Please Bless This Podcast

Spooky season continues with a deep-dive into the vampires and werewolves of the Twilight Saga! Do we think that Stephenie Meyer intentionally crafted the saga as a kind of Mormon allegory? Nah. Do we think that her intense Mormon-ness inevitably filters into her books and movies? We sure do! Join us this week as we discuss all things Mormon in Twilight and New Moon . Follow us everywhere @ please...

Visions, seer stones, evil spirits, oh my! Join us & our special guest, Amanda, as we recount our own ghost stories and take a look back at Mormonism's occult origins.

If you've seen the Netflix docuseries Sins of Our Mother , you know that Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were so consumed by their extremist beliefs about the end of days that they felt justified in murdering anyone who got in their way--including Lori's own children. In this episode, we dig deeper into the infrastructure that upheld and fed their beliefs, and the ways that Mormon fascination with th...

Back by popular demand, we're talking about all things Mormon on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Sisters Katie & Elisa recap the season 3 premiere episode, including all the shifting alliances, membership resignations, and Utah accents. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod.

After the heavy subject matter of last week's episode, sisters Katie & Elisa offer a palate cleanser with this dive into the 2003 episode of South Park titled, "All About Mormons." Why are the South Park creators so obsessed with Mormons? What did this irreverent cartoon get SO right? Let's dive in. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod

Tara Westover's massively successful 2018 memoir, Educated , begins with a disclaimer: "This story is not about Mormonism." Why might Westover make this claim? Is it really true, or is Mormonism foundational to the experiences she shares? What are sisters Katie & Elisa watching on TV these days? Join us as we dig into these questions and more. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!

Remember the 2001 Mormon classic The Other Side Of Heaven , starring Anne Hathaway? You might, but you probably don't remember how shockingly racist, sexist and otherwise bizarre and upsetting it was. Allow us to refresh your memory. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod

Katie & Elisa love the new memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died , by Jennette McCurdy of iCarly fame. But did you know that McCurdy grew up Mormon? In this episode, we talk about McCurdy's experiences as a self-described "second-rate" Mormon and how the church felt like a safe haven from her abusive home life—until it didn't. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod.

In this week's episode, hosts Katie and Elisa take a look at the new Netflix doc, Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist . Why was Manti Te'o such a prime catfish target? What did we eat for lunch? Tune in for all this and more. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod

Sisters Katie and Elisa are joined by our first-ever guest, Emer—an aficionado of all things Bravo—to discuss the conflicting conceptions of Mormonism on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. We dig into Heather Gay's orthodox Mormonism vs. Lisa Barlow's cafeteria-style Mormonism and why the tension between them makes for such great TV.

In this week's episode, sisters Katie and Elisa dive into the cut-throat world of Utah soda shops. Why are they so popular? And don't Mormons abstain from caffeine, anyway? Join us as we explore the Word of Wisdom as it relates to our favorite fizzy beverages... Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!

Why are there so many Mormon influencers? Why are Mormons so over-represented among mommy bloggers and instagram lifestyle gurus? In this episode, sisters Katie & Elisa unpack some of the think-pieces and conspiracy theories out there that attempt to make sense of this phenomenon. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!

The scientists at Please Bless This Podcast have developed a highly sophisticated system for rating Mormon jokes in pop culture. So this week, sisters Katie & Elisa use said system to rate Mormon jokes found in classics like Two Weeks Notice and Gilmore Girls. This inevitably leads to some soul-searching about why these jokes made us so uncomfortable when we were active Mormons. Come relive th...

In this episode, Elisa and Katie revisit the 2003 classic, Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy. Relive the glory days of early-aughts Mormon cinema as we break down one of our all-time faves. Find us everywhere @pleaseblesspod

In this episode, the new Hulu docuseries Mormon No More inspires sisters Katie & Elisa to go down the rabbit hole of Mormonism's history with anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric. Needless to say, it's a rough journey. Find us everywhere @PleaseBlessPod

In this week's episode, sisters Katie & Elisa dig into Netflix's new docuseries, Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey . We research the origins of modern-day Mormon fundamentalism (shout out to Mitt Romney's ancestors!), and we talk about seeing our own mainstream Mormon upbringing reflected in the FLDS stories of Keep Sweet . Turns out, we're closer than we ever knew. Find us everywhere @PleaseBlessPo...

Welcome to our first episode! Join us while sisters Katie & E break down FX's Under the Banner of Heaven : what they got right, what they got wrong, and ultimately, whether non-practicing Mormons should be trusted to tell Mormon stories. Spoiler alert: they should! Find us everywhere @PleaseBlessPod