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1. Federal investigators have accused two people of targeting members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a $500 million Ponzi scheme. And Utah has more Ponzi schemes per capita than any other state. Are members of the church more naïve than the rest of the US?
2. Rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again meeting with LDS missionaries after moving to Salt Lake City. Is this proof that the restored gospel is for everyone?
3. President Biden’s State of the Union address highlighted many of his accomplishments. Despite this, lot of people, including 58% of Democrats do not want him to run for reelection. Why is that?
4. There is intense fighting near Bakhmut in Ukraine. This may mark the first successful advance for the Russians in a long time. Should the US be doing more to help the Ukrainians?

Big Topic:

As I drive from Utah to Idaho, I see lots of people waving flags on their trucks and at their homes. I don’t see US flags as much as I used to, I see more divisive flags. What do these flags represent? Why are people flying them? Is it ok to wave a flag that might upset some people, even if it has a different meaning to you personally?

Example flags (I’m leaving out all the ultra-offensive F-Biden flags on purpose): 

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• The COVID Health emergency will officially end in May, and along with it a bunch of government benefits that were put into place for the pandemic. CNN has a list here. Personally, I am going to miss some of these benefits. Did the little experiment with free COVID related healthcare demonstrate that government is good at providing healthcare? Government funded the COVID vaccine, testing, and treatment; it seemed to work really well.
• MrBeast cured blindness for over 1,000 people. The church is increasingly publicizing the good works they do. All of this pales in comparison to what governments do to help the downtrodden. Is this a PR problem? Should governments do more to publicize the good that they are doing?
• One of the Real Housewives of SLC wants to trademark “Bad Mormon”, the church opposes it. Should the church just let her have the trademark, since we don’t want to be known as Mormons anyway?
• BYU would like faculty members’ teaching and research to align with LDS tenets. Is this just an attempt to force liberal-minded individuals out of BYU? What does it appear that they are trying to accomplish?

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Who are we? Why would you want to listen to us?
This episode introduces your hosts and the reason for the podcast. You've never heard talk about Ukraine or Russia like this before. We may not be foreign policy wonks, but we have information and perspectives you won't hear from the talking heads on prominent news outlets. 

Join us this week as we discuss: 

1. How we felt when Russia invaded communities in which we served as 1990s-era Mormon missionaries. 
2. Is Ukraine Russia? Are there historical justifications for the invasion?
3. What ought to be done? What specific steps would we take if we were in a position of influence to solve this crisis?

As always, the opinions expressed are our own and are subject to change. Our views do not reflect the views of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or any of its subsidiaries. Everything is unscripted, and we often change our minds while discussing a topic.

Links to information about the treaties signed when Ukraine agreed to transfer their nuclear weapon arsenal to Russia.

Information about Kievan Rus the Mongol Horde, the rise of the Russian Empire, and Ukraine before the Soviet Union.

Information about Ukrainian nationalism, culture, and religion. 

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An exciting new podcast is coming soon. Your home for unscripted, faith-promoting, entertaining discussion of current political events. We tackle the tough topics that most people avoid.
New episodes each Wednesday.