Book · 2012 · Fiction
The Lord of the Rings
One Volume
#24 of 15,596 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 54
- people
- 35
- podcasts
- 21
- episodes
- 49
- critical mentions
- 0
The Lord of the Rings is the greatest novel in English written about the First World War.
Dana Gioia · How I Write · Dec 2025 Listen at 21:46 What they say about it
- Discusses the ring of power“the ring of power”5
- Rereads the book“rereading the Lord of the Rings”3
- Calls it a favorite“one of my favorite books”2
The best things said about it
I have just started rereading the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien and I would recommend it to others.
Lord of the rings is one of my favorite books series i'm so glad you were in it.
In the intro to arguably the best fantasy novel of the 20th century, Lord of the Rings, he thanks C.S. Lewis for giving him the encouragement to write that.
I mean obviously a lot of rings is an amazing management book if you will like like the way gun the way gun shows up in just the right time um in in in in in has the exact right combination of words is certainly something that's um uh extremely valuable.
Tobi Lütke Conversations with Tyler · Sep 2024 I used the metaphor the Lord of the Rings which had a big influence on me when I was I read it like five times before I got out of high school.
I always like to mention you know one of my favorite books a lot of the Rings daddy there's no there's no absolute good but there's an absolutely good.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
2
5
4
1
4
7
8
14
9
How it comes up
35 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is a foundational high fantasy epic following the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat Sauron. Christine Emba recommended the trilogy on The Ezra Klein Show during a segment on book recommendations. Other podcasts explored the work through various thematic lenses, with Ross Douthat mentioning the novels on Interesting Times to trace the literary origins of defense tech company names like Anduril and Palantir. David Perell and Emily Jashinsky discussed the subjective nature of mental imagery and the aesthetic resonance of its villains, while Stephen Colbert shared on SmartLess that he continuously revisits the novels.
Every mention
Christine Emba so I have just started rereading the Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR tolken and I would recommend it to ot… 1
Recommended
“so I have just started rereading the Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR tolken and I would recommend it to others”
Jordan Peterson How do you return home like the Hobbit does at the end of the well the Hobbit and at the end of the Lord of… 7
Discussed
“How do you return home like the Hobbit does at the end of the well the Hobbit and at the end of the Lord of the Rings, right?”
Discussed
“You see this in mythological representations of dwarves, like in the Lord of the Rings, the dwarves are often heroes.”
Discussed
“Now power is one you see that reflected in the mythology in The Lord of the Rings because the one evil ring that binds them all together is the ring of power”
Discussed
“I mean that's why in in The Lord of the Rings it's the ring of power that unites all the Rings If you're not United let's say by responsibility and by voluntary self-sacrifice you will be United by power”
Discussed
“it's like the allseeing eye of soron in The Lord of the Rings cycle”
Discussed
“that's why the ring of power in The Lord of the Rings is the is the ring of Satan himself”
Discussed
“we know the lord of the rings and the hobbit and tolkien knew this”
Tyler Cowen I mean look it's that's of course that's what happened in The Lord of the Rings right um that was the uh en… 4
Discussed
“COWEN: Tolkien. I mean Lord of the Rings.”
Discussed
“I mean look it's that's of course that's what happened in The Lord of the Rings right um that was the uh entirely the metaphor of the the you know the rig of power there”
Discussed
“Let's say they're a Lord of the Rings fanatic and they say, 'Oh, you know, the Wikipedia page to something in Lord of the Rings is open.' Well, engage them on that.”
Discussed
“even especially vivid works like Lord of the Rings right those are not real events”
Robert Evans he reads the Lord of the Rings as a little kid he falls in love with tolking 3
Discussed
“So, after introducing this protest and starting his scavengers and the pride, you know, discourse, Ben pivots to discussing the Lord of the Rings. And it's it becomes clear here that that opening sort of vignette about hundreds of thousands strong marching, their banners unfurled.”
Discussed
“he reads the Lord of the Rings as a little kid he falls in love with tolking”
Discussed
“He went through fantasy classics like the Lord of the Rings but soon gravitated towards science fiction. Uh he lists the libertarian epic the moon as a harsh mistress and the great uh hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy as influential books which I also uh read at that age.”
David Perell And in the intro to arguably the best fantasy novel of the 20th century, Lord of the Rings, he thanks CS Le… 2
Discussed
“So, if we both read The Lord of the Rings and you say, "Hey, I'm going to describe the the Shire and then I do the same thing," our descriptions will be very different.”
Discussed
“And in the intro to arguably the best fantasy novel of the 20th century, Lord of the Rings, he thanks CS Lewis for giving him the encouragement to write that.”
Hannah Claire Brimlow I am no man. Oh, that was so cringe. Was that really really in the book? Yeah, it was. 2
Discussed
“I am no man. Oh, that was so cringe. Was that really really in the book? Yeah, it was.”
Discussed
“I mean, you need only look at rings of power and what that said about J. J.R.R. Tolken's legacy to know that he was not agreeing to let his estate make these decisions.”
Joe Rogan didn't JRR tolken didn't he create an entire language for Lord of the Rings 2
Discussed
“didn't JRR tolken didn't he create an entire language for Lord of the Rings”
Discussed
“do you remember that laying in your bed at night and reading Lord of the Rings or lying the witch in The Wardrobe or one of those books”
Ross Douthat So having a military industrial company named for something in Lord of the Rings is something that you obvi… 2
Discussed
“So Anduril, it’s a Tolkien reference to what I know the answer, but some people might not. So the name is a conscious nerd detector. So we have identified you as such. The reference Anduril is aragorn’s sword in the Lord of the Rings. It is the flame of the West is, I think, the elven translation. There are narsil”
Discussed
“So having a military industrial company named for something in Lord of the Rings is something that you obviously have in common with Palantir”
Tim Pool because this is actually from Lord of the Rings and this stretches back a few years and what's really inter… 2
Discussed
“it's actually an old idea because this is actually from Lord of the Rings and this stretches back a few years and what's really interesting about the Lord of the Rings is that there are actually multi-ethnic different kinds of races in the Lord of the Rings universe”
Discussed
“because this is actually from Lord of the Rings and this stretches back a few years and what's really interesting about the Lord of the Rings is that there are actually multi-ethnic different kinds of races in the Lord of the Rings universe”
Adam Grant if you ask Peter Thiel and Elon Musk to name their favorite childhood books they both pick Lord of the Rings 1
Discussed
“if you ask Peter Thiel and Elon Musk to name their favorite childhood books they both pick Lord of the Rings”
Adam Lane Smith um Jr Tolkien he was raised by a priest his that was his safety Network everything else fell through he was… 1
Discussed
“um Jr Tolkien he was raised by a priest his that was his safety Network everything else fell through he was still raised by a priest and brought us Lord of the Rings”
Alex Ross and i think going back to uh led zeppelin uh and their fascination with the lord of the rings and tolkien k… 1
Discussed
“and i think going back to uh led zeppelin uh and their fascination with the lord of the rings and tolkien kind of brings them into the you know zone of the of the wagnerian uh the hammer of the gods”
Chase Geyser Someone responded with that's the exact mentality of the humans and elves in the book. Like they they gave… 1
Discussed
“Someone responded with that's the exact mentality of the humans and elves in the book. Like they they gave the ring to the hobbit.”
Chris Hemsworth And the closest thing I could be to an elf in the Lord of the Rings you know, to dress up and play one in t… 1
Discussed
“And the closest thing I could be to an elf in the Lord of the Rings you know, to dress up and play one in the movie.”
Dana Gioia Tolken, I think The Lord of the Rings is the greatest novel in English written about the First World War 1
Discussed
“Tolken, I think The Lord of the Rings is the greatest novel in English written about the First World War”
Eddie Bravo even in the books didn't didn't it did they said they had big hairs look at those in the books 1
Discussed
“even in the books didn't didn't it did they said they had big hairs look at those in the books”
Emily Jashinsky Now, instantly, if I look at that, that's demonic, right? Or it looks like some Lord of the Ring like Sauro… 1
Discussed
“Now, instantly, if I look at that, that's demonic, right? Or it looks like some Lord of the Ring like Sauron or something from the Lord of the Rings. So, which I think is isn't Tolkien he was super Christian, right?”
Garry Kasparov I always like to mention you know one of my favorite books a lot of the Rings daddy there's no there's no a… 1
Discussed
“I always like to mention you know one of my favorite books a lot of the Rings daddy there's no there's no absolute good but there's an absolutely good”
John Mackey I used the metaphor the Lord of the Rings which had a big influence on me when I was I read it like five ti… 1
Discussed
“I used the metaphor the Lord of the Rings which had a big influence on me when I was I read it like five times before I got out of high school”
Jon Favreau Yeah, like from Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I mean, the Lord of the Rings used it too. 1
Discussed
“Yeah, like from Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I mean, the Lord of the Rings used it too.”
Jordan Harbinger it's like some the Lord of the Rings stuff right there that's exactly right that's exactly right 1
Discussed
“it's like some the Lord of the Rings stuff right there that's exactly right that's exactly right”
Kobe Bryant but it was important for me and Annie to go through Do you do you read Lord of the Rings and looks like that 1
Discussed
“but it was important for me and Annie to go through Do you do you read Lord of the Rings and looks like that”
Laird Hamilton So my my mom used to read me and I think that's probably why I started other than I had some educational is… 1
Discussed
“So my my mom used to read me and I think that's probably why I started other than I had some educational issues but with reading um they messed me up one of the programs definitely messed me up but then my mom would read to me so I really had no reason to read but she read me like”
Marc Andreessen And for people who don't catch the reference, that's "Lord of the Rings." 1
Discussed
“And for people who don't catch the reference, that's "Lord of the Rings."”
Mel Robbins Because if you really think about it, when you're reading a fantasy novel, like Harry Potter or Lord of the… 1
Discussed
“Because if you really think about it, when you're reading a fantasy novel, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Fourth Wing, isn't it interesting that the main character has this ability to pass between worlds?”
Nicholas Christakis you know there's that that there's that scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn rushes the gates you know 1
Discussed
“you know there's that that there's that scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn rushes the gates you know”
Peter Kreeft and that Harry does undertake a track and a quest like like Frodo and Bilbo in the in The Lord of the Rings… 1
Discussed
“and that Harry does undertake a track and a quest like like Frodo and Bilbo in the in The Lord of the Rings in The Hobbit and overcomes evil through self-sacrifice”
Po-Shen Loh i think i don't necessarily have an exact name of these old things but i was generally inspired by stories… 1
Discussed
“i think i don't necessarily have an exact name of these old things but i was generally inspired by stories true or fictional of campaigns or you know like for example like the lord of the rings”
Rafe Kelley I was very influenced by the Lord of the Rings and I remember really clearly as a young and like 12 years o… 1
Discussed
“I was very influenced by the Lord of the Rings and I remember really clearly as a young and like 12 years old realizing that like there were no dragons”
Russell Brand I mean that's why in in The Lord of the Rings it's the ring of power that unites all the Rings 1
Discussed
“I mean that's why in in The Lord of the Rings it's the ring of power that unites all the Rings”
Sean Hayes lord of the rings is one of my favorite books series i'm so glad you were in it 1
Discussed
“lord of the rings is one of my favorite books series i'm so glad you were in it”
Spencer Klavan but I always think about this moment in Lord of the Rings of all places which uh where where Frodo says I w… 1
Discussed
“but I always think about this moment in Lord of the Rings of all places which uh where where Frodo says I wish the ring had never come to me Gandalf the wise wizard says so do all who live to see such times”
Stephen Colbert I'll tell you what I do do and I realize I just said do is that I read the books constantly. Like I'm I lov… 1
Discussed
“I'll tell you what I do do and I realize I just said do is that I read the books constantly. Like I'm I love the movies. I admire so much what they did with it. Um uh but I'm a book guy.”
Tobi Lütke I mean obviously a lot of rings is an amazing management book if you will like like the way gun the way gun… 1
Discussed
“I mean obviously a lot of rings is an amazing management book if you will like like the way gun the way gun shows up in just the right time um in in in in in has the exact right combination of words is certainly something that's um uh extremely valuable”
Todd Howard If you look at, I think you can flip through, let's just take fantasy, you can sort of look at a couple ima… 1
Discussed
“If you look at, I think you can flip through, let's just take fantasy, you can sort of look at a couple images or things and know how does "Lord of the Rings" different from "Game of Thrones" that is different than one like Excalibur”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker3
Discussed
“Who? Aragorn. You know the fictional character from Lord of the Rings.”
Discussed
“uh in in the book Shob the the spider the evil uh Spider is in Lord of the Rings you are absolutely correct about that”
Discussed
“invisibility is like the way it's portrayed in like the Lord of the Rings”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (63: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“So there's a good like there's a lot of the rings analogy I like which is like everyone wants the one ring because they think they're going to destroy it and then they get enticed by it once they have it.”
Passing
“Jairer Tolkien who writes "The Lord of the Rings" and is like, fucking has to fight in World War I.”
Passing
“You see the same thing in the figure of Voldemort, say in Harry Potter or the figure of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings.”
Passing
“Oh, there's the Lord of the Rings. Coming to a bookstore is like, "Oh, my friends. There's the Lord of the Rings. There's Stephen King."”
Passing
“Me and my sister, my parents would read to us. They read us Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia, Jane Goodall books.”
Passing
“I don't know who's whispering in this guy's ear, like freaking Grima Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings, but they're telling you wrong stuff, bro.”
Passing
“Tolken, of course, the author of the Lord of the Rings, was actually offended.”
Passing
“So, they've gone underground like Gollum in Lord of the Rings, you know, all all just nasty and disheveled.”
Passing
“Also because Carl Urban, my co- actor had casual learned uh how to do like sword fights in the Lord of the Rings. So he was amazing at it.”
Passing
“Aragorn. You know the fictional character from Lord of the Rings.”
Passing
“I think with like the Epstein stuff, Trump wants to wield the one ring. I I I Trump gets in and he's like, 'No, no, the Epstein stuff.'”
Passing
“I remember my dad reading Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to me and and my mom as well and that sense of sort of fantasy and and imagination awakened”
Passing
“u know like Worm Tongue from Lord of the Rings where he would just sort of like whisper these”
Passing
“He compared it to the Lord of the Rings book.”
Passing
“No, nobody wants to throw the one ring into the the fires of Mount Doom.”
Passing
“And Tolken was not writing about nuclear power actually in Lord of the Rings. He he found it irritating when people said so. So we want to bust that myth on his half on his behalf postumously.”
Passing
“it I mean completely engulfed like a Lord of the Rings movie where you're waiting for Sauron to come riding on an evil horse over the top of it”
Passing
“So Stories and scientific hypotheses aren't the same thing The Lord of the Rings is not a scientific hypothesis but that doesn't mean it's not true”
Passing
“There you go; you could journal the Lord of the Rings into ChatGPT and you too could be a novelist.”
Passing
“but that the the uh like the Lord of the Rings you know what was it the way is shut like the way is not shut like it's not we're you know they're going through the mountain the way is not shut for her through the former blue wall states of Michigan Pennsylvania Wisconsin”
Passing
“Also, weed makes me see the world in a really quirky way, and it's kind of like being immersed into like a Lord of the Rings universe where I'm like, "Whoa, everything's kind of tripped out."”
Passing
“I Lord of the Rings type of [ __ ] too. Like how's Froto going to make it?”
Passing
“Like you need literacy before you can have "Lord of the Rings."”
Passing
“or that Rachel matal yammering about the Lord of the Rings like this narrative from the left forever”
Passing
“my undergraduate was at a stem school so this was like one of the Holy texts alongside Lord of the Rings and The Star Wars movies”
Passing
“or the ants of The Lord of the Rings or the story of Richard power's recent novel The over Story... I read The Hobbit and I read Lord of the Rings and and I was fascinated with trees obviously”
Passing
“I think where we're at now though is Jill Biden being like you know she's like Worm tongue from Lord of the Rings”
Passing
“if that was big and storming into a village in Mongolia a thousand years ago in some crazy movie you'd be like oh my God you know some Lord of the Rings type movie”
Passing
“and you're sitting on a throne in your version of the metaverse and I'm like [ __ ] I should have listened to you and you have like from your mouth to God's ears piles of gold like that Dragon in The Lord of the Rings smog smog that's right”
Passing
“we're very bad at teaching people that we we portray it in our movies always in action adventure stories always a landscape of Good and Evil a mythological Quest the Lord of the Rings The Hobbit the Marvel Universe”
Passing
“some of the other popular books that the Bible is among include quotations from The Works of maong The Lord of the Rings and The Twilight Saga”
Passing
“then Lord of the Rings The Little Prince and the Hobbit”
Passing
“so I mean I think just generally speaking I would rather her read and I think those are books that will lead her into probably the Lord of the Rings and other such books that I think will benefit her mind her creativity”
Passing
“the biggest thing my parents did right other than reading us Lord of the Rings and all the other of course Classics is that they did not get us much of anything”
Speaker ChooseFI 131 | Mr. Money Mustache & Mr. 1500 | Past, Present, Future 2023-05-28 Listen at 35:42
Passing
“we talked about the one ring from you know The Hobbit and precious Lord of the Rings right like that is what it felt like”
Passing
“you know the old uh like Lord of the Rings he said you're not”
Passing
“this is like the Lord of the Rings he seduces the queen he kills the king and he seizes the kingdom”
Passing
“and then as Stephen recalls he kills the king and takes over the Kingdom so not great PR for invisibility and a pretty solid argument in favor of Steven's invisibility is evil Theory as is H.G wells's The Invisible Man and of course J.R.R tolkien's Lord of the Rings”
Passing
“I do see Washington DC sort of like Lord of the Rings and power that political parties wield against each other is that ring that all the parties refuse to throw away”
Passing
“Just like when you might watch a movie, you might be in the mood for "Lord of the Rings" one day and then you want some other, I don't know, competitive show or game show or something like that.”
Passing
“It's a world that you escaped to in the way, like your favorite book like Lord of the Rings, you, it was just some, it was unlike anything else.”
Passing
“for example the original Lord of the Rings is like the trilogy plus the next two books was like a total of 750 000 words 750k a fan has written uh like a fan fiction version of Lord of the Rings like the extension and it's over five million words”
Passing
“i hit the point where i was like death in lord of the rings when i'm like abandon your posts flee flee for your lives like i'm so over everything”
Passing
“and then it's like that ring on the lord of the rings where is my precious and then we come back for it right that's exactly what the ufc belt is it's that lord of the rings it's the ring”
Passing
“if somebody was the fan of the lord of the rings they'd be like i'm building a house i'm going to put a gun you got to have tubes out of their mouth that shoot fire though”
Passing
“bilbo baggins and lord of the rings when he's all like oh frodo can i see the ring”
Passing
“Like, if you were creating the world of "Lord of the Rings" or "Game of Thrones," right?”
Passing
“i don't me and maybe i was just watching a bunch of lord of the rings the simarillion I haven't heard it yet but i was listening to some old tolkien interview from the 60s”
Passing
“gandalf quote to frodo lamenting bad times quote So do i and so do all who live to see such times But that is not for them to decide All we have to decide is what we do with this time that has given us”
Passing
“um you know i actually saw something with uh lord of the rings actually watched a little bit of that [ __ ] ... you know i found out the other day that led zeppelin was really into uh lord of the rings i didn't realize that when they were singing about all that [ __ ] cause in the”
Passing
“man joe biden it's time to go home crack open a nice book or or i'm you know what Right There and Back Again You're gonna do You're gonna go And you're gonna sit down right there and back again by joe biden baggins”
Passing
“i could do a really good golem from lord of the rings too”
Passing
“I can do a really good Smeagol from Lord of the Rings”
Passing
“it's literally just fantasy it's like it's like Lord of the Rings it's just like my ELF fires an arrow and defeats your goblin”
Passing
“like a Lord of the Rings movie Mordor dude like flakes of ash are falling from the sky like a like a light snow”
Passing
“Yeah, our trees are like the two trees and the two towers of Lord of the Rings. Just like, "I remember a time long ago."”
Passing
“I mean like Lord of the Rings end of the world”
Passing
“and when I was taught I mean it was like Lord of the Rings type [ __ ] was crazy scary thought all the hills were on fire”
Passing
“your Star Wars guy on a Star Trek guidebook probably both love Lord of the Rings and Andrew Craven pointed this out”
Passing
“taste it in the air or the water whatever you had at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings”
Passing
“it's very Lord of the Rings esque you know it's like it's kind of like unbelievable when you see these groups of dudes that are all skinny and kind of cracked out”
Passing
“They dressed up like Gladiators from a seing the Lord of the Rings just just ogre AIDS”
Passing
“or just start Lord of the Ring swords you know that's not good enough man you think you can kill a guy with a sword”