Mormon Land

Enter many a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the U.S. and you will find a pew-packed chapel next to a ready-made sports court separated only by an accordion-like folding wall.

That pairing says a lot not only about how the faith views the intertwining of the spiritual and the physical but also about the vaunted place in Latter-day Saint culture held by this particular sport: basketball.

From its conception, it was seen as a way to exhibit “muscular Christianity,” build character, learn discipline and practice teamwork — “no place,” its inventor said, “for the egotist.”

Latter-day Saint leaders and the members quickly adopted it, to the point that “church ball” became an integral ingredient in congregational life.

Fast-forward to today’s NBA, where showtime and showboating sell tickets, and the college ranks, where money increasingly rules — even at church-owned Brigham Young University, where millions in name, image and likeness cash helped the Cougars land prized recruit AJ Dybantsa.

How did this happen? How did basketball blend into church culture for so many years? And how does the modern game fit with BYU’s religious mission?

On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Matthew Bowman and scholar Wayne LeCheminant, authors of “Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball," answer those questions and more.

The new year started and so did the reality television. On this 'Mormon Land' and 'Mormons in Media' crossover, we unpack TLC's new docuseries The Cult of the Real Housewife. This takes a deep dive into Mary Cosby, from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and how she runs her Utah church. It brings up uncomfortable questions about tithing, how it's regulated and what exactly that money goes towards. Is "cult" too strong a word in this instance, or does charisma make scamming easier to overlook?

With the recent deaths of Russell Nelson and Jeffrey Holland, apostle Dieter Uchtdorf moved two steps closer to the top rung on the leadership ladder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The 85-year-old Uchtdorf is now the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and stands second in line — behind 92-year-old Henry Eyring — to take the reins of the global faith. While certainly not wishing death on any church leaders, many Latter-day Saints nonetheless look forward to the prospect of Uchtdorf one day rising to the presidency.

What is it about this German apostle that makes him so popular? Is it his backstory as a two-time refugee or the fact that he rose from outside the usual church leadership track? Is it his high-flying career as an airline pilot? Is it his sermons, filled with soaring rhetoric and down-to-earth wisdom? Or is it his GQ looks and perennial tan?

On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint writer Kristine Haglund, former editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and scholar Patrick Mason, chair of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, discuss this much-admired apostle and why he seems to stand out among the faith’s top leaders.

Picking new apostles is a significant and solemn responsibility for presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After all, any of the men (and, in the patriarchal faith, they must be men) selected for this lifetime assignment could one day rise to the presidency of the global religion.

Choosing new apostles also represents a way in which Latter-day Saint prophet-presidents can leave their mark on the church long after they are gone — similar to U.S. presidents when they nominate justices to the Supreme Court.

In the mid-1990s, Howard Hunter led the church for a mere nine months — the shortest tenure of any church president — yet the one apostle he chose was Jeffrey Holland, who served for three decades and was positioned as next in line to take the faith’s reins at the time of his recent death.

With Holland’s death, church President Dallin Oaks, himself a former Utah Supreme Court justice and barely three months into his presidential tenure, has the chance to name his second new apostle.

Whom might he pick? How do church leaders go about deciding? What can we learn from past apostle selections? Were there any surprise picks? Were any notable leaders ever passed over? And what might the naming of new apostles say about the current church and its future?

On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Benjamin Park, author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” discusses those questions and more.

December marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, who was born Dec. 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont.

In recognition, we are revisiting this “Mormon Land” podcast about one of the most significant developments in the research surrounding this major American religious figure: the stunning 2022 announcement that a descendant had discovered in a locket what is purported to be the only known photograph of his famous ancestor.

The finding led to a nationwide conversation among historians and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those in the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).

Historian Lachlan Mackay, a Community of Christ apostle and another Smith descendant, helped analyze the daguerreotype, trace the locket’s ownership and research its likely history.

On this show, Mackay answers questions about the photo, the process historians used to authenticate it, and why he’s convinced that it truly is an image of Joseph Smith.

In the 1960s, the NAACP was among the loudest critics of the policy by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time to exclude Black members from its all-male priesthood and its temples.

In 2018 — 40 years after the church had eliminated the policy — national leaders of the country’s oldest civil rights organization held a joint meeting with top Latter-day Saint officials.

The groundbreaking alliance of the two organizations produced donations, scholarships and humanitarian initiatives. It was directed by then-church President Russell Nelson.

Now the church has a new president, Dallin Oaks, who has urged members to “root out” racism and famously called “Black lives matter” an “eternal truth all reasonable people should support.”

So what has the partnership accomplished, what is its current state, and what are expectations for the future?

On this week’s show, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson answers those questions and more.

Embedded in the oft-cited Articles of Faith, written by church founder Joseph Smith, is this statement: “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.”

To the minds of many, even most, English-speaking members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this has long meant one thing and one thing only — the King James Version, including some of Smith’s edits, collectively known as the Joseph Smith Translation.

That is changing. Although still officially the “preferred” edition, the 1611 KJV is now one of several that church leaders have listed as approved for use.

On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint scholar Dan McClellan, author of “The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues," talks about the significance and potential ramifications of this announcement, including how the newer translations could boost members’ understanding of the Bible, shift their views of the Book of Mormon and strengthen — or challenge — their faith. If nothing else, the inclusion of more modern Bible editions promises to make for more interesting, informed and meaningful Sunday school discussions.

For a decade, Latter-day Saint female officers in the San Francisco Bay Area had joined male leaders in sitting on the stand, facing members, during Sunday services.

In the wake of the Ordain Women movement of 2013, it was seen as a small, visible step toward equality and inclusion.

Two years ago, an area president, whose jurisdiction included Northern California, abruptly discontinued the practice. In response, members in at least three stakes, or regional clusters of congregations, surrounding San Francisco have expressed their concerns to lay bishops and stake presidents, while also conducting surveys and launching a letter-writing campaign to church headquarters in Salt Lake City to return the women to the stand — all to no avail.

Now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a new prophet-president, Dallin H. Oaks, and he recently said in an interview that the Utah-based faith has “work left to do” on gender equity.

Amy Watkins Jensen, who served as a Young Women leader in Lafayette, California, has been leading a Women on the Stand Instagram account since the letter-writing campaign failed.

On this week’s show, she explores what positive moves for Latter-day Saint women have happened in the past 24 months and what “work” she thinks remains.

Content warning: We touch lightly on the topic of sexual assault. Please take care while listening.

On the December crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media,' Rebbie and Nicole break down all that has happened over the last month in the realm of Utah reality television. You've got an entire new season of 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' a docuseries from 'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Heather Gay, 'Dancing With The Stars,' 'The Bachelorette,' and so much more. Let's get caught up and let's discuss.

Brigham Young University star football recruits Ryder Lyons and Brock Harris are stepping away from the gridiron and stepping up to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Nothing new there. After all, about half the players on coach Kalani Sitake’s roster at the church-owned Provo school are former missionaries.

But wait. Lyons and Harris say they are going on one-year missions. Is this some new exception for elite athletes?

Turns out, no.

Of course, Latter-day Saints can — and do — leave their missions whenever they want. But the church maintains that full-time proselytizing missionaries are “expected to serve their full term of service” — two years for young men and 18 months for young women.

Still, Harris and Lyons are announcing in advance their intention to fulfill half that stint.

Is this good for the players? Is it good for BYU? Is it good for the church?

On this week’s show, Tribune sports writer Kevin Reynolds, who covers the Cougars, and columnist Gordon Monson discuss those questions and more.