Polygamists, Danites, and guns! The Italian cowboy hero Tex has met with them all over the course of more than 75 years of comic book stories. But the portrayal of Mormons in the series has changed significantly, as presented by Michael Homer in this episode.
Podcast: Sunstone Podcast
E208: Religion Is Dangerous. You Should Try It!
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat thinks that believing in the divine and joining a religion is not only a rational thing to do, it’s the best way to interact with reality. But what happens when you come out the other side of belief? Stephen Carter analyzes Douthat’s book “Believe: Why Everyone Should be Religious,” …
E207: Joseph Smith: Not Boring.
As a non-Mormon scholar, John G. Turner spent years researching Joseph Smith’s life as he wrote a biography of Smith. He found out that nothing about Joseph Smith’s life was boring; for better or for worse. In this episode, Turner compares the young Joseph Smith as he produced the golden plates with the older Joseph …
E206: How Sunstone Cartoons Saved the LDS Church from Itself.
Is it blasphemous to publish a cartoon about Angel Moroni? How about Jesus? How about God? Sunstone has been exploring the limits of what LDS culture is willing to laugh at for decades. Using many hilarious (and possibly blasphemous) examples, Stephen Carter talks about the times when Sunstone ran afoul of sacred sensibilities, and also …
E205: Perfectionism: Mormon Style.
Is your life a sermon? Do you imagine your every action being narrated by a general authority? In this episode, Stephen Carter dives into perfectionism, showing how it manifests in people’s lives, and proposing a few odd ways to escape it. (Hint: Not through fasting and prayer.)
E204: The Saddest Book in the World: How Filmmaker David Lynch Revised My View of the Book of Mormon
Jesus, Mormon, and David Lynch walk into Stephen Carter’s head. Together, they manage to revise everything Stephen thought he knew about the Book of Mormon, the Atonement, and Eraserhead.
E203: The Dance of Love: A Lynne Kanavel Whitesides Memorial.
In September 1993, six scholars—called the September Six—were disciplined by the LDS Church. Lynne Kanavel Whitesides was the first. For the next ten years, she went on an extraordinary spiritual journey. Sadly, she passed away July 7, 2025. In her memory, this episode features a recording of the speech she gave about her spiritual journey …
E202: Three Steps Toward Weathering a Faith Crisis in Your Marriage.
A faith crisis is one of the most destabilizing things that can happen to an LDS marriage. Both partners feel betrayed. Feelings either erupt or are suppressed. In this episode, therapists Adam Fisher and Mary Fisher talk about the three most important things a couple can do to help each other.
E200: J. Golden Kimball: The Man Behind the Myth.
He was the Church’s most unlikely general authority. A coffee habit, an oft-shot-off mouth, and–according to this great-grandnephew–a deep spirituality. This episode includes some of J. Golden Kimball’s funniest stories and reflections by James N. Kimball on the man behind the myth.
E199: How I Made It Through Life Without Missing a Single Guilt Trip.
Being a single, 25-year-old Mormon female is a tough life. But Dorothy Black makes it into a stand-up comedy routine in this episode of the Sunstone Podcast.