We return to Book I, Chapter 3 of The Lord of the Rings to find Frodo, Sam, and Pippin still in high spirits as they stroll through the Shire. Before long, though, they realize that they’re being followed by a shadowy, sniffing black rider. We talk about the “unpremeditated turn” that transformed Tolkien’s Hobbit sequel into something darker and more adult, ... Show More
Nov 23
391 – By Grabthar’s Hammer, What a Book!
Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan for a very special conversation with Dr. Michael D.C. Drout, author of The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation, the new must-read book about Tolkien’s legendarium. Professor Drout builds the best dark towers ever, c ... Show More
2h 16m
Sep 12
What the right gets wrong about Tolkien
Many far-right conservatives think The Lord of the Rings is about them. They may love Tolkien, but it's very possible Tolkien would not have loved them back. This episode was produced by Peter Balonon-Rosen with help from Ariana Aspuru, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laur ... Show More
25m 57s
Aug 2024
There's a New Girl in Middle Earth
Ariel and Jonathan talk about stuff shown at Gamescom, a new animated Lord of the Rings spinoff film that takes some liberties with Tolkien's work (Jonathan approves), a horror comedy about the Y2K bug, and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1h 20m
Sep 5
Gleesons Vs Skarsgårds: Dawn Of Clint Howard (ft. guests MJ Bassett; Sean Ellis & Orlando Bloom)
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast asks perhaps the biggest question ever tackled on this show: who would win in a fight between the Gleesons and the Skarsgårds? Join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann, as they tackle that scenario and more. Is the wo ... Show More
1h 49m
May 2024
#616 — Josh O'Connor, Owen Teague, Freya Allan & Kevin Durand, Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Another guestapalooza on this week's Empire Podcast, folks! First up, Chris Hewitt has a lovely chat with Josh O'Connor — not about his talk-of-the-town tennis movie, Challengers, but his new film, Alice Rorhwacher's La Chimera, for which O'Connor learned Italian and, effectively ... Show More
1h 54m
Dec 2020
Beowulf with Jordan Hoffman
This is Beowulf! Yes, in 2007, Bobby Z took the Old English epic poem and, once again using cutting edge mo-cap technology, delivered a 3-D movie that this week's guest, Jordan Hoffman, aptly describes as "resembling a PlayStation 3 cut scene". Also discussed is Crispin Glover's ... Show More
2h 2m