Sunstone Podcast

As the old Primary song goes, “I’m trying to be like Jigsaw.” In this episode, Stephen Carter explores the peculiar reason why so many Mormons are afraid to die.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SLP-160.mp3

Jana Riess grew up in a household where swearing was the norm. And she wonders if bringing a little of that spice over to our religious devotions might not kick things up a notch. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SLP-159.mp3

Buckle up as Stephen Carter takes you on a ride through Mormonism’s most popular, and notorious, marriage manual on its 60th anniversary.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SLP-158.mp3

How did the one of richest Mormon polygamous groups get its start? With one man, Charles William Kingston. In this episode, his great-grandson, Charles Elden Kingston, tells his story. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SLP-157.mp3

Yes, the mothership temple of Utah County has been the butt of many jokes. But what will we lose if the LDS Church goes ahead with its renovation of the Provo Temple? Alan Barnett reveals surprising architectural aspects of the Provo and Ogden Temples, and argues that their loss robs us of an essential part of Mormon history and imagination. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/156.mp3

Our intuition tells us that there must be humor in heaven, but the D&C has specific injunctions against laughter. Using theories of humor and stories from the Bible, Stephen Carter tries to figure out what kind of jokes gods make. And if they’re any good. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/155.mp3

When Michael Stevens started teaching university courses in Utah, he noticed that passive-aggressive behavior was significantly higher there than at the midwestern universities he had taught at. His studies revealed that the behavior was highest among people with an LDS background. Where does this behavior come from? How does it manifest itself? And how does it affect Mormon culture? https://sunst...

Would Jesus pass muster to visit an LDS ward? Ryan Shoemaker doesn’t think so. But for reasons that have more to do with Whole Foods than the whole gospel. Episode includes bonus scripture from Jake Christensen. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/153.mp3

The story goes that anyone who leaves the Good Ship Zion comes back all wet and half drowned. But in this episode, Stephen Carter argues that this is short-sighted, and that a journey away from the ship may actually be the best way to save both yourself and the ship. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SLP-152.mp3

Mormonism used to pride itself on how different it was from other Christian sects. But it has since become part and parcel of the Evangelical movement. How did this happen? In this episode, Stephen Carter looks at recent LDS history through Kristen Du Mez’s book “Jesus and John Wayne: How Evangelicalism Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.” https://sunstone.org/wp-content/up...

Walking into the forest means walking into the unknown. Reverend Patty Willis has done so many times in her life, and is about to do it again. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/150.mp3

When the Proclamation on the Family says “gender,” what does it mean? Ted Lee makes a case that using the academic, rather than colloquial, definition of gender opens the way to fitting transgender people into the Plan of Salvation. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/149.mp3

In these two hilarious and compelling dialogues by Theric Jepson, Mormon Socrates explores the theology behind transgender people and reproductive rights. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/148.mp3

It’s hard to know how to respond when a favorite artist breaks one of you most cherished values. Starting with Erich Hatala Matthes’ book “Drawing the Line: What to Do with the Work of Immoral Artists from Museums to the Movies,” Stephen Carter explores some approaches to cancel culture and their surprising connections with Mormonism. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads...

The line between polygamy and adultery in early Mormonism was blurry, and people were killed over the interpretation of that line. This article by Edward Hogan explores how often the killers got off scot free—or even with a pat on the back. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/146.mp3

Ritual is the basic building block of civilization. But what makes a strong ritual? And does Mormonism have enough of it to survive? Stephen Carter explores the Mormon implications of Dimitris Xygalatas’s book “Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living.” Listen to its companion episode at https://sunstone.org/e118-the-lds-proselytizing-mission-as-hazing/ https:/...

When you lose your religion, you lose your life story. You have to reconstruct what life means. Stephen Carter presents an approach to telling your life story after the pre- and post-mortal lives have been removed from your worldview. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SLP-144.mp3

Artificial Intelligence could possibly destroy humanity. How do we reduce that risk? R. W. Richey shows how Abraham 3 offers a practical solution. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SLP-143.mp3  

Why are Mormons a bewildering mix of peculiar and normal? Some of it has to do with . . . testosterone? Stephen Carter explores the Mormon implications of Joseph Henrich’s book “The Weirdest People in the World.” https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SLP-142.mp3

“Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith” was a turning point in the telling of Mormon history. And it has a fascinating history of its own. Linda King Newell recounts how she and Valeen Avery Tippetts wrote this groundbreaking book. This episode was recorded at the 2009 Salt Lake Symposium. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SLP-141.mp3

How much of a role might hallucinogens have played in some of the visions of early Mormon history? Bryce Blakenagel, host of the Naked Mormonism podcast, explores the possibilities. This episode was recorded at the 2022 Salt Lake Summer Symposium. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SLP-140.mp3

If the LDS Church has light, it also has a shadow. But what should it do with that shadow? Valerie Hamaker, host of the Latter Day Struggles podcast, shows how the Jungian shadow can either save or destroy a person—or a religion. This episode was recorded at the 2022 Sunstone Summer Symposium.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SLP-139.mp3

LDS Church member Beatrice Sparks published two wildly popular diaries of teen drug abuse and Satanism: “Go Ask Alice” and “Jay’s Journal.” But the diaries, and Beatrice herself, were much more complicated than they appeared. Using Rick Emerson’s book “Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries,” Stephen Carter delves...

Utah has often been called the ‘fraud capital of the world.” In this episode, Ryan McKnight takes us on a tour of Utah’s worst fraudsters—all of them LDS. Recorded at the 2018 Sunstone Summer Symposium. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SLP-137.mp3

They’re embedded in a patriarchal church, so shouldn’t Mormon men be the very definition of toxic masculinity? In this episode, Stephen Carter explores the surprising ways Mormon masculinity has shifted over the past few years. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SLP-136.mp3