The Tolkien Experience Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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!

This special episode of the Tolkien Experience Podcast is a recording of the session that Sarah, Luke, and Sara were invited to host at Oxonmoot for 2021!

They give some background and history to the podcast, and invite on some past guests of the show to give updates on what they have been working on since their interview!

We hope you enjoy it. Remember, the TEP will be back next year!

Please consider supporting the Podcast on Patreon!

In this special episode of the Tolkien Experience Podcast, Luke, Sarah, and Sara wrap up the second season!

They thank the listeners, reflect on some of their favorite interviews and the changes to the podcast over the year, and share how their own Tolkien Experience has shifted this year!

We hope you enjoy it. Remember, there will be more TEP coming your way after the holiday season!

For this episode, I had the chance to catch up with the creator of the YouTube Channel The Nerd of the Rings!

Matt started his channel to talk about his passion for Tolkien and it has really taken off over the past two years! I was able to have a great conversation with him about what some of his favorite topics have been, and how he was first introduced to Tolkien's world!

For this episode, Sara sat down to talk with translator and scholar Aurélie Brémont! Aurélie completed her PhD in English Medieval Studies on Tolkien and the Celtic Heritage in 2009 in Sorbonne Université, Paris. Since then, she has been present in conferences in the UK and in France. In 2016 she had the opportunity to translate Tom Shippey's J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century into French and her work continues to be influential in several areas of Tolkien studies.

For this episode, Sarah talked with a researcher who looks at Tolkien's works through a lens of trauma studies: Elizabeth King!

Elizabeth is a PhD student and Graduate Research assistant at the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia. Her information page on the university site says that she is currently working "on projects related to developing ecologically responsive multi-component systemic interventions for populations exposed to mass traumas." This approach informs her reading. We were so glad she could talk with us!

For this episode, Sara was able to sit down with her good friend and veteran Tolkien academic: Anna Smol!

Anna is currently a professor in the Department of English at Mount Saint Vincent University. Her research interests include Tolkien studies, medievalism, and Old English, and she has published her work in many refereed journals.

For this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with my good friend and brilliant Tolkien scholar: Mariana Rios Maldonado!

Mariana is a PhD student at the University of Glasgow where she is interested in ethics, feminist theory, and encountering the Other in Tolkien's works. She received a grant from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (National Council for Science and Technology, CONACyT) and Fundación INBA (National Foundation for Fine Arts and Literature) in Mexico for her studies. She also serves as the Equality and Diversity Officer for the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic. In addition to all of her engagement with the University of Glasgow, she also holds a position on the Editorial Review Board of Mallorn: The Journal of the Tolkien Society.

This week's episode is with a scholar whose interest is art history makes for some fascinating insights about illustrations of Tolkien's works: Joel Merriner.

Joel is an Associate Lecturer in Art History at the University of Plymouth. He is finishing his PhD which examines the illustrations of Tolkien's work in central and eastern Europe. He presented some of his research at the 2021 Tolkien Society Seminar on diversity (video available on YouTube) and he recently published on the same topic in Foreign Policy We are delighted to have him as our guest!