Let’s take a quick break to make sure everyone reading this is living up to BYU standards. Please compare yourself to the righteous people pictured in this informational poster. I’m very disappointed in all of you. Where’s your sports jacket, Mister? And I don’t see enough Aquanet in that hair, Sister! Another thing I found …
Some of the things I found in Sunstone’s various closets were these short-lived Mormon publications. Including the infamous Seventh Street Press (started by future Sunstone and Signature Books leaders), which made nothing but trouble on BYU campus in the early 80s. (And, yes, it was THAT Packer speech this issue is reporting on. You …
Sunstone has been collecting weird Mormon stuff for a long time. For example, how many of you saw these in your grandmother’s house? These resin grapes were a popular homemaking meeting project back in the 1970s. And I guess one of them found a home here. After many stops at Deseret Industries, I’m sure. And …
In honor of Sunstone’s 50th anniversary, I decided to put together a collection of the physical and cultural detritus that has collected in Sunstone’s office over the past few decades. But, to do so, I had to descend into the office’s bowels. You remember that creepy basement from Heretic—that horror movie about Hugh Grant luring …
Stepping up to the legendary lectern at the Cambridge Union was one of the most nerve-wracking and electrifying moments of my life. I felt like both a paradox and a provocation: an unexpected guest at the table of tradition. The audible reaction to my introduction was both surreal and overwhelming. The room had to be …
The following is a review of the 2024 film Heretic. The review contains light spoilers, but the heavy ones are placed in the endnotes so as to not ruin the film. (You can also listen to the Sunstone Podcast review of Heretic here: Spotify, Apple, Sunstone.) A preamble: Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for …
On October 2017, I got a call from my son-in-law Paul Clark informing me that Salvator Mundi, a painting of Christ by Leonardo da Vinci, would have a rare three-day showing in San Francisco. I knew I had to be there. So the next day, my friend Mara Alverson and I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge …
Note: Mimi Parker of the band Low passed away November 22, 2022, two years ago. In memoriam, this is an article published in the Fall 2018 issue of Sunstone. The veteran indie-trio Low, when they are noted at all, are typically noted for two points: 1) for being “that slow, quiet band” that produces minimalist …
Looking for yet another binge-watch time sink? If you haven’t gotten to The Good Place yet, go there. Among the many joys of the afterlife-themed sitcom are the pause-or-you’ll-miss-’em restaurant names like “Ponzu Scheme” and “Biscotti Pippen” and “(Everything) on a Stick.” Which begs the question: What if Kristen Bell and Ted Danson were in …
Heavenly Hurt, it gives us — We can find no scar, But internal difference — Where the Meanings, are — —Emily Dickinson Photographing babies in the morgue, filming a dying young man, dressing a corpse, giving the sacrament to an old woman in a nursing home, watching …
