By Radio Gold Productions
Mormon History for the Masses
Is the Mormon emphasis on religious liberty rooted in anything other than the considerations of 21st-century America? Neither fully American, Christian, nor white, Mormons found themselves at the margins of antebellum American life, compelled to advocate for their own claims...
Full disclosure: I like Martin Luther King. This shouldn’t surprise most of us. Most of us in 2017 do. He had a vision for human rights that have since transcended the times, and I celebrate it. Dr. King worked to...
In this episode, I interview Danor Gerald, an African-American working actor in Utah commissioned to play the role of Elijah Able[s] in new official LDS Church productions. Given Ables’ position as one of a few black priesthood holders prior to the...
On March 8, Russell Stevenson, along with Blacks in the Scriptures and Northstar, sponsored a special event devoted to discussing how the LGBT/SSA/transgender and African-American communities have endeavored to uphold their faith in the face of systemic marginalization. Participants included...
In this podcast, I sit down with Dr. Samuel M. Brown, a medical doctor at the Intermountain Medical Center and a brilliant historian of death theology in Mormonism, focusing particularly on his book, In Heaven as it is on Earth: Joseph Smith...
For generations, Mormons have navigated the tumultuous waters of public opinion. Whether defending themselves against charges of racism or making charming advertisements about the importance of family, Mormons have sought to be conscious about how the outside world sees them. Russell...
In this timely interview, Russell Stevenson discusses the newest volume of the Deseret Book-published series, Women of Faith. As an edited volume of short biographies about LDS women from the nineteenth-century, this book provides readers a fast-paced tour what Mormon women...
In this important episode, Russell Stevenson sits down with historian Brian Hales, author of the three-volume series, Joseph Smith and Polygamy. We talk about the concept of “dynastic marriage,” sexuality in Joseph Smith’s plural marriages, and the Women Who Told Joseph Smith...
In this special Mormon History Guy/Rational Faiths joint podcast, Russell Stevenson interviews Alex Beam, the non-Latter-day Saint author of American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church. We discuss polygamy, Joseph Smith’s strength of...
In this exciting episode, Russell Stevenson interviews Chelsea Shields Strayer, a member of Ordain Women’s Executive Board. We discuss the history of the Ordain Women movement in the broader context of Mormon history and explore the contours of the relationship...
Dr. Robert Millet, a longstanding and widely-respected scholar of the Latter-day Saint tradition, joins us this podcast to discuss his new book, Restored and Restoring: The Unfolding Drama of the Restoration. We discuss efforts to build bridges between the evangelical...
It is the foundational event of Mormonism–or at least that is what it became. Beginning in 1832, Joseph Smith began to publicly talk about a visionary experience he had in a grove of trees nearby his home in upstate New...
In this podcast–recorded live at the Salt Lake City Public Library–Russell Stevenson hosts a panel discussion in which he along with three single Latter-day Saints (Ryan Fleming, Kylee Shields, and Lisa Benson) discuss not only the history of Mormon single...
In this special episode, Russell Stevenson and Brittney Nielson delve into one of the most controversial topics of our times: homosexuality. During the first half, they discuss the history of homosexuality in the Mormon tradition and homosexuals’ struggles to find...
In this episode, Russell Stevenson and Kate Harline explore Mormonism’s fascinating interactions with the environment and environmentalist thought. Unlike many Christian denominations, Mormonism has a mixed and complicated message, as it has endeavored to uphold its principles of stewardship over...
In this podcast, Russell Stevenson and Kate Harline discuss an aspect of Mormon cultural art that is easy to overlook: dancing. Though seemingly recreational, Mormon dance in fact highlights deeper issues in the development of Mormon identity: theologically, sexually,...
In this podcast, Kate Kelly Harline takes on the role of interviewer and discusses Russell Stevenson (author of Black Mormon: The Story of Elijah Ables and author of the forthcoming, For the Cause of Righteousness: A Documentary History of Blacks and Mormonism, 1830-2013). We...
In this pilot episode, Russell Stevenson and Kate Harline discuss the historical undergirdings for the Mormon position on war. Drawing on Mormon scripture and various episodes of Mormon armed conflict, they show that the Saints’ views on war have been...
