Exploring Tolkien

Latest Episodes
78. Bilbo's Prologue and The Rings of Power is NOT fixing The Lord of the Rings Films
Michael and Jonathan found out someone's been copying our look at the changes PJ made to the books--and then applying that to The Rings of Power?! We happily point out their failure.
77. Men Want Power, Isildur Didn't Kill Sauron, and the Ring's Mind - with The Tolkien Road!
Did you know that--according to Tolkien--Isildur didn't actually kill Sauron? Seems kinda clear from the text!
76. Saruman the suck-up, Elrond hates Men, and Formless Sauron - with the Middle-earth Mixer!
The Middle-earth Mixer joins us this week to look at why Peter Jackson made some pretty big changes to 3 central characters: Sauron, Elrond, and Saruman.
75. Gimli's Comic Relief, Boromir's Wrong Hair, and Legolas's Big Elf Boots
Peter Jackson brought most of the comic relief for The Lord of the Rings via Gimli--which, based on his character in the books, is definitely off character.
74. Aragorn's Big Change and The Hobbit Youth Movement
Young Hobbits, dark Aragorn, and remaking a character to be a reluctant king.
73. How Peter Jackson Changed the Wizard, the Pranksters, and Frodo's Best Bud
Peter Jackson changed Gandalf, Sam, and Merry and Pippen for The Lord of the Rings films -- but how much did he change them, and was it worth it?
72. Adapting Lord of the Rings, Cutting up the Story, and Dropping the Poetry
We jump into the deep end of analyzing Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings as we look at every film change he made!
71. An Interview with Lord of the Rings Screenwriter Philippa Boyens
Lord of the Rings screenwriter Philippa Boyens discusses her approach to writing the film.
70. An Interview with Viggo Mortensen
Viggo is thoughtful and soft-spoken, but has a driven personality that allows him to inhabit roles like Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
69. Music is Escape : An Interview with Jeff Johnson - Musician, Composer, Producer
If you haven't listened to Jeff Johnson's music yet, you're missing out.