Episode 1
E1: Tolkien — The Quiet Spark That Changed the World
“A creative doesn’t always set out to change the world. They just follow the pull. The rest? History decides.”
Published
September 1, 2025
Listen to the full episode on
Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Connect
RATT.FM: @ratt.fm
Dawson DeGraaf: @dawsondegraaf
Sebastian Ellis: @sebastianellis
In this debut episode of RATT: Rebel Artists Through Time, filmmaker Dawson DeGraaf and his longtime friend, musician Sebastian Ellis, dive into how J.R.R. Tolkien — the Oxford professor behind The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings — reshaped storytelling forever. From invented languages and epic maps to his mythology of Middle-earth, Tolkien laid the foundation for modern fantasy and inspired everything from Game of Thrones to Harry Potter.
This isn’t just a story about dragons or elves — it’s about how one quiet professor’s obsession with myth became a global phenomenon. Dawson and Sebastian reflect on the ways Tolkien’s work shaped their own creative journeys, and why his legacy still fuels artists today.
He didn’t set out to start a revolution… but Tolkien’s world-building changed literature, film, and culture for generations.
Credits
Host: Dawson DeGraaf
Co-Host/Contributor: Sebastian Ellis
Producer & Creative Director: Michele Mauviel
A Piperlime Productions Original
✨ Thanks for joining us on our launch episode. Your listens, follows, and reviews help bring this project to life!