I will say that the Hosts are well aware that there's a hurdle for new people to get involved in the project - asking people to catch up on so many hours of podcasts before jumping in is a big ask. I know Corey and Dave did an 'Intro to Silm Film' talk at a California moot last year at the very beginning of Season 4 (podcast link available here:
https://radiopublic.com/the-tolkien-professor-BWkdy6/ep/s1!ffa46 ), and part of the hope for that was to give a quick entry point into the project. Corey Olsen's "The Tolkien Professor" podcast just recorded its 500th episode, so, yeah...this is a lot. The first Silm Film episode was June 2015, so exactly 4 years ago now.
As I see it, there are a few options. Start listening at the beginning, and whenever you get caught up, go ahead and join in at that point. Granted, that was much easier when I did that halfway through Season 1 than it is currently! Another option would be to start listening at the beginning of the current season, so one is 'up to date' on the podcasts, and then go back and listen to the older ones at your leisure. This has an advantage of allowing people to 'jump in' faster (especially at the beginning of a season), but does require that the listener have patience considering what they don't know about what came before. Obviously, we're not going to all rehash everything that happened back in Season 2 just to 'fill in the gaps' for someone who hasn't listened to the podcasts. But we can answer the occasional question about how
x was handled when it comes up. The kind of thing that can be answered with, "In SilmFilm, Amrod died in the shipburning" and "Fingolfin is a kinslayer."
What happens here on the forums is a discussion concerning the content of the podcasts. Thus, listening to the podcasts is a prerequisite for participating in the conversations. Granted, not everyone is always caught up on all of them, and some of us miss one from time to time, but then you generally just skip over those conversations if you're not up to speed on what is being discussed. If you do want to join a conversation or comment, it makes sense to preface your remarks with 'I haven't had a chance to listen to the session yet' so people can be understanding if you missed something.
The order of events is this. During the podcast, Corey comes up with his 'Questions for Next Time' (I realize we've departed from that model lately, but that was true for Seasons 1-3, anyway!). The thread is opened on the messageboard, with his questions in it as food for thought (or my heads-up as to what the next session will be focused on in the absence of that). Everyone here discusses in the week or so following the podcast. Then, I compile notes and a powerpoint from that conversation and submit it to the Hosts prior to their broadcast. During the broadcast, they discuss and make decisions, using listener input (both the notes from the boards and live comments).
For an asynchronous podcast listener, it would be best to listen to the recording sometime in the week after it airs. This would allow you to drop by the messageboard and add your thoughts/comments before the next podcast. That is what I meant by my comment about posting your ideas on the forums in advance to be incorporated into the podcast that way. That has always been an option, and some of our regular participants on the messageboards have not attended the sessions live.
Like any fandom activity, the general assumption is that everyone is caught up and 'up to speed'. There's generally a leeway immediately after new content comes out as you let everyone get caught up, but the assumption is that someone who is active in the fandom is going to want to watch/read the newest release and that the discussions are going to focus on that. If you haven't gotten caught up yet, you likely aren't going to join the discussions focused on that movie/book/TVshow/whatever. I know everyone here has read the
Silmarillion, and it's not like Tolkien is publishing new content. So, at least there's that! But the reality is that this isn't simply 'Silmarillion fandom' - this is a fandom project focused on Corey Olsen, Dave Kale, and Trish Lambert's
Silmarillion Film Project podcasts. So, yeah, there's a presupposition that those who want to participate in the project want to listen to the podcast sessions, and have done so.