Scholars & Saints

Prof. Joseph Spencer (Brigham Young University) joins me to discuss Postponing Heaven , a short book by Lebanese Catholic philosopher and theologian that meditates comparatively on human messianicity in Latter-day Saint scripture, Mahayana Buddhism, and Twelver Shiism. 

Professor Rebecca Janzen (University of South Carolina) joins me to talk about the commonalities and differences among Latter-day Saints, Mormon fundamentalists, and Mennonites in Mexico.

Professor Jake Johnson joins me to discuss the history of American Latter-day Saints' affinity for musical theater as a mode of religious expression and cultural belonging. 

Professor Jon Bialecki of the University of California-San Diego joins me to discuss what Mormon Transhumanism reveals about speculative thought. 

Professor Quincy Newell (Hamilton College) joins me to talk about Jane Manning James, one of the first black Mormons in the 19th century. 

Professor David Campbell (Notre Dame) and Professor Kathleen Flake join me to discuss the history of Mormons and American politics.

Professor Sara Patterson (Hanover College) joins me to discuss how Latter-day Saints have memorialized their sacred past in the ways they interact with historical sites and memories along the Mormon pioneer trail.

Dr. Mark Ashurst-McGee (Joseph Smith Papers) and Professor Michael Hubbard  MacKay (Brigham Young University) join me to discuss how Joseph Smith produced Latter-day Saint scriptures.

Professor Stephen Taysom joins me to discuss the life of Joseph F. Smith, the sometimes hot-tempered prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who bridged early Mormonism and the 20th century.

Professor Ronit Stahl (UC Berkeley) joins me to discuss the role of military chaplaincy (including Latter-day Saints) in changing how the US government interacted with American religions.

Professor Peter Coviello and Professor Kathleen Flake join me to talk about early Mormonism and secularism. We chat about settler-colonialism, race, and biopolitics. 

Professor Konden Smith Hansen joins me to talk about how 19th-century frontier living shaped Latter-day Saints and how they were perceived by Americans.

Christina Rosetti joins me to discuss the Latter-day Saint Radical Orthodoxy manifesto. Part 1 of 2.

Dan Ellsworth joins me to discuss the Latter-day Saint Radical Orthodoxy manifesto. Part 2 of 2.

McKay Coppins ( The Atlantic ) joins me and Kathleen Flake to discuss his December 2020 longform essay "The Most American Religion" which pauses on the cusp of Mormonism's third century to meditate on questions of American religious belonging. 

Dr. Christopher James Blythe (Brigham Young University) talks with me about Mormon apocalyptic prophecy from early Mormonism to the present.