Joseph Loconte - J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm

On this week’s episode of The Current Thing I am joined by author Joseph Loconte to talk about his new book, The War for Middle-earth, which focuses on how J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were shaped by the two great wars of the 20th century. We discuss: -How Lewis and Tolkien preserved their belief in heroism and honour even after suffering through war -How the West became disillusioned from the 1930s onwards -What Lewis would have made of the current political predicament in Western nations -Tolkien’s support of Franco in the Spanish Civil War -How to reclaim our ‘civilisational confidence’ -Whether Lewis would have eventually converted to Catholicism, as some claim -How Lewis’s work compares to Tolkien’s in significance and quality -The lost art of male friendship -Why Joseph converted from Catholic to Protestant And lots more! Watch the full episode here: https://www.nickdixon.net  Subscribe here: https://www.nickdixon.net Make a one-off donation here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nickdixon  Nick's links Substack: www.nickdixon.net  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nick_dixon   X: https://x.com/njdixon  Joseph's links: https://www.josephloconte.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@JoeLoconte/videos https://rivendellcenternyc.org/