2019 in review! We read through the recent Jana Riess article about the most significant Mormon headlines of 2019 and discuss some highlights. Then we make predictions for what we might expect in 2020 and also what we’d REALLY like to see in 2020 regardless of how probable they might be. Then we do our next segment of The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister concerning evidence for a historical Book of Mormon. We wrap up with a happy news story about a church in St. Louis paying off t...
Jan 22, 2020•2 hr 22 min
Today’s show centers around an interview with an anonymous person sharing her story of the Mormon welfare system. She’s currently undergoing a divorce and found out in court the church has been paying her estranged husband’s car and mortgage payments, over $18,000, for the past year on accounts bearing her name without her knowledge. When our interviewee attempted to find more information about the financial support for divorce and tax reasons, she was stonewalled by local leadership. She ran up...
Jan 08, 2020•2 hr 37 min
$100 billion (yes… with a “B”) is a lot of money for the church to be hoarding. Unfortunately, the media coverage has been inaccurate in many regards and has missed some of the larger issues contained in the expose “Letter to an IRS Director” by Lars Neilsen. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become so wealthy and powerful it seems to simply operate by its own set of rules. The size of Ensign Peak Advisors (EPA) is larger than the media has discussed and the alleged violations ...
Dec 24, 2019•2 hr 39 min
Wheeew what a doozey! We cover Mormon Money from the 1930s to the 1980s. When this much money gets involved and a church grows to have a significant international presence, money begets politics and politics feed money. Once Franklin S. Richards died another needed to carry the Mormon Money torch; here enters Henry Dinwoodey Moyle, a man with grand ideas and exponential growth intentions. He rolls out new missionary programs, local “baseball baptisms” sports leagues, carbon copy chapels, the new...
Dec 17, 2019•1 hr 29 min
We finally broach a subject that’s taken the back-burner for far too long. Mormon money is one of the most complicated subjects associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we decided it requires a multi-part series to understand with some level of depth and context. Join us for part one where we start at the beginning with Joseph Smith, get into Brigham Young and the Mormon exodus to Utah in 1847, and tie together financial strands all the way into the Great Depression. S...
Dec 11, 2019•2 hr 10 min
Joe Geisner returns to spend 2 hours on one of the most iconic and influential characters in recent Mormon history, Boyd K. Packer. We discuss his inauguration into the Quorum of Apostles and how he molded and shaped the church from the highest leadership body from that time forward. We cover the internal issues between Packer and the church’s history department, discuss the shroud of secrecy he helped to foster, and then get into the outward expressions he declared from the pulpit which directl...
Nov 27, 2019•2 hr 23 min
From Evergreen to North Star, gay-conversion therapy runs deep through Mormon tradition. October headlines blazed with the LDS church opposing a ban on conversion therapy for minors which was defended, misrepresented, and misunderstood by much of the media. We deep dive on conversion therapy in Mormonism and discuss some of the names associated with this abusive and anti-science practice. After that Braden talks about a climate change movie and some YouTubers getting together to plant some trees...
Nov 13, 2019•1 hr 34 min
I watched it so you don’t have to. We go through every talk given during General Conference of October 2019 from Oaks to Oaks and back to Oaks again, we try to identify what slipped through the cracks of media reporting on this semiannual GC. It’s a long one! Hopefully the length makes up for the month hiatus as Braden moved and I was on a 3-week road trip. Patrons of the show get an extra hour of podcast about the General Women’s session. Please get us to our next Patreon goal to make Braden su...
Oct 30, 2019•2 hr 31 min
Gaddy is suing the Mormon church for tithing and personal damages. We go through the case and discuss how likely it is to prevail as well as the class-action nature of the suit. Then, after much ado, we finally crack open The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister. We wrap up with some happy news of cannabis convictions being expunged by some smart computer stuffs! A bunch more reading on Kay Burningham and Gaddy v. LDS https://www.kayburningham.com/ https://www.federalrulesofcivilproce...
Sep 18, 2019•1 hr 28 min
It’s a long episode today! Don’t let the long timestamp scare you away. We invite a guest to tell us his story of joining the church, working for the church, and eventually leaving it. His story reveals a side of Mormonism most of us know is there, but aren’t privy to. Part 2 of the conversation comes after the C segment where Michael tells a bit about his personal story. Braden and I also talk about a new documentary and discuss The Teachings of Don Juan. Then we round out the episode with a cl...
Sep 04, 2019•3 hr 4 min
We finally wrap up the first Armstrong Lecture! We learn all about hell, the different degrees of the Celestial Kingdom, and Mormon trickle-down heaven! After that we talk about “The Good Place,” a sitcom about heaven and hell. Then we wrap with good news about cow farts! Show links: Light of Gazelem: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/seaweed-for-cows-could-be-mass-farmed-reduce-methane/11414724 Show links: Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @G...
Aug 21, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Now we’ve had the introduction to how heaven is structured, let’s find out how we actually get to each of the degrees. Part 2 of this Armstrong lecture describes the different degrees and who is deserving of them. Plus, Mormon reincarnation is totally a thing! After that we have Ryan McKnight of the Truth and Transparency Foundation to discuss a recent story broke by the organization. Truth & Transparency story https://truthandtransparency.org/news/2019/7/24/court-documents-show-local-mormon...
Jul 31, 2019•2 hr
We’re doing something a little different for this episode! We start with a little background on how Braden and Bryce met and use that as a launch point to discuss the main topic today. We read a lecture… Yeah… I lecture. But don’t worry! It’s a lot more fun than it sounds and we’d really like to get some feedback on it to hear what you think! After that, Braden tells us about The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and then we talk about a couple who planted 2,000,000 trees in 20 years! We round out...
Jul 17, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Missions! Braden did his, Bryce left the Mormon church before he could do one. After Braden gives us an overview of his mission experience, we discuss the history of the “Preach My Gospel” program, the impetus behind it, how it came to be, who was involved, and how it was implemented into the field. Hopefully it will be as interesting to listen to as it was to research the topic! After that Braden talks about some media that passes the Bechdel test and we talk about a school in Iowa that’s givin...
Jul 03, 2019•1 hr 53 min
It's been one year since the Be One Celebration; Mormonism isn’t racist anymore!!! We know the high-level overview of what the Priesthood ban included, now we take a foray into the human element. We talk about the tough paradoxes introduced when institutionalized theological racism comes into conflict with an ever-expanding global religion. An oft-forgotten aspect of Mormon conversion, Patriarchal Blessings, become the litmus test for African ancestry. Patriarchs fight with the First Presidency....
Jun 05, 2019•1 hr 33 min
World tour time! Rusty and his apostle friend travel the world and meet Pacific Island dignitaries to bless the masses with their presence. Also, when a religion creates new political operatives as “specialists” and opposes a bill with ‘Equality’ in the name, it’s never a good sign. After that, Braden and I both bring books to the table for our Media of Great Price. We round out the episode with a company that froze CEO wages to pay the bottom-line workers more and Costa Rica progressing on Abor...
May 22, 2019•1 hr 4 min
We finally discuss the Temple Endowment Ceremony changes as of January 2019! But not so fast! Before that we get into the Strengthening Church Members Committee (SCMC) and the awkward phone call between Elder Timothy Dyches and Radio Free Mormon. Lesley, Colleen, and Bryce call the number and debrief over on Mormon Happy Hour (links below). Then, Braden and I finally get into how the endowment ceremony was slightly altered with “massive implications” in order to remove some of the overtly sexist...
May 08, 2019•1 hr 23 min
Just as the title states, Braden and I go through the Sunday April 2019 General Conference talks. We [I] watched it so you don’t have to! Plus Media of Great Price about Abducted in Plain Sight and a Light of Gazalem about Morgan Freeman single handedly saving the planet! We wrap with a short listener mail segment. Show links: Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast...
Apr 24, 2019•1 hr 42 min
Just as the title states, Braden and I go through the Saturday April 2019 General Conference talks. We [I] watched it so you don’t have to! Show links: Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast
Apr 24, 2019•1 hr 15 min
November 2015 exclusion policy? What November 2015 exclusion policy? Today is an historic day! The Mormon church ceased to be bigoted against LGBTQ+ people! Oh, wait… no. It didn’t. Not included in the show, but maybe this has something to do with the recent anti-hate crime bill that passed in Utah this week. In November 2015, while Thomas Monson was president of the church, a policy from the Mormon church leaked stating that children in a home with homosexual parents couldn’t be baptized. A few...
Apr 10, 2019•1 hr 28 min
What’s the deal with cannabis in Utah? We resurrect this old headline to see if any new developments have occurred. We also invite Andrew Torrez from Opening Arguments Podcast to help us understand the law behind Utah legislature overturning the cannabis bill ballot initiative. Elections have consequences… After that Braden talks about The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and we discuss a new U.N. proposal to help get African countries closer to green energy! Check out these episodes of OA to hear Andr...
Mar 27, 2019•53 min
Something slipped through the cracks and it smells fishy. We go through some of the quality control mechanisms used in Mormon genealogy research at the ward level. The Church collects and digitizes a lot of information and history, what do they do with it? We tie a few stories together to figure out what the church is planning with a recent $2 million investment into the International African American Museum in South Carolina. After that we bring on Weird Alma to talk about the recent Masonry an...
Mar 13, 2019•1 hr 43 min
Even if it takes Black History Month to spur the conversation, we dive into racism in the Mormon church. We take a brief high-level overview of how non-white people have been treated throughout the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even though the Priesthood ban was lifted in 1978, racism didn’t go anywhere. From overt examples of prophets advocating slavery, to covert and insidious racism pervading our everyday lives, if we don’t talk about it it’ll never stop being a ...
Feb 27, 2019•1 hr 38 min
Braden did a thing! We start with an interview he had with Milo and Angela about their creative muse: healing after Mormonism. It’s alright to be you, everybody! After that we talk about An Honest Liar, a documentary about The Amazing James Randi, and we wrap up with a story about science winning in a world besieged by “alternative facts”. Light of Gazalem: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/vaccinations-jump-500-in-antivax-hotspot-amid-measles-outbreak/ Interview show notes: Song: https://...
Feb 13, 2019•55 min
REVELATION! Braden and I go through the history of Mormon Temple ceremonies. Remember folks, religion has ceremonies, cults have rituals… there’s totally a difference. We use history to provide context for the ceremony changes of 2019 and the move toward equality between sexes in the passion narrative. “Between” sexes, not “among”. After that, Braden tells us about Kumare and how private citizens are making due during the Government shutdown. Temple changes https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comm...
Jan 25, 2019•1 hr 18 min
Join us for the epic conclusion to our discussion about disunity in Mormon leadership and censorship of General Conference addresses. We pick up with a long segment about Boyd K. Packer and censoring his various talks, including his address from 2010. Then Joe and I draw some conclusions based on everything discussed in our conversation as a whole. Links mentioned in the show: To the One https://archive.org/details/ToTheOne/page/n1 To Young Men Only https://archive.org/details/ToYoungMenOnly Har...
Jan 18, 2019•1 hr 5 min
Joe and I pick right back up where we left off with J. Golden Kimball. Joe walks us through nearly 80 years of Mormon history discussing disunity among General Authorities and censorship of General Conference addresses. As we broach more modern General Authorities we discuss how the modern conservative bend of the Mormon church was moved and shaped by prominent figures in the Quorum of Apostles. Ezra Taft Benson and the John Birch Society are the focus for a substantial part. Then Joe documents ...
Jan 17, 2019•2 hr
Over 7,000 General Conference talks given by hundreds of General Authorities, mistakes must have been made, right? Our guest this week, Joe Geisner, walks us through 120 years of Mormon General Conference addresses that were censored in some way. From the earliest talks by John W. Taylor to more recent addresses by Boyd K. Packer, the history of disunity within the highest ranks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the resulting censorship, is a surprisingly dense and fascinat...
Jan 16, 2019•1 hr 52 min
The title says it all, this is 2018 in review! 2018 was an eventful year for the Mormon church and we review some of the most important headlines with the help of an astute redditor. Be sure to read the post at the link below! After that Braden tells us about the new Pixar movie, Small Foot. Then we take on a happy headline about the cost of coal energy vs. renewable sources. Reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/aa0ii7/2018_year_in_review_a_look_back_at_tsccs_year/ Light of Gaz...
Jan 02, 2019•53 min
What do current membership numbers of the Mormon church reveal about overall trends in membership? Is the dip in membership due to the secularization of America, or are Mormons leaving religion at a higher rate than the baseline? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is lying about its membership numbers. Why? After that, Braden tells us about Holy Hell, a documentary about a cult leader…. Apropos, right? Then we talk about a toy maker who’s making Christmas better for thousands of peo...
Dec 19, 2018•1 hr 7 min
