Mormon Discussion Podcast

Join Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon on Mormonism Live as we dig into the long and turbulent history of Joseph Smith’s run-ins with the law. From treasure digging charges in New York, to assault accusations in Ohio, to treason indictments in Missouri and Illinois, Joseph Smith’s life was marked by constant legal battles that shaped both his reputation and the future of Mormonism. We’ll trace the k...

Tonight on Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon take on the brand-new video series “An Inconvenient Faith” — a polished production where scholars, researchers, and familiar voices inside and outside the LDS Church confront the most problematic issues in Mormonism.  We’ll break down the claims, highlight what the so-called “Experts” gets right (and where it pulls punches), an...

Tonight on Mormonism Live, RFM and Bill Reel are joined by special guest John Dehlin of Mormon Stories to reflect on five decades of Sunstone—the symposium that has been at the heart of Mormon thought, scholarship, and counter-narratives for half a century. From its beginnings in the 1970s to its role today as a gathering place for both believers and post-believers, Sunstone has been a hub for ope...

Tonight on Mormonism Live *** LAUREN COMES INTO THE PODCAST 1/2 HOUR IN **** We’re joined by investigative journalist and podcaster Lauren Matthias about a half hour into the show, creator and host of the acclaimed Hidden True Crime podcast. Lauren has built a reputation for deep, thoughtful reporting on some of the most compelling and disturbing criminal cases in recent years, including the Lori...

Tonight on Mormonism Live, we take a scalpel to Mormonism’s Founder Joseph Smith as He takes one to a Book of Abraham character What happens when a god loses his snout which Has Joseph Smith losing face—and why does it feel so… Mormon? In this off-the-rails episode, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon dive deep into the bizarre, symbolic, and surgical mutilation of Anubis, the Egyptian god...

How Did Joseph Smith Convince So Many? Exploring Hypnosis, Visions, and the Birth of a Movement How did Joseph Smith inspire thousands to not only believe in his prophetic gifts but also claim their own divine visions and supernatural encounters? Could hypnosis or altered states of consciousness explain part of the story? Tonight, we explore the controversial theory that Joseph Smith may have used...

What happens when faith becomes a franchise? In this gripping episode of Mormonism LIVE, we sit down with award-winning filmmaker Nathan Apffel and Chris Ayoub to discuss his upcoming documentary “The Religion Business”—a hard-hitting exposé exploring the multi-billion dollar intersection of belief, power, and profit. From televangelists to temples, we’ll pull back the curtain on how modern religi...

What If the Prophet You Trust Showed Signs You’d Warn Your Children About? We often teach our children how to recognize red flags—signs that someone might not have good intentions. But what happens when those same behaviors show up in the life of someone we revere as a prophet? In this eye-opening episode, we explore the established patterns and techniques used by predators—behaviors like is...

Lila Tueller, Daughter of LDS General Authority, Shares Untold Stories of Pain and Faith in “Shattered Trust” What happens when loyalty to the Church comes at the expense of the individual? Lila Tueller, daughter of well-known LDS General Authority Hartman Rector, Jr., has spent a lifetime inside the heart of Mormonism. In her powerful new book, Shattered Trust, she opens the door to stories rarel...

Who really was Joseph Smith? When one peels back the layers of legend and legacy to explore the life of Mormonism’s controversial founder, a far more complex and human figure emerges—part visionary, part rebel, and entirely unlike the sanitized version told in Sunday School. From buried golden plates and seer stones to secret plural marriages and clashes with the law, this conversation reveals the...

Of all the misleading tactics used by Latter-day Saint apologists, this one might just take the crown. It’s sneaky, it’s calculated—and even after being called out repeatedly, they still keep doing it. Why? Because when it comes to defending Mormonism and the LDS Church, it seems the ends justify any means. But not this time. We’re calling it out publicly—and you need to see it for yourself....

In this episode of Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon dive headfirst into the Church’s newest official Gospel Topics entry on the Book of Abraham, dissecting its language, implications, and apologetic framing. With surgical precision (and just a bit of satire), they explore how the Church attempts to repackage decades of controversy surrounding Joseph Smith’s translation claims, the m...

Discovered by accident in a desert cave, the Dead Sea Scrolls have become one of the most significant archaeological finds of the last century. But what do they actually say—and why do they matter? In this episode, we explore the strange, surprising, and deeply revealing world of the scrolls: hidden prophecies, rival messiahs, priesthood power struggles, sacred meals, and apocalyptic expectations....

EXPOSED: LDS Church & Tax Filing Fraud? In this special edition of Mormonism Live, we uncover stunning new evidence that suggests the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have violated U.S. tax laws —intentionally. From questionable filings to shell entities and hidden assets, this episode lays out what we’ve found, why it matters, and what legal consequences the Church could face i...

Is the Book of Abraham based on papyrus we no longer have? In this episode, we explore the Missing Scroll Theory—the idea that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham from a long roll of papyrus that has since been lost or destroyed. We’ll examine the historical records, including firsthand accounts from early Saints like Lucy Mack Smith, who described a distinct long scroll separate fro...

[Mormonism Live 234] In this episode of Mormonism Live, Radio Free Mormon (Bill is on vacation) dives headfirst into the growing tension between scientific discovery and Mormon doctrine. When it comes to mormonism in the modern world, science keeps raising its hand with uncomfortable questions. The LDS Church, meanwhile, continues to insist it has the answers… or at least that it’s “not official d...

What happens when a celebrated war hero, beloved by both Congress and the LDS Church, turns out to be living a lie? In this episode of Mormonism Live, we investigate the incredible true story of Douglas Stringfellow — a Utah congressman, decorated veteran, and rising star in postwar America… until it all came crashing down. Join us as we uncover a decades-old scandal that raises timeless questions...

In this eye-opening episode of Mormonism Live, hosts Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon are joined by author and theologian Charley Harrell to explore his powerful Dialogue Journal article, “John Taylor on the ‘Dark Ages’.” Together, they take a deep dive into how third LDS Church President John Taylor challenged the traditional narrative of the Great Apostasy—offering a radically different view of t...

What do you get when you mix Mormon folklore, an angelic visitation, and a supposed Nephite treasure buried in a Utah hillside? You get one of the strangest, most persistent sagas in LDS history: the story of John Hyrum Koyle and the Dream Mine. In this episode, we dig into the bizarre and fascinating tale of a humble Mormon bishop who claimed Angel Moroni showed him an ancient gold cache meant to...

This episode of Mormonism Live, we dive into a forgotten battlefield of Utah history — the Black Hawk War — a brutal and devastating conflict between Mormon settlers and Native American tribes that has been largely buried under pioneer myths and whitewashed storytelling. Far from a few isolated raids, the Black Hawk War (1865–1872) was Utah’s deadliest and most destructive conflict, costing hundre...

A fake email account bearing Bill Reel’s name was used to manipulate and deceive—an incident that has raised serious questions about digital ethics, privacy violations, and personal targeting within the post-Mormon space. In this episode, we break down what happened, how the deception unfolded, and why the details point in a very specific direction. From curious inconsistencies to insider-level kn...

When Joseph Smith died in 1844, the Restoration shattered like a glass dropped from heaven. What followed was a century-spanning explosion of rival prophets, breakaway churches, polygamist kingdoms, angelic messages, and more than one self-crowned king. In this episode of Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon take you on a deep dive into the wild and fractured world of LDS splinter group...

[Mormonism Live: 227] Welcome to the alternate reality where Joseph Smith never practiced polygamy, the angels with swords were just metaphors, and dozens of wives—including teenagers and already-married women—somehow just… didn’t exist. In this week’s episode of Mormonism Live, Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon are joined by Mormonism Historian Dan Vogel as they dive headfirst into the bizarre and...

Mormonism & The Charles Anthon Affair The Strange Meeting That Shaped a Scripture In this episode, we unravel one of the most curious and consequential moments in early Mormon history: the mysterious encounter between Martin Harris and Professor Charles Anthon. Was it a miraculous fulfillment of prophecy… or a carefully staged attempt to lend scholarly credibility to Joseph Smith’s...

[Mormonism Live 225] What if one of the most foundational parts of the Book of Mormon wasn’t ancient at all—but lifted from a 19th-century Methodist Bible commentary? In this episode, Mormonism Live dives into what may be the most significant academic finding in Mormon studies in decades: compelling evidence that Joseph Smith used Adam Clarke’s biblical commentary—a massive, scholarly work f...