The Authority: Exploring the Worlds of His Dark Materials

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they cover Episode 6 of Season 2, “Malice,” in which Mrs. Coulter controls Spectres, Lee loses control over his balloon, and Mary Malone spends a nice afternoon reading Let’s Go Cittàgazze. Plus: Actual daemons respond to HBO’s My Daemon app.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comPodcast production by Phil Surkis. My Daemon segment written by Marissa Martinelli.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they cover Episode 5 of Season 2, “The Scholar,” in which Will and Lyra steal back the alethiometer, Mary Malone makes a big decision, and a monkey wears a seat belt.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comFurther reading: Archive of Our Own: Temptress - Chapter 1Podcast production by Phil Surkis.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they cover Episode 4 of Season 2, “The Tower of the Angels,” in which Will meets the subtle knife, Lee meets the Hot Priest, and Mary Malone meets Dust. Plus: a deep dive into the Guild of Philosophers and the mysteries of the subtle knife.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comPodcast production by Phil Surkis.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they cover Episode 3 of Season 2, “Theft” in which Will loses Lyra, Lyra loses the alethiometer, and Mrs. Coulter has a meeting of the minds with Lee Scoresby. Plus: a deep dive into the character of Lee and the series’ attempt to give this cowboy aeronaut a tragic backstory.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comPodcast production by Phil Surkis.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they cover Episode 2 of Season 2, “The Cave,” in which Lyra meets Mary Malone, a theoretical physicist in our world. She, and we, make some major discoveries about Dust.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comPodcast production by Phil Surkis.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. It’s a new season, and Lyra and Will aren’t the only people who’ve traveled to entirely different worlds. We all have since the show’s first season ended in 2019. Can Season 2 recapture the magic? We explore the season premiere, “The City of Magpies,” and discuss the architecture of Citàgazze, the growing friendship between Lyra and Will, and the secret powers of witches.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comPodcast production by Phil Surkis.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the new HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they’re discussing the season finale, “Betrayal.” Plus, a closer look at New Line’s 2007 attempt to film The Golden Compass with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Why did that movie fail so badly?Join the conversation:Email: asktheauthority@slate.comDan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbookPodcast production by Phil Surkis, with engineering assistance from Melissa Kaplan and Asha Saluja.

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the new HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they’re discussing episode 7, “The Fight To The Death,” in which Lyra travels to Svalbard and meets lofur Raknison, the ruler of the panserbjørne.Join the conversation:Email: asktheauthority@slate.comDan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbookPodcast production by Phil Surkis, with engineering assistance from Melissa Kaplan.