Glass Box Podcast

In light of a recent Twitter op-ed, we invite Dr. Cristina Rosetti onto the show to discuss a polygamist group in Utah (the Kingston Group) who’ve recently contributed to political campaigns, shot rifles with POTUS’s son, and opposed the decriminalization of polygamy which recently passed the Utah legislature. Rosetti helps us navigate the tumultuous waters of Mormon polygamy and discusses the recently-passed bill. Then we jump into our next installment of The Naked Communist before wrapping with some happy news about the recent Presidential Election.   Links mentioned in the interview: https://cherishfamilies.org/?fbclid=IwAR1P2QDwOaqIonSZUAgpepQwrJ3CH1N5AU9_jIHXUBrdQs7s5OfFXs5GiQw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_United_Brethren?fbclid=IwAR0Hgna6chGnE7HbnBKPsVkXCwBBTRGNcYuaNw5b7MfWMhMFODarx7Ei_A4 https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2020/11/06/utah-attorney-general/?fbclid=IwAR0r7qQVu_WARC1bGwdDQWCSrszYpZ25eXAhBLmR8GvrNI853FgveH4cx2M https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Creek_raid?fbclid=IwAR18g9F

You heard it right, Justice Dallin H. Oaks said “Black lives matter”! Buuuuuuut, he said ‘but’ after it. We go top to bottom on Oaks’ recent BYU speech titled “Racism and Other Challenges” to see what slipped through the cracks and talk generally about masks, voting, protests, statues, and the works. Then we talk about “The Social Dilemma,” a new doc on Netflix about the problems of social media and how it has fueled and shaped modern politics. Then Shannon tells us about the Duwamish river in Seattle healing after 2 decades of environmental conservation efforts. Hey everybody, get out and vote!   Links: James Randi Educational Foundationhttps://web.randi.org/   Justice Dallin Oaks “Racism and Other Challenges” https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-oaks-byu-devotional-october-2020-talk https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/10/27/21536493/black-lives-matter-dallin-h-oaks-byu-devotional-first-presidency-latter-day-saints-mormon-lds?fbclid=IwAR0CAz_O_gyvg1-hybL4nVx-Z3XUpO_b1LP1fxhmRJxrQSc1mpZ

A whole episode about Ezra Taft Benson and Cleon Skousen! We invite Dr. Matt Harris, author of the recent “Watchman on the Tower; Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon Right” along with friend of the show, Joseph Geisner, to discuss the life and influences of Mormon Prophet, Ezra Benson. A product of the red scare and McCarthyism, Benson rose to prominence as Dwight Eisenhower’s Secretary of Agriculture and continued to gain status as a radical right-wing conspiracy theorist general authority, eventually becoming prophet of the church in 1985. Arguably, no other individual has had more influence making Mormonism a conservative religion than Benson himself. Please pick up a copy of Matt’s book from Benchmark Books here: https://www.benchmarkbooks.com/ or ring them up and have them send you a copy at 801-486-3111. After that, we do our next installment of Cleon Skousen’s “The Naked Communist” with added context from the interview. Then we round out the show with some happy news about high early-voter tu

I mean, the title is pretty self-explanatory. Yeah, it’s that long because boiling down 10 hours of brainwashing stupefaction takes a while. But, we discuss what slipped through the cracks and why it matters for us to analyze every nook and cranny of each #GenCON.   Show Links:Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

We take this week’s episode as a time to reflect on the incredible life and legacy of one of the nation’s brightest minds. SCOTUS lost a paragon of civil rights and gender equality in a contentious election year. We discuss the life and accomplishments of RBG, what her death in September 2020 means, and what we can expect moving forward. After that, Braden phones in to tell us about Pride, a movie about a GLB rights group protesting for miner’s rights in Magaret Thatcher’s U.K. Then we discuss the recent endorsement by Scientific American of Joe Biden, the first in the 175 years of the journal’s history.   Voting resourceshttps://vote.gov/https://www.vote411.org/   RBG resourceshttps://www.npr.org/2016/07/14/486080234/listen-justice-ginsburg-expands-on-decision-to-apologize-for-trump-remarks https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/us/ruth-bader-ginsburg-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR30TLvfPs2wnPJHtPHoCfIvgm0WEnsln7NQ3FS4g83-oZmfj-mjWKxvseU https://www.npr.org/2020/09/18/100306972/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-champion-of-ge

Shannon Grover joins us again for the next installment of The Naked Communist, why don’t we just make it official? Welcome to our new permanent co-host!! We start the show with a quick rundown of a recent talk given by Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of Apostles about the current wave of civil rights protests we see across the nation. We transition seamlessly into The Naked Communist and it’s remarkable how similar the arguments are with 70 years separating them. Then we discussed an ad campaign by reddit to try and increase voter turnout this November.   Quentin L. Cook BYU talk https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/8/24/21398349/elder-cook-to-byu-faculty-focus-on-building-faith-in-christ-church-brigham-young-provo-racial-unity?fbclid=IwAR3d20OGp68n-9MuLE-MFt8Yq6_67bPlP7cX6DuP1cxvJ8pM9saO_i4cazg   Happy news https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/ikxsst/this_reddit_billboard_advertisement_for_their/   Voting resourceshttps://vote.gov/https://www.vote411.org/   Show Links: Website http://www.glassbo

We’re joined by Brian Simper for an interview about Mormon membership statistics. Brian gave a presentation at the recent Sunstone Symposium and was kind enough to join me for a deep dive into his methodology and findings. After that we discuss The Invention of Lying and a brief rundown of Steve Bannon’s arrest on wire fraud charges.   Happy news: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/08/steve-bannon-fraud-trump/615523/   Show Links:Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Our resident General Authority, Shannon Grover, at long last joins us for an entire episode. We begin with hearing her story growing up in the church, her early life, mission, marriage, and finally apostasy. She’s had quite the incredible journey and we’re lucky to have her share so much. After that, we get through the next chapter of The Naked Communist by Cleon Skousen and wrap up with some happy news about a miner in Tanzania!   Happy news https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53642490

A lot of people have debated this question for decades. We sit down with some work from Steven Hassan, Margaret Singer, and other cult experts to discuss what makes a cult a cult. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, yes and it's complicated. Longest answer, yes and listen to the show. Now that I have your attention, reader, here’s a fun activity: send a Facebook message to Braden Hamm and ask him “if the players were required to be drunk, what would be the funniest sport to watch?” But don’t tell him why! I want to know who reads these show notes. If you do, send me a direct message to nakedmormonism@gmail.com with your physical address. After that we talk about The Life of Brian and some happy news about New York building up its electric automotive infrastructure.   Cult resources: BITE model https://freedomofmind.com/bite-model/ Steven Hassan on LDS Church https://freedomofmind.com/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints/ The Cult of Trump https://freedomofmind.com/the-cult-of-trump-media-page/ Ethi

This episode begins with a panel discussion with Marie D’Elephant and Marissa McCool about navigating ethical non-monogamy. Open relationships/marriages can be a taboo topic and uncomfortable for some; Marie and Riss help us by giving a 101 discussion to introduce us to the subject, uncover some common pitfalls, and provide resources for further reading should non-monogamy be a topic which interests you. After that Braden and I debrief from the interview before jumping into part 1 of reading through The Naked Communist by W. Cleon Skousen. We wrap with some good news about black-owned businesses experiencing a spike amid the current protests and a little bit of listener mail.   Marie D’Elephant https://www.facebook.com/mariedelephant/ https://mariedelephant.com/https://everyonesautonomous.com/   Marissa McCool (The Purple Amazon)https://www.facebook.com/RisMcCool https://centerforinquiry.org/speakers/mccool_marissa/ https://www.amazon.com/Marissa-Alexa-McCool/e/B075NQV56B%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share http

Lots of interlocking stories to discuss this week. We jump right in with a discussion about the most recent headlines sparked by the protests following George Floyd’s death. A lot of legislation has been crafted in response to the protests, including an executive order from President Donald Trump. We examine the organizations he listed during the signing to determine the intent of the order, followed by looking at the text of the order itself. Once created, tools can be used for good and evil. Then we discuss CHOP, the occupation movement in Capitol Hill, Washington. The Seattle City Council crafted resolutions in response to the leverage held by the CHOP protestors joined by protests across the nation. Seattle chose to ban the use of chokeholds, riot control weapons, and officers covering their badge numbers. We weigh in on #DefundPolice and how useful it can be in sparking a conversation, but why does the “defunding” stop at police? Then we finally tackle the Mormon angle by examining the recent rulings in

Racial tensions and police brutality in America have caused protests, riots, and citizens becoming the victims of war crimes committed by our military-police force. How did we get here? Where do we go? How can we effectively reform policing in America? It’s a complicated issue and a couple of white guys are going to do their best to introduce you to the topic and form a basic foundation on which to build a base of knowledge about these subjects. We also take a look at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints angle of race, as this is a Mormon-centric podcast. We encourage you to use the resources and further reading below. We wrap the episode with the final installment of Case for the Book of Mormon, a tool of genocide and racial supremacy which shaped American history. Links: First Presidency statement https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-shares-social-post-encouraging-understanding-and-civility Church’s social media post: https://twitter.com/Ch_JesusChrist/status/126823

Update on COVID-19 time! The Mormon church is taking steps to reopen wards around the globe while there’s no evidence that we’ve effectively flattened the curve. They’re also investing some resources into making PPE for medical workers in the form of masks and surgical gowns made from sacred-underwear cotton. Plenty to discuss. Then, Braden tells us about After Life starring Ricky Gervais. We wrap with some happy news about a vodka company based in Utah making hand sanitizer to combat the ‘Rona. Plus listener mail and an iTunes review!   Angel's Trumpet: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/05/20/lds-church-sells-exxon/   https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/05/19/lds-church-unveils-plan/   https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/global-sacred-clothing-production-facilities-temporarily-produce-masks-gowns   https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/safe-return-church-meetings-activities   Media of Great Price:After Life   Happy News: Interesting contrast to the church. Church worries about

We do something a little different this week. This show starts out with an interview of two elders in the mission field who no longer believe in Mormonism, yet are stuck on their mission during COVID lockdown. How do Elders A and B cope with being on a sales force for a product they know isn’t real? They offer a window into the day-to-day life of missionaries stuck in the world of lockdowns while trying to be good people in spite of being missionaries. After that we dive into part 4 of Tad R. Callister’s Case for the Book of Mormon: how to gain a personal testimony of the Book of Mormon. Can we be done with this book yet?! Then we get to some happy news about Germany banning gay conversion therapy for minors at the nationwide level.   Follow Broken Missionary here:https://twitter.com/BrokenMissionay   Happy news https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52585162 Show Links:Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

We take a break from headlines and current events to dabble into the lighter side of Mormonism. Braden and I square off in a trivia challenge drinking game. Braden brings the culture, I bring the history and we see who comes out on top. But, it turns out, when you play a drinking game everybody wins! Join us for a light-hearted hangout along with a Media of Great Price about Pineapple Express and a happy news segment about countries transitioning off coal power.   Media of Great Price https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/04/22/sweden-exits-coal-two-years-early/   Show Links:Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast  

We hit our goal on patreon.com/glassboxpod! Braden had to watch General Conference for the first time in our podcast history. It, indeed, is a historic conference! We go through talk by talk to see what slipped through the cracks of all 5 sessions of the April 2020 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Strap in, it’s a long one. Did Rusty make this as historic of an event as the hype made it? Just like the other episodes about #GenConf, we get a little extra NSFW on this broadcast; listener beware.   Jana Riess’ article about General Conferencehttps://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/04/07/jana-riess-when-big/   Show Links:Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

How is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints handling the Coronavirus epidemic? We explore current events and the coming end of the world. Then we get into our next installment of The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister… ugh. Finally, we wrap up with some happy news about how celebrities, artists, and regular folk are helping each other through the epidemic.   Being sent home https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/03/30/city-creek-mall-merchants/ https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/04/02/this-week-mormon-land/ https://www.insider.com/mormons-gathered-salt-lakes-airport-greet-missionaries-with-hugs-2020-3 https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/service-options-missionaries-march-31-2020 https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/april-2020-edition-of-the-world-report https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/covid-19-mtc-adjustment https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/covid-19-impact-missionary-service   Samuel L. Jackson reads “Stay the F*** At Home”: http

Yes, we’re jumping into the outrage ball-pit of COVID-19, Coronavirus. We do our typical overview of the issue and piece together a chronology from multiple reputable sources. This is a worldwide topic and therefore dives into politics, which we don’t often do. If you want a break from all the hype or don’t want to hear about politics, this may not be the episode for you. If you want to be informed on what a viral outbreak looks like and attempt to gain some perspective, this episode may be worth a listen. Of course, because this is a show about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we tie the issue into Mormonism at the end. Stay safe, everybody. Please follow the guidelines of experts to remain distanced and hygenic. This episode has a bit more NSFW language than usual.   Links: https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/coronavirus-a-timeline-of-how-the-deadly-outbreak-evolved/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/pedrodacosta/2020/03/07/trumps-lies-about-the-coronavirus-raise-the-risk-of-a-recessi

Boy Scouts of America is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy because of child sex abuse? We thank thee, O God, for our Profit, Russel M. Nelson for getting the Mormon church out of Scouts before all those lawsuits crippled BSA! While this isn’t a story directly about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, these issues long predate the divorce of these two institutions. Braden and I explore the common threads and what this bankruptcy means. Then Braden tells us about some kids at a Catholic school who walked out when their gay teachers were fired for being gay!   Links: https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/02/18/boy-scouts-of-america-files-for-bankruptcy-over-sex-abuse-claims/#353a52cd2e58 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-wave-of-sexual-abuse-lawsuits-could-cost-catholic-church-over-4-billion-2019-12-02 https://www.npr.org/2020/02/18/806721827/boy-scouts-of-america-files-for-bankruptcy-as-it-faces-hundreds-of-sex-abuse-cla https://theoutline.com/post/8687/boy-scouts-bankruptcy-filing-sex

The Wall Street Journal somehow got an interview with two of the leading guys of Mormon Money, the Presiding Bishop, Gerald Causse, and the head of Ensign Peak Advisors, Roger Clarke. We discuss the story with the help of a post in the /r/mormon subreddit (linked below). After that, it’s our next installment of The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister where he decides to go completely offensive because us critics have had the ball in our court for too long! Then we talk about Jeff Bezos pledging $10 billion to climate change. Links:https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/f1yu3w/epa_what_we_know_now/ https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/f5gtrg/1billion_fake_church_news_live https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/f4mfbs/netflix_explained_series_i_just_watched_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/f4h1xz/if_mormonism_is_going_to_survive_it_will_not_be/ https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/f4cgte/how_much_is_124_billion/ https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/f1vi62/the_mormon