Latter Day Struggles

Send us a Positive Review! In this eye-opening episode Valerie is a guest on the Inside Out Podcast with Ian Wilkes and Jim Bennett, where they dive deep into the complexities of women's roles within the LDS Church, locking in on the recent garment policy shifts.  You might be surprised to learn Valerie’s take on this topic. A hint: adding women leaders to these policy-making gatherings is NO...

Send us a Positive Review! In this heartwarming episode, Val is the guest on the Therapy Brothers podcast hosted by brothers & fellow relationship therapists Brannon and Tyler Patrick.    The topic is navigating the choppy waters of a marriage in distress due to the faith journey of one of the partners--a demographic of couples that is multiplying rapidly.   The bottom line? A faith transition...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is the guest on the podcast Black & White & Gold hosted by Carly and Rob Allred where they engage in a compelling conversation on gender and faith.  Valerie is becoming the prominent voice for the LDS Church advocating for educating men around the harms of patriarchal indoctrination on male development. This work is yielding good results a...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is guest on the Parrish the Thought podcast where Brian Parrish interviews Val on the resistance she experienced from local priesthood leaders as a mental health worker tending to the complex issues of faith crisis in an institution that has yet to understand either the faith journey itself or widespread mental/relational/spiritual health issues t...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode, Valerie shares an inspiring journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth with The Wholeness Network.  The theme was Brene Brown's exploration of the concept of "Braving the Wilderness" and on the heels of three years of learning to live & love one's truth at a potentially high social cost, Val felt that she had a couple of thing...

Send us a Positive Review! In this exciting solo episode, Valerie reflects on the profound personal growth she has experienced over the past few months and shares her plans for what she is informally dubbing the "Latter Day Struggles 2.0" era.   In some ways, you will continue to get what you have come to expect--a respectful & honest conversation about all things Mormon through the...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Val is a guest on the Join Latter Day Digest podcast & what unfolds is the very unlikely story that led to Val's and Nathan's eventual 'outlaw' status within the LDS church.  Why is this so odd?  Because this couple could not have been more traditionally believing for the majority of their lives--including spending most of their ma...

Send us a Positive Review! Missed the LIVE Q&A where Val recently answered the flood of questions that have come in on the heels of her & Nathan's brave series venturing into the realm of politics, polarization & human/cultural evolution of consciousness?  In this Q&A Val takes some very challenging questions and walks you through ways in which politics & religion are refl...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is the guest on the thought-provoking  Inside Out Podcast , one of the first podcasts to interview her following the dramatic events that led up to the Hamakers' decision to resign from the LDS church rather than collude in an excommunication process that they did not endorse as ethical, legitimate, or appropriate.   This episode takes you th...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Val is a guest on the wonderful In Her Image Podcast to discuss the complex emotional journey of awakening to the divine feminine. They explore common emotional responses to one's realization that s/he has been estranged from half of deity for one's whole life, awakening to the power that many of us give away in allowing others to define who the...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is interviewed by her good friends and fellow podcasters Susan Hinckley and Cynthia Wynward and the three talk about what it is like to be outspoken women in a 21st Century church that is not so sure what to do with this kind of woman. They are candid in their experiences, struggles, and insecurities as they figure out their own faith journeys som...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: In-depth Exploration of Patriarchy & its Correlation to Violence & Abuse [Part VIII of X] Join Val & Nathan as they respectfully lean into specific risk factors associated with formalized patriarchal religious institutions (including the LDS church) & how these vulnerabilities play out in very real ways.  They also explore how our children c...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: In-depth Exploration of Patriarchy & its Correlation to Violence & Abuse [Part VIIof X] In today's episode, Val & Nathan walk through the layered risk factors around spousal violence/abuse that married couples are exposed to when belonging to a formalized institutional patriarchal church. Reinforcement of male authority, inadequately traine...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: In-depth Exploration of Patriarchy & its Correlation to Violence & Abuse [Part V of X] In this episode Val & Nathan walk through a series of other very common communities where men-on-men violence is normalized--culminating in a discussion that shows clearly that it is not a coincidence that patriarchal structures enforce strict rules on both wo...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: In-depth Exploration of Patriarchy & its Correlation to Violence & Abuse [Part III of X] In this jaw-dropping episode (at least it was jaw-dropping for Val & Nath to prepare and produce) Val & Nathan talk about the "Female Fear Factory" which is a phrase intended to communicate the implicit rules that girls and women worldwide are...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: In-depth Exploration of Patriarchy and its Correlation to Violence & Abuse [Part I of X] In this opening episode of this incredibly important series, Val & Nathan offer an overview of what is to come in the episodes that follow. This series has been a labor of love for this couple who care deeply about their Latter-day Saint and surrounding loved on...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Living in a World of Hypernormalization [Part I of II] In this episode Val shares an update about how she is processing the recent events of her and Nathan's forced resignation in the face of excommunication by looking at this both as a personal issue for them but also plays with the idea that they are playing a symbolic role in a much larger narrative...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: The 21st Century LDS Church's Ongoing Struggle to Respond to the Realities of Faith & Trust Crisis [Part I of II] Join Val and friend, colleague and returned guest, Dr. Greg Prince as they talk about Greg's involvement in the profoundly important document "The Official Faith Crisis Report". A document that was the first of its kind,...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title:  Transcending Church Rules on the PathTowards Genuine Christlike Discipleship w/Russ Hinckley Part III of IV What do you think Jesus would desire that we focus on in our worship services and within our larger lives? In these last two episodes of this series Val invites Russ to share his thoughts on his "Christ Creed", or his "rewrite" of...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title:  Transcending Church Rules on the Path Towards Genuine Christlike Discipleship w/Russ Hinckley Part I of IV Welcome to a beautiful series featuring guest author Russ Hinckley (who doesn't mind being referred to as Mr. Susan Hinckley of the "At Last She Said It" podcast) where Val and Russ explore his book "Beyond Belief" a radical r...

Send us a Positive Review! In this episode Valerie is invited to be a guest on "Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt," a podcast where she shares many experiences leading to her choice to commit her career to the psychological and spiritual healing of those connected to her own Latter-day Saint faith tradition. Val shares some personal experiences, some of her reasons for beginning and staying in...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Look into the Minds of Creators of The Mother Tree & Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part I of II]  Why is my job the very best?  Because I get to sit down with two of the kindest, more brilliant and beautiful souls out there--Kathryn Sonntag and Taylor Petrey-- to facilitate a conversation about all things modern Mormon feminism, scripture, sy...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: A Deep Dive into the Fascinating Cosmos Found in Taylor Petrey's Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part III of IV]  One definition of "queering" that Taylor uses in his book is to complicate or expand --and this episode does just that in the realm of the feminine divine.  Buckle up as Taylor and Val walk through his fascinating ideas reg...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title:  A Deep Dive into the Fascinating Cosmos Found in Taylor Petrey's Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos [Part I of IV]  In this episode Val and guest scholar and author Taylor Petrey set this series up by walking through the focus of Taylor's phenomenal new book, Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos.  They set the stage to blow your mind in the m...

Send us a Positive Review! Series Title: Valerie & Nathan Hamaker Forced Resignation from the LDS Church [Part III of III]  In this final episode detailing the tough events of Val and Nathan's last year trying to collaborate with their local priesthood leaders, they share why they chose to resign their membership instead of experiencing a disciplinary counsel.  They also explore the fear...