Writing the Epic: Voices, Layers, Landscape

First time epic writer (and Campbell and Hugo nominee) Rebecca Roanhorse and long-time epic writer Kate Elliott discuss writing a many-layered epic (whether fantasy or science fiction). What makes a story epic? What does it mean to think outside the Tolkien box? How do you pick POV? How many characters are too many? What elements have proven most challenging or most useful (book bibles, making up languages, maps)? Is epic still meaningful in the modern world?