The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

We take a stroll down to Middle Earth on Episode 15 of the TV Junk Podcast and check out Amazon's $1 Billion The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Join Dax, Sean, Nuno and Greg as they breakdown the show and discuss their history with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the correct pronounciation of Tolkien, the difference between Harfoots and Hobbits and find out if this show is good or not. Plus, we hand out our superlatives. Check it out here or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Feb 20, 2023

The Amazon Prime Video series The Rings of Power is a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and traces the early history of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Bilbo and Frodo's adventures. The story takes place in various locales all around Tolkien's world – places both familiar and unfamiliar – and the show introduces a cast of both new characters and some friendly faces.

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This week, the panel begins by assessing the most expensive television show to date: Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Then, the panel breaks down Breaking, the John Boyega-led hostage crisis film that also includes one of the last performances of late actor Michael K. Williams. Finally, the panel discusses the pros and cons of child acting, a topic choice that was influenced by HBO’s The Rehearsal and Jennette McCurdy’s recent memoir. In Slate Plus, the panel talks with Ultimate Major Super-Human Friend of the Program (and also author and contributing writer for the New York Times) Jody Rosen about his recent piece in NYT Mag about Willie Nelson, titled “Willie Nelson’s Long Encore.” And as a good example of Nelson’s magic: his performance of “Funny How Time Slips Away” at the ‘79 Austin City Limits music festival.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements Dana: Some Texas music: the most recent album from San Antonio indie band Buttercup, titled Specks, an Autobiographical Record by Buttercup. Julia: Even more Strut afterglow: “Oui ou Non” by Angèle Steve: In memory of Barbara Ehrenreich: reading her excellent work.  Podcast production by Anna Rubanova. Production assistance by Nadira Goffe. Outro music is "The Brew" by Chris Shards Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts, a bonus segment in each episode of the Culture Gabfest, full access to Slate's journalism on Slate.com, and more. Sign up now at slate.com/cultureplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

53 mins • Sep 7, 2022

Hornsby and Laura Harrier It's guestapalooza this week with no fewer than FOUR stars dropping by the show. Morfydd Clark, who plays the legendary Galadriel in Amazon's The Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Rings of Power, joins us to talk all things elf-related, and Trevante Rhodes, Russell Hornsby and Laura Harrier also pop by to talk about their respective roles in Mike Tyson bio-series Mike on Disney+. As well as those, we also see Jon Bernthal do his best Richard Gere in Paramount+'s adaptation of classic eighties movie American Gigolo and leave it up to you to decide whether a certain video of James singing karaoke ever sees the light of day. #releasethedyercut

116 mins • Sep 5, 2022