![]() She spent the first 26 years of her life as a member of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas – the people who picket funerals with signs saying “God Hates F-s” and “Thank God for dead soldiers”. The Witch Trials of JK Rowling is presented by Megan Phelps-Roper, who knows a thing or two about this stuff. From the early 1990s into the 2000s, parents tried to ban the books from school libraries, evangelists preached that she was in league with the Devil, and members of George W Bush’s White House administration reportedly objected to Rowling receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom because they believed she was promoting sorcery. Christian fundamentalists in the US claimed that they promoted witchcraft. The Harry Potter books provoked a moral panic when they first came out. Hysteria? Death threats? She’s been here before. ![]() Because, as a younger generation may not be aware and older generations may have forgotten, this is not Rowling’s first rodeo. The podcast sets about putting the backlash in context. ![]() “Let’s face it,” says one, “Hermione would punch this woman in the face right now.” There are seven episodes and two have been released today, in which the only direct mention of the transgender backlash is a brief montage of unnamed Rowling detractors calling her “disgusting” and “problematic”, and claiming that she is “literally putting trans lives at further risk”. Neat marketing trick! Anyone tuning in to the podcast expecting to hear her latest light-the-touchpaper views will have been left disappointed. The trailer for The Witch Trials of JK Rowling featured the author talking about the trans rights furore. ![]()
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