Potterversity Episode 64: Where No Potter Podcast Has Gone Before

Space: the final frontier. Our Prime Directive: to boldly examine what Harry Potter has in common with Star Trek.

Hosts Katy and Emily and producer Laurie have found themselves making Star Trek references on past episodes and realized that while Harry Potter is often compared to Star Wars, the future United Federation of Planets is less commonly put in dialogue with the wizarding world. We explore why that is and what looking at Potter and Trek side by side can uncover.

Star Wars may be the more obvious point of comparison because it is a mythic story with fantasy elements and a hero's journey, but Trek, like Potter, deals with issues of prejudice, cultural relativism, fascism, justice, and institutional corruption. The magical world and the scientifically advanced society of Trek still have problems. We discuss which Star Trek series is the most like Potter and why it's Deep Space Nine.

We compare the loathsome characters Dolores Umbridge and Kai Winn, the troublesome ones Peeves and Q, and the self-sacrificing non-humans Dobby and Data. Both series also have mirrors (literal or figurative), time travel, and explorations of the past, even though Trek is set centuries in the future. Another important theme is the power of friendship - something that can transcend time, species, and genre.

Live long and prosper, listeners!