This week, Radio Free Mormon gathers an all-star panel of Mormon influencers to respond to President Dallin H. Oaks’ recent devotional address delivered at Brigham Young University on Tuesday, February 10. Front and center is Oaks’ warning about “speculation and false information in podcasts and on social media” — and his counsel to avoid being persuaded by those voices. Instead, he urges members to seek out “faithful, well-informed friends,” renew covenants weekly, attend the temple regularly, and stay firmly on the covenant path. So what does it mean when Church leadership cautions members about podcasts… in a media landscape where podcasts are one of the primary spaces for discussion, nuance, and historical transparency? Is this about protecting faith? Controlling narrative? Reducing doubt? Or something more complicated? Our panel dives deep into the psychology behind information control, authority, and epistemic trust. Who gets to define “well-informed”? Why are certain conversations labeled speculation while others are framed as revelation? And what happens when members are told to avoid sources that challenge official claims? Expect thoughtful analysis, sharp humor, and candid reflection as we explore what this devotional signals about the Church’s current moment — and what it means for creators, critics, and everyday members trying to navigate faith in the digital age. If you care about truth, trust, and who controls the story, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

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Tonight on The Mormon Newscast, we lead with a story that cuts straight to trust and credibility. Just a few years ago the LDS Church claimed it could not turn over abuse-help-line records because those records were routinely destroyed. Then, just last week, the Church publicly cited those same records to defend itself from over a decade ago. Both statements cannot be true. We walk through what was said, when it was said, and why this contradiction matters—especially when the subject is child abuse and institutional accountability. This isn’t a technical paperwork issue. It’s about honesty. When an institution asks for moral authority, legal deference, and public trust, its words matter. We break down how this reversal came to light, what the Church is now saying, and why critics argue this isn’t a misunderstanding but a clear case of misleading the public. Our other stories include looking into the latest Widow’s Mite Report, which raises fresh questions about Church finances. With hundreds of billions in reserves and massive investment growth, the report argues the Church is hoarding wealth at a pace that far outstrips its charitable spending. We discuss what the data shows, what defenders say in response, and why the question “What is all this money for?” keeps getting louder. We also provide an update on the Heber Valley Temple, where construction plans, timelines, and community impact continue to evolve. As temple announcements pile up across the globe, this local case highlights the growing tension between Church expansion and the communities expected to absorb it. Finally, we wrap with a few lighter but still telling stories: a Mormon Olympic hopeful making headlines, and the viral moment of someone literally being told to “fetch the Mormons.” Even the smaller stories, it turns out, say something about culture, image, and how the Church is seen in the wider world. As always, we connect the dots, cut through the spin, and let the facts speak for themselves.

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Tonight on The Mormon Newscast, we take a deeper look at who actually rises to leadership inside the LDS Church and why. A new analysis shows a striking pattern that raises questions about loyalty, trust, and how power reproduces itself inside a church that claims to be led by revelation rather than résumés or relationships. Also on tonight’s show: * Easter observance versus General Conference and what gets emphasized when the calendars collide * Moroni’s trumpet: religious symbol, sacred relic, or cultural artifact? * The soaring cost of renovating the Salt Lake Temple and what members are (and aren’t) being told * The George Zinn case and why false claims of violence intersect with Mormon-related narratives * An update on the kidnapped LDS children returned from Croatia * And a look at Church growth claims in Africa and other regions. What’s real, what’s exaggerated, and what deserves scrutiny As always, we cut through spin, ask the uncomfortable questions, and focus on what these stories reveal about power, belief, and institutional control inside modern Mormonism.

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When did Fanny Alger actually come to live in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s home and why? This episode takes a careful, historically grounded look at one of the most misunderstood turning points in early Mormon history. Rather than starting with scandal or theology, we begin with something far more mundane and far more revealing: household labor, family obligation, and timing. By reconstructing the sequence surrounding Levi Hancock’s marriage to Clarissa Reed, the sudden death of Mary Beal Johnson, The Mosiah Hancock account, and Emma Smith’s precarious condition, we examine the most plausible reasons Fanny Alger was brought into the Smith home in the first place. From there, we explore how later memories, compressed timelines, and evolving theology reshaped those early events into something very different from how they likely began. This episode does not assume intent where the evidence doesn’t require it—but it also does not look away from where the evidence eventually leads. We examine competing interpretations, the role of Levi Hancock, the question of a later “sealing,” and why the scandal likely emerges years after Fanny first enters the home. If you’ve ever been told this story started with polygamy, secrecy, or divine command, this conversation invites you to slow down and ask a more basic—and more important—question: What problem was being solved when Fanny Alger first arrived?

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What happens after you leave religion — but still feel a deep pull toward meaning, ritual, spirituality, or transcendence? In this conversation, Bill Reel and Britt Hartley sit down with religious ethicist and author Liz Bucar to explore what fills the vacuum when traditional faith falls away. From modern wellness culture and yoga to psychedelics, embodiment, and moral pressure, we ask hard questions about where people turn next — and whether those new spaces truly free us or quietly recreate the same dynamics we thought we escaped. Liz shares insights from her work and her book Beyond Wellness, examining how even “spiritual but not religious” communities can reproduce shame, hierarchy, and invisible expectations — often without realizing it.

Together, we explore:

This is an honest, thoughtful, and deeply human conversation for anyone navigating life after faith — especially those who are intellectually out but still feel emotionally or culturally tethered to their religious past. If you’ve ever wondered why leaving belief didn’t automatically bring peace… this episode helps explain why

00:02:41 – Who is Liz Bucar and how she became a religious ethicist

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THEY NEVER DESTROYED THE HELPLINE RECORDS! Did RFM just catch the LDS Church lying about its CSA Helpline records? In order to avoid turning over Helpline records, the Church has previously sworn all the records are destroyed at the end of each day. Now suddenly, in order to defend itself against the allegations of Beau Oyler, a former bishop, the LDS Church miraculously goes back to August of 2013 and . . . finds the Helpline records for one particular phone call! How is that possible if those records were destroyed at the end of the day? How indeed? Watch this eleven-minute clip from the February 6, 2026 Mormonism After Dark show for details!

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RFM and esteemed co-counsel Kolby Reddish dissect Chapter 12 of Austin Fife’s “Lite on Truth Letter.” They completely decimate the apologetic attempt to make excuses for why Mormon prophets have a historically disastrous record of making failed prophecies and disavowed doctrinal pronouncements. Astonishingly, some new apologists such as Austin Fife and Jacob Hansen are trying to stake out the position that it’s okay for prophets to get doctrinal pronouncements wrong . . . but you can totally trust everything else they say! You can imagine the fun we have with this! Join RFM and Kolby for a fun romp through the ridiculousness that has become Mormon apologetics!

The post When Mormon Prophets Get It Wrong! RFM: 439 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Was Joseph Smith’s relationship with Fanny Alger an early plural marriage, a sexless sealing, or a scandalous sexual affair?

Long before Nauvoo polygamy, secret sealings, or theological justifications, there was Fanny Alger; a teenage girl living in Joseph and Emma Smith’s home in Kirtland, Ohio.

When the relationship was discovered, it triggered scandal, apostasy, and one of the earliest crises in Mormon leadership.

In this episode, we start by taking a look into the life of Fanny Alger sharing details of her life that are little known even to those familiar with Mormon history. We then examine every major historical source connected to the Fanny Alger story including letters, later reminiscences, church disciplinary records. Then onto the Apologetics and what they are trying to resolve. And lastly we share something that hasn’t been used by either side in this discussion and this you won’t want to miss.

We ask the uncomfortable questions:

We also follow Fanny’s life after Mormonism; her marriage, property ownership, and long, stable adulthood and ask what her silence might tell us about power, authority, and who controls the narrative. This is not folklore. This is not anti-Mormon spin. This is history read carefully.

RESOURCES:

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Did Joseph Smith’s understanding of God come through divine revelation — or did it evolve alongside his education? In this episode of Mormonism Live, we examine one of the most important and least discussed developments in early Mormon history: the dramatic shift in Joseph Smith’s theology of the Godhead. Using early Mormon scriptures, historical documents, and Joseph’s own study journals, we walk through how the earliest teachings portrayed God as a single divine being, closely resembling early Christian modalism. We then trace a clear timeline showing how those teachings changed over time — especially following Joseph Smith’s intensive study of Hebrew in Kirtland, Ohio. As Joseph learned Hebrew grammar, biblical structure, and concepts such as Elohim as a plural noun, Mormon theology began to change with it. The singular God of the Book of Mormon and Book of Moses gradually gave way to a plurality of Gods, divine councils, embodied deities, and ultimately the revolutionary teachings found in the King Follett Discourse.

Whether you are believing, doubting, or long past Mormonism, this episode offers a thoughtful, historically grounded look at how doctrine develops — and why that development still matters today.

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What happens when reason starts questioning itself? In this episode of Almost Awakened, Britt Hartley and Bill Reel sit down with Austin DiValentino, creator of the rapidly growing platform Reason & Religion (@austindivalentino). Austin has built a large following by exploring philosophy, belief, atheism, morality, and meaning—often asking the questions most people quietly avoid. While he has identified as an atheist, his thinking continues to evolve, and this conversation dives straight into the tension between certainty, doubt, and what it actually costs to pursue truth.

Together, we explore:

We also wrestle with some of the biggest existential questions people face after faith shifts:

Austin also reflects on:

This is an honest, human conversation about meaning after certainty—about what remains when belief loosens, and how we learn to live anyway. If you’re navigating belief, disbelief, or somewhere painfully in between, this episode is for you.

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