Glass Box Podcast

How is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints handling the Coronavirus epidemic? We explore current events and the coming end of the world. Then we get into our next installment of The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister… ugh. Finally, we wrap up with some happy news about how celebrities, artists, and regular folk are helping each other through the epidemic.   Being sent home...

Yes, we're jumping into the outrage ball-pit of COVID-19, Coronavirus. We do our typical overview of the issue and piece together a chronology from multiple reputable sources. This is a worldwide topic and therefore dives into politics, which we don't often do. If you want a break from all the hype or don't want to hear about politics, this may not be the episode for you. If you want to be informe...

Boy Scouts of America is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy because of child sex abuse? We thank thee, O God, for our Profit, Russel M. Nelson for getting the Mormon church out of Scouts before all those lawsuits crippled BSA! While this isn't a story directly about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, these issues long predate the divorce of these two institutions. Braden and I explore...

The Wall Street Journal somehow got an interview with two of the leading guys of Mormon Money, the Presiding Bishop, Gerald Causse, and the head of Ensign Peak Advisors, Roger Clarke. We discuss the story with the help of a post in the /r/mormon subreddit (linked below). After that, it's our next installment of The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister where he decides to go completely o...

Clutch my pearls! Braden and I talk about the Super Bowl halftime show and the expected responses from Mormons scared that the female figure exists who never batted an eye at a topless and tattoo-covered Adam Levine last year. After that Braden tells us about Ramy, a Hulu series about a Muslim-American finding his way in life. Then we talk about Activision utilizing lootboxes for good, for a pleas...

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 hi...

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 th...

$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 s...

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...

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...

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 h...

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 th...

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...

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...

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 ab...

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/114...

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 & Tr...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 cer...

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...

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

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 Morm...