In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam explore the state of online Tolkien fandoms, including the main three Tolkien subreddits and some (still kicking!) online forum sites.

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk about the US and Israel's war with Iran, and are later joined by Danny Bessner of the American Prestige podcast to discuss his (now quite relevant) 2022 piece The Rings of Power is a Saga for a War-Hungry Nation.

Danny Bessner is an Associate Professor in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He co-hosts the American Prestige podcast, which you can find here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Stephen Yandell about CS Lewis and his complex relationship with JRR Tolkien.

Steve Yandell is a medievalist and Tolkien/Lewis scholar who has been a Professor of English at Xavier University since 2003.

More Steve:

Queer Approaches To Tolkien: Essays on the Many Paths to Middle-earth [co-edited with Robin Anne Reid and Christopher Vaccaro)

"A Pattern Which Our Nature Cries Out For": The Medieval Tradition of the Ordered Four in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien

A Book-by-Book Guide to C.S. Lewis' Spiritual Themes

The Trans-cosmic Journeys in The Chronicles of Narnia

Also mentioned:

Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia

Lewis - The Gods Return To Earth [review of Lord of the Rings]

Lewis - Till We Have Faces

Lewis - The Shoddy Lands [the story where a man is inside a woman's head]

Lewis - It All Began With A Picture [essay]

Lewis - Surprised By Joy [spiritual memoir]

Lewis - That Hideous Strength

Lewis - The Pilgrim's Regress

Tolkien - The Bovadium Fragments

Williams - The Place of the Lion

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter 22 of the Quenta Silmarillion, which includes the release of Hurin from captivity, the fall of the kingdom of Doriath, and (most importantly), the death of Entmoot Podcast All-Star Mîm the Petty-dwarf.

Primary sources:

The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam look back at the year that was, look ahead to the year that's to come, and answer (excellent!) listener questions. Topics include the status of democracy in absolute monarchies like Gondor, connections between Tolkien and Lovecraft, the history of Galadriel, our favorite movies of 2025, Reddit comments about the podcast, and our predictions for 2026 elections in the US and abroad.

Further reading/listening:

Our episode with Rob Tally

Our episode with Lee Konstantinou

Our episode with Ali Mirzabayati

Konstantinou - Mythic Capital: How Tolkien is Whispering in the Ears of America's Most Powerful Men

Semley (Wired, 10/25) - Elon Musk Really Doesn't Get The Lord of the Rings

Pagliarini (Dissent, Fall 25) - Lula's Unfinished Democracy

Hartrich (Journal of Social History, Fall 24) - The Boundaries of Popular Control in Late Medieval English Towns

Hill - The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714

Livingston - Bloody Crowns: A New History of the Hundred Years War

Tooze - The Wages of Destruction

Kenny's Letterboxd | Sam's Letterboxd

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to William Fliss about Tolkien's manuscripts and life as an archivist.

Bill Fliss is the Manuscripts Archivist at Marquette University, which places him among the foremost authorities in the world on Tolkien's manuscripts for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. He runs the Anduin Project at Marquette which is an invaluable tool for Tolkien researchers.

Add your voice to the Tolkien Fandom Oral History Collection and tell Bill we sent you!

More Bill:

“Things That Were, and Things That Are, and Things That Yet May Be”: The J.R.R. Tolkien Manuscript Collection at Marquette University

(Documentary) The Muster At Marquette: Preserving 6,000 Fan Voices

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Jyrki Korpua about the Kalevala and the inspiration that Tolkien drew from it. This episode is a companion piece to our previous episode on chapter 21 of The Silmarillion, which you can find here.

Jyrki Korpua is a researcher and lecturer of literature at the University of Oulu in Finland. He has published extensively on both the Kalevala and Tolkien, and we are here primarily discussing his 2024 book Tolkien and the Kalevala.

More Jyrki:

The Mythopoeic Code of Tolkien: A Christian Platonic Reading of the Legendarium

“Master of Fate, yet by fate mastered” – Tolkien’s Túrin Turambar and Kalevala’s Kullervo

Also mentioned:

Lönnrot (Bosley translation) - The Kalevala

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 20 and 21 of the Quenta Silmarillion, which include an account of the Fifth Battle and the tragic tale of Turin Turambar.

Primary sources:

The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

Books we've been reading:

The Wages of Destruction

Ride The Pink Horse

The Long Goodbye

Gilead

The Sot-Weed Factor

The Fort Bragg Cartel

The Age of Empire

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