Micah Tannenbaum
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MuggleNet is the Internet's oldest and largest ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' and Wizarding World
fansite A fansite, fan site, fan blog or fan page is a website created and maintained by a fan of or devotee to a celebrity, thing, or particular cultural phenomenon. Fansites may offer specialized information on the subject (e.g., episode listings, ...
. MuggleNet was founded in 1999. It has expanded over the years to include a handful of partner
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
s, a separate book blog, over half a dozen published works and live events. At one point, it also ran its own forums, social network and separate
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...
website. Originally owned by founder
Emerson Spartz Emerson James Spartz (born February 17, 1987) is the founder of the viral media company Dose and the founder of MuggleNet, a Harry Potter fansite. Early life Spartz was born in La Porte, Indiana to Tom and Maggi Spartz. He is the oldest of thr ...
, MuggleNet became an independently-owned and operated brand in early 2020.


Relationship with the franchise

MuggleNet once benefitted from friendly relations with
J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 600&nb ...
, the author of the ''Harry Potter'' books, and the producers of the films. She has praised MuggleNet on her website and awarded it her Fan Site Award. Rowling has recounted on her website that she visited the site and sometimes read comments left by visitors, although she never commented herself. The author stated in a 2004 post on her website that she visited the site's chat room and was snubbed when she anonymously joined a conversation about ''Harry Potter'' theories. In July 2005, Rowling invited Spartz and
Melissa Anelli Melissa Anelli (born December 27, 1979) is an American author and webmistress. She is the author of '' Harry, A History'', which chronicles the ''Harry Potter'' phenomenon. Anelli is also the full-time webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron, a com ...
, of the Leaky Cauldron, to Edinburgh, Scotland, for an interview at her home on the release of ''
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...
''. J.K. Rowling mentioned MuggleNet through the interactive ''Harry Potter'' website
Pottermore Wizarding World Digital is a digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J. K. Rowling regarding the Wizarding World. The site feat ...
in September 2013, saying how proud she was to own the key to La Porte,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, hometown of MuggleNet founder Emerson Spartz.
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, the producers of the ''Harry Potter'' movies, regularly sent MuggleNet stills taken from the upcoming movies before they were released. The studio also provided MuggleNet staff with advance views of the new official website designs, as well as included staff in a video conference to discuss the ''Harry Potter'' theme park at
Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. It is the flagship of the Universal Destinations & Experiences theme park chain. Following the succes ...
.
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
has extended invitations to MuggleNet to attend the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at
Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and Amusement park, theme park located in Universal City, California, near Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketin ...
in addition to the opening of Diagon Alley and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal Orlando Resort. In July 2020, MuggleNet, together with the Leaky Cauldron, took several steps to distance themselves from Rowling due to comments she made the previous month that they perceived as
transphobic Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social ...
. In a joint statement, the sites wrote that her views were "out of step with the message of acceptance and empowerment we find in her books and celebrated by the Harry Potter community". They announced that they would no longer use photos of the author, link to her website, or write about achievements unrelated to the Potterverse. In January 2021, MuggleNet promised to no longer provide news coverage of J.K. Rowling's works set outside of the wizarding world. The next month, that policy was updated to state that MuggleNet would no longer provide editorial coverage of J.K. Rowling's works set outside of the wizarding world "unless related to works set within the wizarding world."


Podcasts


''MuggleCast''

'' MuggleCast'' launched in August 2005 when podcasts were still up and coming. Inspired by the passion within the ''Harry Potter'' community, MuggleNet staff members Andrew Sims, Ben Schoen, and Kevin Steck created a short podcast to discuss some of the recent ''Harry Potter'' news and the just-released ''
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...
''. Following Sims's departure from the site in summer 2011, ''MuggleCast'' separated from MuggleNet to become an independent podcast. The hosts now discuss the ''
Fantastic Beasts ''Fantastic Beasts'' is a film series directed by David Yates and a spin-off prequel to the ''Harry Potter'' novel and film series. The series is distributed by Warner Bros and consists of three fantasy films, beginning with '' Fantastic Bea ...
'' films, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks, and fandom news, along with continued discussion of the original ''Harry Potter'' series. ''MuggleCast'' recorded what it announced would be its final regular episode on August 26, 2013. However, on December 27, 2014, it was announced that they would be returning to regular episodes. ''MuggleCast'' began posting weekly podcasts again in April 2017. It is currently hosted by Andrew Sims, Eric Scull, Micah Tannenbaum, and Laura Tee. In September 2019, ''MuggleCast'' was featured in an article in ''
The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. In 2021, Winfrey and Hearst rebranded it as ''Oprah Daily''. Overview It was first pub ...
'': "26 of the Best Book Podcasts to Listen to When You're Not Reading".


Published works

In 2006, in advance of the arrival of ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh and final novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publish ...
'', five MuggleNet staff members (Andy Gordon, Jamie Lawrence, Ben Schoen, Emerson Spartz, and Gretchen Stull) coauthored the reference book ''What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love, and How Will the Adventure Finally End'', which was a published collection of unofficial fan predictions. By July 21, 2007, the book had sold 335,000 copies and reached #2 on the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Children's Best Seller list, where it spent six months. In 2009, Emerson Spartz and Ben Schoen penned another book, MuggleNet.com's ''Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site''.


In popular culture

In 2010, MuggleNet, along with several groups in the ''Harry Potter'' fandom, created a four-hour event called Helping Haiti Heal, with all proceeds going to Partners in Health to help provide health care to areas without reliable medical care following the disastrous earthquake that hit the country that year. In October 2007, ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
'' did a parody of Emerson Spartz's recent interview on the " Geraldo" segment of
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
. Both the original interview and the parody discussed J. K. Rowling's recent
outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia Transphobia consists ...
of Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore. In 2012, Mugglenet published an
April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...
post suggesting that then British Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
was declaring May 2nd as "International Harry Potter Day" to commemorate the
Battle of Hogwarts ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh and final novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publish ...
, a claim that in the years since has since been falsely cited as true by some media outlets.


See also

*
Harry Potter fandom The ''Harry Potter'' fandom is the Fandom, community of fans of the ''Harry Potter'' books and films who participate in entertainment activities that revolve around the series, such as reading and writing fan fiction, creating and soliciting fa ...


References


External links


MuggleNet

''Alohomora!''

''MuggleCast''

''SpeakBeasty''

MuggleNet Book Trolley

MuggleNet Fan Fiction

MuggleNet Live!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mugglenet Harry Potter websites Companies based in Indiana Internet properties established in 1999 1999 establishments in Indiana