New Books Network Podcast

Religion August 22, 2023

Convicting the Mormons

The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture

Janiece Johnson

Hosted by Joseph Stuart

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On September 11, 1857, a small band of Mormons led by John D. Lee massacred an emigrant train of men, women, and children heading west at Mountain Meadows, Utah. News …

Religion July 28, 2023

Like a Fiery Meteor

The Life of Joseph F. Smith

Stephen C. Taysom

Hosted by Joseph Stuart

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Joseph F. Smith was born in 1838 to Hyrum Smith and Mary Fielding Smith. Six years later both his father and his uncle, Joseph Smith Jr., the founding prophet of …

Christian Studies April 21, 2023

Works of Love in a World of Violence

Feminism, Kierkegaard, and the Limits of Self-Sacrifice

Deidre Nicole Green

Hosted by Blair Hodges

Today I talked to Deidre Nicole Green about her book Works of Love in a World of Violence: Feminism, Kierkegaard, and the Limits of Self-Sacrifice (Mohr Siebeck, 2016). Drawing on the thought …

American Studies April 20, 2023

Kingdom of Nauvoo

The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier

Benjamin E. Park

Hosted by Blair Hodges

Compared to the Puritans, Mormons have rarely gotten their due, treated as fringe cultists at best or marginalized as polygamists unworthy of serious examination at worst. In Kingdom of Nauvoo …

Religion April 19, 2023

Jacob

A Brief Theological Introduction

Deidre Nicole Green

Hosted by Blair Hodges

"What could I have done more for my vineyard?" In one of the Book of Mormon's most magisterial passages, the lord of a vineyard looks over his beloved olive trees …

Sociology March 21, 2023

Forbidden Intimacies

Polygamies at the Limits of Western Tolerance

Melanie Heath

Hosted by Rituparna Patgiri

In the past thirty years, polygamy has become a flashpoint of conflict as Western governments attempt to regulate certain cultural and religious practices that challenge seemingly central principles of family …

Religion February 6, 2023

The Burning Book

Jason Olson and James Goldberg

Hosted by Blair Hodges

The Burning Book (By Common Consent Press, 2022) is an unusual and intriguing memoir about Jason Olsen's conversion from Judaism to Mormonism. But it tells no simple story of triumphant conversion away from error …

Almost Good Catholics January 21, 2023

Reflections of a Mormon who Became a Catholic

A Discussion with Jeremy Christiansen

Jeremy Christiansen

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec

Jeremy Christiansen’s autobiography, From the Susquehanna to the Tiber, tells the story of his happy Mormon upbringing, the questioning of his faith, and his ultimate pilgrimage to the Catholic Church …

American West January 3, 2023

Imperial Zions

Religion, Race, and Family in the American West and the Pacific

Amanda Hendrix-Komoto

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has always been globally situated, argues Montana State history professor Amanda Hendrix-Komoto in Imperial Zions: Religion, Race, and Family in the American West and the …

Secularism October 12, 2022

Make Yourselves Gods

Mormons and the Unfinished Business of American Secularism

Peter Coviello

Hosted by Carrie Lynn Evans

From the perspective of Protestant America, nineteenth-century Mormons were the victims of a peculiar zealotry, a population deranged––socially, sexually, even racially––by the extravagances of belief they called “religion.” Make Yourselves …

Writ Large September 13, 2022

On "The Book of Mormon"

A Discussion with David Holland

David Holland

Hosted by Zachary Davis

In 1827 a young farmer named Joseph Smith was visited by an angel. The angel led him to a hillside where he uncovered a set of ancient gold plates written …

On Religion August 11, 2022

On Mormon Fundamentalism

A Discussion with Cristina Rosetti

Cristina Rosetti

Hosted by Gregory Soden

Cristina Rosetti completed her Ph.D. in religious studies at the University of California Riverside. She writes about Mormon fundamentalism. …

Religion July 8, 2022

Revising Eternity

27 Latter-Day Saint Men Reflect on Modern Relationships

Holly Welker

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Marriage's central role in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints distinguishes the faith while simultaneously reflecting widespread American beliefs. But what does Latter-day Saint marriage mean for men? …

On Religion June 23, 2022

On Plural Marriage

A Discussion with Philippa J. Meek

Philippa J. Meek

Hosted by Gregory Soden

Philippa J. Meek is a doctoral fellow at the University of Exeter. Meek researches public perceptions versus the realities of plural marriage within Fundamentalist Mormon communities. This episode gives a …

American West May 19, 2022

Frontier Religion

The Mormon-American Contest for the Meaning of America, 1857-1907

Konden Smith Hansen

Hosted by Brady McCartney

In Frontier Religion: The Mormon-American Contest for the Meaning of America, 1857-1907 (U Utah Press, 2019) Konden Smith Hansen examines the dramatic influence these perceptions of the frontier had on …

On Religion March 8, 2022

On Mormonism, Race, and Politics

A Discussion with Max Perry Mueller

Max Perry Mueller

Hosted by Gregory Soden

Max Perry Mueller received his PhD from Harvard University. He is a historian of American religion and an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is …

Mormonism May 12, 2021

50 Relics of the Restoration

Mary Jane Woodger and Casey Paul Griffiths

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Just as early Christians sought out pieces of the cross or searched for the location of Noah's Ark, it is natural for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of …

Latino Studies January 20, 2021

The Spiritual Evolution of Margarito Bautista

Mexican Mormon Evangelizer, Polygamist Dissident, and Utopian Founder, 1878-1961

Elisa Pulido

Hosted by David-James Gonzales

The Spiritual Evolution of Margarito Bautista: Mexican Mormon Evangelizer, Polygamist Dissident, and Utopian Founder, 1878-1961 (Oxford University Press, 2020) provides the first full-length biography of a celebrated Latino Mormon leader …

Mormonism October 1, 2020

Terrible Revolution

Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse

Christopher James Blythe

Hosted by Daniel Stone

In Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse (Oxford UP, 2020), Christopher James Blythe examines apocalypticism across the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly …

Mormonism September 1, 2020

The Writings of Oliver Olney

April 1842 to February 1843-Nauvoo, Illinois

Richard G. Moore

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Oliver H. Olney, an early convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, fled to Nauvoo, Illinois, following persecution in Missouri. In Nauvoo, Olney became disgruntled with church …