Potterversity Episode 69: Potter Gets Stranger

About this episode

The episode compares Harry Potter and Stranger Things, exploring themes of friendship, magic, and emotional depth in both series.

We're entering the Upside Down to compare Harry Potter and Stranger Things following the Netflix series's final season. Spoilers ahead - proceed with caution! Katy, Emily, and producer Laurie reflect on the end of Stranger Things and how the series as a whole, and its conclusion in particular, connect to Potter . Season 5 was released in three installments at the end of 2025 to mixed reviews and a multitude of Potter comparisons. We see a coming-of-age story with characters starting around the same age as new Hogwarts students, the highs and lows of friendship, teens working together to fight evil, a hidden world of magic intersecting with the mundane, and government corruption. Parallels between the villains Voldemort and Vecna were particularly strong this season as were those between their respective targets Harry and Will Byers as well as Ginny Weasley and Holly Wheeler. One common criticism of the season was that there was too much time spent on emotional sharing rather than action, but we see good reason for this when thinking about the role of emotion in magic in Potter , such as casting a Patronus or learning Occlumency. Like Potter , Stranger Things ended with an…

People in this episode

Hosts: Katy, Emily, Laurie

Topics covered

• Harry Potter
• Stranger Things
• coming-of-age
• friendship
• magic
• emotional sharing
• spinoffs

Keywords

• Harry Potter
• Stranger Things
• Voldemort
• Vecna
• coming-of-age
• friendship
• magic
• emotional sharing
• spinoffs
• New York Times

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times

Books & works: Harry Potter, Stranger Things

More episodes of Potterversity: A Potter Studies Podcast

• Potterversity Episode 72: Harry Potter and Identity · May 11, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Potterversity Episode 71: Potter Meets Molesworth · April 13, 2026 · 60 min
• Potterversity Episode 70: Harry Potter and the Call for Papers · March 30, 2026 · 47 min
• Potterversity Episode 68: When in Doubt, Go to the Library · February 9, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Potterversity Episode 67: The Best Hope We Have · January 12, 2026 · 58 min
• Potterversity Episode 66: Back to Wizarding Business · July 14, 2025 · 42 min