Exploring Tolkien

Exploring Tolkien is a weekly show that dives deep into JRR Tolkien and all the ages of Middle-earth. Jonathan Watson and Michael Grumbine are your hosts as they read through Tolkien’s works, interview other Tolkien enthusiasts and authors, and criticall

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Recent Episodes

158. An Interview with Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee)

Posted March 4, 2026 • 00:23:01

Here’s another episode in our series of interviews from the December 2, 2003 roundtable discussions! In this interview–just before The Return of...

157. Is this the BEST Change in The Lord of the Rings Films? : Film Changes #44 and #45

Posted February 18, 2026 •

Orc pods and Uruk-hai origins: lore-breaking or the best possible changes? In this episode, we dig into Peter Jackson’s “orc pod” scenes and the...

156. The Cringiest Line in Lord of the Rings : Film Changes #42 and #43

Posted February 3, 2026 • 00:44:19

In this episode, we look at two of the most unloved film changes from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: Arwen replacing Glorfindel and making Arwen...

155. The Infamous Messenger Moth : Film Changes #39, #40, and #41

Posted January 21, 2026 •

We’re back to going through ALL the changes in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings! This week we discuss Aragorn’s sword substitions, changes...

154. Tolkien Wrote the Ultimate Retcon – The Hobbit #38

Posted January 6, 2026 • 00:59:45

Most people haven’t read how Tolkien actually wrote how The Hobbit precisely connects to The Lord of the Rings. In The Quest of Erebor (first published...