New Books Network

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 …

Religion August 5, 2020

Joseph Smith's Translation

The Words and Worlds of Early Mormonism

Samuel Morris Brown

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith, claimed to have translated ancient scriptures. He dictated an American Bible from metal plates reportedly buried by ancient Jews in a nearby hill, and produced an …

American West August 5, 2020

Breakaway Americas

The Unmanifest Future of Jacksonian America

Thomas Richards Jr.

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

In Breakaway Americas: The Unmanifest Future of Jacksonian America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020), Thomas Richards Jr., a history teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, argues that the map of …

Religion June 23, 2020

Storming the Nation

The Unknown Contributions of Joseph Smith’s Political Missionaries

Derek R. Sainsbury

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Derek R. Sainsbury's, Storming the Nation: The Unknown Contributions of Joseph Smith’s Political Missionaries (BYU RSC, 2020), uncovers the significant but previously unknown contributions of the electioneers who advocated for …

Mormonism June 17, 2020

Writing Mormon History

Historians and Their Books

Joe Geisner

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Every great book has a great backstory. In Joe Geisner’s new edited work, Writing Mormon History: Historians and Their Books (Signature Books, 2020), well-known historians describe their journeys of writing …

Gender Studies June 9, 2020

Tabernacles of Clay

Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism

Taylor Petrey

Hosted by Christopher Babits

Taylor Petrey is an Associate Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College and the Editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. His latest book is Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and …

General History April 2, 2020

Kingdom of Nauvoo

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

Benjamin E. Park

Hosted by Christopher Babits

In Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier (W. W. Norton, 2020), Benjamin E. Park, an assistant professor at Sam Houston State …

Religion January 27, 2020

Return to the City of Joseph

Modern Mormonism’s Contest for the Soul of Nauvoo

Scott C. Esplin

Hosted by Daniel Stone

In the mid-twentieth century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) returned to Nauvoo, Illinois, home to the thriving religious community led by Joseph Smith before his murder …

Religion September 17, 2019

A Documentary History of the Book of Mormon

Larry E. Morris

Hosted by Daniel Stone

The story of the creation of the Book of Mormon has been told many times, and often ridiculed. A Documentary History of the Book of Mormon (Oxford University Press, 2019) …

Religion July 8, 2019

Life and Times of John Pierce Hawley

A Mormon Ulysses of the American West

Melvin C. Johnson

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Life and Times of John Pierce Hawley: A Mormon Ulysses of the American West (Greg Kofford Books, 2019) narrates the wide-ranging life of John Hawley’s search for an authentic Mormon …

Latin American Studies June 21, 2019

Liminal Sovereignty

Mennonites and Mormons in Mexican Culture

Rebecca Janzen

Hosted by Pamela Fuentes

Liminal Sovereignty: Mennonites and Mormons in Mexican Culture (SUNY Press, 2018) examines the lives of two religious minority communities in Mexico, Mennonites and Mormons, as seen through Mexican culture. Mennonites …

Religion June 12, 2019

Confidence Amid Change

The Presidential Diaries of David O. McKay, 1951-1970

Harvard S. Heath

Hosted by Daniel Stone

The diaries of the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a collaboration between David O. McKay and his long-time secretary Clare Middlemiss. During the …

Religion May 21, 2019

Your Sister in the Gospel

The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-Century Black Mormon

Quincy D. Newell

Hosted by Daniel Stone

"Dear Brother," Jane Manning James wrote to Joseph F. Smith in 1903, "I take this opportunity of writing to ask you if I can get my endowments and also finish …

Religion April 23, 2019

Healing the Breach

Mormonism, Metaphors, and the Pieces of the Puzzle

Patrick S. McKay

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Patrick S. McKay, an apostle of the Joint Conference of Restoration Branches, believes that the Latter Day Saint movement is fractured. But one day soon, he hopes, that will change …

Religion April 8, 2019

The New Testament

A Translation for Latter-day Saints

Thomas A. Wayment

Hosted by Daniel Stone

Dr. Thomas A. Wayment, professor of Classics at Brigham Young University, has done something remarkable — he has retranslated the New Testament. This new translation from the best available Greek …