The Plunge with Derek Holser

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: SMEAGOL | Leah Holser

Welcome to Episode Eighteen in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation explores the transformation of Smeagol into Gollum, and entertains the possibility that maybe Smeagol found his way back to the light at the bottom of the fires of Mt. Doom... Leah Holser returns for her second appearance on The Plunge. Enjoy our spirited discussion of the implications of discovering the Ring, the explicit connection between Greed and Violence, and the possibility of redemption and restoration, no matter how far the Ring takes us away from the Light. Leah Holser will complete her Master's in Theology & Culture at St. Stephen's University in 2026. She has been active in parenting and children's ministry for nearly 25 years, and has a passion for families to be full of love and flourish in every way. She is the President of the Board of Directors of Northwest Family Life, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the cycle of domestic violence. Since 1989, Northwest Family Life’s network of faith-based counselors has been characterized by a strong commitment to our mission of “assisting individuals and families in finding hope and healing when facing the pain of domestic violence, trafficking, trauma, and related issues.” As a non-profit learning and counseling center based in the greater Seattle area, we have a three-pronged approach to ending domestic violence: advocacy, intervention, and prevention. Northwest Family Life is a 501(c)3 organization. https://northwestfamilylife.org/
⸻ 📲 Connect with Derek Holser: 🐦 Twitter / X: https://X.com/derekholser 📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@derekholser 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplungewithderekholser/📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derekholser 📚 New Book! Lightgliders: Tambika & The Shield of Wisdom ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2xemfzs9
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: SAURON | Turner Burnett

Welcome to Episode Seventeen in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation shines the spotlight on the dark lord himself, SAURON. 
 
 
 
 
Turner Burnett returns for his third appearance on The Plunge. We explore the meaning and nature of evil, Sauron's backstory, the power of the Ring, and the eternal temptation of mortal men.
 
 
 
 
 
Turner Burnett is a husband, father, writer, music artist and amateur pie-maker. He spends most of his time day-dreaming about seeing artists partner with God to create meaningful beauty that draws people into the Kingdom of Heaven. A Seattle native, Turner currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he works at Sony Music in artist development. His favorite color is blue!
 
 
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
🐦 Twitter / X: https://X.com/derekholser
📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@derekholser
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplungewithderekholser/
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New Book! Lightgliders: Tambika & The Shield of Wisdom ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2xemfzs9
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Gimli & Boromir | Chris Tansey

Welcome to Episode Sixteen in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation shines the spotlight on two central characters in the Fellowship: Boromir & Gimli.
 
 
 
My guest, Chris Tansey, shares how each character has inspired him at different points in his life, and offers us a deeper appreciation for literary figures in our lives. 
 
 
 
 
Chris Tansey is a middle school English teacher on Cape Cod. He loves history, movies, books and pizza. He is married to the wonderful Laura and has a new baby named Sam (partially in honor of Samwise). He has two cats, one of whom he likes. 
 
 
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
🐦 Twitter / X: https://X.com/derekholser
📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@derekholser
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplungewithderekholser/
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derekholser
New Book! Lightgliders: Tambika & The Shield of Wisdom ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2xemfzs9
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Faramir | Landon Loftin

Welcome to Episode Fifteen in our series entitled Tolkien's Greatest Characters. Today's conversation features returning guest Landon Loftin, who enlightens us on the earnest, the venerable, the ever-inspiring: Faramir. 
 
 
 
Landon Loftin has a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Southwest Baptist University, an MA in Apologetics from Houston Christian University, and a PhD in Humanities from Faulkner University. 
 
 
 
He is the author of numerous academic articles on the works of authors such as G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield. Additionally, he is the co-author of What Barfield Thought: An Introduction to the Work of Owen Barfield, for which he was named co-recipient of the 2023 Award of Excellence by the Barfield Literary Estate. 
 
 
 
Connect with Landon: Book: https://tinyurl.com/5ee6hr3j
 
 
 
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
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📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derekholser
📚 New Book! Lightgliders: Tambika & The Shield of Wisdom ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2xemfzs9
 
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Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Elrond | Chris Skaggs

Welcome to Episode 14 of our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation features Chris Skaggs, sharing a host of delightful insights and endearing inspirations found in the life of Elrond.
 
Chris Skaggs is the Founder and Chief Operations Officer of Soma Games and Soma SoulWorks. Created in 2005, Soma Games fancies itself the “C.S. Lewis of video games” and strives to do the epithet honor by making artistically excellent games for people who may never go to church, but find themselves having fun while pondering eternal things.
https://www.somagames.com/
 
Soma SoulWorks is the ministry side of Soma’s coin producing teaching and podcasts that seek to reach young adult “creatives” especially those working in arts and entertainment including the Imladris Community of professional game makers who practice The Way.
 
Chris is an Intel Black Belt recipient and frequent speaker at mobile and game-developer conferences, including GDC (Game Developer Conference), CGDC (Christian Game Developers Conference), Casual Connect, Serious Play, and Intel Innovators Forum.
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
🐦 Twitter / X: ⁠https://X.com/derekholser⁠
📱 TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@derekholser⁠
📸 Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/theplungewithderekholser/⁠
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📚 New Book! Lightgliders ➡ Grab it on Amazon:
https://tinyurl.com/5fvuubyn
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Cormallen + Fatty Bolger | Michael Ward

Welcome to Episode Thirteen of our series entitled "Tolkien's Greatest Characters. Today's conversation features Dr. Michael Ward, discussing his fantastic essay Peak Middle Earth: Why Mount Doom is not the Climax of The Lord of the Rings, with a bonus discussion on the oft-overlooked Hobbit hero, Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger.
Michael Ward is Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University, Texas.
https://anunexpectedjournal.com/peak-middle-earth-why-mount-doom-is-not-the-climax-of-the-lord-of-the-rings/
 
 
 
He is the author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press) and After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man (Word on Fire Academic). He co-edited The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis (Cambridge University Press) and presented the BBC television documentary The Narnia Code. On the fiftieth anniversary of Lewis’s death, Professor Ward unveiled a permanent national memorial to him in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London. Dr. Ward's chief claim to fame is that he handed a pair of X-ray spectacles to 007 in the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
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📚 New Book! Lightgliders ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://a.co/d/bDvRc0Y
 
 
 
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Gandalf | Alison Milbank

Welcome to Episode Twelve in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series! This episode is a delightful defense of the glory and goodness found in that great wizard, Gandalf. 
 
 
 
Today's conversation features Rev'd Canon Dr Alison Milbank. Alison is a British Anglican Priest, who served as Canon Theologian of Southwell Minster and is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Literature at the University of Nottingham. Over the years, Dr. Milbank was the John Rylands Research Institute Fellow at the University of Manchester, and held lectureships at Cambridge and the University of Middlesex. She also taught in the English department at the University of Virginia.
 
 
 
Her research covers many aspects of religion and culture, as well as imaginative apologetics and the ecclesiology and practice of the Church of England. Her writings include:
 
 
The Once and Future Parish (2023):  https://tinyurl.com/36875xpt
 
 
Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians (2009): https://tinyurl.com/ww4rd3uu
 
 
Dante and the Victorians (2009): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dante-and-the-victorians-alison-milbank/1003049988
 
 
 
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
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Substack: https://substack.com/@derekholser
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📚 New Book! Lightgliders ➡ Grab it on Amazon:
⁠https://www.amazon.com/Tambika-Shield-Wisdom-Lightglider-Origins/dp/1645075486
 

Advent Interlude: The Implications of the Incarnation | Jordan Daniel Wood

Welcome to our Advent interlude, as we take a one-episode hiatus from our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. I was recently in Nashville and took the opportunity to record with the incomparable Jordan Daniel Wood. 
 
 
 
In this episode, Jordan and I discuss The Implications of the Incarnation. Listen to the very end (or fast forward to the 1:15 mark for Jordan's brilliant expository take on Dickens' The Christmas Carol).
 
 
 
 
Jordan Daniel Wood is Assistant Professor of Theology at Belmont University. He holds an M.A. from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. from Boston College, both in Historical Theology. His interests range from Greek patristic theology to modern philosophy, especially Idealism. He is married to Alexis, a registered nurse, with whom he has four wonderful daughters. 
 
 
 
 
Jordan is the author of the much-acclaimed The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus Confessor, available here: https://tinyurl.com/3k8xshj5 
 
 
 
 
Jordan also posts regularly on his Substack, "Words in Flesh"
https://jordandanielwood.substack.com/
 
 
 
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
🐦 Twitter / X: https://X.com/derekholser Substack: https://substack.com/@derekholser
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📚 New Book! Lightgliders ➡ Grab it on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Tambika-Shield-Wisdom-Lightglider-Origins/dp/1645075486
 
 
 
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Samwise Gamgee | Brenton Dickieson

Welcome to Episode Eleven in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. 
 
 
 
Today's conversation features Brenton Dickieson. Brenton is a returning guest and a great friend. In this episode, we discuss the beloved and heroic Samwise Gamgee.
 
 
 
Brenton is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can follow him on X, @BrentonDana:
 
https://x.com/BrentonDana
 
 
 
As the author of more than 1,100 articles, blog posts, and reviews, Brenton has worked as a freelance author, columnist, and policy writer for Canadian magazines and the government of Prince Edward Island. As a theologian of literature, Brenton writes the popular website, A Pilgrim in Narnia, which explores the intersections of faith, fantasy, and fiction.
 
 
 
With more than 1.1 million website hits and a yearly readership now exceeding 200,000, more than 8,000 social media followers, and significant networks within the scholarly and readerly worlds of C.S. Lewis and the Inklings, Brenton has a powerful platform for considering the literary, spiritual, and theological interest of some of our most famous world-builders, including C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, and others.
 
 
 
https://apilgriminnarnia.com/about/
 
 
 
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📲 Connect with Derek Holser:
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📚 New Book! Lightgliders ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/6m58wjmy
 

Tolkien's Greatest Characters: Eärendil | Taylor Crandall

Welcome to Episode Ten in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters Series. 
 
 
 
Joining me today is Taylor Crandall. Taylor is a thoughtful and insightful Tolkien aficionado, and she brings a clearly illuminated perspective to the character Eärendil, the half-Elven mariner depicted in The Silmarillion.  We hope you enjoy this engaging discussion on the life and adventures, the meaning and the magnificence of the "Star of Middle-Earth."
 
 
 
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📚 New Book! Lightgliders ➡ Grab it on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/6m58wjmy