Hey, I'm David Kern.

I'm Heidi White.

And I'm Sean Johnson.

And you are listening to Closer Reads, a podcast for the Incurable Reader on which we are discussing J.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

One of the best books.

We're going to spend the next month or so digging deep into this this rich text um first though shan how's it

going well david how are you i'll tell you i'm excited to talk about this book because yeah how could

you not be well i'll talk about that a minute but i'm excited to talk about this book very very very very

busy in my life right now in in world. And so this is like a

great time to take an hour and talk about a book I love with friends. I mean, like, that's the best.

So Heidi, thanks for being here. How are you? Thank you. I'm doing just fine. I mean, we're a little

sad today. Our parish priest fell asleep in the Lord last night. And so we have much sadness and grief, but also faith and hope in the resurrection.

So it's a good time to be reading Tolkien.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we told you this off before we started recording, but we'll be praying for you.

And if you're listening to this show and you think of their,

what's your church's church called again?

Holy Theophani and it's Father Anthony Carbo.

Yeah, remember the whole community in your prayers if you're listening to this

and you're so inclined.

Two things I want to mention before we dig into The Hobbit.

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