Glass Box Podcast

Every General Conference the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announces new temples. We walk through the history surrounding a few of the worldwide temples, along with some of the subtle international political maneuvers necessary to open the door to a new temple project. Wherever the church wants a temple, leaders must curry the favor of local and national politicians and regulators, doing so with no legal oversight. This two-way-street of backscratching opens the way for national security risks. After that we jump into Hugh Nibley’s Approaching Zion where he talks about gifts and laments how much people have to work for money when God provides everything we need. We round out with an update to the USDA guidelines for school food nutritional requirements being improved.   Show notes:  https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/6383 https://apnews.com/article/china-foreign-influence-utah-legislature-mormon-church-921526d0c8eda2732c361488d20dd1b4   Happy News:  https://apnews.com/

It’s that time of year again. We go through all the talks from #GeneralConference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from top to bottom.   Show Notes:    EntheoMagus Documentary Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0uHmmToTec   Documentary screenings: April 27-28, 2024 in Salt Lake City, UT At the Natural Law Apothecary. April 29, 2024 At Brewvies   May 11, 2024 Portland, OR at the  Fifth Ave Cinema,    https://seerstonedproductions.com/ to get a ticket   Find Brandon Crockett here: https://seerstonedproductions.com/ through the contact form.    Find Alex Criddle here: https://alexcriddle.com/     Find Cody Noconi here: mormonsanddrugs@gmail.com   Naked Mormonism links to 2019 “Entheogenic Origins” paper:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6MXig8juxUKfMkJAIoYDxB https://open.spotify.com/episode/75DZPdYHHhXCXjpwwuNVkX https://open.spotify.com/episode/79EGBuWTJTBdJrMcHzoBxJ   Come see us on Aron Ra’s YouTube channel! He’s doing a series titled Reading Joseph’s

We’re very excited to invite a panel onto the show to discuss the forthcoming documentary about psychedelics in early Mormonism, EntheoMagus! We’re joined by the creators, Brandon Crockett, Cody Noconi, and Alex Criddle, to discuss the documentary, its genesis, and the overall future of the Smith-entheogen theory. Two sets of screenings are coming in late April and early May so if you’re in the SL, UT or Portland, OR areas, mark your calendar and grab your tickets before they’re all gone. Admission is free and we’re looking for any and all feedback! Show Notes: EntheoMagus Documentary Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0uHmmToTec Naked Mormonism links to 2019 “Entheogenic Origins” paper:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6MXig8juxUKfMkJAIoYDxB https://open.spotify.com/episode/75DZPdYHHhXCXjpwwuNVkX https://open.spotify.com/episode/79EGBuWTJTBdJrMcHzoBxJ Contact Cody for a PDF or ebook of his book: mormonsanddrugs@gmail.com Documentary screenings: April 27-28, 2024 in Salt Lake City,

Scripture study!!! Well, sort of. We’re talking about the codenames contained in the Doctrine & Covenants sections 78, 82, 92, 96, 103, 104, and 105. Names like Gazelam, Ahashdah, Pelagoram, Mahalaleel, Mahemson, Shederlaomach, and (most importantly) Talents, all appear concerning the Secret Combination of the United Firm, or United Order. We discuss the history of the names, who’s involved, and why they appear in the first place. Huge thanks to Gene Judson of Latter-daily Digest for inviting us onto the show and suggesting the topic! After that we chat about a movie concerning a secret combination, Hot Fuzz! We wrap with some happy news about biodegradable micro-polymers hoping to replace plastics!   Show Notes: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2203&context=byusq https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/ask-us-top-five-reference-questions-about-doctrine-and-covenants-publishing?lang=eng https://comparedandc.com/ https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5015/ http

It’s time for our next installment of Huge Niblet’s Approaching Zion! He spends basically the entire section lamenting higher education and any information from sources other than the “p”rophet’s counsel. Does he want us to be zealous, or learned? Nobody knows! But before that we have a quick debrief and error correction from the last episode of Mormonism Live with Dan Vogel and Bryce discussing the Spalding theory of Book of Mormon authorship. Don’t miss the discussion linked below. Then we round out the episode with some happy news about Christians getting supermad about being held to the same legal standard as non-Christians.   Show Notes:   Mormonism Live Spalding discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwLZ68Z6LAI&t=6201s   ChurchisTrue authorship analysis: https://wheatandtares.org/2020/04/23/book-of-mormon-wordprint-studies-in-2020/?fbclid=IwAR2KodKO9RYp69XCm0rtDCHkzSyd2i6Knmbu-asaDyFFnyNZvMIPGtf3Zb8   Happy News:  https://www.christianpost.com/news/canadian-bill-would-remove-rel

We did it! We FINALLY did it! After years and years and years of requests from many listeners we have finally taken a look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s very first Sherlock Holmes book —  A Study In Scarlet. We look at the time period Doyle was writing it and why he would take on Mormonism in his first book. We also take a look at the impact the story had on how Mormons were treated in film. And since that book is an outsider looking into Mormonism, we decided that for the Media of Great Price segment, we’d look at a film of an insider looking out of Mormonism. Yes, after many listener requests, we watched the shitshow that is the Mormon film 17 Miracles. Following that discussion we cleanse all palate’s with some good news out of the UK about leaving a treaty that allows fossil fuel companies to sue governments. Enjoy your listener request episode!    Show Notes:  https://www.jstor.org/stable/27089071?read-now=1&seq=39#page_scan_tab_contents https://www.jstor.org/stable/27089071?read-now=1&

It’s time to take a look at the early Utah economy as created by Brigham Young, a ruthless capitalist in his own right. We take a brief look at the beginnings of the California Gold Rush and how much the Mormons were involved, as well as the battle for control between Bloody Brigham and Samuel Brannan. Which also leads us into Part 1 of our deep dive into Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley. We discuss the first two essays and show the contortions Hugh Nibley has to make in order to present Bloody Brigham Young as a utopian. And to wash that image from your eyes, we will close out with some fantastic news about, of all things, the most recent Super Bowl and renewable energy. Enjoy!    Show Notes: https://utahstories.com/2016/07/the-legend-of-brighams-gold/ https://rsc.byu.edu/california-saints/apostles-amid-gold-seekers-1849 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-samuel-brannan/ https://www.historynet.com/latter-day-scoundrel-sam-brannan/ https://historytogo.utah.gov/mining/  

The Community of Christ, formerly the RLDS church, has named its new president! We bring on guest Evan Sharley to help us navigate the history of the RLDS/CoC, the climate into which Stassi Cramm is ascending to the office of prophet/president, and the current issues within the Community of Christ which converge to give a bleak impression of its future. Then we review the movie Whale Rider, a heartfelt legend-exploration story about progress overcoming conservatism. Then we wrap with some happy news about OpenAI and ChatGPT.   Show Notes:  Gileriodekel.com - Evan's personal website facebook.com/people/Heart-of-Discernment/100087683864565 - Heart of Discernment (progressive advocacy group) Gileriodekel.com/Maxims - Maxims of the Mother (Evan's book gathering her thoughts and beliefs) heartofdiscernment.com/polyamory-panel - Sunstone 2023 panel heartofdiscernment.com/polyamory-primer - About polyamorous families https://gileriodekel.com/books/   Media: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298228/

Today we take a look at the man who is inarguably THE best apologist of the mormon church. Yes, we are talking about Hugh Nibley.   Show Notes:   Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life by Boyd Peterson  Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith by Martha Beck  Hugh Nibley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Nibley  Hugh Nibley Biography: https://interpreterfoundation.org/bibliographies/hugh-w-nibley/biography/  Charles Nibley (Grandfather): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_W._Nibley  Lives of the Saints: Mormonism’s Troubled Legacy:  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/21/lives-of-the-saints  Faith of An Observer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xw_0_zZDVE  Hugh Nibley, 94; Mormon Scholar, Professor and Author: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-02-me-nibley2-story.html  Hugh Nibley WIll Never Happen Again: http://archive.timesandseasons.org/2021/10/hugh-nibley-will-never-happen-again/  No Ma’am That’s Not History http://www.sain

Newest Apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Patrick Kearon, joins replaces M. Russel Ballard in the highest leadership body of the Mormon hierarchy. Who is he, from where does he come (professionally and otherwise), and what does his calling mean for the future of the wealthiest religion in the world? We do an apostolic profile with what publicly-available information can be found about Patrick Kearon, and his wife Jennifer Hulme-Kearon. After that we’re joined by Jen from ExMo Candle Co. to discuss the winner in the Glass Box War for the official Destroying Angel candle. Then we chat about Thank You For Smoking, a movie about propaganda and the power of argumentation through the lens of Big Tobacco (™) and finally we wrap with good news about an across-the-board cost of living increase for minimum wage workers.   Show Notes:  Jennifer and Patrick Kearon’s talks/speeches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCcX_BrGqRI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs1zqc9-HzE https://www.y

WAHOO! It’s that time of year again. Time for our last episode of the year because we’ve finished off everything for the year and we want to have some fun. And that fun is BOOKS, of course! Well, this time books, movies, TV shows, and video games. We each brought three for you. Shannon brought three books to movie adaptations and Bryce brought three games to movie/TV series adaptations. We had some fun and hope you do too! And Happy Holidays to all of you!    Show Notes:    First Blood: Book by David Morrell.  Doom Arcane A League of Legends Story  Coldest City graphic novel by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart/Atomic Blonde: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:  How to Train Your Dragon: Book by Cressida Cowell    ‘Destroying Angel’ Candle Scent War!!! It’s down to the final countdown to go pitch in your vote for your favorite scent! Are you #TeamShannon or #TeamBryce? You have until December 31, 2023 at 11:59 PM (EST) to decide.  Make sure to leave a review once you’ve received the ca

That’s right! We’re done!! But we have to get through the final 3 chapters before rounding it out and providing our conclusions. The new authoritative history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is mostly what we expected; New Mormon History is dead and Saints: The Standard of Truth telegraphs an era of academic retrenchment. These chapters cover the assassination of Hyrum and Joseph Smith in Carthage and the immediate aftermath and succession crisis to get the church into the hands of Bloody Brigham Young. This has been a big project so if you’re a patron of the show who supported the project, check your feed for a special post for my entire 200+ pages of show notes generated for these episodes. Apologies in advance for all the typos. #TeamBryce, signing off.   ‘Destroying Angel’ Candle Scent War!!! Come pitch in your vote for your favorite scent! Are you #TeamShannon or #TeamBryce? Make sure to leave a review once you’ve received the candle and tried out the scent for yourself! https:

We’re in tunnel-vision mode until we finish this propagandistic pile of rubbish. Today is the penultimate episode of our long-form review of Saints. It begins in the spring of 1842 with John C. Bennett’s violent departure from Nauvoo and ends with the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor. Lots of things happen in this 2-year period and the book ignores most of them so let’s dive in. We do finish the episode with a tiny bit of happy news to keep us all positive as well as an update about the ongoing ExMo Candle Co Destroying Angel battle for the best scent. Patreon listeners get a tease for our next book review so be sure to tune in to the exclusive feed!   ‘Destroying Angel’ Candle Scent War!!! Come pitch in your vote for your favorite scent! Are you #TeamShannon or #TeamBryce? Make sure to leave a review once you’ve received the candle and tried out the scent for yourself! https://exmocandles.com/glass-box-wars/   Show Notes:  https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-expositor-7-june

AT LONG LAST! We’re joined by Jen from ExMo Candle Co. to talk all about her experience and what led her to processing and healing from the Mormon cult through blasphemous candles! She tells of her story with the church, attending a Mormon university, depression and self-destruction caused by shame through bishop’s interviews and “repentance”, and how she navigated her way out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of course, she also announces the debut of a new candle… well TWO candles to be more accurate. After that we talk Death to Smoochy, a Robin Williams and Edward Norton flick directed by Danny DeVito. We wrap with happy news about rebuilding underwater reefs and a bit of listener mail. ‘Destroying Angel’ Candle Scent War!!! Come pitch in your vote for your favorite scent! Are you #TeamShannon or #TeamBryce? Make sure to leave a review once you’ve received the candle and tried out the scent for yourself! https://exmocandles.com/glass-box-wars/ Don’t miss our next live hangout

It’s that time of year! SpooOOOoooOOOookey stories! First we talk about a hotbed of paranormal interdimensional activity in the heart of Mormon country; Skinwalker Ranch! After that we deep dive into the sci-fi classic Frankenstein. We wrap with a quick reminder to get out and vote along with catching up on listener mail!   Show Notes:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Burns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_S._Taylor https://www.linkedin.com/in/ecbard https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/Soil%20Electrical%20Conductivity.pdf https://www.reddit.com/r/sdr/comments/v4577h/16ghz_signals_a_simple_question_skinwalker/ https://www.utah.com/articles/post/what-is-skinwalker-ranch-and-whats-really-going-on-there https://www.iflscience.com/skinwalker-ranch-bastion-for-the-paranormal-or-hoax-69969 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/claims-about-pentagon-ufo-program-how-much-is-true/ https://www.hullingermortuary.com/obituaries/junior-hicks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinwalk

Our review of General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for October 2023 Sunday sessions.   Yes, our review of GenCon was longer than the actual GenCon. Thank you to all the wonderful folks who made this project happen! The last nearly 2 hours is patreon extras for you all you fantastic financial supporters of the show.   Show Notes:   Links: Brad: https://twitter.com/ComfytheGhost V (Friend from Serbia): @NoChillAuntie Aurora: aurorarosea.com  Alexis: https://www.youtube.com/@UtahSustainGardening  Julie’s Twitter - @juliebr83 Tanner’s blog - https://diligenceovertime.blogspot.com/   Come see us on Aron Ra’s YouTube channel! He’s doing a series titled Reading Joseph’s Myth BoM. This link is for the playlist:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXJ4dsU0oGMKfJKvEMeRn5ebpAggkoVHf  Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AronRa   Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod  Facebook page:

Our review of General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for October 2023 Saturday sessions.   Yes, our review of GenCon was longer than the actual GenCon.   Show Notes:   Links: Brad: https://twitter.com/ComfytheGhost V (Friend from Serbia): @NoChillAuntie Aurora: aurorarosea.com  Alexis: https://www.youtube.com/@UtahSustainGardening  Julie’s Twitter - @juliebr83 Tanner’s blog - https://diligenceovertime.blogspot.com/   Come see us on Aron Ra’s YouTube channel! He’s doing a series titled Reading Joseph’s Myth BoM. This link is for the playlist:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXJ4dsU0oGMKfJKvEMeRn5ebpAggkoVHf  Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AronRa   Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod  Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/glassboxpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlassBoxPod  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassboxpodcast/  Merch store: https:

It’s the listener show! Today we bring on a group of cohosts to attempt the impossible task of filling Shannon’s shoes while she continues to recover. Tanner presents a segment on the Kinderhook plates, drawing larger implications for how it disproves other Mormon scripture “translation” claims. Then Will takes us on a journey through reconciling his relationship with his mom through LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) and making his own “translation” of the Kinderhook plates. Then Julie gives us a rundown on the new Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. After that we’re joined by Friend from Serbia (V) to discuss the ongoing situation involving Connexions and its leaders, Jodi Hildebrant and Ruby Franke. We round out the show with some happy climate news based in the U.S.   Show Notes: Will’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheSeerStoners / Tail end of Heavenly Mother LARP - https://twitter.com/TheSeerStoners/status/1576569834384809984 Ryan Gosling Talent Show at a Mormon church 1991

Runnin solo today! While Shannon continues to recover we’re going to take the opportunity to do a segment that sent Shan to hospital in the first place! That’s right, we’re back in Saints: The Standard of Truth, the new, authorized history of Joseph Smith and his early religious movement. That’s it. That’s all we’re doing this episode! We talk missionaries in Europe, political machinations, President Martin Van Buren, polygamy, the endowment ceremony, Freemasonry, The Book of Abraham, so many other gems! This period of April 1839-April 1842 is one of the most complicated and adaptive periods of Joseph’s ministry and we hold on with the edge of our finger tips as the book rips us through it, hoping we aren’t stopping to smell the shitpiles the book conspicuously ignores along the journey.   If you want to cohost the next episode, shoot me an email! glassboxpodcast@gmail.com Or get in touch on the Patreon feed or through social media!   Show Notes:  Warsaw Signal Archive (ThomASS Sharp) http://www.si

We have a bit of an unconventional episode this time around. We invite Aron Ra onto the show to discuss a recent debate between Bryce and Kyle Adams, an apologist for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We play a few clips, have a few laughs, and chat about the sport of debate in general. This episode is a rare exception because we know it isn’t everybody’s favorite thing; we’ll be getting back to regular programming soon! :-)   Show Notes:    Come see us on Aron Ra’s YouTube channel! He’s doing a series titled Reading Joseph’s Myth BoM. This link is for the playlist:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXJ4dsU0oGMKfJKvEMeRn5ebpAggkoVHf  Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AronRa See Aron Ra debate live in Houston, TX Sept 16th 2023 https://www.eventcreate.com/e/mddliveandinperson   Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod  Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/glassboxpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gla