First Time Readers

First Time Readers

Jon, Danny, Kristen, Jenn, Lizzy

Episodes 206
Avg. Duration 1h 8m
Activity Dormant
Apple Rating 4.8 (143)
Since Jul 2022
Latest Episode Oct 2025

Publishing Details

Schedule
Daily
Format
Episodic
Consistency
90%
Hosting
feeds.simplecast.com

About This Podcast

It's every fan's dream to read the books they love for the first time again. The wonder, the joy, the excitement and forums and not knowing what is going to happen on the next page. It's one of the best experiences ever. Join four readers as they read and talk about Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and other nerd worlds. So come vicariously live through some first-time readers!

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Recent Episodes

S4E51 The magical system of Middle Earth is Bizarre...

Oct 04, 2025 10m

One of the things I hear over and over is how Tolkien is creating a soft magic system. I think in my mind I define that just as an ambiguous magic system…one where you don’t see magic all that often…

S4E50 JRR Tolkien is the best perspective shift writer I've ever read.

Oct 03, 2025 10m

When I was in college, I took a writing class. In that class one of the very first things that they taught was to never, ever, under any circumstances, switch the perspective of your writing. Now,…

S4E49 This was the moment Pippin became a man...or a hobbit

Oct 02, 2025 10m

I think you can only really know the measure of a man by how they handle adversity and challenges. In this case, you can only really know the measure of a hobbit by how they handle adversity. None of…

S4E48 Why the world needs more men like Éomer

Oct 01, 2025 20m

What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? And then both of those things meet Gimli? It’s a question that the philosophers have debated for ages, and it was a question that was…

S4E47 Peter Jackson left out all the tension that JRR Tolkien built...

Sep 30, 2025 17m

The Riders of Rohan chapter of The Two Towers is one of the most tense chapters of literature that I have read in a long time. I’m a movie fan, so I know Merry and Pippen are alive, but if you were…

S4E46 This was the moment I fell in love with Aragorn

Sep 29, 2025 18m

It’s time. I feel like it’s that moment in Lion King when Simba ascends Pride Rock…I am FINALLY going to talk about how in one simple chapter…one of the shortest in the whole series so far…Aragorn…

S4E45 The Beginning of the Two Towers is a MASTERCLASS in how to start a story

Sep 28, 2025 14m

If you’ve read The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien, you know that this book starts off guns a blazing. It is drastically different from it’s film adaptation in that Boromir dies at the beginning of this…

S4E44 Why you should read the Fellowship of the Ring

Sep 27, 2025 17m

Having just finished reading Lord of the Rings for the first time and publishing over 10 hours of video essays on the work, I think I am not a certified expert in this text…I am just kidding, please…

S4E43 Who is the greatest writer of all time?

Sep 26, 2025 16m

Who is the greatest writer of all time. It’s an impossible question…why would I even ask it…no one can answer that one in any kind of objective way…well Im gunna do just that.

S4E42 Is the Fellowship of the Ring a better movie than book?

Sep 25, 2025 32m

So I just finished reading the Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the Ring for the first time in my life. And it was incredible. I will dote on it this essay. And so I did the only rational thing…

S4E41 Samwise Gamgee is EVEN BETTER in the Books

Sep 24, 2025 16m

So yesterday I talked about Boromir being the most relatable character in the whole of the fellowship because of his flaws…I take that back. I think Sam is

S3E15 The Two Towers: Bk 4 - Ch 7-9

Sep 24, 2025 1h 53m

Jon, Danny, and Lizzy talk about the incredible ending of book 4, and the one point where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis shed a tear over.

S4E40 Did the Fellowship Fail Boromir? (YES...and no)

Sep 23, 2025 25m

Did the fellowship fail Boromir? It’s a question someone asked in a comment a few videos ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for the last few days. I think the answer is no…but also…

S4E39 How Aragorn being "erect" makes Tolkien an absolute MASTER of the English Language...

Sep 22, 2025 9m

Alright. So this is the weirdest, but the absolute funniest moment in the entirety of the Fellowship of the Ring. And what might sound like the start to a really immature essay on the Aragorn son of…

S4E38 Three WILD EVENTS that happened on the River in Fellowship of the Ring

Sep 21, 2025 14m

It took them 10 days to get from Lothlorien to the waterfall Tol Brandir. It’s a full chapter in the books and in the 10 days there is a whole heap of stuff that happens that…from Legolas seeing an…

S4E37 I just want to talk about Galadriel giving Gimli three hairs from her golden head...

Sep 20, 2025 14m

I just feel, even though I have barely scratched the surface of the legendarium, that Galadriel and Gimli are doing something here VITALLY more important that I know or understand.

S4E36 The Gifts of Galadriel are SO INCREDIBLE in the Books...

Sep 19, 2025 15m

Rope…you’re telling me that we go from the books, where Galadriel gives Sam Gamgee maybe the coolest gift known to Middle Earth, and all we get in the movies is that sam got rope? ROPE?

S4E35 This is the Reason why Tolkien "intensely disliked" Dune

Sep 18, 2025 15m

I’m going to start this video off with a very very hot take. Since the Lord of the Rings films came out, in the early 2000s, there hasn’t been another movie that handles the storytelling of a fantasy…

S4E34 The Mirror of Galadriel is so BIZARRE to me...

Sep 17, 2025 20m

I have to say, for maybe the first time in this entire series I am confused. I just don’t know what really happened at the Mirror of Galadriel. Maybe I’m over-analyising it and it’s really much…

S4E33 What did Galadriel offer each member of the fellowship?

Sep 16, 2025 14m

There is this weird section in the FOTR when the Company meets Galadriel. And Galadriel looks into each of their eyes almost simultaneously, and seems to offer them something.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does First Time Readers have?

First Time Readers has published 206 episodes since July 2022, covering topics in After Shows, Arts.

Is First Time Readers still active?

First Time Readers is currently dormant with new episodes daily. Average episode length is 1h 8m.

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