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Sunstone Podcast — Religion & Spirituality
Sunstone Podcast

For more than 45 years, Sunstone has been exploring Mormonism in all its expressions through our publications and symposiums. The Sunstone Podcast gathers the best of these explorations, including compelling sessions from our worldwide symposiums as well as interviews, book reviews, and deep dives into all things Mormon. Hosted by Stephen Carter.

Copyright: © 2019 Sunstone Education Foundation

Latest Episodes:

E42: Ministering to Those Who Question: A Conversation with David B. Ostler Nov 25, 2019

Show notes

What is the most important thing to do when someone starts talking with you about a religious concern? According to David B. Ostler, simply to listen. In his debut episode, new Sunstone Podcast co-host Jaxon Washburn talks with Ostler about his book “Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question.”

E41: Your Faith Crisis Isn’t Actually Yours Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

We like to think that our faith crisis came about because we followed the truth. But what if a faith crisis is actually produced by cultural cycles that have been grinding on for millennia? Stephen Carter discusses how anthropology and the sociology of knowledge turns the concept of a faith crisis on its head.

E40: Mormon Iconoclast Part 4: Eric Samuelsen’s “Borderlands” Nov 11, 2019

Show notes

His play “Borderlands” exacted a great cost from Eric Samuelsen, both personally and professionally. But it is also likely his greatest work. Stephen Carter and director Jerry Rapier discuss how the play came together and its potent effect on the LDS community.

E39: Mormon Iconoclast Part 3: Eric Samuelsen’s ‘Peculiarities’ Nov 04, 2019

Show notes

Two BYU students go to Nevada to get civilly married for a weekend so they can see what sex is like. A bishop tries to fend off needy ward members long enough to have a romantic evening with his wife. An LDS mom starts work in a brothel to support her family. In what is probably his most provocative LDS work, Eric Samuelsen delves into “weird Mormon sex” with a set of five short plays. Stephen Carter and Jerry Rapier discuss their meaning and how Plan-B Theater brought them to film.

E38: How ‘Saw’ Is the Ultimate Mormon Horror Film Oct 28, 2019

Show notes

LDS culture is so relentlessly optimistic and family-friendly that we almost always overlook the profound horror at its theological roots. Fortunately, the horror movie “Saw” opens our eyes. After this episode, you’ll be calling it “the Plan of Saw-vation.”

E37: Mormon Iconoclast Part 2: Eric Samuelsen’s “The Plan” Oct 21, 2019

Show notes

Behind every great man stands a great woman … who stood up to him! The Bible often gives its female characters short shrift. But playwright Eric Samuelsen brings them vividly to life in his play “The Plan.” Stephen Carter and Melissa Leilani Larson discuss this astonishingly feminist piece of LDS theater.

E36: Mormon Iconoclast: An Introduction to Eric Samuelsen Oct 14, 2019

Show notes

Mormonism suffered a great loss in September when Eric Samuelsen passed away. But few people have actually heard of him, which is a shame, because he revolutionized LDS culture one iconoclastic play at a time. Stephen Carter and J. Scott Bronson discuss two of his award-winning plays.

E35: Wayne Booth: “The Rhetorician Who Can Change Everything” Oct 06, 2019

Show notes

What’s more important? Having the truth, or understanding your opponent? In this first installment of the Forgotten Mormons series, Stephen Carter, Greg Clark, and Jon Ogden introduce Wayne C. Booth, the LDS rhetorician who would like to blow everything you know about constructive dialogue out of the water. Its implications—from political discourse to Sunday school to the dinner table—are game changing.

E34: Expanding the Soul … and the Podcast: A Conversation with Jaxon Washburn Sep 29, 2019

Show notes

How do you grow spiritually? Do you move from being wrong to being right? Or from being right to being righter? Jaxon Washburn sees soul growth as expansion rather than as movement toward correctness. Jaxon will be a co-host for future episodes of the Sunstone Podcast. Come get a taste of his thinking, and learn how he will approach his episodes.

E33: A History of the Faith Crisis: A Conversation with Jeff Burton Sep 16, 2019

Show notes

The concept of a faith crisis is a relatively new one, especially in LDS discourse. But Jeff Burton has been documenting cases of faith crises since the early 1980s. What has changed about the patterns of faith crises from then until now? Are there more people going through them, or are they just more willing to talk about it? What do Church leaders think about this phenomenon?

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