@tolkienprof Here's the long version of the story! Before every show's taping, Stephen does a Q&A with the audience. Knowing he was a Lord of the Rings fan, I decided to ask him, "If you were trapped on a deserted island with your choice of Lord of the Rings character, who would it be and why?" Stephen's answer was Gwaihir the Windlord. I don't remember his exact explanation -- something about Gwaihir being able to rescue people. Pretty smart answer, if you ask me. Stephen turned the question back on me. I said Aragorn, and he responded, "Aragorn . . . or Viggo Mortensen?" He launched into a story about Viggo's appearance on the show in 2007; Viggo wanted to give Stephen Aragorn's sword, but didn't know how, so Viggo ended up showering to get the Aragorn-esque wet look and then came out in costume to present it. Now the extreme left of the studio is called "entering Viggo" because Viggo was the first to enter from there.



I waited outside after the show for about an hour. Stephen came out, graciously posed for a picture with me, and my parents and I began to leave, as it was late and we were all very tired. Then I heard, "So, you like Lord of the Rings?" Stephen was still talking to me. I said I loved it but didn't know nearly as much as him. He then asked me if I had iTunes and, as I said, recommended your podcast to me. He'd downloaded all of them to his iPad and intended to listen to them during the Charleston-Bermuda boat race that he started a couple days later.



So that's the long version! It was very cool that I was able to connect with my "friend in the TV" about our shared interest, and I'm grateful to him for the recommendation, because your lectures are very thought-provoking. I do hope they'll bring you on the show sooner or later -- perhaps things would come full-circle!





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