Glass Box Podcast

The Church History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just dropped a revelatory bomb on the Mormon history community and we’re gunna talk about it. John Taylor (prophet 1880-1887) wrote a revelation saying that the new and everlasting covenant is actually “everlasting” and cannot be revoked or abrogated. However, the prophet after Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, wrote the First Manifesto bringing the church into compliance with the law of the land. However, plural marriages continued to be performed. The Reed Smoot hearings turned the eyes of the nation to the kingdom of god in Deseret and every clandestine plural marriage put a lie to the Manifesto. Church leaders are excommunicated and it leads to the formation of the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints. The church has suppressed this revelation in its vaults for nearly a century while openly denying that it even existed. After that we chat about more secrets hiding in plain sight with the movie National Treasure. We wrap with happy news ab

Let’s talk leaders. What qualities does a great leader have? What’s the difference between a good and great leader? And we talk about three leaders in history. In our Sword of Laman segment, we cover the next few chapters of the Givens’ book. And to clear your palette, we share a news article about a charitable move Bill Gates is making. Enjoy!    Show Notes:  What is Ethical Leadership and Why is it Important?: https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-ethical-leadership-and-why-is-it-important/#The-6-Main-Principles-of-Ethical-Leadership  What Great Leaders do that Good Leaders Don’t:  ​​https://www.forbes.com/sites/dougsundheim/2023/04/13/what-great-leaders-do-that-good-leaders-dont/  Elizabeth I: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I# Queen Elizabeth I: The controversies and accomplishments: https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/queen-elizabeth-l-0011092  Elizabeth I, Religious Questions and the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots: https://www.britannica.com/biogr

Not only is it Pride month but it’s also been almost 10 years since the Mormon church issued their policy against the children of LGBTQIA+ parents. We take a look at the effects that policy had, the increasingly draconian measures the government is taking, and we read between the lines of Mormon church policies. We also look at the measures people are taking to improve the lives of LGBTQIA+. For Media of Great Price, we watched the lovely 2018 movie Rafiki about two lesbian women in Kenya. And we end with good news out of Paris about a new monument. Happy Pride Month!    Show notes:  https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/why-utah-no-utopia-lgbt-equality-despite-progress https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-utah-compromise-is-a-dangerous-lgbt-trojan-horse-db790ad3b69e/ https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/handbook-changes-same-sex-marriages-elder-christofferson https://kutv.com/news/local/group-holds-mass-resignation-from-lds-church-in-slc-saturday https://www.sltrib.com/religion/lo

We’re talking about the bane of the Q15’s existence! Doubts of the members. We discuss the terrible way they are dealt with which leads into the second installment of the Givens’ trilogy — The Crucible of Doubt — Reflections on the Quest for Faith. Following that we have some good news out of El Paso where the Consulate General of Mexico gave out free measles vaccines to children and adults in El Paso, Texas.    Show  Notes:    Jana Riess: Who is leaving the LDS church? Eight key survey findings: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/03/08/jana-riess-who-is-leaving-lds/  When Doubts and Questions Arise by Adam Kotter, Ensign March 2015: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2015/03/when-doubts-and-questions-arise?lang=eng  Christ is Risen: Faith in him will move mountains, by Russell M. Nelson, April 2021 General Conference talk: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/49nelson?lang=eng    Happy News:  https://www.ktsm.com/news/consulate-general-of

Fasting! In all its forms and purposes. We take a wander through world religions to see how fasting plays a part in almost all of them. Mormon fasting is far less peculiar than we thought. Then a few episodes of South Park that provide wonderful commentary on fasting, the economy, and witch hunts. We round out with happy news about land being returned to Indigenous people and burn through listener mail that’s been piling up.  Show notes:    Fasting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting  Fasting: https://www.britannica.com/topic/fasting  Religious Fasting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_fasting  Fasting in Islam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting_in_Islam  Ramadan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan  Native Teachings are about a way of life: https://mushkiki.com/programs-services/fasting/   Fasting in Jainism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting_in_Jainism   With Lent almost over, here’s why religions fast: https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/07/world/religious-fastin

We’re finishing The God Who Weeps by Terryl Givens and Fiona Givens. This is the first book in a trilogy of Mormon theology and we want to leave room in the year to get through it all. What does today hold for us? We start with a long discussion on the pre-mortal existence, transitioning into existence, then ascending to perfection thanks to Mormon beliefs. We didn’t realize until pretty late in the project that the 5 chapters of the book are structured around the different stages of the Mormon Plan of Salvation (PoS), but it become clear pretty early on in our discussion. All told, the book is a marker of modern orthodox Mormon belief: pray, pay, and obey. They even have an ultra-conservative take on abortion that makes the official stance of the church seem like bleeding-heart liberals in comparison. Then we talk about The Meaning of Life, a Monty Python movie from 1983 that has a much more healthy way of looking at the random cosmic soup that led to human existence. We wrap with some happy news about the

April 2025 General Conference Sunday Afternoon session. Patrons of the show get the appendix of Saturday Evening session at the end of the record.   Ulisses Soares – Reverence; Moses and the burning bush; you-damn-kids talk; pray for guidance from the Holy Ghost for AI, don’t weaken your connection to God with AI!!!   Michael Strong Q70 – Killed a kid on a bike during his mission, was really sad that he had to spend the night in jail until a ‘compassionate’ fellow missionary stayed with him   Scott Whiting Q70 – Hazed as a deacon and sat on a cactus; Garden of Eden, “blessed Eve”, crying repentance   Christopher Kim Q70 – JS translated an ancient record, includes God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas; Laman and Lemuel were sooooo evil and dumb; moral agency, we can choose to harden or soften our hearts, submission vs respect   Patrick Kearon – Gifts, “you really are that you might have joy,” repent ye, repent ye   Benjamin M Z Tai Q70 – Cancellation of a sealing after div

April 2025 General Conference Sunday Morning session.   David A Bednar – Joseph Smith totally restored the one true church; and other sundry sacrament meeting talking points   Steven Shumway Q70 – Do your callings, no matter how demanding they may be   Tamara Runia FC YW GP – Cry for repentance; Jesus is excited every time he sees us on our knees   Gerald Causse PB – Dude who controls the church’s wealth is moved by seeing people suffering in poverty   Gerrit Gong – Jesus Wept; Easter, Palm Sunday, holy week; mortal and moral agency and alignment with Bednar   John McCune Q70 – Tithing, temple attendance, the world is ending, Rusty is a terrible dad who abandoned his daughter on her death bed   Dallin Oaks – The most flacid GC talk he’s given in years; Plan of Salvation, sacrament meeting talk, returning to the Celestial Kingdom, 10 virgins, trusting in the lord will keep you safe   Other appearances: Chris Shelton interviewed us in the beginning of a series on Mormonism. Here’s the most rec

April 2025 General Conference Saturday Afternoon session.   Niel Anderson – Heinous abortion is evil diatribe, the church is extreme Conservative   Steven Lund YM GP – Priesthood is awesome, men run everything in the church   S Mark Palmer Q70 – Willow tree, cut up the fallen ones   Sandino Roman Q70 – Drowning story   Dale Renlund – A dumb 6-year-old thought the second coming was real   Hans T Boom Q70 – Poor people donated their washing machine money to build a temple; Armies of Helaman   Dieter Uchtdorf – The Church isn’t perfect, come back anyway; polishing the turd of a session before him   Other appearances: Chris Shelton interviewed us in the beginning of a series on Mormonism. Here’s the most recent episode on what Mormons can teach us about organizing a cult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxjD7ucajI  Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod  Patreon page for documentary: https://www.patreon.com/SeerStonedProductions BlueSky: @gl

April 2025 General Conference Saturday Morning session.   Jeffrey R. Holland – Little boy bites a little girl, better teach her to forgive!   Camille Johnson RS GP – Waiting to be healed filling spiritual holes   Ronald Rasband – Church is DOING GREAT! Don’t check our numbers…   Quentin L. Cook – Handcart companies and tragedy   Ricardo Gemenez Q70 – Checklist Mormonism   Henry Eyring – Zombie Jesus   Other appearances: Chris Shelton interviewed us in the beginning of a series on Mormonism. Here’s the most recent episode on what Mormons can teach us about organizing a cult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxjD7ucajI  Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod  Patreon page for documentary: https://www.patreon.com/SeerStonedProductions BlueSky: @glassboxpodcast.bsky.social  Other BlueSky: @bryceblankenagel.bsky.social and @shannongrover.bsky.social  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassboxpodcast/  Merch store: https://www.redbubbl

It’s time to examine Joseph-Smith-polygamy skepticism. After the recent Journal of Mormon Polygamy conference, we decided to seriously consider the evidences used by this cohort of Mormon studies, leading us to understand that polygamy was a creation of Brigham Young and the Utah Mormon movement. After that we discuss O Brother, Where Art Thou? An Oddessy movie interweaving many storytelling archetypes and tropes. Then some good news about automotive subsidies coming in the form of tariffs. Show notes:    Joseph Smith Wasn’t a Polygamist video playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL19uMsnpSU&list=PLmuYPN2xUIM0zw-bwR1MEAJ7gcRL9zuSH&index=5&t=745s Journal of Mormon Polygamy https://journalofmormonpolygamy.org/jmp MOGP: O Brother, Where Art Thou  IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/  Where it’s streaming: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/o-brother-where-art-thou  Other appearances: Chris Shelton interviewed us in the beginning of a series on Mormonism. Here’s

We have a guest for our main segment this time. Chris Shelton is a cult expert content creator who eats, breathes, and sleeps high-demand, coercive groups. We discuss everything from what makes a group a cult, how to identify them, is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a cult, and proper ways to approach conversations about high-demand groups. Be sure to check out our series collaborating on Chris’s YouTube channel linked below. After that we discuss Don’t Look Up, a 2021 movie about the cult of politics and a major natural disaster that affects everybody across the globe. To wrap up we have a brief chat about a gene-related study on mice and speech patterns before closing out with a review of all our listener mail from the Death Penalty series.   Next Live Show: Mon, March 31, 2025 6:00 PM (MT)  Bryce’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bryceblankenagel7707    Show Notes:  Chris Shelton:  Chris’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisSheltonMsc  Wikipedia: https://en.wi

It’s time for part 2 of our Death Penalty series! Since this is a Mormon podcast, we first look into the history of Mormons and the death penalty. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young both ordered assassinations and fostered environments where random acts of violence became inevitable. The State of Deseret, Utah, has a comparatively bloody, theocratic history. Then we take a broader view of religion and capital punishment. After that, we look into the ethics/morals of capital punishment and give you a look at the Innocence project. We wrap by discussing your responses from Survey #1 as well as our own viewpoints on the subject.   Survey #2: After listening to these episodes, we’d like to hear if your insights or opinions have changed and how. https://forms.gle/Vjn48xzWgCWcJR8r8  Show Notes:  Trump v United States: Oral argument on the former president’s immunity claim: https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/trump-v-united-states-oral-argument-on-the-former-presidents-immunity-claim/640481

We begin our next series, this time on Capital Punishment. We start with the history of crimes throughout written history that justified the death penalty. Then we get into colonial history and how the death penalty was built into the foundations of racist America. Multiple Supreme Court rulings have shifted the landscape. We end with the recent EO attempting to expand the powers of the death penalty.   Death Penalty survey #1: https://forms.gle/S31MTYbM8JNsikpe9    Show Notes:    History of the death penalty: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/history-of-the-death-penalty/  https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/background/history-of-the-death-penalty/early-history-of-the-death-penalty  Timeline of the history of the death penalty: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/history-of-the-death-penalty-timeline  History of the death penalty in USA: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/background/history-of-the-death-penalty  Death penalty in the U.S.: https://ww

3 lawsuits against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We discuss the class action suit, Judson et al v. LDS, the recently tossed case of Huntsman v. LDS, and the civil RICO suit Gaddy v. LDS. Where do they stand? How likely are they to prevail? What are the next steps? We go over them and discuss the implications and steps forward. Then we chat about the 2015 movie Spotlight about the Boston Globe journalists who reported on Cathlolic sex abuse in the early 2000s. We wrap with some happy news about a new solar plant being built in Oregon!   We are on BlueSky now! If you’re on BlueSky already, you can find us @glassboxpodcast.bsky.social, @bryceblankenagel.bsky.social, or by following the link in the show notes below! Show Notes:  Gaddy v. LDS https://casetext.com/case/gaddy-v-corp-of-the-president-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/utah/utdce/2:2019cv00554/116009/141/ https://becketfund.org/case/gaddy-v-corporat

It’s time to start a new year and new book for our long-form deep dive reviews of terrible Mormon books. And this one is… not terrible? The Givens present a form of Mormon theology which tries to “make sense of life” and we’re here for any Mormon theology that doesn’t include discrimination, sexism, and anything holding it over from its past. We dive into the introduction and first chapter of the book. But, what would a book review be without some due diligence about the authors? We spend the first portion talking about Terryl and Fiona Givens, their histories, publishing careers, and try to get a sense for what we can expect throughout this book.   Terryl and Fiona Givens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Givens https://www.fionagivens.com/about https://www.patheos.com/topics/2014-religious-trends/mormon/joseph-smith-on-mormon-women-and-the-priesthood-fiona-givens-071014?p=2 https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/the-perfect-union-of-man-and-womanreclamation-and-collaboration-in-joseph-smiths-

BYU and SLC anti-vice. We discuss the history of Charles A. Callis, his career in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and politics, and his final assignment before death, creating a sexual purity surveillance and counseling/therapy program for Mormons in the 40s. After his death, Spencer W. Kimball took the reins and vastly expanded the reach and purposes of the program, resulting in The Miracle of Forgiveness. Cleon Skousen was running raids on gay clubs and anybody else seen as commie enemies of god’s country. The systems they created have adapted, evolved, and conformed to the times, but never gone away, as evidenced by the recent SL Tribue piece about BYU’s retrenchment and culture of fear. Then we chat about Minority report, a Tom Cruise sci-fi flick with surprisingly profound concepts. We wrap with happy news about the first openly transgender congressperson in American history.   Show Notes:  https://mormonstudies.as.virginia.edu/gay-rights-and-mormonism/ https://mormonstudies.as.vir

You know the time of year!    Next Live Show: Monday 12/30/24 https://www.youtube.com/@bryceblankenagel7707   Show Notes:  Starship Troopers: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120201/?ref_=tttrv  Movie:  Book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers#  Robert A Heinlein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#Politics  District 9:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_9  The Island:  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_The%2520Island    Viral by Robin Cook:  Robin Cook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Cook_(American_novelist)  Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury : chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://lexiconic.net/english/F451.pdf  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451    Animal Farm: A Fairy Tale by George Orwell: George Orwell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell#  Animal Farm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm  Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com  Patreon

We are finally finishing up the Huge Niblet! We cover the last two chapters of Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley followed by our own conclusions about Nibley and what he accomplished. We then finish with some happy news about an environmental lawsuit in North Carolina.    Show notes Approaching Zion, by Hugh Nibley    The Closing of the American Mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Closing_of_the_American_Mind  Haldeman-Julius and their Little Blue Books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Blue_Book   John Dewey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey  Pragmatism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism  Progressive education: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education  Functional psychology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_psychology  Modern liberalism in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_liberalism_in_the_United_States  The Muses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muses    Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

Here in the USA, it’s right before Thanksgiving and right after a bad election so it’s time to talk about Gaslighting. We discuss what it is, how to spot it, and how to fight it. For Media of Great Price, we talk about the 1944 movie Gaslight, which is where the term originates. We close out with happy news about a new way to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. Enjoy!    Show Notes:    Gaslighting:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting  — https://health.clevelandclinic.org/gaslighting  — https://themendproject.com/gaslighting/  — https://www.helpguide.org/relationships/domestic-abuse/gaslighting  Domestic Abuse Hotline, What is Gaslighting: https://www.thehotline.org/resources/what-is-gaslighting/  What is gaslighting abuse: https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/mental-health/what_is_gaslighting_abuse/  What is Narcissistic Gaslighting?: https://themendproject.com/narcissistic-gaslighting/  History of Gaslighting: https://woventraumatherapy.com/blog/history-of-gaslighting