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.

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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

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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

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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

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

For discussion of "Man and the Machine" in Tolkien's work: Hren - Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good

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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

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

Loconte (for NYTimes) - How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western Front

Collins (for The Collector) - Lewis, Hemingway, & Tolkien: Three Authors of the Great War

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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

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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 reading:

Mills - The Racial Contract

Jamelle Bouie for NY Times - obituary for Mills

Jared Anthony Loggins for Dissent - obituary for Mills

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