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Glass Box Podcast

Join Bryce Blankenagel and Shannon Grover as we walk through deep Mormon doctrine and history, headlines in and out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), and explore the lighter side of current events. We hope to provide good feels and a burning in your bosom that'll leave you wanting to download the next episode.
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Now displaying: 2020
Dec 30, 2020

End-of-the-shit-year-of-2020 fun episode! We want to end the year on a high note and what better way to do that than to spend the entire episode talking about fun things! And what might those be, you ask? Some favorite movies and books, of course! 

 

Survey about BOUNDARIES!: https://forms.gle/bHUugqgdtiRxU9nw7 

 

Bryce: Movie: Parasite: https://www.imdb.comhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0/title/tt6751668/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

Book: Outbreak: A Crisis of Faith:  How Religion Ruined Our Global Pandemic

 

Braden: Movie: Happiest Season: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8522006/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

Movie: Jojo Rabbit: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2584384/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

 

Shannon: Movie: The Truman Show: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120382/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

Book: Double Whammy, by Carl Hiaasen

 

Show links

Why Do We Go to the Movies?: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/05/artsfeatures.arts 

 

Neil Gaiman on Why We Read and What Books Do for the Human Experience: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/08/03/neil-gaiman-view-from-the-cheap-seats-reading/ 

 

The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction, by Neil Gaiman: https://www.amazon.com/View-Cheap-Seats-Selected-Nonfiction-ebook/dp/B00RLRLB26/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 

 

Isaac Asimov on Fiction vs Science Fiction: https://explore.brainpickings.org/post/82036562960/isaac-asimov-on-fiction-vs-science-fiction-one 

 

Outbreak: A Crisis of Faith:  How Religion Ruined Our Global Pandemic: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KWN3VKF/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 

 

Double Whammy by Carl Hiassen:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538729520?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tmmp_0&storeType=ebooks 

 

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/glassboxpodcast

 

Merch store: https://groundgnomes.launchcart.store/shop

Dec 16, 2020

We do a brief deep-dive into Book of Mormon archaeology, but probably not a story you’ve heard before. Thomas Stuart Ferguson was hired by BYU and the Mormon church to study Mesoamerica for ties to ancient Book of Mormon cities and artifacts. His findings will SHOCK you! Then we dive into the next installment of The Naked Communist with more background on post WWII history and the rise of fear and loathing of Communism in America. Finally we wrap with a feel-good story about a remote village in Canada supplementing their reliance on fossil fuels with tons of solar power!

 

Links:

 

Thomas Stuart Ferguson
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/how-mormon-lawyer-transformed-archaeology-mexico-and-ended-losing-his-faith

http://www.ancientamerica.org/library/media/HTML/1bvanve9/30.%20IN%20HONOR%20OF%20THOMAS%20STUART%20FERGUSON.htm?n=0

https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon/Archaeology/Thomas_Stuart_Ferguson

 

NWAF
https://byuorg.lib.byu.edu/index.php/New_World_Archaeological_Foundation#Assets_and_Administrative_Structure

 

Hitler’s invasion of Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa 

 

Harry Hopkins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hopkins

 

George Racey Jordan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Racey_Jordan 

 

Lend-Lease —   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease 

 

1936 Communist Constitution of Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union 

 

United Nations Charter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_United_Nations 

 

Yalta Conference AKA Crimea Conference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference 

 

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg 

 

Happy News:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/indigenous-owned-solar-farm-fort-chip-1.5807721

 

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/glassboxpodcast

 

Merch store: https://groundgnomes.launchcart.store/shop

Dec 2, 2020

The Mormon Moses, Russel M. Nelson, recently released a video to all the social medias about a new ad campaign the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is running. We discuss the video, the campaign as a whole, and some of our takeaways watching the campaign play out over the past week. Then, Braden tells us about “Yes, God, Yes!,” a coming of age story of a woman raised in a sexually repressive religion streaming now on Netflix. Then we round out the show with some happy news about the coming COVID-19 vaccine.

 

Happy news: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-vaccines-pfizer/pfizer-ends-covid-19-trial-with-95-efficacy-to-seek-emergency-use-authorization-idUKKBN27Y1HK?utm_source=reddit.com


Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Nov 18, 2020

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=IwAR18g9FS-5zcBzeHeGxxNG4oNBJ5MgfMOj_iVoAdzm0vmCd66WpKh4jcJZg

https://www.jstor.org/stable/45227157?seq=1&fbclid=IwAR0zfQsegBUAqAeNedCj8USTc2kq_0YWIL_mnuDp9OHgDiv21n0T5h5-t4c#metadata_info_tab_contents

 

Follow Cristina Rosetti here! https://twitter.com/CristinaMartaR


Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Nov 3, 2020

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 Foundation
https://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_b1LP1fxhmRJxrQSc1mpZqM9bLGCc

 

Trump compared to Captain Moroni:

https://www.newsweek.com/mike-lee-donald-trump-captain-moroni-book-mormon-1543117

 

Happy news:

https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2020/10/sodo-s-duwamish-river-is-visibly-healing-seattle

 

Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Oct 21, 2020

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 turnout during our important 2020 election.

 

Benson speeches:

https://sites.google.com/site/heavenlybanner/crtool

https://speeches.byu.edu/speakers/ezra-taft-benson/

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/safety-face-danger/

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/lds-church-politics/

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/jesus-christ-gifts-expectations/

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2013-05-1250-ezra-taft-benson-documentary?lang=eng

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/people-world-celebration-iran/

 

If you HAVE to buy the book from Amazon, here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/Watchman-Tower-Benson-Making-Mormon/dp/1607817713

 

Happy news: https://www.voanews.com/episode/coronavirus-fuels-unprecedented-early-voting-us-4451251

Oct 7, 2020

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

Sep 23, 2020

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 resources
https://vote.gov/
https://www.vote411.org/

 

RBG resources
https://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-gender-equality-dies-at-87

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/politics/obama-ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-nominee/index.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54214729?fbclid=IwAR3Dak-_TF8mbSH09SINNC4U09o8Oal0vvj82_8NkhS2gy6sJOCVBfAQ6OY
https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/09/a-long-list-of-gop-senators-who-promised-not-to-confirm-a-supreme-court-nominee-during-an-election-year/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=naytev&utm_medium=social
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/15/how-trump-compares-with-other-recent-presidents-in-appointing-federal-judges/
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/05/05/how-close-is-president-trump-to-his-goal-of-record-setting-judicial-appointments/

 

Happy news: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-endorses-joe-biden/

 

Show Links:

Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html

Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Merch shop https://groundgnomes.launchcart.store/shop

Sep 9, 2020

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 resources
https://vote.gov/
https://www.vote411.org/

 

Show Links:

Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html

Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Merch shop https://groundgnomes.launchcart.store/shop

Aug 26, 2020

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

Aug 12, 2020

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

Jul 22, 2020

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/

Ethical concerns of Steven Hassan https://medium.com/@cults/ethical-concerns-raised-on-steven-hassans-book-on-cults-1f6133f63d9f

Steven Hassan “responds” to critics https://freedomofmind.com/the-truth-about-steven-hassan/

Cults in Our Midst by Margaret Singer (2003) https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Cults-in-our-midst%3A-The-continuing-fight-against-Singer/99e864eba1383e84c40d36a6aba62d8c11fd6041

Cults and the Law https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=136681

 

Happy news:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-electric-new-york/new-york-to-invest-750-million-to-expand-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-idUSKCN24H3DD?utm_source=reddit.com

 

Show Links:

Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html

Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Jul 8, 2020

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
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-cis-are-getting-out-of-hand
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/alexander-goodlive/inciting-incident

 

Ethical Slut by Dossie Eaton, Janet W. Hardy
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ethical-slut-dossie-easton/1100528572

 

Happy news https://apnews.com/5738fc904a6b29118e63a5d762f48791

 

Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Jun 24, 2020

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 the Supreme Court concerning churches being “non-essential” services and LGBTQ+ people actually being people with Title VII protections. We wrap the episode with some great media for understanding racism in America as well as coming out as gay to your family.

 

Links:

 

Trump’s Executive Order on Police Reform
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-safe-policing-safe-communities

 

Orgs mentioned during EO signing
Federal law enforcement officers association https://www.fleoa.org/news.aspx?id=19

Fraternal order of police https://www.fop.net/CmsPage.aspx?id=39

Internal ass of chiefs of police https://www.theiacp.org/

Intl union of police association; “The Voice of Law Enforcement Officers” https://iupa.org/

Major county sherrifs of am ass https://mcsheriffs.com/

Natl Ass of police orgs http://www.napo.org/

Natl District attorneys ass https://ndaa.org/

Sergeants benevolent ass https://sbanypd.nyc/

 

Who wasn’t at the Exec Order signing? https://fundersforjustice.org/organizations/

 

Atlanta, GA Police Walkout
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/18/atlanta-rayshard-brooks-walkout/

 

Seattle just expelled the Police Union from the city’s labor group. https://apnews.com/7267abcb991ec5210f85aa03eb7ed433#:~:text=SEATTLE%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The%20largest,address%20racism%20within%20its%20ranks.&text=Local%20elected%20leaders%20are%20reluctant,150%20unions%20and%20100%2C000%20workers

 

Seattle City Council on Police reform bills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spGMa6-Xu1U

 

BYU formed a committee to “examine race and inequality at BYU”. https://news.byu.edu/announcements/committee-formed-to-examine-race-and-inequality-at-byu

 

Donate to groups working or advocating for racial justice and end of racism

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fre...

https://justiceforbreonna.org

https://www.joincampaignzero.org

https://www.naacp.org/

https://www.aclu.org/

https://blacklivesmatter.com/

 

Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Jun 10, 2020

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/1268233951719510016

The Negro: A Proclamation to the World

https://www.missedinsunday.com/memes/race/proclamation-1949/

Resources:

SISTAS in ZION Twitter

Blacks and the Priesthood by 3 Mormons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN5Gp07zaZE

Our Enemies in Blue by Kristian Williams https://www.akpress.org/our-enemies-in-blue.html

Read the Stanford Prison Study https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html

@Mica_McGriggs presentation June 15, 2020 “Racial Equity & Social Impact” weekly classes https://www.eventbrite.com/e/racial-equity-social-impact-tickets-104768040028

Mormon Stories #630 Black Lives Matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgViT0zuSrk

Black and Mormon by Darron Smith https://books.google.com/books/about/Black_and_Mormon.html?id=lSvRnQgJAx8C

https://8cantwait.org/ for police reform

The Dollop - Furgeson Episode 19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp1uF67UeyY

Ibram X. Kendi How to be an Antiracist https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist-1

Donate: https://www.joincampaignzero.org

Joanna Brooks Mormonism and White Supremacy https://global.oup.com/academic/product/mormonism-and-white-supremacy-9780190081768?cc=us&lang=en&

Moroni and the Swastika by David Conley Nelson https://www.oupress.com/books/14220363/moroni-and-the-swastika

Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989 in China https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeoMn1DeUek

Watch: Just Mercy, released free on all platforms by Universal

Killer Mike speech about George Floyd and protests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSWasOhArfM

Stand By Me by Liesa (Lisa) Rodger https://www.thebeehive.com/stand-by-me/

Check your blindspot BYU diversity project https://www.checkyourblindspot.org/

Historian’s take on police brutality against Black people https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/gvu38i/george_floyd_was_murdered_by_america_a_historians/

Talking to kids about this:

https://www.amazon.com/Belle-Last-Mule-Gees-Bend/dp/0763687693/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNw8V_Fkw28

https://www.amazon.com/Juneteenth-Mazie-Fiction-Picture-Books/dp/1479558206/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1591332700&sr=1-1

Donate to groups working or advocating for racial justice and end of racism

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fre...

https://justiceforbreonna.org

https://www.joincampaignzero.org

https://www.naacp.org/

https://www.aclu.org/

https://blacklivesmatter.com/


Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

May 27, 2020

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 stocks, while Utah vodka brand makes and donates sanitizer to the navajo nation: https://www.facebook.com/FiveWives/posts/2870931026289832


Don’t miss Bryce’s guest spot on the most recent How 2 Heretic Podcast episode 140!
https://howtoheretic.com/podcast

May 13, 2020

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

Apr 29, 2020

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

 

Apr 15, 2020

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 Conference
https://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

Apr 3, 2020

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”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSrbxyna4z4

Cattle Decapitation “Bring back the Plague” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXGSLKWeVwE

Dolly Parton reads children’s books from home https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/31/824638554/dolly-parton-will-read-bedtime-stories-to-kids-online-every-week

Musicians live streaming concerts FOR FREE: https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/all-musicians-streaming-live-concerts.html

 

If you can help or need help, check out Modest Needs
https://www.modestneeds.org/

Or donate to your local blood bank
https://americasblood.org/membership/membership-directory/


Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Mar 18, 2020

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-recession/#5308212d6eb2
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/the-biggest-lie-in-donald-trumps-coronavirus-address/
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/columnists/zurawik/bs-ed-zontv-corona-trump-lies-20200310-6mrkjbkwprecfg6cw2ljkzh4u4-story.html
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/april-2020-general-conference-format-change
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/covid-19-impact-missionary-service

https://www.rollcall.com/2020/03/16/road-ahead-covid-19-stimulus-still-behind-fisa-on-senate-schedule/

 

Happy News:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51915723

 

Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Mar 4, 2020

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-sexual-abuse-lawsuit?zd=1&zi=oeee5led
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/us/boy-scouts-bankruptcy-sex-abuse.html

https://abusedinscouting.com/history-of-abuse/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BSA/comments/8il1du/on_the_separation_of_assets_the_financial_cost_of/

Happy news segment:

https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/19/students-walk-class-catholic-school-forced-gay-teachers-quit-12269247/

 

Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Feb 19, 2020

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_church_amassed_100_billion_it_was_the/

Light of Gazalem
Jeff Bezos commits $10 billion to fight climate change

Show Links:
Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Feb 5, 2020

Clutch my pearls! Braden and I talk about the Super Bowl halftime show and the expected responses from Mormons scared that the female figure exists who never batted an eye at a topless and tattoo-covered Adam Levine last year. After that Braden tells us about Ramy, a Hulu series about a Muslim-American finding his way in life. Then we talk about Activision utilizing lootboxes for good, for a pleasant change!

 

Links:

Super Bowl Halftime show:

https://youtu.be/pILCn6VO_RU

Media of Great Price:

Ramy: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7649694/

Light of Gazalem:

https://blog.activision.com/activision/2020-02/Together-the-Call-of-Duty-community-raises-over-one-point-six-million-dollars-for-Australian-Bushfire-Relief

 

Show Links:

Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

Jan 22, 2020

2019 in review! We read through the recent Jana Riess article about the most significant Mormon headlines of 2019 and discuss some highlights. Then we make predictions for what we might expect in 2020 and also what we’d REALLY like to see in 2020 regardless of how probable they might be. Then we do our next segment of The Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister concerning evidence for a historical Book of Mormon. We wrap up with a happy news story about a church in St. Louis paying off thousands of people’s medical debts (yes, we have those in America). We finish off the episode with a bit of listener mail resulting from our Mormon Money series.

 

Links:

Jana Riess:  Seven top Mormon news stories from 2019
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/12/31/jana-riess-seven-top/

Light of Gazalem
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-churches-buy-up-million-in-medical-then-give/article_cb5202e1-19ae-5cdb-aa4a-4359d17b5db2.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_St._Louis_Post-Dispatch&fbclid=IwAR2H7gIy-0erbu-qpTG2SSnrLJFshJVOZJO3OsbMOslE_ls3q2n9MQnU-Q4

Opening Arguments Ep 344
https://openargs.com/transcript-of-oa344-did-the-mormon-church-really-hide-100-billion-in-assets-from-the-irs-feat-bryce-blakenagel/

Mormon Land episode 114 w/ D. Michael Quinn
https://www.sltrib.com/podcasts/mormonland/

 

Show Links:

Website http://www.glassboxpodcast.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook and Twitter @Glass Box Podcast

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