| In the 20-odd years Harry Potter has been around, intrepid fans have always found ways to play quidditch. A lack of actually airborne broomsticks never held back the wizarding sport, nor did the necessary replacement of the flying golden snitch with a tennis ball stuffed into a tube sock. But no one will be playing quidditch much longer. Or, they may still run around hurling quaffles and bludgers, but the sport will at least be called something else. Molly Roberts's latest column explores the renaming recently undertaken by quidditch's governing bodies (things that exist!), which seek to decouple the game from the world J.K. Rowling created. It's a move, Roberts says, that's both "meaningful and meaningless." Quidditch depends entirely "on the connection to the Boy Who Lived and the writer who brought him to life," she writes. Rechristening it won't change that. But the attempt might hold a lesson for Rowling herself, whose very public transphobia is in part what's causing quidditch organizers to cast her off: "Words only mean something in relation to the world they describe — and more than that, the way they're understood. You can tweak a reference all you like, but the referent will stay just the same." Perhaps Rowling could bear this in mind the next time she has a notion to tweet about what it means to be a "woman."  (Will Newton for The Washington Post) The transphobic author could stand to learn something about words. By Molly Roberts ● Read more » | | | The unvaccinated are in danger. They must get their act together. By Jennifer Rubin ● Read more » | | | | What my Theranos blood test experience reveals about Silicon Valley and Elizabeth Holmes. By Meghan Kruger ● Read more » | | | | Christmas is for its own sake. By Kathleen Parker ● Read more » | | | Joseph and Mary did sit down in that place that is called Couch and, lo, they began to discuss. By Alexandra Petri ● Read more » | | | | Three trends emanating from lower-court Republican judges are particularly threatening to our system of democratic governance. By Perry Bacon Jr. ● Read more » | | | | The new administration has had "quite a year" in foreign policy, from mending frayed alliances to botching the withdrawal from Afghanistan. By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | It's hard to imagine a bill that would have been more difficult for any senator from the Mountain State, Democrat or Republican, to support. By Charles Lane ● Read more » | | | Inside the latest effort to figure out what Joe Manchin will support on Build Back Better. By Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | | Historic presidencies are a function of both talent and good timing. By Megan McArdle ● Read more » | | | | These races could give the former president a run for his political money. By Henry Olsen ● Read more » | | | |
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