Tag Archives: Podcast

Interview: Tolkien and Wales – Dr Carl Phelpstead

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Caleb Woodbridge interviews Dr Carl Phelpstead, author of ‘Tolkien and Wales: Language, Literature and Identity‘, recently published by the University of Wales Press.

Tolkien once wrote: ‘I love Wales – and especially the Welsh language’. In this episode, we discuss with Dr Phelpstead how Welsh influenced Tolkien’s ideas about language and his fiction, especially The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. We also discuss Tolkien’s place in the university today, and what the future might hold for the academic study of Tolkien.

Dr Phelpstead is a Reader in English Literature at Cardiff University. His areas of research include Old Norse and Medieval English literature. Dr Phelpstead has published widely on Norse sagas and other medieval literature and has contributed to The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopaedia and Tolkien Studies.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:15 — 9.7MB)

Are you interested in the myths, legends and cultures that influenced Tolkien’s writing? What light do you think academic scholarship can shine on books like ‘The Lord of the Rings’? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!

Tolkien Discussion: Fantasy, Wales, The Hobbit movie and more!

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Caleb Woodbridge and Olivia Cottrell are joined by fellow Tolkien-geeks Gwen Williams and Alex Zens to get the literary lowdown on all things Middle-Earth related.

We chat about why we love Tolkien, plus those things about his writing that perhaps aren’t quite so great. We also discuss Tolkien’s impact on the fantasy genre, his relationship with Wales, and what it’s like to study Tolkien at university. And to round it off, we talk about the upcoming Hobbit movie and what we liked and didn’t like about The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:54 — 27.3MB)

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Let us know what you think about all things Tolkien-related in the comments!

Doctor Who Commentary – 6.07 ‘A Good Man Goes to War’

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River Song’s identity is finally revealed as ‘A Good Man Goes To War’! The Doctor and the Last Centurion, otherwise known as Rory Williams, husband to a kidnapped wife, father to an abducted daughter, go chasing after Amy and Melody Pond.

Find out what we thought of the latest developments in the Moffat Master Plan in our commentary!

This edition’s commentators: Caleb, Peter, and Swithun.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:18 — 33.5MB)

Doctor Who Commentary – 6.06 ‘The Almost People’

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Join us as we discuss ‘The Almost People’s’ many twists and turns, as the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory attempt to escape the island and bring peace between humans and flesh, and face some startling discoveries of their own. We discuss everything from Roman Rory through to Moffat’s alleged sexism, and of course, that cliffhanger!

This edition’s commentators: Caleb, Peter, Swithun and Olivia.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:23 — 53.8MB)

What did you think of ‘The Almost People’? Does the ongoing story have you enthralled, or has it distracted from the individual stories? Remember to read James’s review, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

YA Books Discussion: ‘Chaos Walking’ and ‘Mortal Engines’

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The Knife of Never Letting Go coverThe Ask and the Answer coverMonsters of Men book coverA Web of Air book cover

The podcast takes a literary turn as we discuss the latest in young adult literature, in particular Patrick Ness‘s award winning Chaos Walking trilogy, and A Web of Air, Philip Reeve‘s second prequel to Mortal Engines. For the first time, we’re joined by our friend Claire Fayers, writer and children’s literature aficionado extraordinaire!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:37 — 12.2MB)

Note: Apologies for the sound quality – we recorded this podcast over lunch in a café, and there was a fair bit of background noise, which we’ve done our best to remove in editing!

Being Human – Series 2 Review

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As the Doctor, Amy and Rory fight Vampires of Venice, I turn my attention to Being Human, also written by Toby Whithouse, and review series 2 of the hit BBC3 comedy-drama about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost sharing a flat in Bristol.

I discuss the collision of the everyday with the supernatural, self-conscious “darkness”, clichéd Christians and just how good is the actress who was a green spiky alien in Doctor Who at Christmas, and much more. Let us know what you think!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:14 — 9.6MB)