The woman who knew Joseph Smith better than anyone never stopped testifying that he was a prophet. So why has history remembered her almost entirely through controversy?

In this episode of Let’s Get Real, historian Don Bradley takes a fresh look at Emma Smith, separating the historical record from the assumptions that have shaped her legacy for generations.

Together, we explore some of the biggest questions surrounding Emma’s life:

• Why didn’t Emma Smith go west with the Saints?

Rather than reducing Emma to a symbol in modern debates, this conversation reveals a faithful, intelligent, courageous disciple whose story is far more compelling than many realize.

Whether you’re wrestling with questions about Church history or simply want to better understand one of the most important women of the Restoration, this conversation offers historical context, empathy, and hope.

For years, many Latter-day Saints have looked at declining activity rates and wondered the same thing:

Is the Church failing?

In this episode, I sit down with BYU Studies Editor-in-Chief Justin Dyer to examine what the data actually says about retention, religiosity, mental health, and why people leave faith. What we found surprised me.

While religious participation has declined dramatically across the United States, the data reveals that Latter-day Saints continue to retain active members at higher rates than nearly every other Christian denomination. The question may not be, “What’s going wrong with the Church?” but rather, “What is happening to religion, community, and identity as a whole?”

We discuss the four major groups of people who leave the Church, why many never completely close the door on returning, how politics increasingly shapes religious belief, and what predicts whether someone stays connected to faith over time.

We also explore a striking idea found in Doctrine and Covenants Section 1: that God foresaw the challenges of our day and provided guidance for navigating them. According to Justin’s research, the strongest predictor of whether someone remains connected to their faith isn’t simply church attendance or religious habits. It’s whether they consistently experience God in their lives.

Whether you are a parent worried about a child who has left the Church, someone wrestling with questions about faith, or simply trying to understand what is happening in our culture, this conversation offers both data and hope.

"I, Nephi . . . ." We’ve all read the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

Lehi is warned. Nephi is sent back. Laban is drunk. The story moves fast and feels familiar.

But what if we’ve been reading it without understanding the setting it's unfolding in?

In this episode, I sit down with church historian and former "ex-Mormon" atheist Don Bradley to explore a clue hiding in plain sight, one that tells us more about the "lost 116 pages" and reframes how we see the Book of Mormon's entire opening sequence - and the book itself. Not by changing its meaning, but by grounding it in its original sacred context.

The beginning of the Book of Mormon isn't just happening randomly. It’s taking place during a specific moment in the Jewish calendar, a festival setting that adds layers of clarity to what’s happening and why, refocusing the story from being about Lehi's escape from Jerusalem to being about your own deliverance and the redemption of the world.

Once you see it, the timing, the tension, and even the actions of key figures start to come into sharper focus.

We don’t just revisit the story. We slow it down, connect the dots, and explore what was there all along.

If you’ve ever felt like there’s more going on in the scriptures than what’s on the surface, this conversation will change how you read them.

"A Passover Setting for Lehi's Exodus," published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Scripture

Most people don't walk away from their faith in a dramatic moment. They don't deconstruct overnight. They slowly stop caring.

In this episode of Let’s Get Real, I sit down with David Snell from  @keystonelds   to talk about the quiet threat that is pulling more people away than doubt or hard questions.

What happens when your faith was built on other people and they let you down? What do you do when belief stops feeling simple and starts becoming complicated? Why do so many people get stuck right there?

We talk about why apathy matters more than controversy, the difference between borrowed belief and personal conviction, and how faith naturally moves through stages of simplicity and complexity. We also break down why testimony is something that must be built over time instead of relying on a single answer.

This is not a conversation about easy solutions. It is about what actually holds when things get difficult.

If you have ever felt your faith drifting, this episode will help you understand why and what you can do about it.

Some think healing means being kind, moving on, and keeping the peace.

But what if that approach is actually keeping people stuck?

We’re taught to avoid discomfort. We’re taught not to make things worse. We’re taught that compassion means letting things go. But over time, the same pain keeps coming back, and the same wounds never fully heal.

In this conversation, author and victim's advocate Sage Williams challenges that idea.

Real healing is not about pretending the past didn’t happen. It is not about avoiding hard things. It is about bringing things into the light, telling the truth about what is there, and embracing accountability, even when it feels uncomfortable.

Sometimes healing feels worse before it gets better. That does not mean something is wrong. It may mean you are finally facing what is real.

We talk about why being nice can sometimes make things worse, why accountability is often misunderstood, and what it actually looks like to heal in a way that lasts.

This is not the easiest path. But it might be the most honest one.

Buy Sage's book: 

https://a.co/d/044Hl04v

Many people think faith is declining.

Ben Hancock has worked behind the scenes on one of the world’s top podcasts, alongside voices like Chris Williamson of "Modern Wisdom" and interacting with some of the most influential thinkers in media.

From the inside, he noticed something unexpected.

Not open hostility, but a quiet dismissal of faith in certain elite circles.

At the same time, he is seeing something very different on the ground, especially among young people.

Not decline.

In this episode, we explore:

If you have ever wondered whether faith is really disappearing, this conversation will challenge what you think you know.

Temple changes don’t just appear overnight. They are often preceded by thoughtful conversations in leadership councils where perspectives are shared and revelation is sought.

In this episode of Let’s Get Real, former Relief Society General President Jean B. Bingham offers a rare glimpse into those councils, including discussions that helped refine temple language to reduce misunderstandings and better reflect gospel truths.

She also shares what it was like to work with apostles and prophets, and how revelation unfolds through careful deliberation, unity, and spiritual insight.

The conversation explores how Church leaders, including President Dallin H. Oaks, have emphasized the value of women and helped deepen understanding of priesthood power in the lives of all covenant keepers.

This episode offers a thoughtful look at how the Lord leads His Church, how sacred decisions are made, and why the voices and contributions of women matter.

Which chapter of scripture includes a vision of God, an attempted human sacrifice, and a phrase many believe justified a racial priesthood ban?

And have we been reading it wrong?

When Abraham 1 describes Pharaoh as “cursed as pertaining to the priesthood,” what did that actually mean? Was it about race? Was it restriction? Or have later generations read their own assumptions back into the text?

Latter-day Saint historian, Don Bradley, explores how Abraham 1 reshapes our understanding of Abraham’s story, why he was nearly sacrificed, and what Joseph Smith may have understood about Pharaoh’s “curse” that radically challenges modern interpretations.

What if the passage that has caused so much confusion and pain was never saying what we thought it was?

The prophet Brigham Young did not become controversial because he was simple. He became controversial because we stopped allowing complex people from the past to be understood as human beings.

In this conversation, Dr. Dan Peterson, noted Latter-day Saint scholar and historian, helps us follow one question from beginning to end: What do we lose morally, culturally, and spiritually when we replace understanding with judgment?

Brigham Young is often reduced to labels. Authoritarian. Racist. The “fall guy.” A symbol to argue over. But history is rarely that tidy. As the discussion unfolds, Brigham shifts from being a lightning rod in modern debates to a real human life shaped by faith, pressure, frontier leadership, blind spots, loyalty to Joseph Smith, and deep devotion to building Zion.

But this conversation is not only about Brigham Young. It is about us. About how we judge. About how we interpret the past, and what's lost when we're quicker to judge than to understand.

What if the Bible’s most dangerous distortions don’t come from bad intentions, but from skipping its preface?

Many people experience faith as exhausting. Commandments feel heavy. Scripture feels fragmented. And belief slowly collapses into rules.

This conversation challenges a core assumption: that the Bible explains itself from page one.

Without a restored frame of identity—without knowing who you are before being told what to do—the Bible can be misunderstood, misused, and even weaponized.

This episode reframes the Old Testament through a single, often-overlooked key that changes how scripture reads, how God is understood, and why faith so often turns into burnout.

If you’ve ever felt tension between obedience and relationship, this conversation may change how you read everything that comes next.

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