Join Firesides host Blaire Ostler as she and her husband Drew recount their experiences attending the last run of the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah. They discuss an overview of the experience, the doctrinal and cultural implications, and the history of the pageant itself. Listen to this episode here. Links mentioned in this episode: …
Podcast: Sunstone Firesides
Episode 14: Lifting Up the Hands that Hang Down: A Conversation with Kathy Carlston
A Columbine shooting survivor, Kathy Carlston is a self-identified queer woman who was raised within Mormonism and became married to her wife Berta Marquez. In this podcast she discusses candidly and with raw honesty her battles with conversion therapy, depression, her own suicidality, and the death by suicide of her beautiful wife ‘Bear’. Kathy shares …
Episode 13: Mixed-Orientation Marriages
Gay individuals who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and who wish to remain in good standing have two options as it relates to romance and marriage. Pursuing a same-sex relationship is considered a grievous sin and is contrary to as-of-yet revealed doctrine. Celibacy during this life is one option. …
Episode 12: Mystic Mormon Women
Firesides host Kalani Tonga interviews three mystic Mormon women about their current spiritual practices including tarot, Lotería and Kabbalah. Jennifer Gonzalez, Sara Katherine Staheli Hanks, and Kimberly Lewis each discuss their mystical practices and how it intersects with their collective Mormon upbringings. Listen to this episode here.
Episode 11: Syrian Refugee Stories
Sara Fisk interviews Fatmeh, a refugee who left Syria at the height of the war. Hear about her upbringing in Syria, her experience with the war, and what it was like to resettle in the U.S. Listen to this episode here.
Episode 10: The Mormon Story of Matthew Shepard’s death
Lindsay Hansen Park interviews Representative Sara Burlingame of Wyoming Equality about the murder of Matthew Shepard by two Mormons and the impact two decades later. Listen to this episode here.
Episode 9: A Trans-Masculine/Asexual Mormon Experience
Trigger Warning: This episode contains reference to self harm and suicidal ideation. In this episode, Blaire Ostler interviews Kris Irvin, a trans-masculine, asexual Mormon about their experience in the Church, coming out, and living their life in a heterosexual marriage. Listen to this episode here.
Episode 8: Quincy Newell and the Biography of Jane Manning James
On this week’s episode, Cristina speaks with Quincy Newell about her upcoming book, Your Sister in the Gospel: The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-Century Black Mormon. While many know brief parts about Jane’s life, Quincy offers a complex look at Jane’s life, faith, infamous sealing, and legacy. Her book seeks to understand Mormonism’s …
Episode 7: Abuse and Healing in a Mormon Context
Trigger Warning: This episode focuses on ritual abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Lindsay Hansen Park interviews Amber Whitley and Teresa Edmunds on the topic of abuse and healing. Amber Whitley has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Utah. Her research focused on the healing process of sexual abuse survivors in the …
Episode 6: A Look at the Legal and Social Aspect of Polygamy
Join Shirlee as she interviews Vicki Darger, a fundamentalist Mormon and practicing polygamist. In this interview, Shirlee and Vicki offer an inside look at the legal and social implications of living the practice and how these implications affect fundamentalist communities. Listen to this episode here.