Make Me A Nerd with Mandy Kaplan

This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy Kaplan dives headlong into the fascinating world of The Lord of the Rings with her guest, friend, and Tolkien superfan, Richard Hellstern. Despite her notably limited travel across Middle Earth, Mandy bravely boards the carriage with Gandalf and Frodo and manages to make a drinking game out of the trip.

Surprising everyone, her admiration for the complex and rich world of Peter Jackson’s loving adaptation shines through, even though she admits to struggling at times with the lengthy explanatory monologues about Middle Earth's history.

Richard leads Mandy on a journey through what makes The Lord of the Rings such a captivating saga. Between Peter Jackson's evident love for the source material, the breathtaking visual effects, Howard Shore's enchanting score, and the characters' humanity despite the epic scale of the story, Mandy not only understands the hype and the jokes but might even appreciate the fantasy. Welcome to Tolkien, nerds… the Shire is warm. 

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What is Make Me A Nerd with Mandy Kaplan?

Hey folks. Mandy Kaplan here. I’d like to share a bit about my intentions and mission for MMAN if you’ll indulge me. You will? Huzzah!

Look, I am a lot of things. I’m a writer, actress, mother, and lover of musicals and cats, but NOT Cats, The Musical. Give me a little bit of credit, would ya? So...throughout my life, I’ve been surrounded (and intrigued) by all things nerd. A sister who plays D&D, a Star Wars-obsessed husband, friends who love anime, comic books, video games, and...well, you get the picture. Somehow, I have always held it all at arm's length. Not to get too deep, but maybe I never thought I was smart enough to follow it. Or maybe I have control issues and have never been able to embrace fantastical things like dragons and time travel. Until now!

So, with an open mind and heart, I am ready to join this massive (and beautifully inclusive) club and GEEK THE #%$ OUT! It’s time for all my wonderfully strange friends to baptize me into NERD-DOM. Please join me on this journey. Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover or remember a side of yourself along the way. Or at least make fun of me as I try!