It’s no secret that C.S. Lewis was friends with J.R.R. Tolkien (unless you didn’t know). Did you also know that Lewis read what we now know as The Hobbit several years before it was published in 1937?! This year (2202) makes the 85th anniversary of its publication, so it seemed fitting to highlight some of the times I featured it in a podcast or other special feature.
Interestingly, Lewis strongly encouraged Tolkien to get the book published and have a wider readership than just his own children. Lewis loved his friend’s work so much that in a review printed a month after the book was released, he stated “The Hobbit may well prove a classic.” He certainly got that right!
Tolkien’s The Hobbit Read by C.S. Lewis Before Published (YouTube):
TWO Podcasts comparing and contrasting the movie version of The Hobbit vs. the book. Guest with William O’Flaherty are Charlie Starr, Crystal Hurd and Brenton Dickieson:
Here’s a single interview I did with about a book from Joesph Pearce:
The Christian World of The Hobbit Podcast Series
Even though I first did a single interview about this book (see below), I’m listing my five-part series first because it provides more details. In it, Dr. Devin Brown answers questions about his book that does a good job of highlighting the Christian elements in The Hobbit without seeing something Christian “under every stone.” Each program is 15-20 minutes long and covers each of the chapters in his book.
- Episode 1: “An ‘Essentially’ Christian Story”
- Episode 2: “’Luck of an Unusual Kind’: Providence in The Hobbit”
- Episode 3:”‘Very Good for You’: Purpose in The Hobbit”
- Episode 4: “‘I Don’t Think I Ought To: The Moral Landscape in The Hobbit”
- Episode 5: “Response and Legacy”
SINGLE INTERVIEW on The Christian World of The Hobbit
If you want a quick overview of Dr. Devin Brown’s book and have no more than about 20 minutes to spare then this single interview I did first with him is what you need!