The Sillymarillion Ep 04 - The Black Gate Opens (J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion)

For this show-within-a-show, Craig and Andrew learned about the world of Middle-Earth by reading J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously published legendarium THE SILMARILLION. This episode posted first for our Patreon supporters in October 2025. If you want to hear our current longread project THE PRYDAINGER ZONE (and a bunch of other stuff besides), visit Patreon.com/overduepod.Morgoth is back baby!!! He's got dragons, he's got balrogs, he's got orcs, and he's ready to make a mess of the meticulously described map that a bunch of the rest of this book is dedicated to setting up.But he doesn't get everything he wants! Like when a man and his elf girlfriend defeat his most-trusted lieutenant, put his big dog to sleep, and come a-creeping to grab the Silmarils right from his crown! We still don't really know what they do, but people sure do seem to want those things!!The reading list:Ep 1 - Ainulindale, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion Ch 1-3Ep 2 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 4-10Ep 3 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 11-16Ep 4 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 17-20Ep 5 - Quenta Silmarillion Ch 21-24Ep 6 - Alkallabeth, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, AppendicesOur theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

They'll never write a time travel story that Andrew won't try! This week's riff on the formula includes megalomaniac tech billionaires, millennial malaise, and an astoundingly dangerous amusement park in northern New Jersey.This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 50% of your first purchase of a website or domain.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shhhh...this episode is confidential. The kitchen secrets divulged by bad boy chef Anthony "Tony" Bourdain will Rock Your World. Or will they? This breakout essay collection laid much of the foundation for modern popular understanding of American restaurant culture, but some of its lessons may not feel so fresh today. Instead, it may best be viewed in the context of Bourdain's larger media career, which could not have happened without the success of this book.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This classic of twentieth-century Australian literature isn't a Whodunnit. It isn't a Howdunnit. It's barely a dunnit at all. It's a certifiable Whahappen?? This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you like lesbian necromancer space operas but find all the grieving, brooding, and in-fighting a bit hard to sift through? Well then do I have the book for you! What began as Tamsyn Muir's concluding entry in her trilogy of The Locked Tomb evolved into a full novel of its own with the charming Nona at its center. Is it easier to understand than prior entries in the series? Of course not! But that might only add to its charms.This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For this new show-within-a-show, Andrew and Craig will learn all about The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. We'll read the five books in this classic children's fantasy series, then close out with an extra episode on the Disney adaptation The Black Cauldron.In this episode, you'll hear us discuss Andrew's background with the series, how Alexander came to write Prydain, and the Welsh myths from which he took inspiration.This is a preview of a series we’ll be running exclusively for our Patreon supporters over the next few months; we won’t release them on the main feed until the entire series has run. If you want to listen to them as they’re released, see patreon.com/overduepod for more! Episode 1 is already up!Here's the full syllabus for The Prydainger Zone:The Book of ThreeThe Black CauldronThe Castle of LyrTaran WandererThe High KingBonus: The Black Cauldron (1985)Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a book about what happens when a formerly tight-knight group of longtime friends rents a house in the woods for a week. Having to deal with your friends' significant others is one possible hazard; having to deal with a decade's worth of pent-up horniness and anxiety and yearning is another.This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This story is a giant bag of cotton candy, which we mean mostly as a compliment. It's a romance-adjacent found family story set in a cozy coffee shop set against a D&D-flavored backdrop, a place where almost no one is really a villain and the one person who comes close gets the ending they deserve. Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is it a novel? A collection of stories? A story cycle? A monograph?? It doesn't matter. This one's an award-winner. Strout's a masterful episodic storyteller, diving quickly into the deep end with characters we've met just pages before. However, the titular Olive looms much larger than the others we meet, compelling us to wonder if the collectionovelcyclegraph isn't a bit uneven.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sing, O Muse, of an adapted poem - specifically Homer's Odyssey as adapted for the silver screen by filmmaker Christopher Nolan. That's right, we went to an actual movie theater to see the blockbuster film that everyone is talking about (including friend of the show Emily Wilson). And don't worry, our personal Age of Bronze isn't collapsing - we'll be back to books next week. You can read Homer's poem along with us in our very first longread series Stop! Homer Time.This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com/overdue for 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.