
There’s the Mormon history you do know … and the Mormon history you don’t. Join Lindsay Hansen Park (Year of Polygamy) and historian Bryan Buchanan as they gossip about their ancestors and dig into all aspects of Mormonism’s astonishing 200-year past—uncovering the little-known stories that chronicle how a six-person church grew into a multi-billion-dollar religion. Episodes for this podcast are released every other week.
This podcast is heavily researched. For information on sources, and for additional reading for each episode's topic, click here.
Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or stream episodes right here on Sunstone.org.
Episode 7: The Bad Girls of Early Mormonism
Not every woman in early Mormonism was obedient, submissive, nor compliant. Who were these “huffy” women? Join Bryan Buchanan, Lindsay Hansen Park, Christopher C. Smith, and Maxine Hanks as they …
Episode 6: Bad Boys of Early Mormonism
In early Mormonism, it was often hard to parse out the Saints from Scoundrels. Bryan Buchanan and Lindsay Hansen Park discuss some of the early “bad boys” in the Mormon …
Episode 5: History of the Scriptures
Did Joseph Smith write or translate the Book of Mormon? Who was involved? Is it true a magic toad and a bloody ghost helped bring forth scripture? Tune into the …
Episode 4: Magic and Mormonism
Did early Mormons once dabble in the occult? This episode explores Joseph Smith’s fascination with magical practices, including animal sacrifice and seer stones. Join hosts Lindsay Hansen Park and Bryan …
Episode 3: The Smith Family
In this episode, Bryan Buchanan and Lindsay Hansen Park discuss the sisters of Joseph Smith. Joined by historian Christopher C. Smith, this episode explores the lives of members of the …
Episode 2: The First Mother in Israel
Lindsay and Bryan discuss the life of Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of Joseph Smith Jr. This episode features special guests Tim Coray and Carol Lynn Pearson reading as Lucy …
Episode 1: The Creation
Join Sunstone’s Lindsay Hansen Park and Benchmark Books’ Bryan Buchanan as they discuss the origins of the creation story in Mormonism, and the tensions between science and Mormonism. Listen …
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About Our Hosts
Lindsay Hansen Park is host of the Year of Polygamy podcast and executive director of the Sunstone Education Foundation. A single-mom of three kids by day, and nerd researcher by night, Lindsay lives in Salt Lake City, Utah where she interacts with hundreds of different restoration branches, Latter-day Saints and Mormon fundamentalists. Her adventures have led her to some of the most isolated fundamentalist compounds in the America West where she interacts with modern day outlaws, inlaws and everything in between. Her goal is to widen the conversation about common and shared heritages within the larger Mormon diaspora.


Bryan Buchanan works at Benchmark Books, surrounded by Mormon history. At night, he herds small children and works on umpteen book projects, some of which might even be published.