Best Harry Potter And The First Time Readers Podcasts (2025)

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The magical system of Middle Earth is Bizarre... 10:11

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9d ago10:11

10:11

One of the things I hear over and over is how Tolkien is creating a soft magic system. I think in my mind I define that just as an ambiguous magic system…one where you don’t see magic all that often and then one that also doesn’t go into detail about some of the things that are happening. So I don’t know if some of you have any answers to these que…

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JRR Tolkien is the best perspective shift writer I've ever read. 10:36

10d ago10:36

10:36

When I was in college, I took a writing class. In that class one of the very first things that they taught was to never, ever, under any circumstances, switch the perspective of your writing. Now, there was a reason for why they forced us into this, because they wanted us to stick to either first person or third person for our writing, and they bel…

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This was the moment Pippin became a man...or a hobbit 10:02

11d ago10:02

10:02

I think you can only really know the measure of a man by how they handle adversity and challenges. In this case, you can only really know the measure of a hobbit by how they handle adversity. None of us like to be in those situations, but how we handle them is the thing that matters the most. I think that’s a huge theme of Tolkien’s writing right n…

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Why the world needs more men like Éomer 20:35

14d ago20:35

20:35

What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? And then both of those things meet Gimli? It’s a question that the philosophers have debated for ages, and it was a question that was settled by JRR Tolkien in the chapter The Riders of Rohan, when Eomer meets Aragorn, and then Gimli steps in after something ticks him off.…

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Peter Jackson left out all the tension that JRR Tolkien built... 17:23

15d ago17:23

17:23

The Riders of Rohan chapter of The Two Towers is one of the most tense chapters of literature that I have read in a long time. I’m a movie fan, so I know Merry and Pippen are alive, but if you were reading this with no knowledge of the movies or the fate or Merry and Pippen I don’t know if I’ve ever read a chapter that plays with your emotions more…

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This was the moment I fell in love with Aragorn 18:48

16d ago18:48

18:48

It’s time. I feel like it’s that moment in Lion King when Simba ascends Pride Rock…I am FINALLY going to talk about how in one simple chapter…one of the shortest in the whole series so far…Aragorn became one of my favorite characters.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Beginning of the Two Towers is a MASTERCLASS in how to start a story 14:40

17d ago14:40

14:40

If you’ve read The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien, you know that this book starts off guns a blazing. It is drastically different from it’s film adaptation in that Boromir dies at the beginning of this book rather than at the end of the Fellowship. And the whole Company is in chaos at the end of the last book rather than the movie has, where there’s cha…

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Why you should read the Fellowship of the Ring 17:13

18d ago17:13

17:13

Having just finished reading Lord of the Rings for the first time and publishing over 10 hours of video essays on the work, I think I am not a certified expert in this text…I am just kidding, please don’t come after me. But I do think I have something to offer to people who have yet to read this book. And for those of you who have, you just get to …

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Who is the greatest writer of all time? 16:44

19d ago16:44

16:44

Who is the greatest writer of all time. It’s an impossible question…why would I even ask it…no one can answer that one in any kind of objective way…well Im gunna do just that.By Jonathan Minnema

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Is the Fellowship of the Ring a better movie than book? 32:56

20d ago32:56

32:56

So I just finished reading the Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the Ring for the first time in my life. And it was incredible. I will dote on it this essay. And so I did the only rational thing you do after you read an incredible book like that, I rewatched the movie…for maybe the 50th time in my life.…

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Samwise Gamgee is EVEN BETTER in the Books 16:00

21d ago16:00

16:00

So yesterday I talked about Boromir being the most relatable character in the whole of the fellowship because of his flaws…I take that back. I think Sam isBy Jonathan Minnema

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The Two Towers: Bk 4 - Ch 7-9 1:53:37

21d ago1:53:37

1:53:37

Jon, Danny, and Lizzy talk about the incredible ending of book 4, and the one point where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis shed a tear over.By Jenn, Jon, Danny, Lizzy

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Did the Fellowship Fail Boromir? (YES...and no) 25:18

22d ago25:18

25:18

Did the fellowship fail Boromir? It’s a question someone asked in a comment a few videos ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for the last few days. I think the answer is no…but also yes…absolutely yes.By Jonathan Minnema

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How Aragorn being "erect" makes Tolkien an absolute MASTER of the English Language... 9:28

23d ago9:28

9:28

Alright. So this is the weirdest, but the absolute funniest moment in the entirety of the Fellowship of the Ring. And what might sound like the start to a really immature essay on the Aragorn son of Arathorn, the well endowed, is actually going to really be about the mastery of Tolkien’s language…but give me a little bit of time to get there.…

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Three WILD EVENTS that happened on the River in Fellowship of the Ring 14:23

24d ago14:23

14:23

It took them 10 days to get from Lothlorien to the waterfall Tol Brandir. It’s a full chapter in the books and in the 10 days there is a whole heap of stuff that happens that…from Legolas seeing an Eagle hunting an eagle…which feels weirdly prophetic…to Sam being deeply uncomfortable in the boats. But I want to talk about three things that really c…

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I just want to talk about Galadriel giving Gimli three hairs from her golden head... 14:12

25d ago14:12

14:12

I just feel, even though I have barely scratched the surface of the legendarium, that Galadriel and Gimli are doing something here VITALLY more important that I know or understand.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Gifts of Galadriel are SO INCREDIBLE in the Books... 15:48

26d ago15:48

15:48

Rope…you’re telling me that we go from the books, where Galadriel gives Sam Gamgee maybe the coolest gift known to Middle Earth, and all we get in the movies is that sam got rope? ROPE?By Jonathan Minnema

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This is the Reason why Tolkien "intensely disliked" Dune 15:29

27d ago15:29

15:29

I’m going to start this video off with a very very hot take. Since the Lord of the Rings films came out, in the early 2000s, there hasn’t been another movie that handles the storytelling of a fantasy or sci fi book, or has the beautiful visuals in the same way that the Dune series does.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Mirror of Galadriel is so BIZARRE to me... 20:41

28d ago20:41

20:41

I have to say, for maybe the first time in this entire series I am confused. I just don’t know what really happened at the Mirror of Galadriel. Maybe I’m over-analyising it and it’s really much simpler than I’m making it out to be, or maybe it’s way more complicated and I need to have a better understanding of language in order to do it. But there …

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What did Galadriel offer each member of the fellowship? 14:10

29d ago14:10

14:10

There is this weird section in the FOTR when the Company meets Galadriel. And Galadriel looks into each of their eyes almost simultaneously, and seems to offer them something.By Jonathan Minnema

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This is the most BEAUTIFUL moment in the Fellowship of the Ring 9:34

30d ago9:34

9:34

Oh. My. Goodness. The words of Galadriel disarmed me, I cannot imagine what they did for Gimli.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Genius of Tolkien is FULLY Displayed in Lothlorien 18:38

1M ago18:38

18:38

If there is one thing that I’ve learned about Tolkien from my first read of Lord of the Rings, besides the fact that lots of people have very strong opinions about Tom Bombadil, is that he didn’t want anyone allegorizing his work.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Most Mysterious and Important Character of JRR Tolkien... (It's not Tom Bombadil) 7:07

1M ago7:07

7:07

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is filled with grand figures: mighty wizards like Gandalf whose wisdom and knowledge of Middle Earth is utterly priceless and vital for the fellowship, noble kings like Aragorn, who in the movies is more reluctant to take that role, but in the books, is ready to become king, and ancient evils like the evil of …

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The 13 INSANE changes from book to movie in the Bridge of Khazad Dum 18:33

1M ago18:33

18:33

The Bridge of Kazad Dum is the most action packed chapter I have ever read in my life. I read this chapter in a plane, and the woman next to me, who was reading smut on her kindle…no shame…actually looked over to me to see if I was okay. When my jaw kept dropping and I kept taking sharp intakes of air because of how nuts this chapter was, so looked…

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The saddest story in Middle Earth 20:39

1M ago20:39

20:39

Okay. So this essay was originally something I was doing just on my own time. And it was so fun that I decided to start writing it down…and it became this. What I want to do is to take the little book that they found next to Balin's tomb that was kind of hard to read and had words covered over with blood and guts. And I want to just process out lou…

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I understand these FOUR characters so much better now... 13:23

1M ago13:23

13:23

I feel like I found another fun tidbit of Tolkien's writing in the middle of Fellowship of the Ring. Fire. Now fire is a common theme I think in the writing of Tolkien because it’s essential for survival and morale.By Jonathan Minnema

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This chapter from Tolkien is a MASTERCLASS in Horror writing... 15:56

1M ago15:56

15:56

I have been writing this essay for 2 days! And I’ve FINALLY figured it out. I could not figure out why this chapter was so captivating to me. I wrote about how I thought it was the most action packed chapter in the whole story. I wrote about the tales of Moria. I wrote about the characters and their own personal journeys through this chapter, but I…

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Why does everyone in Middle Earth fear Moria? 14:48

1M ago14:48

14:48

I already fear this is going to be a weird essay because I’m going to do some live processing in this one. I don’t really know what I think or feel on this subject yet and have never really thought about it all that much, but this chapter just seemed to spark something in my mind that I found pretty interesting. So bear with me.…

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The moment that Tolkien made me cry so badly I couldn't keep reading 19:11

1M ago19:11

19:11

So it finally happened. I shed a tear while reading. Now, I have welled up and teared up before while thinking about certain sections of this book.By Jonathan Minnema

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My Real Life Caradhras Moment 11:25

1M ago11:25

11:25

That scene in the book when they are climbing Caradhras…phew. That is actually terrifying. And today the video is going to be a bit different than the typical book analysis. Because I had a moment happen to me that was eerily similar, and I want to tell that story.By Jonathan Minnema

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THIS was the moment where the movie TOTALLY changed the book 16:44

1M ago16:44

16:44

There is a moment in most book to movie adaptations where the people who read the book just throw up their hands and communally yell, “Come on! That’s totally not how it is in the book.” It drives us MAD to see these moments—especially after falling in love with a book series.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Two Towers: Bk 4 - Ch 4-6 1:23:31

1M ago1:23:31

1:23:31

Jon, Jenn, Danny, and Lizzy talk over what makes these chapters so good and why Faramir is the BEST in the books.By Danny, Jon, Lizzy, Jenn

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The Fellowship is TOTALLY different in the book... 13:27

2M ago13:27

13:27

In The Lord of the Rings film adaptation, the fellowship is very unbalanced. It’s essentially Aragorn doing all the work, and Sam is the real hero, but I have to say, as I am reading through Lord of the Rings for the first time, I am astounded at the beauty of the fellowship and how they rely on each other. It is VASTLY different from the book comp…

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We need to talk about Saruman 17:10

2M ago17:10

17:10

We need to have a long talk about Saruman. That’s it. That’s the whole intro. Because I don’t even know where to go with this because he is so vastly different in the book and the details that you get for what he is wearing and what his mentality is in the tale that Gandalf told of his imprisonment at Orthanc is so strange. I just flat out don’t kn…

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Elrond is Lying in the Movies 10:38

2M ago10:38

10:38

In the Fellowship of the Ring, when Elrond says, “you’ve been summoned here to answer…” He’s lying. And it’s actually the coolest part of the whole Council of Elrond section in the book.By Jonathan Minnema

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Revisiting the Lonliness of Bilbo Baggins 10:40

2M ago10:40

10:40

I want to revisit the very first essay I published on the very first chapter of Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring. In that essay I talked about the Loneliness of Bilbo Baggins and how I thought there were a lot of underwritten things as well as overt things that showed that Bilbo didn’t really seem to have too many good friends. And that…

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Why Boromir is my Favorite Member of the Fellowship 16:24

2M ago16:24

16:24

There are no shortage of essays discussing the legend of Boromir in the books and the movies. He seems to be having some kind of resurgence in the last few years because enough time has passed from the films, which is what most people know LOTR from, that people are re-evaluating and looking at Boromir as a sympathetic character. But boy do they no…

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The Two Towers: Bk 4 - Ch 1-3 1:42:38

3M ago1:42:38

1:42:38

Jon, Jenn, Danny, and Lizzy talk about how even though there isn't a lot that happens in the first three chapters, there is just so much character development. And they talk about what the Two Towers really are?By Danny, Jon, Jenn, Lizzy

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Sauron Wanted to Unite with the Dwarves... 7:26

3M ago7:26

7:26

This blew my mind.By Jonathan Minnema

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The most beautiful line that JRR Tolkien ever wrote 12:15

3M ago12:15

12:15

My grandmother died when I was 9. She was the kindest, most gentle and amazing woman I have ever known. When she laughed she had a kind of hiss to her laugh, not really a menacing one like a snake or anything, almost like a little rattle. This chapter of LOTR reminded me of her.By Jonathan Minnema

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This one line changed how I read Fellowship of the Ring 9:16

3M ago9:16

9:16

I could talk for hours about why JRR Tolkien is one of the best writers who has ever lived and written in the English language.By Jonathan Minnema

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Frodo is Much Tougher in the Book 10:14

3M ago10:14

10:14

Everything after Weathertop is SO DIFFERENT! I cannot believe how much changed from the book to the movie and this is going to just be a long rant on it and then I want to talk all about Frodo at the end and his courage which the movies don’t show.By Jonathan Minnema

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Tolkien is a MASTER of Foreshadowing 9:27

3M ago9:27

9:27

So I am reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time and I just finished the chapter where Frodo gets stabbed at Weathertop. And I have to say…everyone should have seen it coming in this chapter. The foreshadowing is right there…as well as for a few other things in this book too that I want to talk about.…

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Strider is such a Strange Character 12:37

3M ago12:37

12:37

So I am reading Lord of the Rings for the first time and I am on the Fellowship of the Ring where we FIRST get introduced to Strider. And as soon as I finished that chapter I was a bit shocked and actually had to reread it. Because the whole chapter was confusing to me with how Aragorn was acting.By Jonathan Minnema

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Nicolas Cage could have been an AMAZING Aragorn 23:05

3M ago23:05

23:05

In the Lord of the Rings community, there has always been this funny rumor that Nicholas Cage was offered the role of Aragorn, and had to refuse. And luckily we got Viggo Mortensen and the rest is History.By Jonathan Minnema

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The Four Hobbits are SO DIFFERENT in the Book 8:42

3M ago8:42

8:42

So I just finished chapter 9 of The Fellowship of the Ring, and I’ve got to say, the Hobbits are so different from the book to the movie.By Jonathan Minnema

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The creepiest section of the Fellowship of the Ring 8:03

3M ago8:03

8:03

I just came to the creepiest chapter maybe in the whole book so far. Fog on the Barrow Downs. And I have to say again, I’ve never had so many questions about a chapter.By Jonathan Minnema

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Who is Tom Bombadil?! 14:18

4M ago14:18

14:18

I just have one question…who the $%!# is Tom Bombadil…Don’t even get me STARTED on Goldberry...how the river can have a DAUGHTER!?By Jonathan Minnema

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Chapter 6: Why the Worst Chapter of LOTR is Actually the Best Written 7:00

4M ago7:00

7:00

I have never hated a chapter more in any of Tolkien’s work than The Old Forest, but I have to admit, I think it’s actually his best written chapter (so far).By Jonathan Minnema

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The Two Towers: Ch 9-10 1:29:18

4M ago1:29:18

1:29:18

Jon, Lizzy, Danny, and Jenn talk over how exactly to say Flotsam, and their favorite chapters as well. These chapters were good!By Jon, Lizzy, Jenn, Danny