Sunstone Magazine

What do you get when you combine martyrdom, relic worship, secret reburials, and a healing cane made from a coffin? Mormon history at its weirdest and most fascinating. In this special on-site episode of the Sunstone Mormon History Podcast, Lindsay and Bryan take you on a field trip into the curious afterlife of Joseph Smith’s …

In a surprising turn, the LDS Church has quietly validated the long-disputed 1886 Revelation given to John Taylor, a document that fundamentalists have clung to for over a century as divine proof that plural marriage was never meant to end. In this episode, Lindsay and Bryan dig into the origins of the revelation, the secret …

In this episode, Lindsay and Bryan unravel the Steptoe Expedition, a moment of uneasy calm before the storm of the Utah War and Mountain Meadows Massacre. What began as a military survey spiraled into scandal, seduction, and cultural collision, as Lieutenant Sylvester Mowry set his sights on Mary Ann Ayers Young (Brigham’s daughter-in-law!) and ignited …

A faith crisis is one of the most destabilizing things that can happen to an LDS marriage. Both partners feel betrayed. Feelings either erupt or are suppressed. In this episode, therapists Adam Fisher and Mary Fisher talk about the three most important things a couple can do to help each other.

What happens when spiritual ambition meets logistical failure? In this episode, we dig into the catastrophic 1856 Mormon handcart disaster, when Brigham Young’s promise of a faster, cheaper, holier way to Zion led to starvation, frostbite, and mass death. Stripping away pioneer kitsch and faith-promoting folklore, Lindsay and Bryan uncover the real story of financial …

He was the Church’s most unlikely general authority. A coffee habit, an oft-shot-off mouth, and–according to this great-grandnephew–a deep spirituality. This episode includes some of J. Golden Kimball’s funniest stories and reflections by James N. Kimball on the man behind the myth.

Mormonism has always dreamed big and in this episode, we dive into one of its boldest and most disastrous dreams: the great gathering of Zion. Lindsay and Bryan pull apart the myth and the machinery behind Brigham Young’s plan to build a literal Kingdom of God in the American West, fueled by prophecies, poverty, and, …

Being a single, 25-year-old Mormon female is a tough life. But Dorothy Black makes it into a stand-up comedy routine in this episode of the Sunstone Podcast.  

Before Mountain Meadows, there was blood in Arkansas. This is the wild, tragic, and shockingly true story of the Mormon apostle murdered over a love triangle, the woman caught in the crossfire, and the ripple effect that helped ignite one of the darkest moments in American frontier history. SHOWNOTES: Eleanor McLean and the Murder of …

For Heather Sundahl, Relief Society was the “monster child that sucked up my mom.” What was it like to be the daughter of the most powerful woman in the stake—who couldn’t find time to read to her?