd probably have to find someone else because even if he doesn't disclose the persons gender in the video, the listeners would already know based on this video.

Anonymous

How sad no opposing or disagreeing voice or viewpoint would come on to discuss. As people and as a country, we need to be better about polite disagreements. I would go on a show that I knew disagreed with me and with whom I also disagreed. And then we can go about our days and lives respecting each other.

Christopher Toffolo

The conversation here was handled very well. For those interested in a deeper dive, The Free Press is running a podcast right now called "The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling. Well worth the time: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-witch-trials-of-j-k-rowling/id1671691064

Owen

The opposing view point is out there. It’s not hard to find. In one reply he mentions reaching out to 4 individuals. That’s not exactly a large sample of people. So to say “as a people and as a country we need to be better” 4 people said no lol. Cmon now.

Zibi Majewski

Very good convo. I'd love to hear more stricte political revolving around gaming episodes. ♥

Anonymous

Thank you so much for this! Really refreshing to hear a sane conversation on this issue rather than the usual blanket condemnation of J.K. As a gay man it's frustrating to see such a homophobic and misogynist ideology being pushed by people drawing a false parallel to the gay rights movement. I hope you continue these conversations and find people willing to present the opposing arguments. Also if anyone is interesting in looking deeper into the subject I can recommend “Trans” by Helen Joyce and “Time to Think” by Hannah Barnes. For something lighter, South Park pretty much nailed the problem 20 years ago with the episode “The Death Camp of Tolerance”.

RoughSlpr

Nah, this is America. You either believe in the right of self determination or not.

Caleb Peacock

I hate I listen to the podcast with these losers. Colin has gone full mask off and his “all is welcome” talk is again proven to be a dog whistle for psycho far right conservatives. Everyone here is doing their best Shapiro impersonation and it’s embarrassing.

OTTAPPS

Just caught up on this. I think you'll find this article interesting. Some of the complexities of this played out in real time in Scotland. You're classified as a woman until you commit a crime, then you're back to a male (or vice versa): https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/09/trans-prisoners-in-scotland-to-be-first-sent-to-jails-matching-their-birth-gender

Pat.

I have a question I’m new to Patreon . I’m Just wondering is there a way to get this stuff through YouTube or can you only listen to the stuff on Patreon through the Patreon app. Just wondering cuz some of these videos say YouTube .

Travis Stockton

All of the video posts are YouTube videos. If you click them, they'll open up in YouTube either in your web browser or the app depending on your device.