The Entmoot Podcast

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss Tolkien's love of trees and the environment. Primary sources: The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Secondary sources: Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography Curry - Defending Middle-Earth Kocher - Master of Middle-Earth Hull (Reactor Mag) - The Long Defeat: Reading Tolkien in the Time of Climate Change Wikipedia - Environ...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Gerry Canavan in a far-reaching conversation about loving Tolkien as leftists. Topics include Tolkien's racial politics, the political valences of science fiction and fantasy, Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel, and of course, Huan the talking dog. Gerry Canavan is the Chair of the English Department at Marquette University where he also...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the history of adaptation rights to Tolkien's work. Sources: The Tolkien Trust and their finances The Times - Tolkien sold film rights to Lord of the rings to avoid taxman John Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg - Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings (1970) The Guardian - The saddest story in rock (The Zaentz/Fogerty scandal) Dan Olson [VIDEO] - An Exhaustive Hist...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter nine of the Quenta Silmarillion, including Feanor's ascendancy to Noldoran leader, the death of Ungoliant, and the First Kinslaying. Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Leave us a...

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 va...

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 f...

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 blunderbus...

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 Leave us a...

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 Christ...

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 Ca...

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 L...

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 re...

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 Ra...

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 Leave us a r...

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 Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...

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 M...

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 Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! 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 Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com! 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 '...

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...

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 Leave us a...

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...

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 Wa...

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss formal democratic institutions (or lack thereof) across Tolkien's legendarium. 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: Nardi - Political Institutions in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth | Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography | Hr...