41 - Matt "The Nerd of the Rings"

We have finally had the perfect opportunity to sit down with our good friend Tom Hillman! Longtime friend of the hosts and supporter of Tolkien Experience Tom Hillman is finally on the podcast! Tom was the first person to submit hs Tolkien Experience Project entry, and we thought that  the publication of his book later this year gave us the perfect excuse to have him on the show! Please watch for his book Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many later this year!

We start our newest season with an interview with a well-established artist: Donato Giancola! Donato has been an avid fan of Tolkien's work for a long time and creates artwork based on Tolkien's world when he gets the chance. Known for his work on Magic the Gathering, modern science fiction and fantasy covers, and a plethora of other venues! You can find prints of Donato's work on his website, or purchase his most recent art book Middle-earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend. We are so glad he had the time to talk with us!

For this episode, we were excited to welcome the resident of Tolkiendil, the French Tolkien society: Laura Martin-Gomez! Laura received her PhD in 2020, and her research interests include fandom studies and Tolkien's texts. Her thesis examined fan groups in the US, UK, and France to parse out the similarities and differences in these groups from the 70s until just before internet fandom became more influential. We were very eager to have her on the podcast, and grateful we could work out a time during this busy season. We hope you enjoy listening to the episode as much as we enjoyed recording it!

For this episode, we were honored to welcome a very influential figure in the Tolkien fandom: Brian Sibley! Brian is the recipient of the Tolkien Society's award for Outstanding Contribution in 2022. He is an honorary member of the society, and is perhaps best known to the Tolkien community because of the radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings he created for the BBC. His newest project The Fall of Númenor is a book that pulls together Tolkien's writings about the island civilization and promises to be an insightful and essential text! We hope you enjoy the interview! Unedited video of this interview is available exclusively to our patrons on Patreon! Subscribing at $5/month gets you access to video interviews, behind-the-scenes information, early releases, an exclusive patron-only series, and other bonus content!

This week, we put together another panel to discuss the new Rings of Power series being produced by Amazon a little more! Here we discuss adaptation, the changes that always have to be made, what we think is done well in some adaptations, and where we think some improvements could be made! Special thanks to Oriana Schwindt, Sara Brown, and Luke Shelton for sharing their time and expertise with us for this exciting event!

This week, we put together a panel of special guests to discuss the music that has been released for the new Rings of Power series being produced by Amazon! Special thanks to James Tauber, Will Sherwood, and Sarah Westvik for sharing their time and expertise with us for this exciting event! The live event was recorded and can be viewed on YouTube!

For this episode, our guest is a steward of the Mythopoeic Society and an independent researcher who loves experimenting with new perspectives on Tolkien: Alicia Fox-Lenz! Alicia is the Social Media Officer of the Mythopoeic Society, as well as a member of their stewardship council.. She is currently editing a scholarly volume on Tolkien and gaming, which should be published by McFarland later this year. She also co-hosts a famous yearly Middle-earth movie marathon with her husband. We were so excited that she could join us!

For this episode, we have a guest who is an independent researcher who delves into the interaction between Tolkien and readers: Sonali Chunodkar! Sonali has an MPhil and a PhD, for which both her theses focused on Tolkien's work. She has recently presented papers at several Tolkien conferences, including a recent Tolkien Society Seminar. We are thrilled that she could join us to talk about her Tolkien experience!

For this episode, we have a guest whose view on Tolkien totally rocks (sorry)-- Brian D. Egede-Pedersen! Brian has an MA in history and a minor in English Literature from the University of Southern Denmark. Since his graduation, he has worked as a secondary school teacher and an assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark. Hi research interests include the appropriation of history, the metal genre of music, and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien!

We am so excited that we get to start off season three with a very notable artist: Ted Nasmith! Ted is one of the biggest names in the Tolkien art world. He has had the opportunity to be in multiple official Tolkien calendar, as well as illustrate editions of Tolkien's work. Most recently, he has been involved with editions of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales! He also has a written piece in the official 2023 Tolkien Calendar. You can see examples of his work on his website! We hope you enjoy our conversation with Ted as much as we enjoyed the chance to speak with him!