Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel

We have shown in a prior podcast that the Book of Mormon answers all the important religious disputes of Joseph Smith’s day. In this episode we demonstrate that the Book of Mormon uses the language and expressions of other early 19th Century authors to do so! Using only publications from prior to 1830! The results…  Read More » Obviously a 19th Century Production! The post Ob...

For decades, the historical consensus has been that Joseph Smith introduced and practiced plural marriage in Nauvoo. But a small group of researchers has argued for a very different conclusion: that Joseph Smith was not the founder of Mormon polygamy and that the historical evidence has been misunderstood. In this episode of Mormonism Live, we…  Read More » Joseph Smith’s Pol...

Tonight on Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon take a deep dive into one of the most talked-about Mormon history stories in recent memory: the recent leaking of the William Clayton journals. For years, the full Clayton journals have been a source of speculation, controversy, and anticipation. William Clayton was not a peripheral…  Read More » The William Clayton Journal...

Does the Book of Mormon fit better in the ancient world or in early nineteenth century America when it was created? Defenders of the book point to a handful of twisted and strained comparisons to the ancient world to make their case. Bill and RFM, on the other hand, demonstrate conclusively that the Book of…  Read More » When Was the Book of Mormon Created? The post When Was the Bo...

What if the most revealing thing about Mormon apologetics isn’t the evidence being presented… but the behavioral patterns behind the arguments? Tonight on Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon sit down with Dawn McCarty who works in Forensic Criminology behavioral analysis. Can forensic criminology profile Mormon apologetics? Drawing from several of her recent…  Re...

The Mormon Church keeps telling us it is growing. And not only is it growing, they say it is growing faster than it has ever grown in history! And yet faithful Mormon researcher Jeff Strong says the LDS Church has lost 40 % of its active membership in the last twenty-five years. How will the…  Read More » LDS Church Membership Tanks! The post LDS Church Membership Tanks! appeared f...

Tonight on Mormonism Live we tackle one of the most controversial and uncomfortable documents in LDS history: Joseph Smith’s 1832 First Vision account. Not the polished 1838 version members know from the Pearl of Great Price. Not the story that has been repeated in manuals and General Conference over a hundred years. We’re going back…  Read More » Joseph Smith’s 1832 First Vi...

Bill Reel and RFM are joined this week by Meggan Hayes, host of the “Generally Unquotable” podcast, which features a news report on things Mormon every weekday morning! How does Meggan do it? Where does she get her stories? What are the biggest stories she has covered? These are just some of the things we’ll…  Read More » Podcaster Meggan Hayes (Generally Unquotab...

Tonight on Mormonism Live, we explore one of the most uncomfortable and fascinating questions in early Mormon history: Was Moroni originally understood through the same treasure-digging framework Joseph Smith had already been practicing for years? Long before the Book of Mormon was published, Joseph Smith and those around him were involved in treasure seeking using…  Read More » Mo...

What if the harm didn’t start with a crisis… but with what you were taught as a child? In this episode of Mormonism Live, we sit down with researcher and clinician Samuel Clemens, PhD, LCSW, to unpack his groundbreaking study on religious trauma among former Latter-day Saints—particularly those who identify as sexual minorities. This isn’t…  Read More » The Hidden Cost of Mormon Be...

Who won the debate? Bill Reel or Robert Gurr? Bill Reel and RFM dissect Bill’s recent debate about Mormonism with Robert Gurr. This one is going to be a lot of fun! Don’t miss it! The post Another Mormon Bites The Dust! appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel .

Tonight, one of the darkest chapters in Mormon history—the Mountain Meadows Massacre. This isn’t a surface-level retelling. We walk through what led up to it, how it unfolded, and what happened afterward… and we let the historical record speak for itself. We examine the environment in southern Utah at the time—heightened fear, isolation, and rhetoric…  Read More » Mormonism’s...

Mormons have turned to the Bible to prove their beliefs are true ever since the inception of the LDS Church. But are the Mormons getting the Bible right? World renowned Bible expert and prolific author Bart Ehrman joins us to get down to the bottom of the issue, and to help us answer the question,…  Read More » World Renowned Bible Expert Weighs In! The post World Renowned Bible Ex...

For most of Mormon history, Latter-day Saints believed the Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York was the very place where the final battles of the Book of Mormon took place and where Moroni buried the gold plates that Joseph Smith would later retrieve. But in recent decades, a growing number of LDS scholars and apologists…  Read More » The Hill Cumorah: Why did the LDS Church & it...

Join Bill Reel and RFM as we cue up the most scintillating and awe-inspiring moments from the April 2026 General Conference! You are sure to have a good time! The post Apostles Say The Darndest Things! appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel .

Join Bill Reel and RFM as we cue up the most scintillating and awe-inspiring moments from the April 2026 General Conference! You are sure to have a good time! The post Apostles Say The Darndest Things! appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel .

In this episode of Mormonism Live, we walk through the full evolution of the Word of Wisdom—from its origin in 1833 to how it functions today as a requirement for temple worthiness. We start in Kirtland, where the School of the Prophets was filled with tobacco smoke, chewing, and spitting—and where Emma Smith’s frustration becomes…  Read More » History of Mormonism’s “W...

In this episode we examine one of the most foundational claims in Mormonism: the translation of the Book of Mormon. Most Latter-day Saints grew up hearing a very specific story. Joseph Smith sat at a table, the gold plates were present, and he translated the ancient record through divine power. But when we turn to…  Read More » Book of Mormon Translation The post Book of Mormon Tra...

A confrontation of historic proportions happened forty-five years ago; a confrontation between an LDS apostle and a BYU professor; between Elder Bruce R. McConkie and Professor Eugene England. The subject was the nature of God. But the ramifications were more far-reaching than that. Join Bill Reel and RFM as they dig deep into this controversy…  Read More » Bruce R. McConkie Lays D...

In this episode of Mormonism Live, we sit down with Ember, a Native American and former Latter-day Saint, to explore a side of Mormonism that often goes overlooked – the lived experience of Native Americans inside the Church. For many Indigenous members, Mormon doctrine didn’t just offer a spiritual framework. It reshaped identity, ancestry, and…  Read More » Lamanite to Self...

In this episode, we examine one of the lesser-known but revealing moments in Mormon history: the Kinderhook Plates. In 1843, a set of small brass plates covered with strange engravings were discovered in Kinderhook, Illinois and brought to Joseph Smith. Contemporary accounts record that Joseph examined the plates and began offering an interpretation of the…  Read More » The Kinderh...

Sam Young is the legend who did amazing things almost a decade ago to protect children in the Mormon Church. Of course, the Mormon Church didn’t appreciate Sam’s efforts to protect the children, so they excommunicated him. This is Sam’s story! And for the first time, Sam will speak publicly about what happened during his…  Read More » Sam Young: Protector of Mormo...

Why Do People Leave the LDS Church? In this episode of Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon examine a topic that has been discussed inside Mormonism for nearly two centuries: why do people leave the Church? From early sermons by Brigham Young to modern General Conference addresses, Latter-day Saint leaders have offered explanations…  Read More » The LDS Label Machine The...

In this episode, we examine one of the clearest translation claims in Mormon history: the Book of Abraham. Joseph Smith said he translated ancient writings of Abraham from Egyptian papyri. Those papyri were displayed, studied, and described as the source of the text. Today, we still have fragments of those papyri. And Egyptologists can read…  Read More » The Book of Abraham: Can Jo...

The Lost 116 Pages — What Really Happened? In this episode, we take a careful look at one of the earliest and most important moments in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon: the loss of the 116 manuscript pages. Believers have long heard the story. Martin Harris takes the manuscript. It disappears. Joseph…  Read More » The Lost 116 Pages from the Book of Lehi: A Logical Deconstru...