The Entmoot Podcast

The Entmoot Podcast

By Kenny Talarico & Sam LiebermanSociety & CultureArtsBooksGovernmentPhilosophy
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The Entmoot Podcast episodes

  • Caranthir Always Takes His Cut

    In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 13 and 14 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including the death of Feanor, the reuniting of the Noldor, and a very long description of a map. To make "Of Beleriand and Its Realms" a bit easier to digest, here are a couple maps: this one by Tolkien himself, this "cleaner" one by Sirelle on DeviantArt, and this political map by u/tolkien_erklaert on Reddit.


    Primary sources:

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


    Also mentioned:

    Atlas of Middle-Earth - Karen Wynn Fonstad

    The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien - John Garth

    The Verge - Patrick Wyman


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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr
  • Sindar, Sun, Secondborn

    In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapters 10, 11, and 12 of the Quenta Silmarillion, including King Thingol of the Sindar, the creation of the sun and moon, and the coming of men (finally).


    Primary sources:

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


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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    47 min
  • The "Infernal" Combustion Engine

    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 - Environmentalism in The Lord of the Rings


    More reading:

    Pope Francis - Laudato Si

    Demsas (The Atlantic) - The Culture War Tearing American Environmentalism Apart

    Solis (Nevada Current) - Solar power project threatens prime desert tortoise habitat, conservationists warn

    Ruhl & Salzman - The Greens' Dilemma: Building Tomorrow's Climate Infrastructure Today


    Our earlier episode on Aule and Yavanna


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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 28 min
  • Tolkien Against The Grain (w/ Gerry Canavan)

    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 teaches a class on Tolkien. His essays on Tolkien include Tolkien Against The Grain in the Winter 2025 issue of Dissent Magazine and The Eowyn Mystique, a review of the new animated film "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" for the Los Angeles Review of Books.


    More Gerry:

    Octavia E. Butler (University of Illinois Press)

    Imagining Utopia (article for Verso on Fredric Jameson)

    The lesson of JRR Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel (article for Washington Post)

    Grad School Vonnegut/Achebe podcast

    Twitter


    Primary sources:

    The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion


    Secondary sources:

    Carpenter - J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography

    Garth - Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth

    Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto


    Leave us a review! Send us an email at [email protected]!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 20 min
  • State of the Estate

    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 History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings

    Open Culture - The 1985 Soviet TV Adaptation of The Hobbit: Cheap and Yet Strangely Charming

    Charlie Rose (ew) [VIDEO] - 2002 Interview w/ Peter Jackson

    The Guardian - Tolkien estate sues Hobbit producers over video and gambling games

    Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Weinstein brothers sue Time Warner over Hobbit films

    The Hollywood Reporter - Warner Bros prevails over Weinsteins in Hobbit profit fight

    Ars Technica - Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV series


    Leave us a review! Send us an email at [email protected]!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    57 min
  • Fëanor Takes The Red Pill

    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 [email protected]!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min
  • Harrington

    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


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    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 11 min
  • The Hillbilly Hobbit

    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.


    Leave us a review! Send us an email at [email protected]!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    32 min
  • Starbrow

    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


    Leave us a review! Send us an email at [email protected]!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min
  • The Hero of the Countryside

    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


    Leave us a review! Send us an email at [email protected]!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    58 min

About The Entmoot Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Co-hosts Kenny Talarico and Sam Lieberman discuss the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and what they tell us about politics, philosophy, religion, and life.

Hosted on Acast. See

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