I Might Believe in Faeries

Independent Tolkien scholar, Ian Gunn, joins the show to discuss an article he wrote titled, “Tolkien’s Invasion of Dragons”, which was published in Mythlore in 2025.
Have the dragons disappeared from the world or are they still lurking about? What do we even do with one if we stumble across one in our garden?
Ian and I discuss Tolkien’s belief that tales of heroic myths and legends can revivify society and restore the “memory of the high and the perilous.”
We don’t want to be invaded by dragons, but sometimes that is exactly what we need.
“Tolkien’s Invasion of Dragons” (Mythlore 2025): https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3375&context=mythlore
Joie de Vivre Journal: https://www.jdvjournal.com/
Ian Gunn can be found on Substact: Thoughts on Tolkien
Ian Gunn can be found on Twitter.com @tolkienthoughts
*************************************************************************************************************
Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack -
for updates on the show, essays, and more!
Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.
*************************************************************************************************************


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

What are the mysterious beings known as fairies? Can they be defined? How have fairy encounters in Europe changed over the centuries?
Dr. Francis Young returns to the show to discuss his new book, Fairies: A History, by Polity Books (2026). Dr. Young traces fairies and fairy encounters from pagan Europe all the way to the 21st Century. He argues that it is not useful to think of fairies as beings that can be proved and documented scientifically, but experienced through a type of perception. Have we moderns lost this type of perception?
What does Tolkien’s conception of Faerie have to do with all of this?
How did the Reformation and the Enlightenment impact fairy belief?
We discuss all of this and more in this episode of IMBIF.
Fairies: A History: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=fairies-a-history--9781509566778
Dr. Young can be found on Twitter.com @DrFrancisYoung
His substack is Francis Young
*************************************************************************************************************
Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack -
for updates on the show, essays, and more!
Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.
*************************************************************************************************************



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

A bold, new story for the 21st Century.
Charles Shoultz has had the dream to write a modern story that would rival the great tales of old. He has finally begun to release his story in pieces, like an old magazine serial. Let me tell you, he does not disappoint.
Writer and poet, C. A. Shoultz joins me on the show to discuss his first book, Technocracy. We talked about his background in poetry as well as the background to his story.
This has the potential to be something big, so check it out!
Follow Shoultz on substack: C.A. Shoultz
The website to find the story is here: https://www.cashoultz.com/
Find C. A. Shoultz on Twitter.com @HarrierMagnus
*************************************************************************************************************
Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack -
Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeries
Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.
*************************************************************************************************************


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I am joined by the award winning fantasy author, Tim Powers, and my friend, iSamwise, to discuss Tim’s newest book, The Mills of the Gods (Baen 2025).
We talked about pagan gods, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Scriabin, and all of the weird things going on in post-WWI Paris.
Enjoy!
The Mills of the Gods can be found here: https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781668073018/9781668073018.htm
iSamwise has a YouTube channel that can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@iSamwise
*************************************************************************************************************
Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrber
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563
Subscribe to my Substack for updates on the show, essays, and more!

Like my Facebook page - I Might Believe in Faeries
Battle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Logo Art by Linnea Kisby
This podcast and its content may not be used for training and developing A.I. systems without permission.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

In this special episode, I am a guest on Thomas Mirus’ Catholic Culture podcast. We discussed Tolkien’s darkest story, The Children of Hurin.
Thomas gave me permission to publish the episode on my own show as well. The original episode was published here: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tolkiens-darkest-tale-w-aaron-irber/
Thomas Mirus can be found on Twitter.com @CatholicPods and on Substack Thomas Mirus
Here are the original notes from the Catholic Culture podcast:
The darkest, and perhaps most underrated, story J.R.R. Tolkien ever wrote was the tale of Túrin Turambar, a great man of the First Age of Middle-Earth, whose life was ruined by the curse of Morgoth (Tolkien’s Satan-figure) and by his own pride. The tale, which resembles a Greek tragedy, was given its longest and most satisfying version in the posthumously published book The Children of Hurin.
Aaron Irber, host of a podcast “about stories, myths, and Catholicism”, joins Thomas to discuss this underappreciated work by Tolkien.
-Aaron’s podcast, I Might Believe in Faeries
Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. Download the Catholic Culture Podcast soundtrack.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe