Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

Cam has some new stories out this week - an original political satire about a moose and a spooky reimagining of an Edgar Allan Poe short story. Listen to the audiobooks here:

www.cameronfucile.bandcamp.com

And thank you for the support!

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Discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter Three

Join Maggie and Cam for a spirited discussion about this dangerous, thrilling chapter. A hissing, faceless Ringwraith stalks our hobbits through the Shire, we meet some "high elves," and Tolkien draws a dozen fascinating points of contrast between this story and The Hobbit. The adventure finally begins, and many of our long-running debates are thrown into chaos: does the Ring have direct influence over the wearer's mind? Is Gandalf secretly the narrator, pulling strings and deploying friends to save our heroes? We also get to peek into the mind of a fox, who apparently speaks English! Frodo's sale of Bag End leads us to compare him and Bilbo – who is more mature? What are their priorities and motivations? Who does Gandalf trust more? Tolkien is in full pinprick provocation throat-clearing mode here – it's incredibly fun to parse out. Maggie finds some fascinating callbacks in the chapter's songs as well, that tie these events very particularly to parts of The Hobbit and further illuminate Bilbo and Frodo's relationship.

In our Second Breakfast segment, Maggie leads a conversation about art and cultural relevance, inspired by Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7. Throughout the episode, Cam also brings in some more comparisons to horror movies – Happy Halloween! The Ringwraith – a silent and depersonalized hunter wielding only a blade – leads us right back to Michael Myers and Halloween. The seductive distractions of the Shire remind us of Midsommar. And everything reminds Cam of Winnie-the-Pooh, but you already knew that. He gets all excited about that talking fox.

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Discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter Two

Join Maggie and Cam for this humdinger of a chapter. We finally learn the rules of the Ring and the history of its movements – from its fiery creation through its whole blood-splattered journey into Bilbo's waistcoat in the Shire. Gandalf takes the reins again as our nearly omniscient narrator to lead us through decades (!!!) of time jumps and a string of character introductions. Aragorn! Mordor! Sméagol! We break it all down for you in this episode, and then the wizard's insights finally settle some of our most heated debates about the One Ring. The Ring is sentient, the Ring has stated desires – we got some game-changing revelations in this chapter.

Of course, we pepper the whole conversation with horror movie references – Happy Halloween! We revisit our discussion of Michael Myers and Halloween to discuss Tolkien's concept of "The Enemy" and the River of Evil™ that we first discovered in The Hobbit, but we also bring The Exorcist and The Evil Dead into the conversation. Is Gollum inherently evil? Does Gandalf torture him to get information about the ring? Is the big-hatted grey wizard against the death penalty? Oh, and what is Tolkien saying about fate?

Like I said, this chapter was jam-packed and provocative. Enjoy, and send us some more horror movie recommendations to discuss on the show.

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Discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter One

Join Maggie and Cam as they say goodbye to Bilbo and finally meet Frodo! This first chapter of Fellowship is a fascinating riff on the first chapter of The Hobbit. We break down the similarities and differences between the chapters and investigate Tolkien's continued interest in class commentary about the Shire. The narrator is less irreverent and involved this time around (much to Cam's dismay) but characters like Gandalf and Frodo are as important here as Bilbo was to The Hobbit. This episode investigates the big Party's multifaceted nature – at the very same time, it feels like a funeral, a wedding, and a graduation party. Maggie looks at the Ring's effect on Bilbo after nearly sixty years and Cam worries about him giving away all of his possessions (again) and getting his affairs in order (again). We close with a discussion of scale and expectations as we head into the enormity of The Lord of the Rings.

In our Second Breakfast, we discuss the difficulties of genre franchising by comparing Tolkien's Middle-earth books with the various remakes, reboots, and "recalibrations" of John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic Halloween. Trust us, it's weirdly relevant – Michael Myers is Tolkien's magic system. Cam forces some Shakespeare into the discussion as well, we share our love of Eli Roth, and Maggie can't stop buying pretty new copies of LOTR.

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(Heated) Discussion of Khee Hoon Chan's Polygon article, "Games Need to Return to Black and White Morality"

Join Cam and Maggie as they break down a troubling, provocative article related to our last episode and Tolkien's views on allegory and the motivations / ramifications of storytelling. We respond to claims such as "stories are inherently moral" and the idea that "allowing a sense of moral dilemma over both sides … reinforces the kinds of false equivalencies that might slow down social change". There is a lot to discuss in this article – we cover polarization, the relationship between activism and art, our current cultural and political hostilities, the human attraction to categories and teams, free speech and censorship, and at one point, skunks.

Article Link: https://www.polygon.com/2020/8/3/21352437/games-morality-last-of-of-us-bioshock-good-bad

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Discussion of The Fellowship of the Ring, Prologue, Note on the Text, Forward to the Second Edition

Join Maggie and Cam as they read through Tolkien's introduction to The Lord of the Rings. For the first and only time, we get to hear Tolkien's opinions and preamble on his own work. We explore the implications of his strong opinions on allegory and self-expressed motivations for telling these stories. We also consider the timeline of LOTR's production (18 years!) and Tolkien's new judgment of hobbits and their lifestyle. He outlines their feelings on politics and policing, foreign wars and class conflict, and even slips in some provocations about "pipe-weed" that make us think hobbits might be hippies. His recap of the events of The Hobbit include some interesting suggestions about the powers of the Ring that lead us into a renewed argument about greed and corruption. Cam, once again, asks who the narrator is.

Because this conversation went loooong, we will be releasing our Second Breakfast segment as a stand-alone Elevensies episode later this week. It's a doozy of a discussion about "black and white morality" and morally grey storytelling.

Have an observation, comment, or theory on this episode? Email us at [email protected]

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Discussion of Rankin & Bass' The Hobbit

Join Maggie and Cam for a psychedelic adventure through time and space and hideous character models. This episode explores the strange animated world of Rankin & Bass' 1977 adaptation of The Hobbit, which blows through the entire book in an hour and fifteen minutes. We discuss (and describe) all of the weird character choices, from the dwarves' visible throbbing brains to Bilbo's Princess Leia hairline. I won't even tease the evil creatures here – they're too wild to spoil. We explore the deviations and unexpected book loyalties in this film and have a lot of fun along the way. Enjoy!

During our Second Breakfast, Cam leads a discussion about musical cues and sound effects as they are found in fantasy and science fiction. Maggie educates him because she has played an instrument.

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Discussion of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies [Extended Edition]

Join Maggie and Cam for two hours of praising Martin Freeman. This episode explores Peter Jackson's final Middle-earth movie and its unexpectedly strong acts of interpretation. We discuss the fascinating deviations of tone, scope, and character in this film, including Gandalf's knowledge of Bilbo's Ring, the surreal representation of Thorin's inner turmoil, and Tauriel's contagious love story. Dwarves finally get some real character development in this version of the story, and Maggie suggests that Bilbo's big moment is different here. Cam offers theories about bridges, both literal and narrative, and the importance of legacy to Tolkien's villains. We also celebrate the goats, sheep, pigs, and moose-deer-elk in this glorious film. And Bofur comes back.

During our Second Breakfast, Maggie asks some provocative questions about emotional manipulation, artistic intent, and creative responsibility – inspired by A Little Life, This Is Us, and The Haunting of Hill House.

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The Last Stage [The Hobbit, Ch.19]

Discussion of The Hobbit, Chapter Nineteen

Join Maggie and Cam for the grand finale of The Hobbit. Bilbo finally chooses a future and resolves his longstanding Took / Baggins internal struggle. Gandalf shows his hand and clarifies the power and role of magic in this world. Multiple songs are sung, and a very unexpected character appears in the book's final illustration. This episode is an analysis of the final chapter and a retrospective on Tolkien's many hints and provocations thus far. Some of our theories are confirmed and others are tossed into the woodchipper. We also argue about the ring some more, and Cam finally gets to talk about Winnie the Pooh again.

During our Second Breakfast, we discuss happy endings, sad endings, and strange, precarious, "contented" endings like the one we find here. We also discuss the path forward into The Lord of the Rings and our increasingly complex relationship with Gandalf.

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Join Maggie and Cam for a special mailbag episode. We respond to your comments about our recent episodes – including Bilbo's role as a burglar, Gandalf's god-like role in the story, Maggie's greed theory, and the neutrality of war. In our Second Breakfast, we reflect on our recent road trips across the country and the role of location in the reading experience. Maggie also got to talk to BookTuber Noelle Gallagher on Instagram!

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Discussion of The Hobbit, Chapter Eighteen

Join Maggie and Cam for a melancholy meditation on hollow victories, tragic deaths, and the outcome of the Battle of the Five Armies! We continue our discussion about Gandalf's transcendent magical meddling and consider the final resting places of his favorite puppets – Thorin and Bilbo. This episode explores binaries within characters and Tolkien's unparalleled power of suggestion – this chapter is eight pages long and we spend two hours parsing its many hints about characters' inner turmoil. Cam draws two to three hundred comparisons to Doctor Faustus.

During our Second Breakfast, Cam notices that this chapter contains a line that spoils all of Game of Thrones. Maggie asks a question about audiobooks vs. print books that provokes a discussion about interpretations and critical reading.

Have an observation, comment, or theory on this episode? Email us at [email protected]

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