Spoiler: The Idaho Falls Temple Today I showed my wife this picture and asked her what came to mind. “It kind of looks like a Mormon temple pagoda,” she said. “I think so, too!” I said. “But why does it look Mormon?” The image is from a book called Temples of the Imagination: AI-generated …
E95: Bandits in Blue
Winter Quarters wasn’t just snow, cabins and adorable oxen: there was plenty of drama as well! And by drama, we mean liquor, beatings, cheatings and so many naughty farm animals. Join Lindsay and Bryan as they dive into law and order in Winter Quarters. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note …
Traitor Aversion and Mormonism
A recent Pew Research Center poll reported that Americans tend to view members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more negatively than they view Catholics, Jews, evangelicals, atheists, and Muslims. It seems odd that a religion born and raised in the United States should be so distrusted by Americans. While I was …
E94: Good Boy, Thomas Kane
He was a friend to Mormons, sure. But was he a Mormon? Who was Thomas Kane and why does he matter? Bryan and Lindsay dive into these important questions about a good, good boy in Mormon history, Brother, er, Mister Thomas Kane. Shownotes: Donate to Sunstone and the History Podcast (leave us a note in …
Before the Bombs: A Mark Hofmann Interview
In September 1982, the Sunstone Review published an interview with Mark Hofmann. At the time, Hofmann was known for having found a series of extraordinary historical documents. One was the Anthon transcript, which contained symbols Joseph Smith allegedly copied from the golden plates and sent to New York scholar Charles Anthon. Another contained an alleged …
E142: How Testosterone Changed Mormon History
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.”
How “Wife Sacrifice” Tanked the Lectures on Faith
The Lectures on Faith used to be part of the Doctrines and Covenants, but a strange event in Eureka, Utah, may have helped give it the boot. On 17 April 1920, James E. Talmage took a train to Eureka to investigate alleged “separatists” that were trying to re-establish the United Order. The next day, he …
E.T.: Celluloid Savior
Consider the following. E.T. is a Christ figure. He is a botanist, a “shepherd of plants” so to speak. His mission is peaceful—he has come to save some of the earth’s endangered organisms. He arrives out of the heavens, heals the sick (the dying plant, Elliot’s finger), and performs miracles (elevating the bicycles and other …
E93: Wight out and Liquid Scripture
Finally, we’ve arrived at the story of Lyman Wight and his break-off group of Texas Mormons. Join Lindsay and Bryan as they explore the story of Brigham Young’s troublesome apostle, Elder “fistacuffs,” the Wild Ram himself, Brother Lyman Wight. Shownotes: Purchase the book: An Abundant Life: The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown edited by Edwin B. Firmage …
BYU in Playboy
BYU’s Wilkinson Center bowling alley comes in dead last according to the October Playboy’s ranking of “sex on campus” among 20 American universities. BYU’s sexual temperature was a frigid 4 degrees while the “frontier free-for-all” University of Texas (Austin) boiled at a libidinous 212. In fourteen categories the “haloed pioneer’s” alma mater was described as …