Episodes
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam take a break from actually discussing Tolkien and instead do a deep investigation into the life and times of a certain Tolkien fan.
Harrington - Brief reflections on the politics of Dune
The legendary Wikipedia article
Carolyn Gallaher -- After The Peace
The Third Way (the "wills and bequests" page is here)
Solidarity Union
Great UK Products You Can Buy
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this EMERGENCY EPISODE, co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance's love of Tolkien. When the Entmoot Podcast wished for a Tolkien fan in the White House, the monkey's paw curled. This episode is a sequel to our 2022 episode Hard Right Hobbits, which you can find here.
Sources:
Adam Wren (Politico) - How Lord of the Rings Shaped JD Vance's Politics
Simon van Zuylen-Wood (Washington Post) - The Radicalization of JD Vance
Salvador Rodriguez (CNBC) - Why Silicon Valley is obsessed with 'The Lord of the Rings'
Jack Butler (National Review) - Does The Left Really Want To Argue That Enjoying Lord of the Rings is Far-Right?
I won't include a link to Vance's book, but if you want to read it for some reason make sure to buy used.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Episodes manquant?
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1967 novella Smith of Wootton Major.
Primary sources:
Smith of Wootton Major (PDF) | Tales From The Perilous Realm (includes SoWM as well as all of Tolkien's other "minor works") | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien | On Fairy Stories (PDF)
Secondary sources:
Kocher - Master of Middle-earth (out of print)
Webb - The Lives of the Saints (contains KT's favorite version of the Voyage of St Brendan)
Calvino - Invisible Cities
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1949 comic short story Farmer Giles of Ham.
Primary sources:
Farmer Giles of Ham (PDF) | Tales From The Perilous Realm (includes FGoH as well as all of Tolkien's other "minor works") | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Kocher - Master of Middle-earth (out of print)
Link to the Alan Lee illustration of Farmer Giles and his blunderbuss
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1939 essay "On Fairy Stories." Part 2 of 2.
Primary sources:
On Fairy Stories (PDF) | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Le Guin - The Dispossessed
For discussion of "Man and the Machine" in Tolkien's work: Hren - Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's 1939 essay "On Fairy Stories." Part 1 of 2.
Primary sources:
On Fairy Stories (PDF) | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
For discussion of Tolkien and race/culture: Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto
For discussion of Tolkien's arguments with Christopher Wiseman: Garth - Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth
For discussion of "Man and the Machine" in Tolkien's work: Hren - Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's experience fighting in World War I and the ways it informed his worldview.
Primary sources:
The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien | The Fall of Gondolin
Secondary sources:
Garth - Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth
Garth - The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-Earth
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Loconte (for NYTimes) - How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western Front
Collins (for The Collector) - Lewis, Hemingway, & Tolkien: Three Authors of the Great War
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters seven and eight of the Quenta Silmarillion, including Feanor's creation of the Silmarils, Melkor's first plot to steal the Silmarils, Feanor's exile from Valmar, and Melkor's destruction of the Trees.
Primary sources:
The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam continue their discussion of a posthumously published essay by Charles W. Mills on the subject of race and racism in Lord of the Rings. Part 2 of 2.
Primary sources:
The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto | Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Further reading:
Mills - The Racial Contract
Jamelle Bouie for NY Times - obituary for Mills
Jared Anthony Loggins for Dissent - obituary for Mills
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss a posthumously published essay by Charles W. Mills on the subject of race and racism in Lord of the Rings. Part 1 of 2.
Primary sources:
The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto | Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Further reading:
Mills - The Racial Contract
Jamelle Bouie for NY Times - obituary for Mills
Jared Anthony Loggins for Dissent - obituary for Mills
Ian Frazier for The New Yorker - on the debate between Du Bois and Stoddard
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters three, four, and five of The Silmarillion, including the origin story of the Elves.
Primary sources:
The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Mentioned in this episode:
A helpful diagram of the Elven "family tree" | Price - Children of Ash and Elm
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters one and two of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the creation of the Trees and the origins of the dwarves.
Primary sources:
The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss leftist interpretations of Tolkien's work, and take some detours along the way.
Primary sources:
The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Landa - Slaves of the Ring: Tolkien's Political Unconscious
Curry - Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien: Myth and Modernity
Jameson - The Political Unconscious: Narrative As A Socially Symbolic Act
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the Valaquenta, our formal introduction to the Valar and the Maiar.
Primary sources:
The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the Ainulindalë, the creation myth of Tolkien's universe.
Primary sources:
The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the hard right's obsession with Tolkien, particularly through the figures of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and tech financier Peter Thiel.
Sources:
Hobbits and the Hard Right: How Fantasy Inspires Italy's New Leader -- Jason Horowitz, New York Times
Of Hobbits and Tigers: The Unlikely Heroes of Italy's Radical Right -- Tobias Hof, Fair Observer
How 'Hobbit Camps' Rebirthed Italian Fascism -- John Last, Atlas Obscura
In Italy's Deserted Democracy, Far-Right Giorgia Meloni Has Emerged Victorious -- David Broder, Jacobin
Why Silicon Valley is obsessed with 'The Lord of the Rings' -- Salvador Rodriguez, CNBC
Giorgia Meloni's Neo-Fascism -- Know Your Enemy podcast (bonus episode, to listen subscribe to their Patreon here)
Links to relevant news articles:
Bannon calls Trump supporters hobbits
Musk thinks the Rings of Power Amazon series is too woke
Bezos as a Tolkien nerd
A primer on Berlusconi's sex parties
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss The Hobbit Party by Jonathan Witt and Jay W. Richards, and slightly lose their minds in the process. Part 2 of 2.
Primary sources:
Witt/Richards - The Hobbit Party | The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography | Hren - Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good | Konczal - Freedom From The Market | Graeber - The Dawn of Everything (for discussion of state-created markets) | Belloc - The Servile State | more on Malthusianism | Jay's Twitter | Jonathan's Twitter
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss The Hobbit Party by Jonathan Witt and Jay W. Richards. Part 1 of 2.
Primary sources:
Witt/Richards - The Hobbit Party | The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography | Hren - Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good | Dreher - Crunchy Cons | Jay's Twitter | Jonathan's Twitter
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss sex and sexuality across Tolkien's legendarium, particularly in the story of Beren and Luthien. Please be advised that this episode contains non-graphic discussion of sexual assault.
Primary sources:
Beren and Luthien (contains all verse read on the show) | The Lays of Beleriand (contains the full text of The Lay of Leithian) | The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Secondary sources:
Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the influence of The Lord of the Rings on the 1960s counterculture. Later, Maurice Isserman, the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History at Hamilton College, talks with Kenny about his own experience discovering The Lord of the Rings and what it meant to the subculture that he belonged to.
Maurice's latest book is The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America's Elite Alpine Warriors, out now in paperback from Mariner Books.
Also by Maurice Isserman:
Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering | The Other American: The Life of Michael Harrington | America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (w/ Michael Kazin) | Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes (w/ Stewart Weaver) | If I Had A Hammer: The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (out of print)
Primary sources:
The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion
Secondary sources:
Ciabattari - Hobbits and Hippies: Tolkien and the Counterculture | Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Montre plus
