Episode 4: Sunstone Firesides

Journalist Sarah McCammon watched the Evangelical community shift from reviling Donald Trump to embracing him. The Latter-day Saints seem to have done the same thing. Drawing on years of political reporting and her own experience of “living, loving, and leaving” Evangelicalism, McCammon shows how Mormons followed a similar path, and what we can do to find firm ground in today’s political/religious landscape.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/SLP-217.mp3

In 2006, Carol Lynn Pearson’s play “Facing East” premiered in Salt Lake City. Then it had runs off Broadway and in San Francisco. Focusing on the Mormon parents of a gay man who committed suicide, it helped religious families better understand their gay loved ones. The play will be revived in October and November 2026 in Salt Lake City. Join director Jerry Rapier, and actors Christy Summerhays and Jay Perry as they talk about the play and why this revival is so important. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SLP-216.mp3

Young Washington and Odysseus walk into a fast and testimony meeting. Only one will emerge triumphant! Both are violent. Both play fast and loose with their source material. And both are myths. In this episode, Stephen Carter compares the two movies for what they might offer to a Mormon audience.     https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SLP-215.mp3

Dan McClellan has done the seemingly impossible. He has made Bible scholarship not only accessible, but cool on his TikTok channel. In this episode, he talks about how he became the internet sensation he is today.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SLP-214.mp3

Roadshows, Boy Scouts, MIA, basketball leagues, potlucks—the LDS Church was once buzzing with community activities. But most of that has disappeared. How did it happen? In this episode, Mithryn (a.k.a. Kenneth Lines) presents a fast-paced history of the rise and fall of community activities in the Church.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SLP-212.mp3

What if apostles were given emeritus status at 70 years of age? This was the question apostle Hugh B. Brown proposed to the Quorum of the Twelve as President David O. McKay descended into senility. Would the Quorum go for it? After all, Hugh would be the first to go! In this episode, Matt Harris talks about how a power vacuum caused chaos in the First Presidency. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SLP-211.mp3

What do Latter-day Saints mean when they say temples are sacred? Intrepid reporter Stephen Carter braves three tours of the Lindon Temple to find out. (Hint: It’s definitely not the symbolism.)   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SLP-210.mp3

Polygamists, Danites, and guns! The Italian cowboy hero Tex has met with them all over the course of more than 75 years of comic book stories. But the portrayal of Mormons in the series has changed significantly, as presented by Michael Homer in this episode. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SLP-209.mp3

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat thinks that believing in the divine and joining a religion is not only a rational thing to do, it’s the best way to interact with reality. But what happens when you come out the other side of belief? Stephen Carter analyzes Douthat’s book “Believe: Why Everyone Should be Religious,” in this episode of the Sunstone Podcast. https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/SLP-208.mp3

As a non-Mormon scholar, John G. Turner spent years researching Joseph Smith’s life as he wrote a biography of Smith. He found out that nothing about Joseph Smith’s life was boring; for better or for worse. In this episode, Turner compares the young Joseph Smith as he produced the golden plates with the older Joseph Smith as he practiced polygamy.   https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SLP-207.mp3