{"podcast":{"title":"Half-Arsed History","slug":"half-arsed-history-64122","podcast_index_feed_id":64122,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/65a47774968ba8001771f445","website_url":"https://halfarsedhistory.net","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/65a47774968ba8001771f445/show-cover.png","author":"Riley Knight","episode_count":707,"summary":"Half-Arsed History's second book, The Most Interesting People You've Never Heard Of, is now available for pre-order: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/bkq2G9 Welcome along to Half-Arsed History! It's a weekly podcast highlighting absurd and entertaining stories from history. Twice a week, it helps host Riley Knight feel as though his useless history degree has some kind of real-world relevance. Get in touch: halfarsedhistory@gmail.com Support the show on Patreon: https://patreon.com/halfarsedhistory Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/halfarsedhistory Buy Half-Arsed History merch: https://halfarsedhistory.theprintbar.com If you've just discovered the show and aren't sure which of the 350+ episodes to start with, here are some suggestions: Episode 139: The History of the Toilet - https://sptfy.com/PK3J • https://apple.co/3Giftt3 Episode 75: The Great Emu War - https://sptfy.com/PK3K • https://apple.co/4jKCvr7 Episode 197: The History of Nuclear Weapons - https://sptfy.com/PK3L • https://apple.co/4jygYlc Episode 233: The 1930 FIFA World Cup - https://sptfy.com/PK3M • https://apple.co/4iltL9P Episode 106: The First Circumnavigation - https://sptfy.com/PK3N • https://apple.co/4je…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T18:18:24.468926+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/half-arsed-history-64122"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 413: J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings","slug":"episode-413-j-r-r-tolkien-and-the-lord-of-the-rings","published_at":"2026-05-24T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/half-arsed-history-64122/episode-413-j-r-r-tolkien-and-the-lord-of-the-rings","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/half-arsed-history-64122","url":"https://shows.acast.com/halfarsedhistory/episodes/episode-413-jrr-tolkien-and-the-lord-of-the-rings","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/65a47774968ba8001771f445/e/6a0e9b323bbd73b46e2bcad9/media.mp3","summary":"In this week's episode, meet J.R.R. Tolkien, the immensely influential fantasy author whose works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, revolutionised the fantasy genre and made it what it is today. The Most Interesting People You've Never Heard Of, the second Half-Arsed History book, releases on the 29th of September across the Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand region. Pre-order your copy from Booktopia or Readings: AU/NZ (affiliate link): https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/bkq2G9 International: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781761472596/the-most-interesting-people-youve-never-heard-of--riley-knight--2026--9781761472596 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"In this week's episode, meet J.R.R. Tolkien, the immensely influential fantasy author whose works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, revolutionised th…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3496,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/half-arsed-history-64122/episodes/episode-413-j-r-r-tolkien-and-the-lord-of-the-rings/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/half-arsed-history-64122/episode-413-j-r-r-tolkien-and-the-lord-of-the-rings.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}