Mormon.ish

Is the LDS church making progress when it comes to child protection? Mormonish podcast cohosts Rebecca and Landon are joined by the wonderful Sam Young from Protect Every Child, and Ian Wilks and Jim Bennett from Inside Out Podcast, to discuss the recent positive developments in church policy on background checks in the UK. Sam shares his story as he fought to implement changes to stop in appropri...

Can you be a moral person once you’ve stepped away from your religion? This seems to be a question that is often asked about someone who has left their faith. On this episode of Mormonish Podcast, we dive into ethics and morality with our special guest, Widow’s Mite spokesperson, Professor Spencer Anderson. Spencer has recently appeared in the last of a three part Mormon Stories series on church f...

Dr. John Knight Lundwall, who holds a PhD. in comparative myth and religion, joins Mormonish to provide a groundbreaking analysis of oral versus literary societies in the pre–Columbian Americas. His extensive scholarly work proves that it's impossible for a book with the literary complexity of the Book of Mormon to have even existed anywhere in the Americas during the Book of Mormon era. We consid...

Did Joseph Smith record D&C 132, the revelation on plural marriage? A growing number of members of the church and splinter groups believe that Joseph Smith did not practice polygamy, but rather, this practice was instituted by Brigham Young. They also believe that any written record of Joseph's polygamy, including D&C 132 was created years later by Brigham Young to make it appear that Jose...

On another collaborative episode in The Gospel Topcs Essays Series with The Backyard Professor, Rebecca and Landon dive into the Gospel Topics Essay, Becoming Like God. Most of us grew up in the church with the narrative that we would someday become gods and create our own worlds. This was not something we misunderstood, but something that was taught in sunday school lessons, seminary, sacrament m...

On this episode of Mormonish, we have a wonderful conversation with Scott Dyer of Rameumptom Ruminations, part of the Mormon Discussions group. Rameumptom Ruminations is a podcast that focuses on Mormon theology, as Scott uses philosophy, literature and art to deconstructs the mainstream interpretations of scripture and see the world in a healthier way. Scott discusses his struggles with paralyzin...

On another collaborative episode in The Gospel Topcs Essays Series with The Backyard Professor, Rebecca and Landon dive into the Gospel Topics Essay, Mother in Heaven. We discuss the sacred, not secret nature of Mother in Heaven, where we first hear mention of her, and what her role is. The idea of Mother in Heaven is gaining popularity and leaving both members and post Mormons wanting to know mor...

On this episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon have a wonderful conversation with former law professor and play-wright Debora Threedy. Prior to becoming a law professor at the Univesity of Utah, Debora graduated and worked in theater. During her time in Utah, Debora delved into the hisotry of the region and stories from the past. The events at the Mountain Meadows Massacure on...

On another collaborative episode in The Gospel Topics Essays Series with The Backyard Professor, Rebecca and Landon dive into the Gospel Topics Essay, Are Mormons Christian? This is a question we hear more and more often with many different answers and perspectives. In this episode we explore what it even means to be Christian and learn more about the early Christian sects. Is there a single defin...

On this episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon interview the amazing Geoff Pingree, Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker, National Geographic photographer, writer, and Professor of Cinema Studies at Oberlin College. Geoff's journey from valedictorian at BYU and one of the founders of Provo's 7th East Press to post Mormon filmmaker, photographer, and professor, is absolutely fascinati...

On this episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon interview the amazing Geoff Pingree, Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker, National Geographic photographer, writer, and Professor of Cinema Studies at Oberlin College. Geoff's journey from valedictorian at BYU and one of the founders of Provo's 7th East Press to post Mormon filmmaker, photographer, and professor, is absolutely fascinati...

When is a fundraiser not a fundraiser? Recently an invitation surfaced inviting interested parties to a dinner where LDS apostle, Elder Rasband is the keynote speaker. The cost of the dinner is $250 a plate and it's sponsored by Scripture Central (formerly Book of Mormon Central.) Many people questioned the implication of the invitation and took to social media to discuss it. Is this a fundraiser...

Can faithful members and post Mormons find common ground? On this fascinating episode of Mormonish, cohosts Rebecca and Landon sit down with former bishop and stake presidency member, Ian Wilks and faithful apologist, Jim Bennett, to discuss their unlikely collaboration and new podcast “Inside Out.” Ian grew up in a coal mining town in Wales and his story of living on the streets and finding the c...

When is revelation simply policits? In this special rerelease of Mormonish Podcast, cohosts Rebecca and Landon discuss the LDS 1978 “revelation” to lift the Priesthood Ban. All of us are familiar with the epic revelation, but many don't realize there were decades of behind the scenes politics, infighting and lobbying by the Q15 at play before the Priesthood Ban was finally lifted. Many of the...

On a special collaborative series, Mormonish cohosts Rebecca and Landon team up the one and only Backyard Professor, Kerry Shirts for a deep dive into the LDS church’s Gospel Topics Essays! Using the book, “The LDS Gospel Topics Series: A Scholarly Engagement,” by Matthew L Harris and Newell G Bringhurst, we plan to explore each Gospel Topics Essay thoroughly and completely! So look for more episo...

On this episode of Mormonish, cohosts Rebecca and Landon join forces again with Dives and Mormon News Roundup, to cover this week's news in the Mormon landscape. Alot of interesting things came out in the first week of June and we dig in and bring all the hard hitting info to our viewers on both programs. We also discuss Thrive Women's Conference and the Utah Pride Parade. It was a big weekend for...

Can a patriarchal blessing give guidance on issues of gender? In this episode of Mormonish, cohosts Rebecca and Landon are joined by one of our favorite guests, LGBTQ advocate, Melisa Mons, as we discuss a presentation that was given last year at the FAIR Conference. Although the presentation was given a year ago, it was rereleased recently to advertise the upcoming FAIR Conference 2023. The prese...

On this episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon have a wonderul conversation with our very good friend, Liz Phillips. Liz is the granddaughter of murdeed polygamist prophet, Rulan Allred. She grew up in polygamy, joined the mainstream LDS church as a teenager, and then lhad eft both as an adult. Liz talks about her upbringing in polygamy, her superwoman persona in the LDS church, and...

On a special financial update episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon are joined by Canadian tithing whistleblower, Nigel Kennett. In his profession as an accountant, Nigel stumbled upon the fact that the LDS church was sending $100,000,000 or more to BYU-Provo, BYU-Idaho, and BYU-Hawaii annually. After asking local leaders for clarification, he eventually took the information to a Canadi...

Ever wonder what it was like to grow up as the child of a General Authority? This week on Mormonish Podcast we talk with the lovely and talented Lila Tueller, daughter of General Authority Hartman Rector Jr. We discuss growing up with a General Authority and Mission President as a dad, as well as being a young woman in the Mormon church of the 70's and 80's. Lila talks candidly about dating,...

Should the IRS investigate the LDS Church's wealth? On this episode of Mormonish, cohosts Rebecca and Landon dissect the recent statement made by Ensign Peak whistleblower, David Nielsen's lawyer, Michael Sullivan, in response to the 60 Minutes Episode. This statement clearly outlines the position both whistleblower David Nielsen and his lawyer take regarding the claims the church made on 60 Minut...

How involved is the LDS church in Utah politics? Has it always been this way? In a recent LDS Conference talk, we learned about President of the Seventy, B. H. Roberts and his run for an 1895 congressional seat. At odds with the brethren over the church’s interference with the election, he was suspended from ecclesiastical office and eventually forced to sign The Political Manifesto of 1895 or fac...

How did you feel about the 60 Minutes interview on LDS church finances that just aired? On this episode of Mormonish, Rebecca and Landon discuss the recent 60 Minutes segment featuring former Ensign Peak employee and whistleblower, David Neilsen's first ever on camer interview. We take a deep dive into the church's response to the accusation of misuse of funds, and dissect statements made by Bisho...

In this episode of Mormonish Podcast, Landon and Rebecca talk with extraordinarily interesting Todd Mark, bird watcher and world traveler extraordinaire! Todd's story is absolutely fascinating as we discuss being a convert to the LDS faith as a child, attending BYU and serving a mission as more of an atheist than a believer. Once he returned from his mission, he became a world traveler and adventu...

New faithful website attacks post Mormon podcasters’ finances! On this episode of Mormonish Podcast, cohosts Rebecca and Landon and special guest, The Backyard Professor, explore a new faithful website called Answering LDS Critics (answeringldscritics.com). This website is dedicated to “Revealing the Strategies of LDS Church Critics and Addressing Their Accusations.” The site has many links to LDS...