The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

Review of Alan Goff, A Stop to the Shedding of Blood: The Book of Mormon, Violence, and the Sacred (Draper, UT: Common Consent Press, 2025). 427 pages. $18.95 (paperback). Abstract: Alan Goff’s new book, A Stop to the Shedding of Blood , is a valuable reading of the Book of Mormon with and against René Girard’s theories of imitative violence and scapegoating. He provides helpful introduction to th...

Why did Brigham finish a temple he already knew they were going to abandon—and what does that decision say about Brigham Young as Joseph Smith’s successor? Why did the same Illinois neighbors who once sheltered the Saints later tell them their mere presence was the problem? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 37: Until the Last Stone: Temple under Fire first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation .

This episode of Conversations with Interpreter is part one in a three-part series where we speak with Jeffrey M. Bradshaw on Isaiah 53, one of the most important chapters for understanding Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. However, as with much of Isaiah, this chapter can be somewhat obscure to our modern understanding. This chapter describes a servant of God who seems to suffer on behalf of othe...

Abstract: Alma 63, the concluding chapter of the book of Alma, displays a sophisticated literary structure that gives meaning and emphasis to events that might otherwise appear to be routine historical details. This paper proposes a six-element chiasm in Alma 63:1–11, framed by the transfer of sacred records and centered on large-scale Nephite migrations by ship to the land northward. Detailed ver...

If the Saints would not leave without their endowment, how did Brigham try to both keep God’s promise and preserve their lives when Nauvoo was no longer safe? Why did so many Saints follow a blunt, sometimes offensive Brigham Young into the wilderness—and what does that fact say to modern people whose faith is shaken by that history? Brigham Young tells the Saints they must leave because it is no...

Abstract: James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Joseph F. Merrill brought unusually strong scientific training to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joining the quorum between 1911 and 1931. Tracing their education, scientific work, publications, university leadership, and ecclesiastical service, this paper details how each combined intellectual...

What did Brigham’s letter to the daughter he left behind reveal about how he saw himself as a substitute “father” to the Church? Why did the unfinished Nauvoo Temple become the sharpest dividing line between Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 35: Why not Sidney Rigdon? first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation .

In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter , Kevin L. Tolley speaks about his research into temple connections in Jacob’s sermon and especially with Jacob’s use of Isaiah. Dr. Tolley, who is a Coordinator for Seminary and Institutes, has been studying the idea of temples and temple themes in especially the Book of Isaiah, and the connection between the latter part of Isaiah and Psalms and p...

Abstract: This paper explores the oath sworn by Akish and his followers in Ether 8:13–15 as a possible remnant of ancient Sumerian legal and religious tradition. It draws on comparative evidence from early Mesopotamian oath formulae, including the Vulture Stele of Lagash and other Sumerian contractual texts. The study proposes that the structure of the oath sworn “by the God of heaven, and also by...

Could the sentiments that “it’s cheaper to feed them than fight them” and “this is their home” exist at the same time in the same person who also called Native American life idle and refused to leave the lands in Utah? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 34: Feed Them, Don’t Fight Them first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation .

How did a stolen shirt turn a mission to the Native Americans into two decades of war? What would Utah history have looked like if the Saints and the Utes had treated sharing and consecration as a conversation instead of a one-way religious task? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 33: From Stolen Shirt to Open War? first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation .

In the September 7, 2026 episode of The Interpreter Insights Podcast, our host Terry Hutchinson speaks with guest Jonathan Stapley in a follow-up to his book from Oxford University Press titled Holiness to the Lord: Latter Day Saint Temple Worship . They discuss the book's reception and his two forthcoming projects, a large book on the Salt Lake Temple called Dedication and another to be published...

In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter , we interview ‘Alisi K. Langi, an assistant professor in faculty of Ancient Scripture at Brigham University-Hawaii, looking at her paper “Throwing Greater Views Upon Jesus Christ and His Gospel Through Named & Unnamed Women in the Small Plates of Nephi.” Doctor Langi’s paper looks at how women are presented in the small plates (1 Nephi through Omn...

Abstract: According to current scientific understanding, our universe began in an inconceivable explosion of both space and time. And yet the laws that govern it took immediate effect, eventually governing the formation of galaxies and stars, the orbits of the planets, and even the colonization of sterile rock by lichens. If all this isn’t cause for wonder, it’s difficult to imagine what would be....

How did Brigham Young’s determination to never again be driven out of his home collide with Native peoples who were being pushed off the rivers and valleys of Utah? Why did a church that sent missionaries to Native Americans so early still end up building forts and fighting battles? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 32: Religious Kindred but Savage Enemies? first appeared on The Interpreter Founda...

In the August 27, 2026, 2026 episode of The Interpreter Insights Podcast, our host Terry Hutchinson interviews the President of The Interpreter Foundation, Dan Peterson, about the Interpreter Foundation's past year and upcoming projects. The post Interpreter Insights Podcast — August 27, 2026 first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation .

How did Brigham Young’s rejection of his father’s harsh discipline shape daily life and family rituals in the Lion House? In what concrete ways did women such as Eliza R. Snow exercise leadership and autonomy under Brigham Young? Why do the historians argue that judging Brigham Young solely by modern standards risks missing both the complexity of his character and the reasons so many people willin...

This episode of Conversations with Interpreter explores Spencer Kraus’s article, “A Closer Look at Transliteration in Divine Translations.” Kraus picks up the question about transliterated words like ziff in the Book of Mormon. Because the Book of Mormon was translated by “the gift and power of God,” it can raise questions about why words like this appear in the Book of Mormon. Kraus convincingly...

Abstract: Sidney Sperry identified 2 Nephi 4:15–35 as “Nephi’s Psalm.” Using form-critical analysis, Matthew Nickerson classified it as a personal lament psalm. In this article, I build on biblical turns of phrase, imagery, symbolism, and the archaeological record established by previous scholarship to demonstrate how verses 32–35 constitute Nephi’s movement through gradations of increasing holine...

In the August 20, 2026, 2026 episode of The Interpreter Insights Podcast, our host Terry Hutchinson interviews the President of The Interpreter Foundation, Dan Peterson, about volumes 7 & 8 of the Interpreter Journal, the Interpreter birthday and its accomplishments in the past year, including information about the Becoming Brigham video series. The post Interpreter Insights Podcast — August 20, 2...

How did the early revelation to Emma Smith and the organization of the Relief Society challenge the 19th-century cultural expectation of male leadership? What does Brigham Young’s journal language about his wife being “admitted to the priesthood,” combined with his lifelong focus on temple ordinances, reveal about how he understood women’s spiritual authority? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 30:...

How did living in a household full of wives and daughters reshape Brigham Young’s understanding of women’s capabilities, even while he held traditional views of male roles in society? In what ways did plural marriage paradoxically expand Utah women’s legal rights (property ownership, etc.) compared with the rest of the United States? The post Becoming Brigham Episode 29: Inside the Lion’s House fi...

This episode is number two in a two part series of interviews with Jennifer C. Lane. The first discussed her work on redemption and the life of Abraham, while this episode focuses on exploring the idea of redemption in the Small Plates of Nephi. Dr. Lane in particular connects the teachings about Christ with the Old Testament notion of the kinsman-redeemer. The authors of this part of the Book of...

How did the early apostles’ expectation that they must personally see the Savior shape their understanding of what it means to be a “special witness”? Why did the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society trigger such widespread doubt and apostasy, and how did Brigham Young’s response to the crisis reveal the difference between intellectual belief and deep spiritual conviction? What does recent resea...

Review of Kyle Beshears, 40 Questions About Mormonism (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2026). 352 pages; $26.99 (paperback). The post 40 Questions on Latter-day Saint Religion: Sincere, Frequently Respectful, Too Often Polemical first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation .