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On Harry Potter's 20th Anniversary, Listen To His NPR Debut

NPR | By Glen Weldon
Published June 26, 2017 at 4:28 PM EDT
Copies of <em>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone</em>, on sale in an Arlington, Virginia bookstore in 2000.
Alex Wong
/
Getty Images
Copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, on sale in an Arlington, Virginia bookstore in 2000.

The first book of the Harry Potter series went on sale in the U.K. 20 years ago today. It offers a convenient excuse to reacquaint yourself with a world before anyone on this side of the Atlantic had heard of muggles, horcruxes or pensieves, before tourists would crowd into London's Kings Cross railway station simply to peer wistfully at the space between Platforms Nine and Ten.

Here's the first story NPR ever aired about Harry Potter — a wonderful piece by the late Margot Adler, from All Things Considered in 1998.

Some gems, from that bygone era:

  • "Most people in the U.S. have never heard of Harry Potter. It's not a title you see in the window at your local Barnes & Noble."

  • Rowling's recollection of how Harry came to her while she stared out a train window at some cows.

    •
  • Margot Adler's uncannily accurate prediction that the word "muggle" will become a Whole Big Thing.

  • A Q and A session in which a kid asks Rowling about her writing, and Rowling reads the Reptile House scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

  • A quote from a bookstore manager marveling at the fact that they've sold "hundreds" of copies.

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    Glen Weldon
    Glen Weldon is a host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. He reviews books, movies, comics and more for the NPR Arts Desk.
    See stories by Glen Weldon

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    Federal funding is gone.

    Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

    That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

    The future of public media is in your hands.

    All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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