LDS Discussions Blog
Our Favorite Podcasts on Mormonism (Aug 25, 2019)
Since doing the "deep dive" into Mormonism Ive found a lot of great insight, nuance, and relief in listening to podcasts on Mormon history, doctrine, and all things in between.
I wanted to put together a list of the podcasts I found to be the most helpful, and put some brief notes with each to explain why I'm putting it on this list along with what audience would be comfortable listening to it (it is uses language, if it's harsh in tone, etc). As I listen to more podcasts I will add to this list, but for now here's a brief list of podcasts I found to be very helpful.
The arbitrary "buckets" I've put the podcasts into are (click subject below to skip to that section):
Overviews of Mormonism
Podcast Title: An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins — An Interview with Grant Palmer
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is a four part series with LDS historian Grant Palmer discussions how he went from being "a three-time director of LDS Institutes of Religion in California and Utah, a former instructor at the Church College of New Zealand, and an LDS seminary teacher at two Utah locations" to writing books discussing why the church does not hold up to its truth claims. It's fascinating to listen to (especially parts 2-4), because while there are issues that Grant Palmer admits are not perfectly solid, the areas that he has really focused on are without a doubt massive problems for church history.
Why I Picked It: This podcast series gives a great overview of the problems from someone who came through the church's education system - this wasn't someone who started out wanting to expose the church's truth claims.
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Podcast Title: Why Can't We Be Friends?
Podcast Host: Infants on Thrones
Notes: This is a three part podcast that discusses a recorded conversation that a member of the church (Trevor) made with a general authority and church historian. It was pulled from Mormon Stories because of controversy about the recording, but Infants on Thrones left it up while protecting the names of the GA and historian. This is a great podcast because it covers a lot of the ground in the CES Letter and also gives a chance for the guests on the podcast (Glenn Ostlund, John Hamer, Lindsay Hansen Park, and John Dehlin) to go over the issues in a little more detail against what the historian and GA are claiming.
Why I Picked It: This is a great series because of the commentary of the hosts against the recording of Trevor and the GA/historian. And Glenn is great at being the "TBM whisperer," meaning that he'll defend belief in the church which gives this a better rounded reply to a number of big issues.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief, but it will make current believing members more uncomfortable because of the historical issues being discussed along with the controversy over the legitimacy of the recording.
Bonus Links: Why Can't We Be Friends, Part 2 and Why Can't We Be Friends, Part 3
Podcast Title: Brent Metcalfe – Early Years, Mark Hofmann, the Salamander Letter, the Bombings, the Book of Abraham, and Life After Mormonism
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is a six part podcast featuring Brent Metcalfe, who was a "research assistant for both Steve Christensen and Mark Hofmann," and was involved in some pretty momentous events in Mormon history during this time. I recommend the last three parts as Metcalfe discusses his research into the Book of Mormon, Book of Abraham, and his life since leaving the church.
Why I Picked It: Brent Metcalfe was involved in a lot of big events in this era of Mormonism, and his perspective is great and his conclusions were not arrived at lightly.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Bonus Links: Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6
Podcast Title: The Renlunds, A Dilapidated Dinghy, and Church Wack-A-Mole Part 1
Podcast Host: Radio Free Mormon
Notes: This is a three part post replying to the worldwide youth devotional given by the Renlunds about dealing with doubt in the Mormon church. We wrote about this at the time, but Bill Reel and RFM go into much more depth about the troubling nature of this talk.
Why I Picked It: Every member needs to know how the church continues to obscure and misdirect their members when it comes to church history, and how they then turn around and blame the members when they come to discover that the church's truth claims do not hold up. This podcast really details this clearly and I think it is a great listen.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Our Related Write-Up: Navigating Doubts in the LDS Church
Bonus Links: Part 2 and Part 3
Podcast Title: The Corbridge Manuever – Part 1
Podcast Host: Radio Free Mormon
Notes: This is a two part podcast replying to the BYU devotional given by Elder Lawrence Corbridge, where he discusses how he has studied church history and run into his own questions, but that ultimately you do not need to worry about all of the problems if you ignore the "secondary" questions and only focus on the "primary" ones.
Why I Picked It: This was given around the same time as the Renlunds talk and really demonizes the idea of researching church problems whether its historical, doctrinal, or current day leaders. We wrote about this talk just before this podcast, and it's our most popular blog post by far (link below). This podcast covered what we did in our post and then a lot more to show how abusive this kind of appeal to authority can be to members who are only seeking out the truth about the LDS church.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Our Related Write-Up: Please Don't Look Under the Hood
Bonus Links: Part 2
Book of Mormon Scholarship/Translation
Podcast Title: David Bokovoy – Applying Higher Criticism to Mormon Scripture
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is a four part series with Biblical scholar and CES instructor David Bokovoy, and each part covers how his education in higher criticism has changed the way he looks at the church due to issues with the productions of Joseph Smith including errors in the Book of Mormon, Book of Abraham, and they also discuss the Book of Moses and Doctrine & Covenants. This podcast is an amazing listen because Bokovoy has studied the original source scrolls of the Bible and understands why Joseph Smith made some of the mistakes he did in his works, and can explain why apologetic responses simply do not hold up to scrutiny.
Why I Picked It: David Bokovoy has spent his education learning Biblical scholarship and shows during this podcast exactly why these things are not just true, but a problem for the church's teachings and the Book of Mormon's reliance on a 100% literal Bible.
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Bonus Links: Part 1 (Old Testament), Part 2 (OT/Book of Moses), Part 3 (Book of Abraham), and Part 4 (New Testament/Book of Mormon/Doctrine & Covenants)
Podcast Title: Folk Magic, Joseph Smith, and Mormon Origins with John Hamer
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is the first in what will be a long series of podcasts with John Hamer (former member of the LDS church and now one of the 70 in the Community of Christ), and this one covers the magical worldview that Joseph Smith came from including treasure digging, folk magic, and how it all played into the Book of Mormon's origins. You'll see more of this series here as it is very important in understanding how Joseph Smith created Mormonism.
Why I Picked It: If you want to truly understand *how* Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, you have to really understand the worldview he came from -- this presentation really outlines that well.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Podcast Title: The Book of Mormon’s 19th Century Context – John Hamer
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is the second in what will be a long series of podcasts with John Hamer (former member of the LDS church and now one of the 70 in the Community of Christ), and this one covers the context of Joseph Smith's milieu, which is very important in understanding why the elements that are important to the Book of Mormon are there. In addition to literary criticism of the Book of Mormon, we get a lot of insight into the very common belief in Joseph's time that the Indians (Native Americans) came here from Israel. Because Hamer created a presentation, I would recommend the video version as opposed to the MP3s but either are good.
Why I Picked It: Again, these presentations are must listen to if you want to understand where Joseph Smith got the ideas he did for the Book of Mormon - and John Hamer is as good as anyone as explaining what all of the context was around him.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Podcast Title: How the Book of Mormon was Created, by John Hamer
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is the third in what will be a long series of podcasts with John Hamer (former member of the LDS church and now one of the 70 in the Community of Christ), and this one covers how the Book of Mormon was created, and takes on the narrative in the church that writing such a book in such a short time doesn't hold up to what we know about dictation as well as looking at the idea that Joseph Smith was too uneducated to write such a book. As with the last one, the video version would be better due to Hamer's presentation, but either way is worth the listen.
Why I Picked It: One question apologists always go back to is "How could an unintelligent farmboy like Joseph Smith write the Book of Mormon," but in reality the question is not that difficult to answer and Hamer explains it in detail.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Podcast Title: Joseph Smith’s Treasure Digging – Dan Vogel
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is part of an ongoing series with Dan Vogel, who is one of the most knowledgeable Mormon historians you'll ever come across, and this one covers the magical worldview that Joseph Smith came from including treasure digging, folk magic, and how it all played into the Book of Mormon's origins (similar to the John Hamer podcast above). You'll see more of this series here as it is very important in understanding how Joseph Smith created Mormonism.
Why I Picked It: There are few people as knowledgeable as Dan Vogel, and his answers about Joseph Smith's treasure digging are a much listen to if you want to know about the church's truth claims.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Podcast Title: How the Book of Mormon was Created – Dan Vogel
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is the continuation of the series with Dan Vogel (as noted above), and this one covers how the Book of Mormon was created. This includes the writing of the Book of Mormon, the Lost 116 Pages (super interesting), and the outside sources and beliefs of Joseph's time that played a role in the stories in the Book of Mormon.
Why I Picked It: One question apologists always go back to is "How could an unintelligent farmboy like Joseph Smith write the Book of Mormon," but in reality the question is not that difficult to answer and Vogel explains it in detail.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Bonus Links: Part 1 (Gold Plates and Book of Mormon), Part 2 (Lost 116 Pages), Part 3 (Sources/Beliefs in Joseph's Time)
Podcast Title: Dan Vogel – The Book of Mormon as “Revelation” Instead of “Translation”
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is the continuation of the series with Dan Vogel (as noted above), and this one covers a lot of different elements in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon: Nephi/Moroni confusion, Book of Mormon Geography and the Hill Cumorah, Limited Geography Theory, The Nahom apologetic defense of The Book of Mormon, Instances of Chiasmus, Blake Ostler’s “Loose Translation” or Expansion Theory, The Movement of the modern Mormon church in 2019 to refer to The Book of Mormon as a “revelation” instead of a “translation,” Joseph’s motivations and pious fraud theory, and Dan’s theory on Joseph Smith’s polygamy.
Why I Picked It: This is such a great podcast because Vogel goes through a ton of troubling topics and in some areas goes directly against critics but overall shows why apologetics simply do not hold up.
Audience: This interview is suitable for all levels of belief.
Podcast Title: Joseph the Seer the Smackdown
Podcast Host: Infants on Thrones
Notes: This is a two hour podcast that reviews the "Joseph the Seer" 2015 Ensign article, and features John Hamer who gives a ton of historical background about the Book of Mormon translation against Jake, Matt, and Randy who give a ton of insight and response to the article.
Why I Picked It: This is around the time the essays were being released and these smackdowns from Infants on Thrones are really entertaining - I highly recommend them if you are in a place for some humor on these topics.
Audience: This podcast contains a lot of humor and some language - if you are still early in the faith journey, this one might make you a little uncomfortable.
First Vision
Podcast Title: Joseph Smith’s First Vision, and how the Church and its Apologists Mislead
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This podcast was in response to an article published by the Deseret News about the First Vision, written by apologist Daniel Peterson to explain why the article is being misleading and downright dishonest. It features Sandra Tanner, an early critic of the church who was an integral part of the 1832 First Vision being leaked to the public (which Peterson claims was never suppressed).
Why I Picked It: This is an absolutely fantastic podcast about the First Vision - it covers a ton of ground and really clearly explains why the changes in the First Vision are a problem for Joseph Smith's truth claims along with exposing the tricks that Daniel Peterson constantly uses in his writings.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on the First Vision (Annotated)
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Podcast Title: Gospel Topic Essay: First Vision Accounts
Podcast Host: Mormon Discussions
Notes: This is a rather long podcast that reviews the official LDS essay on the First Vision. It is hosted by Bill Reel, Allan Mount, and Anthony Miller and spends a lot of time discussing which parts of the essay hold up, and which parts simply can not be reconciled with what we now know.
Why I Picked It: This is a good, calm discussion about the First Vision essay and really goes into great detail as to why the changes to the First Vision were made, and what they mean.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on the First Vision (Annotated)
Audience:This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it
DNA and the Book of Mormon
Podcast Title: Three Geneticists Respond to the LDS Essay on DNA and the Book of Mormon, and to Apologist Michael Ash
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This podcast was in response to the official LDS essay on the DNA and the Book of Mormon. It features three geneticists who pick the essay apart to let listeners know just where the church is being misleading or dishonest.
Why I Picked It: This is a must listen - it features believing members along with critics, and really hammers why the church can not get around the DNA problem as the entire Book of Mormon is premised on Native Americans being from Israel.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on DNA and the Book of Mormon (Annotated)
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Book of Abraham
Podcast Title: Book of Abraham Smackdown
Podcast Host: Infants on Thrones
Notes: This is a three hour podcast that reviews the official LDS essay on the Book of Abraham line for line. It features Jake, Bob, Randy, Scott, and Glenn and it is long, detailed, and brilliant. They discuss all of the many apologetic responses to the Book of Abraham, and why they are just not even remotely possible compared to the history of the Book of Abraham.
Why I Picked It: This is my favorite Book of Abraham podcast hands down. It is entertaining and I have to believe that Jake speaks for all of us as he gets more and more frustrated with how badly the essay fails to hold up to history in every way.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on the Book of Abraham (Annotated)
Audience: This podcast contains a lot of humor and some bad language - if you are still early in the faith journey, this one might make you a little uncomfortable.
Podcast Title: Mormon Discussions Three Part Book of Abraham Series
Podcast Host: Mormon Discussions
Notes: This is a three part series by Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon to discuss the Book of Abraham and all of the apologetic responses that are given to try and defend it as scripture. It is a long series, but it is absolutely important if you want to get at why apologetics are simply dishonest given the evidence that we have.
Why I Picked It: It is absolutely a must listen to if you're looking for answers to the Book of Abraham, and I highly recommend this series.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on the Book of Abraham (Annotated)
Audience: This podcast is suitable for all listeners.
Bonus Links: Part Two and Part Three
Podcast Title: Dan Vogel's Series on the Book of Abraham - Part 1 (Documents and Timeline)
Podcast Host: Dan Vogel via YouTube
Notes: This is an *eight* part series on the Book of Abraham, and they are done in great detail by Dan Vogel, who is one of the leading historians on Mormonism. This series is so good, in fact, that LDS historian Brian Hauglid (who worked on the Joseph Smith Papers project) actually posted in 2018 to say that Dan Vogel's version of how the Book of Abraham was created is now what he believes - as opposed to the "abhorrent" apologetics of John Gee and Kerry Muehlstein.
Why I Picked It: This series is long (and best watched on YouTube although listening is good too), but it is so detailed at showing why apologetics just do not work -- the Book of Abraham is 100% untrue and the church knows it.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on the Book of Abraham (Annotated)
Audience: This podcast is suitable for all listeners.
Bonus Links: Part Two (Egyptian Alphabet),Part Three (Egyptian Alphabet and Pure Language), Part Four (Egyptian Grammar and Race), Part Five (Egyptian Grammar and Cosmos), Part Six (Joseph Smith and Hebrew), Part Seven (Lost Papyrus), Part Eight (Nineteenth Century Sources)
Priesthood Restoration
Podcast Title: Restoring What Was Lost: Priesthood Restoration Narratives
Podcast Host: Sunstone History Podcasts
Notes: This podcast is recent (2019) and is hosted by Bryan Buchanan and Lindsay Hansen Park along with Mormon historians Dan Vogel and Christopher C. Smith to discuss how the priesthood restoration story evolved, and pinpoints exactly why it continued to evolve under Joseph Smith.
Why I Picked It: This is a must listen - it goes over the timeline of events that forced Joseph Smith to continue changing the priesthood restoration story in order to shore up his own authority, and covers a lot of the apologetic responses in the process.
Our Related Write-Up: Priesthood Restoration Timeline - Church Narrative vs Historical Evidence
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Podcast Title: Priesthood Power and the Magic Worldview
Podcast Host: Infants on Thrones
Notes: This is another long but amazing podcast from the Infants on Thrones crew featuring "John Hamer teaches Glenn, Randy, and Jake a thing or two about the LDS priesthood." It goes into great depth as to the history behind the priesthood restoration narrative along with showing why it does not hold up to history.
Why I Picked It: This is another must listen to podcast on the priesthood restoration - it is funny, entertaining, and incredibly informative. If you want to learn about the true story of the priesthood restorations, you will do so while being entertained for a few hours.
Our Related Write-Up: Priesthood Restoration Timeline - Response to Apologists
Audience: This podcast contains a lot of humor and some bad language - if you are still early in the faith journey, this one might make you a little uncomfortable.
Polygamy and Polyandry
Podcast Title: Discussing the New LDS.org Polygamy Essays Part 1 — With Lindsay Hansen Park, John Hamer and J. Nelson-Seawright
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This podcast was recorded shortly after the LDS church released the official essay on polygamy in Kirtland and Nauvoo, and features Lindsay Hansen Park, John Hamer and J. Nelson-Seawright, who all know this history incredibly well. Again, this podcast looks at how the essay stacks up to the evidence.
Why I Picked It: This is a must listen - all three panelists know this stuff well, and it gives a very well balanced view as to how the essay holds up to scrutiny along with how the essay's release will impact members who stumble across it.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on Polygamy in Nauvoo/Kirtland (Annotated)
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Podcast Title: History of D&C 132 (The 1843 Revelation), Part Two
Podcast Host: Year of Polygamy
Notes: This is just a fantastic podcast that gives you the context of how D&C 132 was not just written, but the influences that led to it along with how it impacted everyone from Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, to even present day LDS men and women.
Why I Picked It: This is just a great episode - it is not antagonistic in tone yet covers a ton of evidence, research, and context to the D&C 132 revelation along with the problems it caused back then and today. It really shows the messiness of polygamy and does so in a way that even faithful members I believe could benefit from hearing - it is really, really well done.
Our Related Write-Up: What D&C 132 Reveal about Revelation (Blog Post)
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it.
Podcast Title: Nauvoo Polygamy Smackdown
Podcast Host: Infants on Thrones
Notes: This is another long but amazing podcast from the Infants on Thrones crew featuring "John Hamer joining Glenn, Jake, Matt, and Randy to discuss the Mormon Church’s recent LDS.org essay “Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo.”
Why I Picked It: This is another must listen to podcast on polygamy - they go through the essay point by point and just discuss how it simply does not hold up to the evidence, morality, or just any kind of church I would want to be a part of.
Our Related Write-Up: Official LDS Gospel Topics Essay on Polygamy in Nauvoo/Kirtland (Annotated)
Audience: This podcast contains a lot of humor and some bad language - if you are still early in the faith journey, this one might make you a little uncomfortable.
Podcast Title: Lucy Walker and Spiritual Experiences
Podcast Host: Mormon Discussions
Notes: This podcast tackles the idea that polygamist wives all had "spiritual experiences" that taught them the truthfulness of polygamy, and focuses on the story of Lucy Walker. Bill Reel takes us through the story from her journal, and then explores what this says about spiritual witness especially in situations we know to be wrong.
Why I Picked It: This is really a must listen to podcast not just on polygamy, but on spiritual witnesses. It is deeply uncomfortable to listen to, but it really outlines just how abusive polygamy was, and how abusive leaders manipulating spiritual witnesses are to this day.
Our Related Write-Up: What D&C 132 Tells Us About Revelation
Audience: This podcast is accessible to all, but due to the content can be unsettling.
Podcast Title: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
Podcast Host: Mormon Expression
Notes: Mormon Expression covers the wives of Joseph Smith, moving through the history and looking at both what the church claims against what we now know historically. This is the oldest of our recommended podcasts on polygamy, but it's a good one.
Why I Picked It: This podcast is entertaining while covering a subject like polygamy, which I personally find to be an abhorrent abuse of power by Joseph Smith.
Audience: This podcast contains a lot of humor and some bad language - if you are still early in the faith journey, this one might make you a little uncomfortable.
Podcast Title: Prelude: Emma Smith, Part One
Podcast Host: Year of Polygamy
Notes: This is a two part podcast about Emma Smith for the Year of Polygamy podcast, and this is a great conversation between Lindsay Hansen Park and John Hamer about the life of Emma Smith and how polygamy impacted her entire world. This is a great listen and is not done in a mean spirited or critical way - Lindsay is great at just presenting the facts when it comes to polygamy.
Why I Picked It: This is just a good listen to get an overview of the life of Joseph and Emma as well as getting a baseline of how polygamy impacted Emma along with what she likely knew and didn't know.
Audience: This podcast is accessible to all.
Bonus Links: Emma Smith, Part Two
Podcast Title: Fanny Alger
Podcast Host: Year of Polygamy
Notes: This is the first of the Year of Polygamy series, and focuses on Fanny Alger, who was either Joseph Smith's first polygamous wife, or a 'nasty, filthy scrape' as Oliver Cowdery believed. Either way, this is a great place to start if you want to learn more about Joseph's polygamy.
Why I Picked It: The Year of Polygamy podcasts are fairly short but give a lot of background to the life of each of Joseph's wives in addition to the circumstances surrounding their marriage. Fanny Alger is a huge controversy in Mormon history, and this is a great listen.
Audience: This podcast is accessible to all.
Podcast Title: Helen Mar Kimball
Podcast Host: Year of Polygamy
Notes: Helen Mar Kimball is one of the most controversial wives of Joseph Smith due to her being just 14 years old (several months shy of her 15th birthday) when Joseph married her. Lindsay Hansen Park once again gives a great overview of her life along with how polygamy impacted her and what we know about her relationship with Joseph.
Why I Picked It: The Year of Polygamy podcasts are fairly short but give a lot of background to the life of each of Joseph's wives in addition to the circumstances surrounding their marriage. Helen Mar Kimball is a huge controversy in Mormon history, and this is a great listen.
Audience: This podcast is accessible to all.
Podcast Title: Mormon Discussion: Nancy Rigdon and the Happiness Letter
Podcast Host: Mormon Discussion
Notes: This is an unbelievably intriguing podcast about the Happiness Letter and the context around it. The two panelists are are Chris Smith and Jonathan Streeter who go over in great detail the context of the letter, why the letter is so manipulative in that context, and how Joseph Smith used these tactics in order to convince women that polygamy was from God.
Why I Picked It: This is a longer podcast but it has to be in order to give all of the needed specifics about the context of the Happiness Letter, which the church often quotes from but never lets members know what the original intent or meaning of the letter was. This is a must listen to podcast to get a fuller picture on how Joseph Smith abused his authority with polygamy.
Audience: This podcast is accessible to all.
Other Misc. Topics in Mormonism
Podcast Title: How to build a transoceanic vessel
Podcast Host: Mormon Expression
Notes: This podcast tackles what would be needed in order to build vessels that could make the journey from Israel to the Americas, and why these is simply no way that the story in the Book of Mormon is plausible in anyway.
Why I Picked It: This is a must listen to podcast when it comes to looking at how the stories in the Book of Mormon compared to the realities of the time. It is entertaining (you can skip to about 20 minutes in since the early part is the news of the day) and it really illustrates just how out of his depth Joseph Smith was in a lot of these stories in the Book of Mormon.
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it, but there is some language in there that might be unsettling for some.
Podcast Title: Tom Phillips, the Second Anointing, and LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland
Podcast Host: Mormon Stories
Notes: This is a long but important interview with Tom Phillips, who received the "Second Anointing" in the temple but learned it was nothing like what leaders had taught it was. This led to his crisis of faith and ultimately led him out of the church. It is a very sad podcast due to the fallout with family, but it is a must listen to in order to learn about the Second Anointing along with how the church has handled these kinds of questions.
Why I Picked It: This is a popular podcast, but if you have not listened to it I recommend parts two and four particularly - links below.
Audience:This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it
Bonus Links: Part Two (Second Anointing) and Part Four (Correspondence with Jeffrey Holland)
Podcast Title: The Nauvoo Expositor For Dummies Part 1
Podcast Host: Mormon Expression
Notes: This podcast looks at the actual content of the Nauvoo Expositor and how it stacks up to how the church discusses it today along with how Joseph Smith described it at the time. The panel includes a believing member who ultimately agrees that the Nauvoo Expositor was almost entirely truthful in its accusations against Joseph Smith.
Why I Picked It: We so often hear from the church that the Nauvoo Expositor was inciting a riot and full of slander, yet when you actually read the accusations the Expositor ends up being on the right side of history. This is very important to know.
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it, but there is some language in there that might be unsettling for some.
Bonus Link: Part Two
Podcast Title: Jim Bennett and Bill Reel and the Issues of the CES Letter Part 7
Podcast Host: Mormon Discussion
Notes: This is the seventh and final podcast of a series of discussions between Bill Reel and Jim Bennett about the church's truth claims and how the CES Letter gets some things right and some things wrong. I chose this final one because this is the episode where the disagreements are more pronounced, and I think it is an important discussion to see how the apologetic responses fall back to feelings and emotion once the evidence shows that the apologetic answers do not hold up.
Why I Picked It: I listened to all seven parts and I felt the first six are worth listening to (they are all linked on the same page), but this one is the only one where the politeness gets stripped away momentarily and it becomes easier to see where the arguments stand once there is more pushback on the issues.
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it although it can be confrontational (not horribly, but a bit) at times.
Podcast Title: The Christmas Story: An Historical Smackdown of sorts
Podcast Host: Infants on Thrones
Notes: The Infants look at the Christmas story as told by the four gospels of the New Testament to see how it stacks up against not just each other, but the historical info we have of the time. This podcast features John, Heather, Randy, and Glenn as they take a deep dive into the different Christmas story narratives.
Why I Picked It: It really gets to the heart of Mormonism - how you can see the changes in the narratives over the years whether it's the First Vision, Priesthood Restoration, or the Transfiguration of Brigham Young, and to see how those changes might benefit the church but do not hold up historically.
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone who wishes to listen to it although there is some language.
Podcast Title: Radio Free Mormon: Wrong Roads
Podcast Host: Radio Free Mormon
Notes: Radio Free Mormon looks at a talk about "Wrong Roads and Revelation" by Matthew Holland about him and his father, and how the lesson of the story doesn't actually mean what the church wants you to believe.
Why I Picked It: This podcast illustrates so clearly how the church can make anything faith promoting even when the direct message of the story means something completely different. To quote the podcast page: "Today RFM explores what it means to walk the logic all the way out on situations when God gives a revelation dictating the wrong answer as the right answer so that you as the receiver of a wrong answer in revelation will eventually learn the right answer by realizing God had given you the wrong answer in order to give you the right answer."
Audience: This interview is very accessible to anyone.
Have a Podcast You've Enjoyed?
Thanks for checking out our list of podcasts that we recommend. If you've listened to one that you would recommend, please shoot us a link/note at our Twitter account, Facebook page, or email us at ldsdiscussion@gmail.com.