https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SLP-168.mp3 Gregory A. Prince has been watching the LDS Church for 75 years. And it has changed. A lot. Some changes have been constructive; some have been devastating. What does Prince see as the best way forward from where we are now? What will this path demand of the Church organization and its members?
Carol Lynn Pearson is known for her long-standing advocacy for the LGBT community in the LDS Church. This episode presents her thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the Church, and why she continues to engage with it. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SLP-167.mp3
Using Eric Hoffer’s book “The True Believer,” Stephen Carter explores how Mormonism became a mass movement and the surprising way its cycle is playing out today. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SLP-166.mp3
The New Testament is full of healing stories. But in real life, not so much. Dana Haight Cattani talks about her struggle with cancer. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/SLP-165.mp3
After a tour of the Orem Temple’s art with Stephen Carter, Michael Stubbs talks about how difficult it is for him to find God in nature—even when hiking with a bunch of rowdy Young Men! https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/SLP-164.mp3
Treasure digging did not stop with Joseph Smith. In this episode, Kevin Cantera tells us about John Koyle, a Mormon visionary who started a mine that he said would lead to caverns filled with Nephite gold. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SLP-163.mp3
This episode honors the life, thought, and spirit of Lavina Fielding Anderson with one of her best Sunstone articles: “In the Garden God Hath Planted: Explorations Toward a Maturing Faith.” https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SLP-162.mp3
Are you a Barbie, a Ken, or a Gloria? Stephen Carter, who watched the Barbie movie five times in the theaters, argues that these three characters typify some of the most common faith crises in the LDS Church. And that they show us how to look at these crises in a completely new light. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SLP-161.mp3
As the old Primary song goes, “I’m trying to be like Jigsaw.” In this episode, Stephen Carter explores the peculiar reason why so many Mormons are afraid to die. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SLP-160.mp3
Jana Riess grew up in a household where swearing was the norm. And she wonders if bringing a little of that spice over to our religious devotions might not kick things up a notch. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SLP-159.mp3
Buckle up as Stephen Carter takes you on a ride through Mormonism’s most popular, and notorious, marriage manual on its 60th anniversary. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SLP-158.mp3
How did the one of richest Mormon polygamous groups get its start? With one man, Charles William Kingston. In this episode, his great-grandson, Charles Elden Kingston, tells his story. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SLP-157.mp3
Yes, the mothership temple of Utah County has been the butt of many jokes. But what will we lose if the LDS Church goes ahead with its renovation of the Provo Temple? Alan Barnett reveals surprising architectural aspects of the Provo and Ogden Temples, and argues that their loss robs us of an essential part of Mormon history and imagination. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/156.mp3
Our intuition tells us that there must be humor in heaven, but the D&C has specific injunctions against laughter. Using theories of humor and stories from the Bible, Stephen Carter tries to figure out what kind of jokes gods make. And if they’re any good. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/155.mp3
When Michael Stevens started teaching university courses in Utah, he noticed that passive-aggressive behavior was significantly higher there than at the midwestern universities he had taught at. His studies revealed that the behavior was highest among people with an LDS background. Where does this behavior come from? How does it manifest itself? And how does it affect Mormon culture? https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/154.mp3...
Would Jesus pass muster to visit an LDS ward? Ryan Shoemaker doesn’t think so. But for reasons that have more to do with Whole Foods than the whole gospel. Episode includes bonus scripture from Jake Christensen. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/153.mp3
The story goes that anyone who leaves the Good Ship Zion comes back all wet and half drowned. But in this episode, Stephen Carter argues that this is short-sighted, and that a journey away from the ship may actually be the best way to save both yourself and the ship. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SLP-152.mp3
Mormonism used to pride itself on how different it was from other Christian sects. But it has since become part and parcel of the Evangelical movement. How did this happen? In this episode, Stephen Carter looks at recent LDS history through Kristen Du Mez’s book “Jesus and John Wayne: How Evangelicalism Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.” https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SLP-151.mp3
Walking into the forest means walking into the unknown. Reverend Patty Willis has done so many times in her life, and is about to do it again. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/150.mp3
When the Proclamation on the Family says “gender,” what does it mean? Ted Lee makes a case that using the academic, rather than colloquial, definition of gender opens the way to fitting transgender people into the Plan of Salvation. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/149.mp3
In these two hilarious and compelling dialogues by Theric Jepson, Mormon Socrates explores the theology behind transgender people and reproductive rights. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/148.mp3
It’s hard to know how to respond when a favorite artist breaks one of you most cherished values. Starting with Erich Hatala Matthes’ book “Drawing the Line: What to Do with the Work of Immoral Artists from Museums to the Movies,” Stephen Carter explores some approaches to cancel culture and their surprising connections with Mormonism. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SLP-147.mp3
The line between polygamy and adultery in early Mormonism was blurry, and people were killed over the interpretation of that line. This article by Edward Hogan explores how often the killers got off scot free—or even with a pat on the back. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/146.mp3
Ritual is the basic building block of civilization. But what makes a strong ritual? And does Mormonism have enough of it to survive? Stephen Carter explores the Mormon implications of Dimitris Xygalatas’s book “Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living.” Listen to its companion episode at https://sunstone.org/e118-the-lds-proselytizing-mission-as-hazing/ https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SLP-145.mp3...
When you lose your religion, you lose your life story. You have to reconstruct what life means. Stephen Carter presents an approach to telling your life story after the pre- and post-mortal lives have been removed from your worldview. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SLP-144.mp3
Artificial Intelligence could possibly destroy humanity. How do we reduce that risk? R. W. Richey shows how Abraham 3 offers a practical solution. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SLP-143.mp3
Why are Mormons a bewildering mix of peculiar and normal? Some of it has to do with . . . testosterone? Stephen Carter explores the Mormon implications of Joseph Henrich’s book “The Weirdest People in the World.” https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SLP-142.mp3
“Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith” was a turning point in the telling of Mormon history. And it has a fascinating history of its own. Linda King Newell recounts how she and Valeen Avery Tippetts wrote this groundbreaking book. This episode was recorded at the 2009 Salt Lake Symposium. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SLP-141.mp3
How much of a role might hallucinogens have played in some of the visions of early Mormon history? Bryce Blakenagel, host of the Naked Mormonism podcast, explores the possibilities. This episode was recorded at the 2022 Salt Lake Summer Symposium. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SLP-140.mp3
If the LDS Church has light, it also has a shadow. But what should it do with that shadow? Valerie Hamaker, host of the Latter Day Struggles podcast, shows how the Jungian shadow can either save or destroy a person—or a religion. This episode was recorded at the 2022 Sunstone Summer Symposium. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SLP-139.mp3
