Potterless

7,101

Join Mike Schubert, a grown man reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, as he sits down with HP fanatics to poke fun at plot holes, make painfully incorrect predictions, and bask in the sassiness of the characters. Schubes and his guests cover a portion of the Harry Potter franchise each week, taking you on a journey through your childhood, this time with the rose-tinted glasses off.Follow Potterless on Twitter (@PottterlessPod) and Instagram (@PotterlessPodcast), and learn more about the show at www.potterlesspodcast.com

Recent Episodes
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Recent Reviews
  • šŸ˜CarolinešŸ˜
    Please read before the others!
    I absolutely love this podcast! It is so funny and makes me laugh out loud! Most of the reviews say like ā€œOh Mike talks about politics to muchā€¦ā€ and yes he does talk about politics a lot but it’s great to hear his point of view of the meaning behind some of the topics and it’s one of the things that makes it fun! He goes on a lot of random tangents and it’s just a really good podcast idea in general! You should really listen to it!
  • times123456
    Get your info right- love a Potterhead
    Nice try on reviewing the Harry Potter series as you are reading it. I started with the Goblet of Fire first podcast. Do some research, and get some facts right. There was some information missing in your review. Voldemort, is pronounced with a silent T. Frank was still taking care of the garden for the next two owners of the house (that didn’t stay long).
  • How many i s in hi ?
    In case anyone was wondering
    Humbugs are a traditional hard-boiled sweet available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Zimbabwe and New Zealand. They are usually flavoured with peppermint[1] and striped in two different colours (often black and white). In Australia, the black-and-white-striped humbugs may be aniseed flavoured. Humbugs may be cylinders with rounded ends wrapped in a twist of cellophane, or more traditionally tetrahedral, loose in a bag.[1] Records of humbugs exist from as early as the 1820s, and they are referred to in the 1863 book Sylvia's Lovers as being a food from the North.[2] The etymology is unknown.
  • Phoenix4253
    Hilarious!!
    Found this podcast when he did a collab with Through the Griffin- Door (check them out omg love it; great for hard core potter fans <3) and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s hilarious, and it’s so fun to listen to his theories as the books go on. Wish I discovered this while he was making it, because to my knowledge he doesn’t do tours for this anymore. Def recommend!!
  • CharlotteCello
    stop trying bc you’ll never be as good
    Mugglecast is the best just give up.
  • @misschanandlerbong
    Got me at ep. 0
    I’m listening to the first episode and am already laughing my butt off šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚
  • shaniebug2012
    Absolutely wonderful
    I love this podcast so much. I had just went through all the books again as an adult and when I finished them I was so sad because I just didn’t want it to be over . . . And then I found Potterless. It is an amazing ride so far. It certainly fills the void left by finishing the books :)
  • wizardgirl111111
    HILARIOUS
    Found out about this podcast through Fanatical Fics and Where to Find Them (go check them out!), and absolutely LOVE IT. Mike’s witty takes on everything make me laugh and appreciate the series in a new light. As a super Harry Potter nerd, I’m trying to find plot holes myself, and I often find myself screaming in agreement or opposition at Mike. LOVE this podcast, definitely recommend.
  • #lovethispodcast2747
    Favorite podcast
    Just so very awesome and appreciative that this podcast exists.
  • sunset of the sky wings
    Terrible
    Mugglecast is better so stop trying
  • Gwerple
    My favorite podcast
    I found this podcast and I literally binged it for like three months, it’s so so good! :D
  • zach_lcct
    Spoiler Heavy Podcast
    Be warned! As a first time reader of HP myself I like this concept for a podcast but if you’re reading and following along, there will be hugeeee spoilers almost every episode so that kinda suckssss
  • Dland494
    Exactly 3 stars
    Pros: -funny at times -hot takes are interesting -ā€œWhy didn’t the riddles just move???!!!!ā€ -quidditch rants Cons: -I have to fast forward every time he tries to talk about the political climate -Some of his guests are kind of annoying. I would rate this 5 stars if the multitude folks weren’t guests, they are pretty meh. The guests on 64 and 65 were so annoying i had to skip those episodes entirely-yes wizards are racist but the whole agenda is too much here. I’m here for comedic relief on this comedy podcast and I’m plan to finish the series, but my god it might get hard. Hot take: maybe DONT talk about US politics during your comedy show. I’m honestly a little afraid to get into the episodes made in 2020.
  • Magic_the_chimichanga
    Basically AWESOME
    I was looking for a new book podcast and I stumbled upon the newest Olympian, which mentioned this one in one of the reviews, so I just HAD to check it out and oh my Hyppogriff I LOVE this
  • bodega cat
    Relistening!
    I'm relistening to the episodes covering the books and I just realized that I never left a review! This podcast hits the right balance between good naturedness and snarky.
  • Ziggyanne
    Love Harry Potter, love you!
    I’m on episode 24 and I love this podcast! Can’t explain the joy it brings me to hear the takes from a newbie. Amazing!
  • KatieShenby
    A woke American's interpretation of HP
    Mike is absolutely entitled to his opinions as am I. I listened to all 7 books reading of this podcast before coming to review it. It started off well ngl. Somewhere along the middle Mike lost the plot completely. I saw that Mike was open about some things and completely close-minded about others. Like how Mike took offense to some words just because interpretation of them in one context is sexual without realizing that the same words can be used in many many other contexts without being sexual. Mike ranted about that for no good reason for many many many episodes because Mike couldn't accept that other cultures can't have different ways of saying things? This coming from a guy who in one episode said he is a proponent of diversity. Well, ok then. Mike kept getting many things wrong even though they were explained 10 pages before. Reading the books carefully is the one thing Mike had to do and he fails spectacularly. This podcast should be called "A woke Americans interpretation of Harry Potter" because that is exactly what it is. He throws around words like diversity while he pokes fun of another culture. Can anything be more woke American? I guess not. Do not listen to this podcast if you do not believe in magic. Mike doesn't and it'll irritate you to the point that you'll write a long review like this one.
  • zach91robles
    Idk if u read this hope u do
    Love your pod cast don’t change u are helping me in a tough time ur podcast help. Keep up the awesome job yessssss!!!!!!!!!!!
  • craigory_t
    What?
    I only made it a few episodes in because the host tries to have a lot of ā€œcuteā€ hot takes on the series while simultaneously misreporting important details from the books he supposedly just read. He also takes digs at the movies while also admitting he has only seen 4.5 of them and it’s been a while since he’s watched them. Lastly, the friends he has on as ā€œHarry Potter expertsā€ get tons of basic facts wrong and seem to be in the same boat of not having read the books or watched the movies for a while. I just don’t get why you’d make a podcast about something while putting such little effort into engaging with the topic of your podcast.
  • RoadClosed
    Ep 127!
    I’ve been listening through every episode and I absolutely love this podcast. The stand out episode was 127 where Mike interviews/has a conversation with Gordon Cox. Truly informative and a joy to listen to.
  • EmšŸŒŒšŸšŸšŸ”­
    One of my favorites
    This is one of my favorite podcasts and I absolutely love it. It’s funny, and makes me question everything I know about Harry Potter.
  • Allen evret snyder
    The best podcast
    This podcast is the best podcast. I found it from muglecast. Wach it🤬!
  • HAUNN789$
    Love it
    I love this podcast, it keeps me entertained and makes me want to reread the series, and rewatch.
  • allie halle
    Dying of laughter
    I love this show so much. Your speaking style and analytical senses are always so on point and it makes me smile every time I listen to it. Thank you for this wonderful show.
  • Holly Lynn P
    Episode 100
    You are very entertaining! Was listening to your deep dive on the projector. Wouldn’t it be cool if they had a magic projector hooked to a pensive so you could share a memory with the class?
  • Hellohellohello01267
    Republicans beware
    if you’re a republican or don’t like politics, don’t listen to this podcast lol, it’s pretty much half Harry Potter and half woke political takes
  • H-V-D
    Love ā¤ļø
    I just love his take on listening to the stories, and there’s a lot of nostalgia of remembering being excited about some of the stuff he gets excited about. And the way he pokes fun of the books is very funny!
  • hi my nameis person
    Amazing for reading along to, sleeping and just fun!
    I'm on the 3rd book of Harry Potter and when I wasn't reading it (I started from the 3rd bc I listened to the 1st and 2nd on here šŸ˜†) and I'm enjoying it. I fall asleep to this podcast it's just to good. It's good to just listen to the books! The newer episodes are not what I listen to but even though what I listen to is "old" I LOVE IT thanks Mike you even made me wanna read hp and I'm obsessed. -from a fellow "Potter head"
  • anoobisawaits
    Good premise but host and guests ruin it
    I was very interested in listening to this podcast because the idea is great. It was enjoyable for a while except you could turn it into a drinking game every time Mike(host) says something is ā€œthe worst.ā€ There were occasional political or social comments that didn’t fit the discussion but over time it got more common to where it made me turn it off. Mike and most of his guests find too many things offensive like word choices, not enough ā€œdiversityā€ or how characters were described. They can be very petty about complaining about a character, a fictional cultural norm yet ignore character or story development. Instead of reading the books as they are, they are insist on implementing their moral standards on a fictional world. If I had known or it was more obvious in the first episodes, I would have stopped earlier.
  • Cadybug54
    Hilarious
    I love listening to this podcast while I clean or am just trying to pass time. Mike is hilarious and I love Potterless. Him and his guests make the podcast funny, more interesting, and make some points that I didn’t even think of. The podcast is amazing.
  • Willowbud1732
    I haven’t listened🤣
    I LITERALLY HAVE NOT HEARD A SINGLE EPISODE BECAUSE I CAN’T LISTEN TO EXPLICIT THINGS lol. But really, I would recommend probably because TNO is really good. Can’t give 5 stars because I haven’t heard it but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. You are amazing! PS I haven’t read Harry Potter in like 2 years because I discovered twitter… yeah. No TERFs allowed within a 10 foot radius of me! Sorry JKR!
  • maloneyak
    Go Potterless!
    TERFy JK bad. Potterless good! I love that we still get occasional episodes, but even more I love and appreciate that Mike has deliberately used his Potter-based platform to denounce JK’s ignorant statements, and that he seems always open to learning for himself. Well done, fellow human!!!!
  • ENPO11
    I Would Recommend Listening
    This is a great and sassy way to look at Harry Potter and I love listening to Mike scrutinize over the Harry Potter series.
  • trekkie721
    Extremely Filthy and Political
    I really wish I could recommend this podcast, but I had to unsubscribe. I love Harry Potter. It provides simple entertainment and allows me to escape the divided, stressful, and chaotic life around, but not this podcast. The hosts talk with incredibly filthy language and somehow work to make nearly every detail some sort of ā€œadultā€ innuendo. Additionally, they also seem to want everything to have a political undertone and commentary on our culture. Harry Potter is entertainment, a way for me to escape, if only for a few minutes, the divisive political climate. And yet the hosts constantly yank it back in to a simple work of fiction. I will read Harry Potter, it’s simple, fun, and a pleasure to read. But this podcast is the exact opposite. It’s divisive, dirty, and chaotic.
  • Rae TeaSpoon
    LOVE IT
    It is wonderful and making me want to go through the Harry Potter books with a fine tooth comb. I came over from the SuperCarlinBrothers Ludo Bagman quiz. It took me about 2 weeks to binge all the way through the look back. Would definitely recommend to anyone who is a huge Harry Potter fan. The random rants are soo fun.
  • Griffdawger
    Delightfully Amazing!
    It was such an amazing drive down memory lanes of re-living my first read through this series (I have read them 10+ times now). I wish I could delete my knowledge and relive it the first time as an adult. I’m sure it would go a lot like Mike, and a lot of choice words and exclamations. I ALWAYS recommend this to all of my Potter Friends. My house: Ravenclaw šŸ’™
  • estellathestar
    Entertaining and frustrating
    I just listened to the book episodes and am now on the movie episodes. Overall, Potterless is an enjoyable podcast providing me with entertainment during the drudgery of getting ready for work, my daily commute, chores and the like. I stumbled upon it through the Swish and Flick podcast. Mike Schubert was a guest on one of their episodes. Once I caught up, I was in dire need of more Potter content so I decided to give it a try. I like the premise but it can e frustrating at times. There are many instances of details/facts from the books Mike Schubert gets wrong (likely due to the fact it’s his first read and he listens to the audio book at times, so I don’t think reading comprehension is the best) and editing Mike doesn’t really catch a majority of these errors. However, that’s not the real frustrating part, it’s more that the guests do not catch these errors because the guests aren’t as versed on the series. Now, I do like the guests for the most part. I just expected that the guests would have been more knowledgeable, and not just people who read the series as children. There are some guests who clearly have read the books more than once and also as adults, so those episodes are more enjoyable in my mind. It’s my fault for assuming all of the guests would be well versed in the books. Maybe a disclaimer in the first episode that the guests may have only read the books as children would be helpful to dilute the expectation. Other than that I have enjoyed listening to the podcast and binging it like one of my Netflix shows :)
  • LilMissFerret
    His Reading Comprehension is Terrible
    Honestly, I do not know why I listened to every episode of this podcast. Mike can be funny and entertaining, but he does veer into obnoxiousness from time to time. A good 2/3 of the guests haven’t read the books in a very long time and don’t have a good grasp on what’s going on most of the time. I think this is the worst flaw over all. Mike just had terrible reading comprehension. Half the time he misses very obvious things (like the veil being a literal door to death and the room it’s in being the death room). His dumbest moment, of which there are plenty, would be him unable to understand what the word ā€œunderfedā€ was. He called it ā€œun-derf-edā€ multiple times and looked it up. Twice. Neither of his guests corrected him either. Simple things are often misremembered (characters’ ages) or simply forgotten, even if they happened in the chapter before. For example, in book 3 he was excited about Ron and the Weasley’s visiting tombs with Bill in Egypt, only to then spend all of books 4-6 fussing that Bill was boring because he worked at a bank. It’s just tedious.
  • luvPEACEbeatles
    This is a really great for potter fans!
    I really have been enjoying Potterless! I love Harry Potter and it’s really nice to have a different view of it through Mike’s eyes. He does a really good walk through/ review of the books. He has a realistic view of Harry Potter and finds plot holes in a funny way while still respectful and enjoying Harry Potter. It’s really nice to have Mike’s views and other guests who are long time lovers of Harry Potter.
  • Hannah V Shaffer
    Amazing
    I stumbled upon Mike when he guest starred on another podcast I listen to and I have been listening to his podcasts almost nonstop since! Love them!
  • against all ads
    IM IN LOVE WITH POTTERLESS
    Hey Mike! I was only just introduced to Potterless 3 weeks ago and I’m already 40 episodes in!!! I was at LeakyCon Denver and I thought you were hilarious so I checked out the podcast and I am IN LOVE. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life when I catch up and you bet I will!
  • MorganEmily715
    GOAT
    I had heard of Potterless but all I knew is that it was a Harry Potter related podcast and nothing else. Last July I went to leakycon and during that weekend I attended up going to watch cosplay karaoke. Mike’s INSANE performance of Just a Friend inspired me to look up the podcast and I ended up binging the whole thing. Now a fan for life. Will DEFINITELY be listening to the next Olympian next. — Morgan
  • PhoenixQuinn05
    Amazing!!
    I love this podcast!! I wanted to listen to a Harry Potter podcast for a while before I found Potterless, and I was so glad I did!! Mike is very funny when he doesn’t know anything. I relistened to all the book ones when I was finished. I want to go to one of his live shows, but none of them are in my area. I kindly sent him a message on Instagram thinking he wouldn’t even read it but he did!! He had a very nice response and kindly said he would try to do one in my area!! I’m very excited to see him in person.
  • pua_queen
    Meh
    Pro- Concept is great, Spirits podcast cohosts are good I don’t mind that he injects his political ideology in- it’s his podcast. Host seems overall nice Con- Some of the guy cohosts were really bad Inability to often consider things in context (it’s 90s in Britain not 2020s in the US) Inability to empathize with characters (ie ranting about Harry being upset AFTER Sirius had just died)— even though one of the strengths of the book is the portrayal of grief. Overall, just not a ton of meaningful, original, insightful, intelligent commentary, like the kind you might get from someone with a literary background. (Ie confusing Minotaurs with centaurs) I stopped after ~20 episodes. So ultimately it depends on what you’re interested in- but if you don’t want the more in depth conversation and you want something more light hearted and shallow, this could be for you
  • saradactyl
    Thank You
    Around the time I started this podcast, a guy I was planning on marrying broke up with me. He did it over text , gave no reason and never contacted me again. I was going through a very low point and had a hard time with my mental health. Listening to Potterless was the only times I had genuine laughs and it helped me not think about the hurt. So thank you Mike for helping me get through one of the toughest heart breaks in my life. ā¤ļø
  • kiki bear loves lexie bear
    The best Potter Podcast out there!
    I’m listening to this podcast for the first time while rereading the books in preparation of Hogwarts Legacy! It’s so so much fun! I listen to one or two episodes a week on my way home after reading the chapters in my free time at work! Mike is so so much fun I absolutely love his takes (and his ignorance about the series lol). All the guest are wonderful and I really enjoy them especially Amanda from Sprits podcast, all except for one: Sydney. I cannot stand when the former Vine star is on an episode, she spoils so much for Mike and just candidly talks or corrects him about events that happen later in the series. It’s just always incredibly frustrating when she’s on. Other than that, I really look forward to listening to the podcast and it’s really helped me keep a good pace as I’m rereading the books. Wizard On!
  • Winterfell one
    Very annoying
    I listened to this podcast after listening to the newest Olympian thinking that it would be fun to hear a first timer read my favorite books. Big mistake, I don’t know why I listened to so many of these episodes, maybe I was hoping it would get better as time went by but apparently not. The ragging on so many characters was ridiculous and the complaining about Quidditch was unnecessary. I advise anyone who wants to listen to a better rounded interpretation of the books go and listen to Swish and Flick: A Harry Potter Podcast leave this one be.
  • Mpp777
    Rating
    Love the show, but Kelly is so annoying. She supposedly helped him start the show but is so annoying when she doesn’t remember anything that matters and you can barely hear her half the time. The rest of the show without Kelly is great.
  • Tj1231234325143
    Things you should know
    The audience for this podcast is well versed Harry Potter readers, looking to reminisce on books they loved. You should know these things: 1. He will use the phrase ā€œso goodā€ as his best analytical description, atleast 5 times per episode. 2. He has a girlfriend, is a mechanical engineer, lived in Europe briefly, plays basketball, and will remind of you of each of these every episode. 3. He is the most woke and most politically correct person in the world, and it’s clear he wants you to know it. 4. His guy friends are terrible co hosts, and remember little to no important Harry Potter facts. His women co hosts are generally excellent and the only good thing about this podcast. 5. He wants you to leave thinking that he is the best combination of an athletic, entrepreneur, frat bro, podcast inventor.
  • g.whitney
    Nags
    Dude, episode 88- Nags - another name for an old/stubborn/ugly horse, Hagrid was talking to centaurs, he was slighting them with this term. Like calling them a jerk but for their race. It *killed* me that you called for Dottie for that, I could feel every horse person screaming collectively lol.
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