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Harry Potter

work · in 56 videos (2007–2013)

Mentions by year: 2007: 15 · 2008: 3 · 2009: 10 · 2010: 8 · 2011: 5 · 2012: 7 · 2013: 8

Threads

What the videos say

2007

  • 2007-07-13 · July 12: Pizza, Punishments and Potter — Hank is excited about the next Harry Potter book, which he thinks comes out in 12 or 13 days. (00:01:36)
  • 2007-07-18 · July 18: Accio Deathly Hallows (no spoilers) — Hank sings that he needs Harry Potter like a grindylow needs water, and his need grows as Saturday (the release) approaches. (00:00:43)
  • 2007-07-18 · July 18: Accio Deathly Hallows (no spoilers) — Mostly Hank feels sad: he knows the story could end badly, but he wishes it did not have to end at all. (00:02:36)
  • 2007-07-20 · July 20: Green Mohawk — Hank asks viewers to avoid spoilers, which are appearing everywhere; Brotherhood 2.0 tries to keep them out but cannot watch everything. (00:02:39)
  • 2007-07-24 · July 24: More Harry Potter?! — Hank has spent the last three days almost entirely sleeping or reading Harry Potter; the book arrived by UPS at about 9 a.m. (00:00:11)
  • 2007-07-24 · July 24: More Harry Potter?! — The New York Times contacted John to answer a question about Harry Potter; John passed on Hank's name, so Hank is kind of contributing 200 words on why Harry Potter is special. (00:01:05)
  • 2007-07-24 · July 24: More Harry Potter?! — In a letter to nerdfighters who don't care about Harry Potter, Hank apologises for continuing and suggests the solution is to read Harry Potter and join the club. (00:01:05)
  • 2007-07-24 · July 24: More Harry Potter?! — Hank argues Harry Potter is not just another children's fantasy adventure; something very different is going on, the biggest thing in publishing since (jokingly) the Bible. (00:01:41)
  • 2007-10-06 · October 5th: Feuding, Goonies and Politics — Hank urges young Nerdfighters who have never seen The Goonies to rent it: like Harry Potter with pirates in the real world of 1985, about friendship and social-outcast underdogs. (00:02:11)
  • 2007-10-10 · October 10th: A Spoilerific Attack on Unicorns — John's argument 'Why do you guys hate Tonks so much?': Voldemort survives by drinking unicorn blood, so unicorns saved him, and his war killed Tonks; if you like unicorns, you killed Tonks, and Hedwig. (00:01:53)
  • 2007-10-15 · Oct 15th: Happy 16th Birthday B20 — Hank qualifies his recent claim that video blogs can transmit ideas better than books: not always; Harry Potter would make a horrible video blog. (00:02:23)
  • 2007-11-21 · November 21st: What I'm Grateful For — John is thankful to Hank for the amazing year of getting to know each other as grown-up siblings, though they spent much of it putting stuff on their heads and singing about Harry Potter. (00:01:11)
  • …and 4 more statements in 2007 (most important shown)

2008

  • 2008-07-19 · Book Eight...Another Harry Potter Song — Hank says that a year ago today he recorded a Harry Potter song that pretty much changed his life, and celebrates the anniversary with another Harry Potter song. (00:00:30)
  • 2008-07-19 · Book Eight...Another Harry Potter Song — In the song Hank says he wants a Book 8: he thinks there's an unwritten story and it's time to put fingers to keys. (00:01:14)
  • 2008-11-24 · DFTBA Records — Hank says the label's first release is his own album (joking about a 'promising young artist' with songs about Harry Potter, Barack Obama and Helen Hunt); the digital version is on sale now. (00:00:53)

2009

  • 2009-04-28 · 10 Book Reviews in 4 Minutes — Hank calls Sorcery and Cecilia adorable, like Harry Potter meets Pride and Prejudice: two young women in a dangerous magical mystery, really about infuriating boys in marvelous outfits. (00:01:29)
  • 2009-05-25 · WROCK! — John says he and Hank just had two extraordinary days at LeakyCon, a Harry Potter conference. (00:00:00)
  • 2009-05-27 · Open Letters — Hank tells J. K. Rowling her work is the best, but not even she deserves a fan community as awesome as Harry Potter nerds, and she should know how lucky she is. (00:02:01)
  • 2009-08-19 · So Jokes: Video EP — In the song 'Book Eight', Hank sings that he wants J.K. Rowling to write an eighth Harry Potter book; he thinks there is an unwritten story to tell. (00:00:31)
  • 2009-08-19 · So Jokes: Video EP — In 'Accio Deathly Hallows', Hank sings of needing the final Harry Potter book as its release approaches, and of being sad that the series has to end at all. (00:07:37)
  • 2009-11-30 · John Reviews Twilight and New Moon — John thinks whether Harry Potter or Twilight is better is "a question wrongly asked", as the series pursue different goals and readers can read broadly enough for both and more. (00:02:48)

2010

  • 2010-02-04 · Win The Awesomest Prizes EVAR! — Prizes listed include Harry Potter books signed by J. K. Rowling with a thank-you note, a guitar signed and used by Tom Felton, a cast-signed Deathly Hallows, signed Gaiman, Pratchett and John Green books, and Where the Wild Things Are artwork. (00:01:17)
  • 2010-02-11 · HOW TO GET AN AGENT — Relaying her agent, Maureen says not to claim your book will be a big movie or the next Twilight, Harry Potter or Wimpy Kid: it is presumptuous and seems arrogant; agents want a clear letter about the story. (00:02:31)
  • 2010-02-12 · Google Search Stories: Harry Potter — Hank says that as soon as he saw the Super Bowl ad he felt there had to be a Harry Potter version of a Google search story; there wasn't, so he made one. (00:01:46)
  • 2010-07-06 · With a private person — They wrote silly questions on a volleyball to throw and answer, picked a Harry Potter character for a private person, had a puff fight, and hunted Boston for espresso and gelato. (00:00:31)
  • 2010-07-06 · With a private person — Without Harry Potter John would have no a private person, and there probably would not be a Nerdfighteria. (00:01:51)
  • 2010-07-22 · I Hung out with Snookie...Accidentally — Every year on the Deathly Hallows anniversary Hank writes another Harry Potter song; he has written this year's but plays only the chorus for lack of time. (00:02:04)
  • 2010-07-22 · I Hung out with Snookie...Accidentally — The chorus laments that however much young adult fiction Hank reads, he keeps coming up dry: whatever he reads, it is not Harry Potter. (00:02:04)
  • 2010-11-18 · HARRY POTTER SONG! — Hank sings that however much young adult fiction he reads, nothing makes him feel again the way Harry Potter did: everything he reads is not Harry Potter. (00:01:22)

2011

  • 2011-03-28 · Participatory Geometry — John argues sports matter: as a Harry Potter fan would treasure an email from J.K. Rowling, others treasure the Cubs winning the World Series or an Indiana college reaching the Final Four. (00:02:29)
  • 2011-03-28 · Participatory Geometry — John says we choose what we care about, and caring about sports is ultimately about community, like caring about Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons or Nerdfighteria. (00:02:49)
  • 2011-07-15 · Harry Freaking Potter — Hank says four years ago he wrote a song about the book Deathly Hallows and how he wanted it to come out, and has written another Harry Potter song every year since. (00:00:04)
  • 2011-07-15 · Harry Freaking Potter — Hank sings that Harry Potter helped him learn guitar and launched his whole career, so he is hugely in its debt. (00:01:10)
  • 2011-11-10 · 27 Part Video — Hank says Harry Potter fans play actual Quidditch in New York every year, this weekend, and urges viewers who are around to go; details in the description. (00:02:02)

2012

  • 2012-01-10 · The Fault in Our Stars — John says readers won't feel out of the loop without Looking for Alaska: unlike Harry Potter, his books have nothing to do with each other. (00:01:30)
  • 2012-04-20 · Thoughts on Growing up — For a social life on a budget Hank recommends fun, silly parties at home, like watching Harry Potter or writing fake wills, and never buying alcohol at bars. (00:01:25)
  • 2012-08-14 · To Be Anything At All: Thoughts from Places, Chicago and LeakyCon 2012 — John says that day he first found that other people knew the words to Hank's songs and began to understand how awesome Nerdfighters and Harry Potter fans are in real life. (00:01:55)
  • 2012-08-17 · Open Letter to the Wizards — Hank says a Harry Potter song he wrote in 2007 changed his life, so he promised himself to write another Harry Potter song every year on that video's anniversary, and has. (00:00:15)
  • 2012-09-14 · 1000 VIDEOS!!! — Hank lists his songs about quarks, ponies, Harry Potter and Helen Hunt, notes Helen Hunt tweeted him about hers, and recalls inventing 2D glasses and turning Pride and Prejudice into a video blog. (00:01:36)
  • 2012-10-02 · What To Do With Your Life — John's college self would be surprised he became a novelist whose mustachioed face is on strangers' shirts, and Hank studied chemistry before writing Harry Potter songs. (00:02:32)
  • 2012-11-27 · Nerdfighter Book Recommendations: A Gift Giving Guide for Nerdfightastic Readers — For Harry Potter fans, John says to reread the books, which stand up to rereading, and recommends Lev Grossman's Magicians series and Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History about the fandom. (00:01:27)

2013

  • 2013-01-11 · On the Ownership of Ideas — Hank recalls Harry Potter's publishers objecting to derivative works like wizard rock songs when the genre began; he says you can make them and asks why anyone would stop fans' enthusiasm. (00:02:21)
  • 2013-01-16 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — Hank says he didn't know a whole community wrote Harry Potter songs; getting hooked up with them was one of the best things creating for the internet brought him. (01:05:48)
  • 2013-01-16 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — After 'Accio Deathly Hallows', Hank says its success made him decide to write a Harry Potter song every year on its anniversary, and sings 'Book 8', about a book that doesn't exist. (01:10:25)
  • 2013-07-09 · The World Needs More Magic — Since we can't decrease world suck with Harry Potter spells, he says all we can do is demand more Harry Potter, which still captivates people. (00:01:52)
  • 2013-07-09 · The World Needs More Magic — He thinks JK Rowling got one thing wrong: non-magic folk don't hate or deny magic; people love blaming lost keys on ghosts, gnomes or fairies because it's more fun. (00:02:28)
  • 2013-07-12 · Oh, JK Rowling - A Harry Potter Song — Hank's description says that every year around the anniversary of Accio Deathly Hallows he releases another Harry Potter song, and this is that song. (00:00:00)
  • 2013-08-16 · Harry Potter vs. Science! — Hank says science versus Harry Potter is 'my brain': an easy choice for most people, but not for him, so he sorts it out with superlatives. (00:00:42)
  • 2013-08-16 · Harry Potter vs. Science! — Most inspirational: the detail of the Harry Potter universe inspires Hank, but less than Darwin's pigeons, Wallace's collections and Linnaeus's pressings, which connect him to the history of life. (00:01:31)
  • 2013-08-16 · Harry Potter vs. Science! — Hank says Harry Potter is also collaborative, through screenwriters, actors and its fan community, including unintended collaborators like himself and Harry and the Potters; more so than most art, so a tie. (00:02:45)
  • 2013-08-16 · Harry Potter vs. Science! — Hank cannot choose: it is like choosing between his parents, since science and Harry Potter did not just shape how he understands the world but built him as a person. (00:03:03)
  • 2013-08-16 · Harry Potter vs. Science! — Hank loves science's drive toward objective truth and Harry Potter's unironic drive toward objective goodness: loyalty, love, building something greater; both guide his life, so he won't pick. (00:03:13)
  • 2013-10-15 · Thoughts for Nerdfighteria — Bigger need not mean less important: Harry Potter reached a large audience, yet its core fans, who listened to Wizard Rock and started the Harry Potter Alliance, made lasting changes in the world. (00:01:52)
  • …and 1 more statements in 2013 (most important shown)