American Id Podcast

On the American Id podcast, hosts Dani Holtz and Craig Franson plumb the depths of the American psyche, using history and pop-culture to treat the political maladies of our moment.

This fall, we kick things off with a series on right-wing America’s obsession with fantasy-writer J. R. R. Tolkien. Racist and sexist hate-mobs have swarmed Amazon’s new Tolkien-based Rings of Power series, catching many by surprise. But these online fascist assaults have a history, and as we explore the political right’s six-decade struggle to seize control of Middle-earth, we’ll also recount the more troubling story of the far-right’s fight to bring America’s democratic experiment to an end.

 
 

EPISODES

Featured
BONUS: Hobbit-Camp Fascists
BONUS: Hobbit-Camp Fascists

In this bonus episode, we’re digging into the controversy over Italy’s new neo-fascist prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the far-right Tolkien-obsessed cultural movement that helped spawn her.

2. Eye of Sauron: Frodo Lives!
2. Eye of Sauron: Frodo Lives!

In today’s episode, we go back in time, when the hippies discovered The Lord of the Rings, making J.R.R. Tolkien an icon for the counter-culture, from Joni Mitchell to Dungeons and Dragons.

BONUS: Review-Bombers and Billionaire Trolls
BONUS: Review-Bombers and Billionaire Trolls

Today’s special, bonus episode interrupts our “Eye of Sauron” series to dig into the week’s Tolkien-centered, headline news.

1: Eye of Sauron: Rings of Power
1: Eye of Sauron: Rings of Power

Today’s episode kicks off our series on the American right’s obsession with Lord of the Rings. Craig tells Dani all about Amazon’s brand new, billion-dollar Rings of Power series.