The Rings of Power Podcast

At last we come to it! A Rings of Power/Tolkien podcast that is fully realised as a discussion between intelligent and discerning people, without the ever grating egotistical narrative of nerd rage from those who’re so eager to demonstrate just how much cleverer than the show they are. These guys are not only very well versed in the Tolkien legendarium, but do not allow that to get in the way of an emotionally honest, insightful and deep delving exploration of character and story motivation, which takes on board every aspect of how something like The Rings of Power is put together. The guys have no axe to grind, and are solely interested in the actual exploration of how the show and the source material is juxtaposed. And in that way, very effectively demonstrate how the RoP show absolutely must make the decisions that it does, because, and let’s be honest here; Tolkien was pretty vague about a lot of stuff. And in order to bring certain elements to screen, then it follows that certain creative decisions must be made, in order to tell a coherent and compelling story in today’s world. The guys spend time deeply exploring the character of those presented on screen, how they come to the decisions that the characters do, and what motivates them. They do away with tiresome, and endless challenges to how a certain character would or would not behave in *their* opinion, and instead adopt a third position view of how the characters come to who they are on screen. In this way, they speak from a place without egocentric rage fuelled nitpicking dominating the conversation, because this or that does not neatly fit into the view of Tolkien’s work that deviates from what they themselves perceive in *their* minds. As mentioned, the boys really know their stuff, they are very bright and truly appreciate RoP for what it is, rather than what it is not. The show is well edited so that the people presenting the podcast are not constantly talking over one another. And nor do they constantly attempt to be amusing, which leaves the listeners exasperated by that juvenile deviation from the task. Whereas, unfortunately, both of those aspects feature ad nauseam in other Tolkien pods I could mention. This pod fires in all cylinders, and does so with grace, responsibility and integrity. And in no small part proficiently in a way that leaves all other RoP/Tolkien pods light years behind.

Very informative and positive

I have listened to possibly all LotR podcasts and Rings of Power focused podcasts. Corey Olsen (Tolkien Professor) is brilliant, Nerd of the Rings is classic, the Prancing Pony is delightful and utterly listenable. But THIS podcast is simply the best when it comes to knowledge and an erudite approach to LotR lore combined with insights into screen writing. If you want deep knowledge with some great dry humour and a razor sharp editorial eye, this is it.