OTOS Archive

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Join us as Michelle interviews Chris Smith. Chris grew up as a practicing Pentecostal but eventually left his faith. Hear his fascinating story and his interesting ties to Mormonism.

Lend us you ear as I remember Leonard Arrington with Cristina Rosetti. Cristina is an ethnographer who recently presented at Sunstone about the new Arrington Diaries!

Chris interviews Russell Hatch about his non-religious upbringing in Provo (a town with a large majority of LDS). They discuss exclusion, dogma, the New Atheism, environmental philosophy, and the limits of anthropocentric ethics.

In this 2-part episode, the 3 of us hosts scratch the surface of some of the more indigestible topics from the early latter-days. We try to understand why these topics are triggering and hope to create a space where these topics are not taboo. Don’t forget to watch for Part 2!

Chris Wei interviews journalist Kristina Smith and filmmaker Spencer Allred about their collaborative project, THE HUSHED ONES, a documentary film which examines the issue of sexual abuse in the LDS Church by looking closely at the McKenna Denson story and the #ProtectLDSChildren movement. They explain some of the decisions they’re making as documentarians with regard to narrative structure, artistic expression, journalistic ethics, and socioreligious activism; they explore the difficulty in digging into systemic issues with nuance and balance; and they discuss generally what they hope to accomplish—and who they hope to reach—with the project.

In this episode, our host Blake Wright will dig into the life of Ms. Global U.S. Kindra Kauer. We talk about the conflicts between conservative religious views and pageant life. We also discuss the ‘Every Teen Seen’ platform that Kindra started to fight teen suicides in her community. Kindra describes how these issues have shaped how she perceives God.

Chris interviews two therapists—Briana Petters and Troy Leishman—and they chat about self-care and mental health. They respond to listener-submitted questions/discussions about healthy conflict, emotional intimacy, faith crisis, and dealing with isolation/shame. Briana has had a passion for defending the defenseless for as long as she can remember. She studied Psychology during her undergrad at Brigham Young University and then got her MSW (concentrating on Mental Health but also developing a background in Forensic Social Work) from the University of Utah. She works from a humanistic perspective, focusing on ACT, mind-body bridging, motivational interviewing, and mindfulness therapeutic practices. She has worked with trauma, PTSD, LGBTQ, veterans, spiritual transitions, autism spectrum, and substance abuse among other populations. Troy is a Clinical Mental Health Therapist and provides mental health services at Encircle through Flourish Counseling Services in Provo and also through Advanced Awareness in Sandy. You can find out more about Encircle at encircletogether.org; find out more about Advanced Awareness at advancedawarenesscounseling.com; contact Troy for counseling services at troy.advancedawareness@gmail.com or troy@encircletogether.org.

Chris was born into a non-religious household but was drawn to Christianity from a young age and ended up “converting” as a teenager. He determined then that he would be a pastor in order to help everyone feel what he had felt. After years of being a Baptist Pastor, Chris became disillusioned with the Baptist faith, left his pastorship and eventually, Christianity. Chris now works in the corporate world and lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and four kids. This is his story.

In this episode, Chris, Blake, and Michelle compare their various perspectives on death, the afterlife, and Iceland. Is there a soul? Is there a Heaven, or a Hell, or a void? Is the world fundamentally “fallen,” and in need of redemptive grace? What does it feel like to grapple with different (post) theological answers to these questions over time, or to not have answers at all?

In this episode we have a great conversation with Bryce Blankenagel. Bryce will discuss some of the troubling aspects of Mormonism, past and present. Bryce grew up in the LDS faith and transitioned out during his teenage years. He finds it more fascinating now that he’s on the other side. Bryce is the host of the podcast “Naked Mormonism” and co-host of the “My Book of Mormon” podcast. He is one of the best millennial church history reporters and an absolute treat to our community!

In this episode, we chat with Chris Duce (the host of a sex-positive podcast about religion and personal stories) and Kristin Bennion (a clinical social worker and certified sex therapist). We talk about the interactions between exploring one’s sexuality, defining one’s personal values, and undergoing a faith transition. Specifically, we focus on the ways in which sexuality can be a difficult thing to navigate in a post-Mormon context. We deconstruct Mormonism’s heteronormative/patriarchal approach to sex and gender; we discuss the power of consent; we articulate the struggle to navigate feelings of shame/inadequacy; and we stress the importance of finding accepting and open sources of support when our former structures, guidelines, and authorities no longer resonate. Chris and Kristin also give some helpful tips on how to maintain emotional/physical safety, how to foster healthy communication, and how to have love and compassion for yourself.

In this episode we will discuss the faith transition of Carlos Nobelza Posas. Carlos was born and raised in New Orleans where he was very active in the Catholic faith. He attended Catholic schools all through elementary and high school and became a campus minister when he was old enough. He believed deeply in the Catholic church until his Freshman year of college when he took a literature class where they studied the Bible as a literary text. It was during this time that Carlos began to lose his belief in the Catholic church and in the traditional Judeo-Christian god. Carlos now lives in Salt Lake City where he is an actor. He is not religious but has fond feelings of his religious life growing up.

The On The Other Side Podcast is a weekly, hour-long podcast distributed by the Open Stories Foundation. It is a diverse panel representing varied voices within the millennial religious experience who will discuss topics relating to their personal spiritual journeys For our first episode, we introduce our three co-hosts (Chris, Michelle, and Blake) and we chat about how each of them got to where they are now in relation to spiritual/religious identity, practice, and beliefs. Chris, Michelle, and Blake all grew up Mormon (LDS). But various experiences and issues throughout the years have made them feel more distanced from Mormonism in a variety of ways. While briefly summarizing the stories surrounding these experiences and issues, we end up discussing transcendence, zealous Mormon evangelism, missionary service, ritualistic Temple worship, historical/doctrinal study, and institutional disillusionment. In the future, we hope to explore some of these faith transition-related topics, both inside and outside of Mormonism, in much more depth. But to build the foundation for those conversations, we wanted to start with a robust introduction of our “origin stories,” so to speak. Enjoy!