The Entmoot Podcast

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. TolkienA Book-by-Book Guide to C.S. Lewis' Spiritual ThemesThe Trans-cosmic Journeys in The Chronicles of Narnia Also mentioned:Lewis - The Chronicles of NarniaLewis - The Gods Return To Earth [review of Lord of the Rings]Lewis - Till We Have FacesLewis - 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 StrengthLewis - The Pilgrim's RegressTolkien - The Bovadium FragmentsWilliams - The Place of the LionLeave us a review! Email us at entmootpod@gmail.com!

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

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 TallyOur episode with Lee KonstantinouOur episode with Ali MirzabayatiKonstantinou - Mythic Capital: How Tolkien is Whispering in the Ears of America's Most Powerful MenSemley (Wired, 10/25) - Elon Musk Really Doesn't Get The Lord of the RingsPagliarini (Dissent, Fall 25) - Lula's Unfinished DemocracyHartrich (Journal of Social History, Fall 24) - The Boundaries of Popular Control in Late Medieval English TownsHill - The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714Livingston - Bloody Crowns: A New History of the Hundred Years WarTooze - The Wages of DestructionKenny's Letterboxd | Sam's LetterboxdLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com!

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

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 KullervoAlso mentioned:Lönnrot (Bosley translation) - The KalevalaLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com!

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. TolkienBooks we've been reading:The Wages of DestructionRide The Pink HorseThe Long GoodbyeGileadThe Sot-Weed FactorThe Fort Bragg CartelThe Age of EmpireLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com!

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam joined friend of the show Ethan Colburn for an episode of the Cineflek Podcast about Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.For a great documentary with more information on the making of the movie, check out "An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings" from Folding Ideas on YouTube.For more on adaptation rights to Tolkien's work, listen to our episode from earlier this year "State of the Estate."For more of our opinions on movies, you can follow each of us on Letterboxd: Ethan (an actual Letterboxd influencer), Kenny, Sam.Leave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com!

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Cami Agan about the 2018 volume Beren and Luthien and about the textual history of the tale. This episode is a companion piece to our previous episode on chapter 19 of The Silmarillion, which you can find here.Cami Agan is the Distinguished Professor of Language and Literature at Oklahoma Christian University and a prominent scholar of Tolkien's First Age.More Cami:Lúthien Tinúviel and Bodily Desire in the Lay of LeithianCities and Strongholds of Middle-earthHearkening to the Other: A Certeauvian Reading of the AinulindaleAlso mentioned:Moore - A Song of Greater Power: Tolkien's Construction of Lúthien TinúvielWhitaker - Corrupting Beauty: Rape Narrative in The SilmarillionLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com!

In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter 19 of the Quenta Silmarillion, the incredible story of Beren and Luthien. Included is also a discussion of current events affecting Sam as a resident of Washington DC -- listeners with an allergy to that sort of thing can skip to 17:25 to get to "the good stuff." Primary sources: The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | Beren and Luthien | The Letters of J.R.R. TolkienLeave us a review! Send us an email at entmootpod@gmail.com!