Happy Valentine's, Galentine's, and/or Palentine's Day! Thanks to this week's Patreon supporter, Ali! We appreciate you! Phoenix Register: we have a name for the Wizarding World land in Epic Universe! It's called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: The Ministry of Magic. More info here. Find out one of Carolyn's husband's core memories. Owl Post: Jerri writes in about sea adventures and swimming snakes.  Enjoy the tangent about dog beds as well.  Main Discussion: a deep dive into MinaLima's Fantastic Beasts work in The Magic of MinaLima! If you'd like to follow along in your copy: First two images pg 62–63 Ministries of Magic intro to section Pg 88-89 British Ministry of Magic Pg 90-93 MACUSA Pg 100-103 French Ministry of Magic Pg 104-105 German Ministry of Magic Pg 107-107 Newt’s home and menagerie Pg 82-83 We talk the various Ministries of Magic, Dumbledore's measurements, and more.  “I think the technical term is floopy-doopy?” Who is McGonagall? Is she real? “That’s where you go for Olympus!” Can anyone actually draw a map of the US? If you need some truly killer trivia questions, listen to the numbers Shannen lists at 53:38. “France is like, we’re women!” If you’d like to purchase your own copy, you can get the ebook or the physical book! For more MinaLima, there’s also a pop-up shop at Universal Orlando. Newtcase: changelings! The moral of changelings is “be nice to children.” Podcast Question: What’s your favorite piece of MinaLima art?

Welcome … to SpeakBeasty After Dark, ft. Shannen's post-cold voice.  Thanks to this week's Patreon supporter, Jasmine H.! Phoenix Register: HBO is holding pitch meetings for the Harry Potter TV series, per Deadline.  TikTok doesn't understand lead times. New Harry Potter Squishmallows are coming out, featuring Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Owl Post: Jerri writes in with thoughts on Universal, Edinburgh, and the show ending. Main Discussion: the final third of the beasts that haven't appeared on-screen in Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts.  Unicorns: dangerous? Chill? Dangerously chill? “He's a funny little guy but he'll eat you!” Liz aspires to be a “create an entire magical species to destroy fishing nets” level of petty  You can listen to us be so, so wrong about snallygasters in episode 141, “More Dumbledores, More Secrets.” “The Ministry … is bad.” - Shannen Bigfoots and brown bears are working together! Disco Yeti!! Time-Turner: the history of Muggle zoology! Marjolaine has proof that Charles Darwin was not a wizard. Podcast Question: Which beast, of the ones discussed today, would you like to see in the Fantastic Beasts movies?

Time isn't a real thing and we made it up. Thanks to this week's Patreon supporter, Allee! Phoenix Register: Hogwarts Legacy is the best-selling game in the UK and the US for 2023. It was also the most-searched game on Google. A giant elder wand has gone up at Epic Universe! Pictures here. It's acting as a beacon to mark the entrance of the Wizarding World land. Sad news: with episode 200, we're  bringing SpeakBeasty to a close. It's not goodbye, it's see you later! The last episode is actually dropping 3/31, not right before the eclipse. “My dog's really cute, and so is my husband, and I'm kinda funny…” Main Discussion: Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts experiences in Edinburgh! We talk about The Elephant House Cafe, Greyfriars Kirkyard, various inspirations for Hogwarts (including Donaldson Hall), Victoria Street, Museum Context, Loch Ness, the Kelpies, Scottish wildcats, and Edinburgh’s history with witches. Marjolaine mentions a special experience in the Elephant House's bathroom.  How many bottles of whisky did Chris bring home?? Sometimes the lizard brain kicks in. Find out the daring way Ann distracted the TSA from noticing all of Chris’ whisky.  No-Maj Movie Magic: location scouting! Find out what a location scout has to look for, and how it applied to the Fantastic Beasts series. We've linked it before, but the interview with Christian Manz can be read here. Podcast Question: Why do you think the Elder Wand was chosen as the Wizarding World beacon at Epic Universe? What would you have chosen?

Happy New Year from the SpeakBeasty team!  Thanks to this week's Patreon supporter, Beth W.! Phoenix Register: congratulations to Geoff and Ashley on the newest member of the Beasty crew!  Owl Post: Liz, Lorrie, and Geoff write in about their favorite Beasty moments of the year. Main Discussion: in honor of the newest baby Beasty, we're talking the care and feeding of baby Beasts! “I did heavy amounts of research … in my head.” What animal is Liz usually mistaken for? We ponder the limits of diricawl teleportation. “That's Credence just being a silly boy.” Qilins just love to frolic. New Segment: Beasts Among Us!  We're talking panda diplomacy. Baby pandas (in utero) are the size of a stick of butter! Podcast Question: Which Fantastic Beasts baby is the cutest?

It’s Christmas! A very Beasty Christmas to those of you who celebrate! Phoenix Register: Visions of Magic is open in Cologne! Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Victoria Yeates, Poppy Corby-Tuech, and Oliver Massuci reunited at German Film Comic Con and talked behind the scenes shenanigans, what role they’d like to play in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, and the surprising location of the green room! Watch the panel on YouTube. Cursed Child is kicking off its national tour in Chicago in September! Who’s up for a show? Attraction and shop names were revealed for Epic Universe. Check out the article here. Owl Post: Jerri writes in about the beasts she thinks would have done well in the movies. Main Discussion: The SpeakBeasty Year in Review! What friend of the show was in Hogwarts Legacy? The Great Wizarding Express is maybe less great than advertised. May 2023: In our Mothman era. “And my dog was like, why aren’t you letting me sniff things?” Warner Brothers should give us a medal. Time-Turner: Christmas in America in the 1930s! Christmas during the Great Depression was, surprisingly, depressing. American Girl update: it was definitely not Samantha. Podcast Question: What was your favorite Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts moment or memory of 2023 (and why was it listening to SpeakBeasty)?

Thanks to this week’s Patreon supporter, Neeharika P.! We’re still workshopping the festive version of our name. No news this week ☹ …except that there might be a Supernatural reboot? No owl post either ☹ please send us owl post, but not your Destiel fanfics Main Discussion: The beasts we didn’t see, part 2 “Part of my brain is a horsefish?” More references: the Hodag statue in Wisconsin, clay Horklumps, …And That’s Why We Drink #173 Mongoose Cam and a New Gemini Icon, The Magnus Archives #103 “Cruelty Free,” nogtail art (1, 2, 3), Grand Pabbie in Frozen: The Broadway Musical Newt got expelled because his jarvey is too rude and full of ‘tude Liz is a knarl, confirmed “A venom SAC, not a venom SNACK.” Ann’s theory about the trolls from Frozen is confirmed Podcast Question: Which beast of the ones we discussed today would you like to see in an upcoming movie?

Do the kids still say ‘IRL?’ Thanks to this week’s Patreon supporter, Anne S.! Phoenix Register: the House of Minalima pop-up opened in Paris, and Marjo got to go! Marjo reveals some Fantastic Beasts secrets and we learn something incredibly unsurprising about Geoff. You can see the newspaper we talk about here. There’s a connection between Hadestown and Secrets of Dumbledore. Owl Post: Jerri writes in with suggestions of where else the gang could go. Main Discussion: the beasts we didn’t see! To follow along, read the article here. “This is like if black mold had a personality …and a soul…” Shannen takes a firm stand on chizpurfle rights. KRUPPIES! Newt could have become a fairy dad. Podcast Question: What creature would you have liked to see, or would like to see, in a future movie?

Thanks to this week’s Patreon supporter, Margie! Phoenix Register: stop telling Geoff that having a kid with a birthday so close to Christmas is going to be rough!! (note from Ann: as a day-after-Christmas baby, IT IS ROUGH THOUGH) For actual news: Did WB actually commit to five FB movies, or was that just wishful thinking? We break down the infamous ‘five’ Tweet with what we know now. Owl Post: Jerri shares her theme park thoughts! Listeners, do we need an All-Day Geoff Podcast Marathon? Owl-bert suggests an expansion of the FB universe. Can one person truly encapsulate Dumbledore? Someone please cancel Liz on TikTok. Please. Main Discussion: the other countries we’d like to see Newt and the squad travel to! We suggest Brazil, Canada, and a lot of other places! Caiporas vs nifflers: who would win? We like the cold mostly for the iconic outerwear. This is a surprisingly lake-monster-heavy episode. Fun fact: It is illegal to pretend to be a witch in Canada! The children haven’t done the research! Time-Turner: Art Deco! Art nouveau vs art deco You can read the Lonely Planet article Carolyn references here. Podcast Question: Where would you like to see Newt and the gang go?

We are deep into spooky and Swiftie season. Thanks to this week’s Patreon supporter, Jemima! Happy birthday to Ann’s dad too! Phoenix Register: MinaLima’s pop-up House of MinaLima is open in Paris from October 27 to March 9! To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter, and the release of MinaLima’s Prisoner of Azkaban, the Franklin Roosevelt station in Paris has been decorated with huge Harry Potter illustrations. Check out the La Gazette article here. No owl post ☹ Tell us why your favorite public transit system should have a stop named after Newt Scamander! Main Discussion: theme parks! Amy needs immersion in her theme park experiences. Could we be getting a Wizarding World in Europe? More information on Universal’s possible acquisition of PortAventura here. (Article by Shannen!) How many of us are roller coaster people? (Spoiler: none of us) Watch a Hippogriff lesson at Universal Osaka here. Shannen tells the story of a sneaky, magical wedding. Brief spoilers for Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventures at 00:25:19 - 00:25:30. Pro-tip: ride the Hogwarts Express both ways! Watch Celestina Warbeck’s Christmas show here. Epic Universe discussion, including pretty major spoilers, runs from 00:46:45 – 01:10:45. Specific ride spoilers from 00:53:20 – 1:00:51. Skip if you want to go into Epic Universe unspoiled! We get to armchair Imagineer! SpeakBeasty meetup in 2025! Newtcase: vampires! “He was born in 1776, as all Americans were.” Some owls have a scientific name of strigoi! We discuss our first vampires. Podcast Question: What do you expect from the Circus Arcanus show in Epic Universe?

Thanks to this week's Patreon supporter, Colleen S.! Congratulations on the baby! Phoenix Register: David Yates did an interview with Deadline where he spoke shooting Secrets of Dumbledore during the pandemic, and the future of the franchise. Read it here.  What does the future of Harry Potter look like without David Yates? A book of Wizarding World piano music was released, featuring music from Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts. Give it a look here (US) or here (worldwide EXCEPT the US). Jerri writes in with her thoughts about the beasts' ranking.  Main Discussion: Hogwarts Legacy and its beasts! This discussion is PLOT spoiler-free, but if you want to go in completely unspoiled, come back after you've played. Were the hype and community hurt by the staggered rollout? You = Newt  If you're yelling at your phone "IT'S 1890," you're not alone. This was the first result on YouTube for "cozy vivarium tour." Enjoy!  "You have the Dugbog … nice… I hate them." Carolyn, Marjolaine, and Shannen discuss their dream Wizarding World video games. Battle of the Beasts: Carolyn! vs! Shannen! Podcast Question: What is your dream Fantastic Beasts video game, or other kind of game?