How Tolkien and Lewis Recovered Truth in an Age of Darkness | Joseph Loconte

Joseph Loconte on J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the battle against the spirit of their age. Author, educator, and filmmaker Joseph Loconte is the director of the Rivendell Center in New York City and serves as a presidential scholar at New College of Florida and as the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He also serves as a senior fellow at Sagamore Institute and at the Trinity Forum. Loconte is the author of several books, including: the New York Times bestseller, "A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918" and "God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West." His most recent book is "The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945" (HarperCollins 2025). Loconte’s commentary has appeared in both scholarly and popular journals, including: National Affairs, The New Criterion, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review. This lecture occurred on November 18, 2025 at UATX. 00:00 — Preview 00:21 — Why Joseph Loconte launched his book at UATX 02:06 — A sinner in need of grace 03:47 — The killing fields of 1914 06:39 — In 1933, the Oxford Union refused to fight for king and country 08:55 — Was “fear itself” the only thing to fear in the 1930s? 12:21 — Bilbo Baggins 15:14 — Disenchantment and lost innocence 17:34 — The Modernist movement 19:16 — Mussolini in 1936 20:50 — Where is the United States? 22:30 — Tolkien and Lewis’s pact 24:35 — “The Space Trilogy” 28:01 — The genocide of the Jews 32:01 — How myth and epic recover biblical truth 34:49 — The pope and FDR celebrate Chamberlain 36:14 — Winston Churchill: “This is the first sip, the first foretaste, of a bitter cup” 37:43 — Homer, Virgil, Dante, Milton 40:29 — The day that mothers sent their children away 42:14 — “War is the spark that lights the flame of imagination” 45:02 — Halifax takes a page from Saruman 48:38 — How England could have lost WWII 52:43 — “The Screwtape Letters” 53:59 — A destitute year 1:00:16 — Is this escapism? 1:02:05 — C.S. Lewis risked his life to defend Christianity 1:06:37 — The Ring of Power 1:10:40 — The foundation of Tolkien and Lewis’s friendship 1:15:47 — Stories of radiance and nobility written in the land of shadow Links: University of Austin (UATX): https://uaustin.org UATX on X: https://x.com/uaustinorg Apply in less than 5 minutes: https://application.uaustin.org Joseph Loconte on X: https://x.com/JosephLoconte?lang=en Joseph Loconte’s new book, The War for Middle Earth: https://www.josephloconte.com/books/t...