Send us Fan Mail For the 150th episode, the gang celebrates their sesquicentennial, a word they unfortunately only know because Mormonism made everyone say it in a pioneer bonnet at some point. Claudia, Kish Kuhman, Moroni, Abish, and Abigail all rotate through the chaos chamber, with Kish Kuhman appearing like a surprise dad cryptid in Discord. The drink of the week is the High Priesthood, a blue, crossfaded sacrament of vodka, blue curaçao, Sprite, and a blue raspberry THC Ripple Stick, assembled via the sacred mixology method known as “pour and pray.” Kish Kuhman keeps it classy with bourbon on ice, while Claudia drinks from a chalice like a pregnant medieval duchess at girls’ night. The intro detours into Netflix’s Maternal Instincts, fetal abduction, fake ultrasound websites, Wade the Human Thumb, and the horrifying true crime spiral of Taylor Parker and Reagan Hancock. After staring directly into the murder abyss, the hosts recover with lighter pop-culture fare including The Burrows, Gina Davis’ Botox-adjacent facial mechanics, Zach Galifianakis’ gardening show, American food tourism TikToks, free refills as patriotism, and Abigail accidentally retelling the legendary story of catfishing a Mormon singles guy with a picture of Moroni in tiny running shorts. Happy Pride, apparently. FHE: [00:38:51] The FHE segment tackles the CES Letter’s Priesthood Restoration chapter, starting with Richard Bushman’s deliciously inconvenient observation that the late appearance of priesthood restoration accounts raises the possibility of later fabrication. The hosts walk through the basic problem: Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery supposedly received the priesthood in 1829, but the story does not show up in the church’s own record in the way modern Mormonism teaches it until years later. Even in 1832, the claims are vague, and the familiar John the Baptist / Peter, James, and John cinematic universe has not yet fully downloaded. The segment digs into the altered revelations between the 1833 Book of Commandments and the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, where later language adds Moroni, Peter, James, and John like Joseph Smith patching continuity errors after the fandom noticed. The hosts also highlight the awkward Lyman Wight problem: if Joseph already had the Melchizedek Priesthood from ancient apostles, why do contemporary records say the high priesthood was first given in June 1831, with Lyman Wight ordaining Joseph? This becomes a roast of Joseph’s retroactive storytelling, “you didn’t ask” theology, and the sheer audacity of inventing divine authority after the fact, then expecting everyone to clap because a ghost allegedly laid hands on someone behind the narrative shrubs. The conversation wanders, blessedly, into priesthood restoration LARPing, old ward reenactments, Martin Harris’ grave, the Manti Pageant, roadshows, “Praise to the Man” being set to “Scotland the Brave,” and the spiritual genre of men in flour pretending to be resurrected apostles. The hosts also detour through Mountain Meadows, the church’s modern branding-heavy memorial presence, John D. Lee, Mike Lee, and the emotional violence of turning a massacre site into another church-logo reputation-management project. By the end, the priesthood restoration is less a sacred origin story and more Joseph Smith’s Scooby-Doo ghost costume getting yanked off in the reeds. HISTORY: [01:10:38] Abigail swerves away from yet another priesthood restoration rehash and instead gives us a “herstory” segment on Ina Donna Coolbrith, born Josephine Donna Smith, daughter of Agnes Coolbrith and Don Carlos Smith. Ina’s childhood comes preloaded with the usual 1800s Mormon misery DLC: Smith-family proximity, dead relatives, rumors about Joseph Smith fathering her, westward migration, abusive marriage, divorce, infant loss, and enough generational trauma to qualify as a pioneer heirloom quilt. Eventually she legally changes her name, drops the Smith baggage like a cursed handcart axle, and rebuilds herself as Ina Coolbrith. From there, Ina becomes a major figure in early California literary culture. She publishes poetry, works in San Francisco literary circles, co-edits the Overland Monthly, befriends people like Mark Twain, mentors a young Jack London as a librarian, and eventually becomes California’s first poet laureate. Abigail frames Ina as the perfect counterweight to the priesthood chapter: a woman who built an actual legacy without imaginary authority chains, ghostly handshakes, or a single ecclesiastical penis. The segment lands on the point that real power looks less like “special witnesses” and more like getting into the driver’s seat of your own life, even if Mormonism keeps handing twelve-year-old boys the keys. Follow us on Insta @gr8_and_spacious, Twitter @gr8andspacious, Discord (https://discord.gg/ewzxRmUhK) and Reddit u/gr8_and_spacious for behind-the-scenes shenanigans, hilarious memes, and maybe even a sneak peek at our next episode.. If you've got a burning question, a hilarious anecdote, or just want to say hi, shoot us an epistle at greatandspaciouspod@gmail.com. And don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave a review of our podcast! Support the show
