Sunstone Podcast

It seems like every general conference is the same, but data analytics tells us otherwise. Quentin Spencer talks about the surprising things the prophets have stopped talking about during the past 80 years. This episode is a recording from the 2020 Sunstone Summer Symposium.

Susan Meredith Hinckley used to feel like she needed a bigger church, but behind that need was a more fundamental one: the need for a larger God. Regaining her spiritual footing after her children left Mormonism has required a new kind of faith: a turning away from the confines of what she had been taught and toward what she has seen and lived for herself. This episode is a session from the 2020 Sunstone Summer Symposium.

What is it like to grow up as a “Lamanite” in the LDS Church? Sarah Newcomb talks about her complicated history as a seventh-generation Native American Mormon in this recording of a 2020 Sunstone Summer Symposium session.  

The LDS Church has an actual policy of never apologizing. Is it just to ward off lawsuits, or is something deeper going on? In this episode, Stephen Carter uncovers the roots of this policy and its surprising consequences.

In 2019, Kyle Ashworth released the “On the Record” project (lattergaystories.org/record), a detailed chronology of quotes and messaging about LGBTQIA+ issues from the LDS Church. In this episode, Ashworth takes us on a whirlwind tour of that history. Recorded at the 2021 Sunstone Symposium.

Most discussions about faith transitions center on adults. But what about the children of these parents? After his own faith transition, Jon Ogden wrestled with how he and his wife could best raise their kids — particularly while living in Utah County. In this episode, recorded at the 2021 Sunstone Symposium, Ogden shares lessons he and others have learned while building a new community and curriculum for their children.

Many people who transition from orthodox Mormonism to either post or nuanced positions often look back on their sexual journey and feel that a lot of their decisions were co-opted by the Church. And now they’re dealing with grief, anger, feelings of betrayal, and the “what if?” syndrome. This episode addresses some of the common “what if’s?” that people deal with and how to move into healthier paradigms. Presenters include Natasha Helfer, Sara Hughes-Zabawa, Jennifer White, and Jenny Elledge. This episode was recorded at the 2020 Sunstone Digital Symposium.

To believe is to be human. But belief has a price—one that has risen higher and higher in recent years. Can we afford it anymore? That’s the question Stephen Carter asks as he explores Amanda Montell’s book “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism.”

“Queer polygamy” is probably one of the most provocative phrases you could throw into an LDS conversation. But Blaire Ostler thinks it can open up constructive new ways of reimagining the ways we relate to each other. In this episode, Ostler and professor of religion Taylor Petrey unpack this phrase and explore its possibilities.

The idea that our spirits are the literal offspring of heavenly parents is found nowhere in LDS scripture or the writings, sermons, and contemporaneous teachings of Joseph Smith. In fact, the theology of Smith’s King Follett Discourse undermines the doctrine. Drawing from LDS scripture and Smith’s famous sermon, Rob Lauer presents a Mormon theology that fully embraces and celebrates people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Recorded at the 2021 Sunstone Symposium.