In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam talk to Professor Gerry Canavan in a far-reaching conversation about loving Tolkien as leftists. Topics include Tolkien's racial politics, the political valences of science fiction and fantasy, Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel, and of course, Huan the talking dog.

Gerry Canavan is the Chair of the English Department at Marquette University where he also teaches a class on Tolkien. His essays on Tolkien include Tolkien Against The Grain in the Winter 2025 issue of Dissent Magazine and The Eowyn Mystique, a review of the new animated film "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

More Gerry:

Octavia E. Butler (University of Illinois Press)

Imagining Utopia (article for Verso on Fredric Jameson)

The lesson of JRR Tolkien's abandoned Lord of the Rings sequel (article for Washington Post)

Grad School Vonnegut/Achebe podcast

Twitter

Primary sources:

The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Silmarillion

Secondary sources:

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

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

Mills - The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss the history of adaptation rights to Tolkien's work.

Sources:

The Tolkien Trust and their finances

The Times - Tolkien sold film rights to Lord of the rings to avoid taxman

John Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg - Screenplay for The Lord of the Rings (1970)

The Guardian - The saddest story in rock (The Zaentz/Fogerty scandal)

Dan Olson [VIDEO] - An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings

Open Culture - The 1985 Soviet TV Adaptation of The Hobbit: Cheap and Yet Strangely Charming

Charlie Rose (ew) [VIDEO] - 2002 Interview w/ Peter Jackson

The Guardian - Tolkien estate sues Hobbit producers over video and gambling games

Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Weinstein brothers sue Time Warner over Hobbit films

The Hollywood Reporter - Warner Bros prevails over Weinsteins in Hobbit profit fight

Ars Technica - Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV series

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In which co-hosts Kenny and Sam discuss chapter nine of the Quenta Silmarillion, including Feanor's ascendancy to Noldoran leader, the death of Ungoliant, and the First Kinslaying.

Primary sources:

The Silmarillion | The Lord of the Rings | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

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