In February 2026 The Future Foundation staged a two-day event at WU Vienna on “Magic Objects, Tolkien, Palantir & the Question of Evil”. It was accompanied by three invited presentations, by Prof. Alison Milbank on “Magical Objects in The Lord of the Rings”, Prof. Dr. Johannes Hoff on “The Palantir as magic object and the mystery of evil“ and a talk by Prof. Dr. Sarah Spiekermann on “What does the Palantir in the film have in common with the Palantir software or comparable surveillance systems?“