Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Harry Potter and the half-baked debate

What began with a well-meaning comic questioning a stance became a model for learning what true allyship requires

Published April 2, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)

Everyone and everything you love will eventually fall short of your expectations. That’s just how life works. Nobody’s perfect, and the longer a piece of art abides, the more likely it is that it’ll start to suck. Few constituencies understand this better than comedy and fantasy fandoms, like-minded crowds that tend to share an affinity for the written word. Some of my favorite comics are also experts on elves and superheroes.

I don’t know where “Have I Got News for You” star Michael Ian Black falls on the nerd scale, though the comedian hosts a literature podcast called “Obscure.” Its current season dissects “An American Tragedy,” which I haven’t read. I’d bet I’m not alone there, and I’d further guess that far more people are familiar with J.K. Rowling than “Tragedy” author Theodore Dreiser.

All that is to say, when Black moseyed into a Bluesky hornet’s nest about the upcoming HBO “Harry Potter” series, I honestly think he underestimated how much he’d get stung.

What’s important is that Black is voicing a view silently held by many whenever circumstances require the public to choose between what is right and what is easy or, in this case, fun.

More than a week ago, HBO released the teaser for the reboot, introducing Dominic McLaughlin as the new face of The Boy Who Lived. Within 48 hours of its Mar. 25 release, the TV series preview trailer became the most-watched in HBO and HBO Max history, racking up more than 277 million views.

Not everyone is excited about........

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