Uncaged with Rene Steelman

She's beautiful but never vain. Ambitious, but never threatening. Her house is spotless, her children are adorable, and she has never looked at a pile of laundry and thought, I have made a terrible mistake.

Meet the perfect woman. Americans have been repackaging and reselling her for more than a century, from the postwar homemaker to Mormon mommy bloggers to today's tradwife with a ring light and a sourdough starter.

Inspired by Kristen Kobes Du Mez's Live, Laugh, Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made, Rene traces where this ideal actually came from. Along the way, she explores:

• Betty Friedan's "problem that has no name" and why, when a woman follows the formula and still isn't fulfilled, we question the woman instead of the formula
• Helen Andelin and Fascinating Womanhood, the 1963 bestseller built partly on material from decades earlier
• How self-help, advertising, and evangelical and Mormon culture blended until tradition started sounding like theology
• The moment culture becomes "divine design," and why disagreeing starts to feel like questioning God
• The paradox of Ballerina Farm and the modern tradwife: the image is domestic, but producing it is real work, and a real business
• Rene's own story as a stay-at-home mother of six, and the difference between I choose this and this is your divinely assigned role

Maybe women haven't failed at traditional womanhood. Maybe it was constructed, advertised, borrowed, and monetized until it began to feel eternal.

So who taught you what a good woman was supposed to be? And who would you have become if nobody had answered that question for you?

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What happens when a religion built around being a “peculiar people” begins looking—and sounding—more like mainstream Christianity?

On this episode of Uncaged: She Became Visible, Rene  sits down with attorney, researcher, former federal prosecutor, Freemason, and adult convert to the LDS Church Lance Kennedy for a provocative exploration of the changing identity of modern Mormonism.

Using an analysis of more than 5,800 General Conference talks and 11 million words, Lance examines what he sees as a dramatic shift beginning around 2018: less emphasis on distinctly Mormon language and theology, greater emphasis on Jesus, grace, Holy Week and traditional Christian imagery, changes to the temple ceremony, the move away from the word “Mormon,” and an increased focus on the living prophet over earlier church history.

But the conversation goes much deeper.

Rene and Lance explore Joseph Smith’s relationship to Freemasonry and the Western esoteric tradition, including seer stones, Masonic symbolism, prayer circles, Kabbalah, grimoires, The Magus, the Jupiter talisman, and the possible historical origins of rituals and concepts that generations of Latter-day Saints have practiced without necessarily knowing where they came from.

For Rene, who spent decades inside the church, the conversation raises a larger question: If the things that once made Mormonism distinctly Mormon are gradually disappearing, what happens to the identity of the faith itself?

This isn’t simply a conversation about believing or disbelieving. It’s an invitation to get curious—to ask where our beliefs came from, why particular rituals exist, how they have changed, and what those changes may tell us about where the LDS Church is headed next.

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Rene opens this episode with a brief recap of the Five Cages and Five Keys that will shape future episodes of Uncaged—then heads to Sunstone 2026, one of the most thought-provoking gatherings in the Mormon and post-Mormon community. 

Broadcasting from the conference floor, she shares highlights from the weekend, interviews attendees, and explores the many paths people take as they question, redefine, or reconstruct their faith and identity. Along the way, she offers her own reflections on topics ranging from religious culture and personal freedom to community, healing, and the courage to think differently. 

Whether you're part of the Mormon tradition, have experienced faith deconstruction, or simply enjoy thoughtful conversations about identity and belonging, this episode offers an inside look at a community where difficult questions are welcomed and authentic dialogue thrives.

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What happens after you become visible? You become free.

In the premiere episode of Uncaged, René Steelman shares the deeply personal story behind retiring her beloved podcast She Became Visible and why this next chapter is about so much more than reinvention—it's about liberation. Drawing from her own life experiences, René introduces the Five Locks that keep so many of us trapped: Identity, Obligation, Appearance, Grief, and Comfort.

Through heartfelt stories of motherhood, caregiving, faith, loss, aging, and personal transformation, she explains how these "cages" often begin as places of safety before quietly becoming places we outgrow. Most importantly, she reveals the central message of Uncaged: the door has been open all along.

This episode sets the foundation for the series and previews the inspiring guests and conversations ahead—all designed to help you step into greater freedom, authenticity, and purpose.

Freedom looks good on you

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A sneak peek at what's ahead...

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