The end is neigh at hand, or so Abrahamic believers have been saying for over 2000 years. Mormonism has its own special brand of the apocalypse and endtimes. This launches us into the next installment of the Millennial Messiah by Bruce R. McConkie. He talks about the endtimes as well, along with the role of the Book of Mormon. The final chapter we cover he leans deep into the white supremacy of Mormon theology. Be prepared, because we weren’t. Then we wrap the show with an op-ed in the Salt Lake...
May 25, 2022•3 hr 3 min
We examine the fascinating era of the 1970s feminist Mormon history studies. We focus on the central figure of Claudia Bushman and her push to build a non-existent world within Mormon studies. A group of east-coast women scholars began publishing controversial history in the form of Mormon Sisters and the resulting Exponent II quarterly journal. The official church historian, Leonard J. Arrington, encouraged and assisted where he could, but the General Authorities, especially Ezra Taft Benson, M...
May 11, 2022•2 hr 49 min
In this episode, we talk about Mormon priestcraft and show just how much they fit into their own description, all while denying it, of course. (Mormons and their leaders are awfully good at that!) This will lead us directly into part 2 of Bruce R McConkie’s book Millennial Messiah . We have an enjoyable time also discussing Martin Luther and the rise of Protestantism. We will also talk about why we think McCrankie hated Catholicism so much. Then we’ll close it out with some amazing news about a ...
Apr 27, 2022•2 hr 56 min
Hey guess what. It’s Gen Con time. AGAIN! It keeps showing up every six months. Go figure. In this episode we talk about what slipped through the cracks of this General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And yes, the timestamp is accurate. It’s a long listen, but hearing us dissect #GenCON is much, much, MUCH better than actually watching the 10 hours for yourself, right? This episode has a general content warning as there are talks involving some damaging concepts in...
Apr 13, 2022•3 hr 17 min
It’s time to break into our next long-form review of Mormon literature; Bruce R. McConkie’s Millennial Messiah! We get an idea for the purpose and objective of the book as well as McCrankie’s pet issues right off the bat. He speaks of the heresies integral to false prophecy and warns of the various movements and political groups are anti-Christ. But before we crack open the spine of this tome, our main segment is a brief deep-dive into Mormon prophecy. What is it? From where does it come? How re...
Mar 30, 2022•2 hr 21 min
As March is Women’s History Month in the USA, we knew it was time to talk about some amazing and strong women who have had a powerful effect on all of our lives. First we look at a fascinating figure integral to a transitory period of church history, Emmeline B. Wells, who pioneered women’s suffrage in Utah. Then, in MOGP we talk about the documentary RBG. Following that, we round out the episode talking about the 120 3D printed statues of women scientists in the “#IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit” at...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 38 min
One of the most influential leaders of the modern Mormon church, Bruce R. McConkie, made a name for himself with his seminal 1958 work Mormon Doctrine , an encyclopedia of Mormon doctrine and theology. It immediately made waves in the community and the rest of the leadership decided to censor McConkie and the book was pulled from the shelves. With significant edits to address leadership complaints, the book was republished in 1966 and again massively edited and published in 1979 after the priest...
Mar 02, 2022•3 hr 11 min
Much is said and thought of John C. Bennett from Nauvoo Mormon history, but what do the documents actually say? Today we go through a brief deep dive into this fascinating figure. He became a close friend and then personal greatest enemy of Joseph Smith throughout a complicated sequence of events. Bennett is most renowned for his 1842 expose, The History of the Saints , which he wrote after his abrupt removal from all church, government, and military appointments. We deal with the charge that he...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 35 min
YES! WE’RE FINALLY DONE!! The Miracle of Forgiveness has been a grind and we’re finally putting this monster of a book to rest. However, we can’t do it alone so we are joined by the incredible expertise of Natasha Helfer. She’s been working in sex and relationship therapy within the Mormon space for two and a half decades and she helps us contrast Spencer W. Kimball’s statements about sex and gender with modern science. Be sure to follow her at the links provided below. We hope you enjoy this ce...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr 50 min
The Black 14 was a group of athletes at University of Wyoming in Laramie who stood up to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and BYU. They suffered the wrath of withering public ire, but their story is immortalized as emblematic of the struggle for racial justice and equality in the 1960s and 70s. Join us as we learn their story and discuss Brigham Young University’s fight to keep discriminating when it became illegal to do so. After that we discuss Small Foot, a movie about asking q...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 31 min
Yes, a show about New Year’s Resolutions for 2022! We discuss what resolutions the Mormon church should consider for the new year and some of the hold ups of accomplishing them. We have some resolutions of our own though! Then we get to the penultimate segment of Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball. There’s light at the end of the tunnel and it feels good. Then we round out the show talking about clean flying goals for Denmark! Show Notes: Happy News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-euro...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 48 min
It’s the last episode of the year and since we had a blast doing an all media episode last year, we decided to make it a tradition! We each brought something to the table in each category — books, movies, and music — and we had a great time discussing them. We hope you enjoy them too. Have a fun holiday season! Books: Shannon’s book: Eva , by Peter Dickinson Bryce’s book: Understanding History , by Louis Gottschalk Film: Shannon’s movie: Spy Game https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266987/?ref_=tt_rvi...
Dec 21, 2021•2 hr 2 min
We take on the next recommendation from the 2019 NPR broadcast Hidden Brain episode. Shannon tells us how our beliefs can be informed by people we trust and how resilient they prove. Then we get into the next segment of Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball telling us about the benefits of forgiving folks who wrong us. Then we wrap with happy news about green power from India! July 22, 2019 episode: Facts Aren’t Enough: The Psychology of False Beliefs. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/18/74319...
Dec 08, 2021•2 hr 37 min
Our main segment features a piece done by NPR on their Hidden Brain podcast a few years ago. We discuss the type of mindset people need in order to be influenced for various purposes. Hope and fear feature in informing the mindset of a receptive brain when facts simply aren’t enough. After that we get into the next segment of The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball. We read a couple of the most infamous passages from the book including the level of sin assessed on survivors of sexual as...
Nov 24, 2021•2 hr 52 min
Let’s chat about some funny Mormon stories! We start from the earliest days of the church. We hear about missionaries raising the dead, Joseph Smith training a dove to eat grain out of his ear, and then going for a swim while covered in phosphorus oil. After that we talk about funny stories told about Mormons by the genius minds of Matt Stone and Trey Parker in the Mormon South Park episode and The Book of Mormon musical. We wrap with a story about lasers saving agriculture and discussing some l...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Welcome to today’s show. This episode contains another installment in the dangerous shitshow that is the Miracle of Forgiveness. Because the chapter we discuss is about bishop’s interviews, for our main segment, we interviewed Sam Young to talk about his Protect LDS Children movement — now named Protect Every Child. We also go over some of the answers you, our wonderful listeners, gave us on our survey about bishop’s interviews. Then to cleanse ourselves and you, we finish up with some happy new...
Oct 27, 2021•3 hr 39 min
It’s that time again. Every six months we see what slipped through the cracks of General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We watched it so you don’t have to, and yes, the timestamp is accurate. It’s a long listen, but hearing us dissect #GenCON is way better than actually watching the 10 hours for yourself, right? There’s also a point in the episode with a content warning as one of the talks focused on mental health and suicide, conveying some deeply damaging and pr...
Oct 13, 2021•4 hr 16 min
We have a fun episode for you this week! We begin with a vicious anti-Mormon story about Henry Caswell (Caswall) and the Greek Psalter incident in Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo church. Hugh Nibley considered this one of the longest-running anti-Mormon stories and spent a good deal of print trying to debunk it (unsuccessfully I might add). Then we talk a Nic Cage movie from 2000, Gone in 60 Seconds because why the hell not. Then we wrap up with some happy news about recent cannabis legislation. Next few ...
Sep 29, 2021•2 hr 3 min
Bishop’s Interviews Survey: https://forms.gle/LrhBWKkyX8DeGanh8 The recent updates to the recently openly-published church handbook contain some fascinating details, some of which have stirred controversy and caused Mormons to leave the church! Shannon walks us through a few of the prominent changes and helps put them in context by comparing the 2020 Handbook to the 2006 Bishop’s Handbook. Then it’s off to the next segment of Miracle of Forgiveness. Spence tells us about repenting or perishing, ...
Sep 15, 2021•2 hr 52 min
Apostle, and glorified school teacher, Jeffrey R. Holland gave a speech at BYU recently titled The Second Half of the Second Century of BYU. It’s made waves within the community for its viciously anti-human and bigoted bend, but there are many deeper messages and a truly disturbing historical context for the speech. Let not the fire of muskets keep us from seeing the true evil within. After that we invite Devin Sunde onto the show to discuss his upcoming graphic novel, Love & Sects! See his ...
Sep 01, 2021•2 hr 37 min
Shannon brings us some interesting information derived from a recent study about feeling the spirit™. The study was conducted on a small population of believing Mormons which produced some interesting results. After that we jump into Miracle of Forgiveness discussing sins of omission and suicide. We wrap up talking about some new tech that harnesses water from the air! Show notes: Main topic: Article on Jeffrey Anderson’s study: https://unews.utah.edu/this-is-your-brain-on-god/ Sunstone Podcast ...
Aug 18, 2021•2 hr 18 min
We decided it was time for us to prove we are actual human beings! Shannon and Bryce were able to attend the Sunstone Symposium in Sandy, Utah, along with our friend Julianne Briscoe, and we had an amazing time. We met extremely interesting people — both new friends and old friends — and learned new things that gave us some exciting ideas for us to explore on the podcast. We hope you enjoy our special episode! Show notes: Sunstone: https://sunstonemagazine.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/G...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 45 min
You read that right! Captain Moroni, known as Caesar No-Salad to non-Mormons, who participated in the treasonous Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol building was arrested! We gloat over Nathan Wayne Entrekin’s arrest a bit, discuss the videos he recorded and sent to his mom that day, and take a high-level overview of how the DOJ and FBI are progressing with the unprecedented case. Then we discuss a book that’s great for factoids at cocktail parties and wrap up with discussing a public option broa...
Jul 21, 2021•56 min
Last December, the church made some changes to the bishop’s handbook that bear a closer look, poor beleaguered Bryce gets to take on the 3rd segment of MOF, and then we’ll relieve EVERYONE’s thoughts with some lovely news from Canada. And please, be prepared. Not only is this an incredibly long episode but we also need to give you a content warning. We will be discussing one of the worst chapters in MOF and it might be painful. Shannon will also be reading a bit from her mission journal. Get a p...
Jun 30, 2021•3 hr 6 min
This week’s show is a brief deep-dive into a lesser-known figure of American history and her connections to Mormon polygamy and the larger national women’s suffrage movement. We romp through 70 years of history through a few different vantage points and wrap it all together by discussing polygamy as one of the next social justice issues. After that, we review Love, Simon, a coming-of-age story of a closeted young man seeking validation in his experience, friendship and acceptance, and ultimately...
Jun 16, 2021•1 hr 55 min
There was a recent announcement by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that they are no longer performing time-only marriages in the temple. What? What even does that mean? Our main segment teases apart the marriage and sealing practices conducted in the temple and places this headline within a broader context while we opine on what it the larger plan at play might be. Then we dive into the pages of Miracle of Forgiveness, covering the first 3 chapters of introductory material. We ro...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 45 min
Today is a bit of a classic deep dive into early Mormon history, sort of. We crack open the pages of Rick Grunder’s Mormon Parallels (linked below; please pick up a copy) and investigate what was in the air of 18th and early 19th century America. Turns out, Joseph Smith was not an island and the Book of Mormon is very much a product of its time. Let’s see how Shannon does with my clever little game of Mormon or Not!? After that we review a graphic novel Joseph Smith in Space: May the Farce Be Wi...
May 19, 2021•1 hr 28 min
For our main segment today, we do a brief deep-dive into the history of Asian-American immigration and public sentiment. Of course, we also analyze the Mormon angle with help from listener Adam Watanabe who is kind enough to share his lived experience. After that we dive into our next long-form analysis of Mormon-related texts with Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball. Then we round out the show discussing the first rent-ready 3D printed house in Amsterdam! Show links: Main segment: New ...
May 05, 2021•2 hr 18 min
Who wants something FUN today? We have had a few dark and depressing episodes lately that we decided we all needed a break. You need to see fun things to remind you the world really ISN’T on fire … yet. First we start with news out of Canada where BYUtv agreed to allow LGBTQ+ characters on their shows, then we discuss the movie Clue in Media of Great Price, and we end with a little happy news about the cellist Yo Yo Ma. Show links: Main segment: https://nowtoronto.com/movies/byutv-to-include-lgb...
Apr 21, 2021•1 hr 23 min
It’s that time of year again for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We managed to watch all of the April 2021 General Conference and have our analysis for you here. We’ll go over the more damaging points made by Oaks, Bednar, etc, as well some of the more odd moments. And if you’re a Patreon patron, you get to hear about the strange behavior of Eyring in his talk in the Saturday night priesthood session. There’s a lot to get through. Give yourself some time. Show links: Jana Riess ...
Apr 07, 2021•3 hr 3 min
