Glass Box Podcast

CULTS! Well, one specifically. We start this episode with a brief rundown of Steven Hassan's BITE model of cult mind control. We hone in on the element of "Information" control within the larger BITE model to discuss how important controlling information is to the longevity of any cult. That leads us into our longer segment where we finally begin our review of Saints: The Standard of Truth, the ne...

Who even is Lavina Fielding Anderson?! In this classic deep dive we examine the life of Lavina Fielding Anderson and her contributions to the Mormon academic field. Her story serves as a case study of how far individuals can pressure the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the inside before the institution's immune system responds. She's a powerhouse of a scholar, a pioneer in feminis...

It's finally time for our long-awaited deep dive into New Mormon History. Put simply, NMH was a movement within the history department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to confront controversial history and turn away from the apologetic and polemical Old Mormon History. The leading figure, Leonard Arrington, was the right person for the job. But, he didn't have the business chops...

Education is a battleground for the hearts and minds of the future. The Church Education System of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1980, but the history of education in Mormonism is far more complex. We do a deep dive into how the CES started and the sordid pasts of the various educational institutions attached to the Church at some point. There's also a tangential d...

Guess what! This is the end of our deep dive into The Millennial Messiah , by Bruce R McConkie! It's party time!  We go over the last 4 chapters and then discuss our conclusion. Then, we will watch the 2010 movie Legion, with a mormon lens because it works WAY too well with that. Then we'll finish off the episode with some good news about a BYU protest!   MOGP : Legion (2010) https://www.imdb.com/...

What even is the Law of Consecration?! Well it's a covenant that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints make during the temple endowment ceremony, but what actually is it? We go through a deep dive of the Law of Consecration, discuss a bit of its history, and pontificate about it's impact and possible future use in Mormon culture today. After that we review Gate to Women's Coun...

Our long-awaited deep-dive deconstruction of Adam-God Doctrine, or theory, depending on who you ask. What is it? Who taught it? Why is it controversial? How is it treated by the corporate Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today? 'As we are, god once was, as god is we may someday become' is a tried-and-true Mormon doctrine and the Adam-Eve-Gods Doctrine fits perfectly within this logical...

History comes to life! Today we interview Mark Elwood, the creator of the graphic novel series The Glass Looker. These novels seek to illustrate Joseph Smith's magic and treasure digging in beautiful and colorful relief. The book just dropped so grab yourself a copy! After that we continue talking fictionalized history with the movie Ford v Ferrari and we wrap the show with some happy news about r...

It's time for the next installment of The Millennial Messiah by Bruce R. McConkie! Before that, we talk about Zion. What was it, what did/does it mean to various faith traditions, and what's the Mormon slant of Zion? McCranky spends this entire episode discussing how incredibly awesome the future Mormon theocracy, Zion, the New Jerusalem, built upon the American continent, is going to be! We wrap...

It's that time again! Every 6 months we review every talk given over the pulpit in General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This Mormon Con sees the best and brightest in Mormon hierarchy speaking in 10-30 minute segments, accompanied by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. In total, we review all 10 hours of talks "to see what slipped through the cracks"!   Other A...

What does Joseph Smith's book say about Joseph Smith's church? We take a look into the Book of Mormon to see what it has to say about the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The BoM has a lot to say about organized, wealthy religion so how does a religion based on it accumulate so much wealth into its organization? After that we discuss the SMBC book Religion; Ruining Everything si...

Girl's Camp! We talk about the history of how it came to be, the experiences of many folks who attended, and discuss the evolution of the program since its inception. What happens there? Who gets (has) to attend? Why don't young women get to do the same kind of stuff Scouts do? Tune in and all answers shall be revealed! After that we review the most recent Tarzan movie and wrap the show with a new...

What a fun grouping of topics! We do a relatively long deep-dive into the history of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has dealt with organic evolution and how the stance has changed over time. Of course, the Book of Mormon is predicated on eugenics, as is the history of Utah, so we also include this more controversial subject as it is related. Then we dive into Bruce R. McConkie...

Numerology 101! What is it? How many is it? Why is it? We do a quick deep-dive into the esoteric field of numerology and how it influenced Joseph Smith and early Mormonism. We even find out our own numbers just for the fun of it! After that we talk about The Number 23 starring Jim Carrey in a very non-Jim Carrey role, witnessing him driven to madness by, you guessed it, the number 23. We round out...

We've discussed Mormon endtimes on numerous episodes, but this time we will also discuss some results. Mormonism breeds dangerous men; men who believe the end of the world is coming. Bruce R. McConkie loved the idea of the endtimes. He wrote about it so much that we decided to cover what Mormon Doctrine says are the signs of the endtimes. Then, because we know you just can't get enough of McCranki...

Finally, the long-awaited deep-dive of Paul H. Dunn! Dunn was a General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a consummate liar. He tweaked or fabricated dozens of stories with a spiritual bend which caused Mormons to feel the spirit that what he was saying was true. He also committed financial fraud by cashing in on his high church rank and grandiose public personality....

Yes, it's time for our next installment of the Millennial Messiah by Bruce R. McConkie. Before that, however, we're doing a deep-dive into the history of the BYU center in Jerusalem. We discuss how it came to be, the hurdles overcome, and the strange and mysterious ways in which Mormon God works. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints punched far above its weight class in the sphere of in...

EPISODE 100!!! We're celebrating this achievement with a different style of show. We're talking all about hymns and music. What does music do to our brains? How can it be used for benevolent or, conversely, malevolent, purposes? Why is music easier to remember than just about any other media we create or consume? We also discuss some history of hymns and folk music in the Mormon culture and tradit...

I'm uploading this as a token of gratitude for all you listeners showing up for 100 episodes! Plus, people have been asking for our review on the main feed but UtBoH is just too big a topic for the regular show, so here's a standalone episode taken from our YouTube broadcast! This is the next installment of our quarterly live Q&A broadcasts! We have our lovely patrons to thank over at https://www....

Hey it's Pride Month! We all hear about Prop 8 and how the LDS church paid a boatload of money to make it go their way. We thought the actions the church took in the past which led to these actions needed to be brought to light. We also discuss Patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith who was called to the office while known to be gay, then was fired from the job once the bigots spoke out against him. Then...

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 Mo...

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,...

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 w...

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, righ...

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...