Lend an ear to the Chicago Podcast Festival, currently in town and running through Friday 10/8. There are plenty of live tapings (the full schedule is at chicagopodcastfestival.org). Here are three you shouldn’t miss:
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first in the mammoth series, Potter makes the Gryffindor Quidditch team and wins the first game by catching the golden snitch in his mouth. What is a feat of Potter’s dedication is one of many launching points for erotic fan fiction set in the Harry Potter universe. Chicago natives Allie LeFevere, Lyndsay Rush, and Danny Chapman sift through a very surprising amount of Harry Potter erotic fan fiction and read their favorites, providing fun commentary to temper the unironic seriousness of the writing. Thu 10/5, 7 PM, Chicago Theater Works, 1113 W. Belmont, $15
Up and Vanished
Documentary filmmaker Payne Lindsey was poking around the Internet looking for true crime-type stories in the vein of NPR’s popular Serial podcast. Though his medium of choice is the screen, when he stumbled upon the case of Tara Grinstead, a missing high school teacher and former Miss Georgia contestant, he knew he was onto something best explained through podcast. The case has been open for 11 years, and Lindsey explores all avenues surrounding the disappearance, including suspicious student Ryan Duke and a black truck that drove its way into the narrative. Sat 10/7, 7 PM, Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, $32-$42
Jen Weigel is the author of Stay Tuned: Conversations With Dad From the Other Side (about her attempts to contact her Chicago TV broadcaster father after his death) and the motivational book I’m Spiritual, Dammit!: How to Keep Your Feet on the Ground and Your Head in the Stars, the latter which she turned into a podcast. The show features interviews with guests who receive messages from the other side, some who question the afterlife, and folks like math genius Mike Byster who claims to have discovered the secret to unlocking the brain’s full potential. Even the Great Pumpkin, Billy Corgan, paid a visit and opened up about his spiritual side. Sat 10/7, 9:30 PM, Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, $25, $23 for members