Mormon Land

The Salt Lake Tribune
  • 4.1 (296)
  • RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY
Mormon Land

Mormon Land explores the contours and complexities of LDS news. It’s hosted by award-winning religion writer Peggy Fletcher Stack and Salt Lake Tribune managing editor David Noyce.

  1. 1D AGO

    The conservative LDS prophet who led fights over evolution, the age of the Earth and orthodoxy | Episode 381

    Joseph Fielding Smith’s family tree alone makes him a significant player in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father, Joseph F. Smith, was the faith’s sixth president. His grandfather was Hyrum Smith, who was slain with his great-uncle, church founder Joseph Smith. His son-in-law, in fact, was apostle Bruce R. McConkie, a theological kindred spirit. Joseph Fielding Smith served as an apostle for 60 years, church historian for 49 and as the church’s 10th president for two. But he will forever be remembered more for his prose and his polemics than for his positions or his pedigree. A conservative and orthodox thinker, he wrote more than two dozen books, answered religious questions from lay members and engaged in high-level, high-stakes debates with fellow apostles James Talmage, John Widtsoe and other leading Latter-day Saint intellectuals. They discussed, debated and disputed issues ranging from scriptural interpretation to the age of the Earth and the theory of evolution. Joseph Fielding Smith was, scholar Matthew Bowman argues, “the most important Latter-day Saint theologian of the 20th century.” On this week’s show, Bowman, head of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University and author of the recently released “Joseph Fielding Smith: A Mormon Theologian,” talks about this towering Latter-day Saint man of letters.

    46 min

  2. FEB 26

    Are LDS men falling prey to extremist masculinity? | Episode 380

    Certainly not for the first time, the United States has become a hotbed of hot takes and even hotter debates over men’s roles in the home and society. Fueling this fiery crisis of masculinity is, of course, social media, podcasts and other online forums. Enter the “manosphere,” a conservative- and Christian-leaning media ecosystem aimed at male empowerment. On this week’s show, Amy Chapman, a faculty member at Arizona State University’s teachers college, and Levi Sands, a graduate student in sociology at the University of Iowa, discuss this growing subculture and its influence on Latter-day Saint men.

    40 min

  3. FEB 19

    Why those anti-LDS chants at BYU games? | Episode 379

    When Brigham Young University teams play on the road, they, like any visiting opponent, expect to encounter their share of jeers from the home crowd. But what happens when the razzing turns raunchy and the boos give way to bigotry? That occurs all too often at Cougar games. Obscene choruses, often emanating from opposing student sections, break out, mocking BYU’s sponsoring religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and members of that faith. Why have Latter-day Saints and their beliefs become the target of such openly prejudiced chants? Do Catholics and Notre Dame run into the same hostility? And what, if anything, could or should BYU and Latter-day Saint leaders do in responding to such discrimination? Answering those questions and more are Salt Lake Tribune sports writer Kevin Reynolds, who covers the Cougars and wrote about this issue in a recent special report, and Britain Covey, a practicing Latter-day Saint who starred at BYU’s rival school, the University of Utah, plays for the world champion Philadelphia Eagles and has deep familial ties to BYU.

    35 min

  4. FEB 12

    Johnathan Rauch on the LDS Church's trailblazing compromises for the good of the country | Episode 378

    Since America’s founding, Christianity has been a “load-bearing wall” of democracy, but in recent decades it has given up that role — and that, argues writer and scholar Jonathan Rauch, has led to the country’s current crisis. In his latest book, “Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain With Democracy,” the self-described gay, Jewish atheist critiques secular Americans who think Christianity should be abandoned and Christian Americans who blame secular culture for their grievances. He shows why the two must work together — and points to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an example of how to do it. On this week’s show, Rauch, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, discusses why he believes top Latter-day Saint leaders, including senior apostle Dallin H. Oaks, have landed on a prescription for compromising and healing a polarized nation’s ills.

    32 min

  5. FEB 5

    How can the church sustain the law and support its undocumented members? | Episode 377

    As a candidate, he promised “mass deportations” of undocumented immigrants. And now, as president, he is setting the wheels in motion in an effort to do just that. While President Donald Trump’s next move — and that of immigration enforcement agents — is uncertain, this much is sure: The country is on edge — so much so that the governing First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expressed concern about the “complex challenges and hardships now faced by members who are undocumented immigrants living in the United States” and outlined guidelines for the faith’s local lay leaders to follow. Questions abound: The church stresses obedience to the law, but how does that jibe with its desire to show compassion to all of God’s children and keep families together? How do human-made borders have any relevance in a divinely created world without such barriers? And, at a basic level, how far should a church, with a rich immigrant history, go in supporting or resisting a sweeping crackdown? Discussing the issue on this week’s show are Sam Brunson, a Latter-day Saint law professor who has written recently about the topic, and Erikala Herrera Urena, a Latter-day Saint immigrant from the Dominican Republic who lives near Atlanta and is now a U.S. citizen.

    41 min

  6. JAN 29

    From stake president and temple designer to excommunicated trans woman | Episode 376

    In 2017, Laurie Lee Hall publicly shared her remarkable journey as a transgender Latter-day Saint. It took her through joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving a two-year mission, marrying and having children, being called as a bishop and stake president, and becoming head architect for the faith’s sacred temples. Transitioning to her “authentic self,” she said, caused her to lose her job, her marriage and her church membership. Yet, she is more at peace with herself than she has ever been. On this week’s show, Hall details the twists and turns her life took as she moved inexorably toward acceptance of her true identity, discusses her new memoir, “Dictates of Conscience: From Mormon High Priest to My New Life as a Woman,” and the stricter limitations her former faith has imposed on its transgender members.

    35 min

  7. JAN 22

    Understanding the big courtroom showdown in the tithing lawsuit against the LDS Church | Episode 375

    Tithing has long been seen by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a test, a trial, if you will, of faith. Well, now the practice of donating a tenth of one’s income is essentially on trial — in the courts. Nine plaintiffs are suing the global church, accusing Latter-day Saint leaders of soliciting and amassing these donations by the billions to support the faith’s religious and charitable purposes and instead spending money on commercial ventures, including the construction and development of a mall in downtown Salt Lake City. Last week, in a key hearing, a federal judge heard arguments in the lawsuit, which, if it is allowed to move forward as a class action, could end up involving thousands, even millions, of plaintiffs and exposing hidden financial dealings within the church. Lawyers for the faith say the suit unconstitutionally violates religious freedom and should be tossed out. Attorneys for the other side counter that their case is about deception and fraud, not faith. In this week’s show, Salt Lake Tribune reporter Tony Semerad — who has covered this lawsuit and similar ones for several years, along with other aspects of the church’s vast economic empire — sorts through the various arguments, how the judge received them and what comes next.

    26 min

  8. JAN 15

    Separating fact from fiction in ‘American Primeval’ | Episode 374

    Note to listeners • This episode contains spoilers for “American Primeval.” It’s bleak. It’s bloody. It’s barbaric. It’s also the No. 1 TV show on Netflix. But what millions of viewers may misunderstand about “American Primeval” is that it is fictional. While the six-part series is centered around real places, a few real events and some real people — ranging from the Utah War and the Mountain Meadows Massacre to mountain man Jim Bridger and pioneer-prophet Brigham Young, the show is not a docudrama. It gets many historical facts “wrong,” though the filmmakers weren’t necessarily trying to get everything “right.” Did, for instance, any Latter-day Saints die in the Mountain Meadows Massacre carried out by Mormon militiamen? Did Native tribes participate in the atrocity? Did Brigham Young order the massacre? Did Latter-day Saints torch Fort Bridger? And are the portrayals of Young, Bridger and various Native American tribes accurate? Answering those questions and more are Barbara Jones Brown, director of Signature Books and co-author of the critically acclaimed “Vengeance Is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath,” and Darren Parry, former chair of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation and author of “The Bear River Massacre: A Shoshone History.”

    40 min
See All (100)

4.1
out of 5
296 Ratings

About

Mormon Land explores the contours and complexities of LDS news. It’s hosted by award-winning religion writer Peggy Fletcher Stack and Salt Lake Tribune managing editor David Noyce.

Information

  • Creator
    The Salt Lake Tribune
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Mormon Land

More From The Salt Lake Tribune

  • Game of Throws: The Salt Lake Tribune's Utes podcast
    Sports
    Sports

    Updated 12/21/2017

  • Trib Talk
    News
    News

    Updated 11/17/2020

  • How Bout This Jazz
    Sports
    Sports

    Updated 12/28/2022

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada