Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Ned’s choice of topic: Terry Brooks’s debut novel The Sword of Shannara. Released in 1977 after the author had been working on it for almost a decade, The Sword of Shannara became a massive publishing success for i

What Is It with Straight Men and Red Hair?

Apr 1st, 2024 58m 54s

On Terry Brooks’s novel The Sword of Shannara.

Tolkien Dropping Bars

Mar 4th, 2024 1h

On Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf.

60. Tolkien Dropping Bars.

Mar 4th, 2024 1h

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Jared’s choice of topic: Beowulf. The famed Old English poem, the longest extant poetic work in general preserved in that language, almost accidentally survived over the years until it became more widely recognized

I Physically Recoiled from the Book at That Point

Feb 5th, 2024 54m 22s

Silicon Valley's misinterpretations of Tolkien.

59. I Physically Recoiled from the Book at That Point.

Feb 5th, 2024

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: Silicon Valley’s misinterpretation and fetishization of Tolkien. Tolkien of course lived in a time where computers were mostly huge rooms containing one machine or two that he doubtless co

What an Absolute Nightmare This Man Would Have Been to Work With

Jan 8th, 2024 58m 55s

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

58. What an Absolute Nightmare This Man Would Have Been to Work With.

Jan 8th, 2024 58m 55s

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Ned’s choice of topic: The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Following the publication of his official biography of Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter worked with Christopher Tolkien to edit and present a selection of Tolkien’

There’s No Rule That Says a Girl Can’t Kill the Witch-king!

Dec 4th, 2023 1h 50m

Peter Jackson’s version of The Return of the King.

57. There’s No Rule That Says a Girl Can’t Kill the Witch-king!

Dec 4th, 2023 1h 50m

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss their collective choice of topic: Peter Jackson’s version of The Return of the King. It’s been twenty years since the conclusion of Jackson’s three-film effort to adapt the entire Lord of the Rings was released, an

The Long Defeat Is Maybe Going on a Little Too Long

Nov 7th, 2023 57m 8s

All about the Noldor.

56. The Long Defeat Is Maybe Going on a Little Too Long.

Nov 7th, 2023 57m 8s

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: the Noldor. Also termed the Deep-elves and, in early versions of the legendarium, the Gnomes – thankfully changed given unavoidable associations – they were one of the three ethnicities of

There Was a Lot to Remember Here and I Don’t Remember Most of It

Oct 2nd, 2023 56m 28s

Tolkien's unfinished novel The Notion Club Papers.

55. There Was a Lot to Remember Here and I Don’t Remember Most of It.

Oct 2nd, 2023 56m 28s

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Ned’s choice of topic: The Notion Club Papers. Written in 1945 during a creative pause in completing the final third of The Lord of the Rings, The Notion Club Papers found Tolkien on familiar ground, creating a set

The Pleasures of the Robot Dancehall

Sep 4th, 2023 55m 48s

Tolkien's story The Lost Road.

54. The Pleasures of the Robot Dancehall.

Sep 4th, 2023 55m 48s

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Jared’s choice of topic: The Lost Road. In 1937, Tolkien agreed to C.S. Lewis’s suggestion to try to write the kind of stories they enjoyed but didn’t see good examples of to their liking. Lewis’s efforts turned in

Working on the Group Art Project

Aug 7th, 2023 53m 17s

Land in Tolkien.

53. Working on the Group Art Project.

Aug 7th, 2023 53m 17s

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: land. By default the Middle-earth legendarium is about a place that never was, however rooted in the actual planet we live on, and the range of details from sweeping mountains and vast con

This Weird Paranoia Paradise Vibe

Jul 3rd, 2023 58m 54s

Tolkien’s posthumous collection The Fall of Númenor.

52. This Weird Paranoia Paradise Vibe.

Jul 3rd, 2023 58m 54s

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Ned’s choice of topic: The Fall of Númenor. Published in fall of 2022, The Fall of Númenor is the most recent posthumously published collection of Middle-earth writings, acting as an overall guide to the Second Age