This week’s Mormon Newscast centers on what looks like a renewed willingness by Church leadership under Dallin H. Oaks to draw sharper lines and enforce them. Whether it’s the Church’s trademark lawsuit involving John Dehlin or the excommunication of Landon Brophy, such seems to signal a broader shift toward tightening control over both narrative and dissent a shift Elder Oaks requested not too long ago. From there, we hit a range of developing stories across the Mormon landscape. We’ve got an update on Wade Christofferson, a look at how political identity among Latter-day Saints is subtly shifting, and a discussion of the now-infamous “tooth” moment involving Tamara W. Runia.

We also break down a recent YA devotional message where Elder Stevenson and his wife, Leesa, have us going deeper and deeper into space. We also zoom out to look at bigger cultural and institutional trends: temples continuing to be announced and built even as overall growth shows signs of strain, a noticeable uptick in horror films using Mormon themes as storytelling fuel, and yes, Utah’s beloved “dirty soda” culture suddenly stepping onto the national stage. As always, we connect the dots, ask the hard questions, and try to make sense of what it all means for those still in, those on the edge, and those long gone.

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