Sunstone Firesides Podcast

Blaire Ostler talks with Dr. Jordan Roberts about the basics of COVID-19: how it may have originated, how it spreads, what families can do about containing it, and hopeful scenarios for the future. Listen to this episode here. 

Though he loves BYU, as a gay student, Danny Dawson was never able to be himself there until the recent honor code revisions seemed to make homosexual dating and displays of affection acceptable. But the later clarification blasted any sense of safety he had. Blaire Ostler talks with Dawson about his experience. Listen to this episode here.

The latest LDS Handbook update about transgender members shows promise for the future but also has some theological and scientific problems. Blair Ostler talks with philosophy professor Kelli Potter about the complexities of gender and how it can affect LDS theology and practice. Listen to this episode here. 

Samantha Richardson transitioned to being a woman in her 40s, and—to her great surprise—the Utah ward she moved into immediately embraced her. In this episode, Blaire Ostler and Richardson talk about the recent additions to Handbook 1 regarding transgender people, and how they impact those, like Richardson, who want to be a part of the LDS community. Listen to this episode here. 

Marta Vázquez came to the United States from Honduras at 17 years old, pregnant and with a small daughter in tow. Her goal was to join the U.S. Army. Now she is an advocate for asylum seekers in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Vázquez talks with Sara Bybee Fisk about her fascinating life. Listen to this episode here.

The stresses of race, patriarchy, politics, and sexual shame all contributed to the collapse of Laura Ruiz's marriage. Cristina Gonzalez Cole talks with Ruiz about her journey. Listen to this episode here. 

Community of Christ started ordaining women to the priesthood in the mid-1980s and then (in the United States) members of the LGBTQ community in 2013. Kay Fletcher, a lifelong member of the Community of Christ and a member of its Quorum of Seventy, talks with host Kimberly Anderson about how these changes transpired. Listen to this episode here.

One day, Jennifer Gonzalez found out that there was a refugee detention center just 20 miles from where she lived. Her life changed when she and some friends wrote to the people who were being held there, including a man named Nephi. In this episode, she shares her story with Cristina Gonzalez Cole. Listen to this episode here. 

Two hundred years before John Fowler's Stages of Faith, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had already come up with a few stages his own. And the best part is, he represented them with animals! Join Blair Ostler and Drew Ostler as they talk about why you might be a camel, a lion, or a child. Listen to this episode here.

Answering a spiritual call to move from Oregon to Utah, Jerilyn Pool has been feeding, housing, and partying with Utah's LGBTQ community for years now. Blaire Ostler talks with Pool (and her pigeons) about her journey. Listen to this episode here.

Blaire Ostler gets to know Cristina Cole, one of the co-hosts of the Sunstone Firesides Podcast. She's a single mother and health care worker who calls herself "brown and bi-sexual"—giving her a unique perspective on LDS Church culture. Listen to this episode here.

She loves Mormonism, but doesn't believe in the LDS Church—just one of the surprising things about author Mette Ivie Harrison. Kimberly Anderson and Harrison talk about writing, grieving, and spiritual growth. Listen to this episode here.

Wendall Hair converted to the LDS Church while living in North Carolina and served a mission in St. George, Utah, where he returned almost immediately to continue life as a Mormon. But being African-American and gay led to challenges in Wendall's faith in Church leadership. Kimberly Anderson talks with Wendall about the Mormons who helped him and Mormons who hindered him. Listen to this episode here.

Hosted by Kimberly Anderson, this episode features Saundra Merth giving a personal perspective on the growth of the LGBTQ community in the Community of Christ and how they eventually gained the priesthood. Listen to this episode here.

A lot happened during the leadership session of general conference, from changes in who can be an official witness for a baptism to an official interpretation of the word "gender" in church policies. Blaire Ostler and her husband Drew Ostler analyze the session talk by talk. Listen to this episode here.

On September 17, 2019, Russell M. Nelson delivered a speech at BYU outlining five "truths," causing a big stir in the LDS LGBTQ community. In this episode, Blaire Ostler shows how his concepts sound to LGBTQ ears. Listen to this episode here. 

Rania, Nebal, and Aya Alsorani fled Syria with their parents when they lost everything to civic unrest and violence. They became refugees first in Jordan, and second in Phoenix, Arizona. Sarah Bybee Fisk interviews the sisters about their journey and what it is like to be a refugee. Listen to this episode here.

Roni Jo Draper has made it her mission to train BYU education students in the art of welcoming and supporting queer students in their classrooms. Blaire Ostler and Roni Jo talk about how she journeyed from the edge of a reservation to the LDS Church, then to a Ph.D., and finally to a BYU professorship. Listen to this episode here.

Flourish Counseling Services is a pioneer in providing therapy especially tailored to the LGBTQ community in Utah. Though it has never been an easy road, it has always been a rewarding one. Blaire Ostler talks with Lisa Hansen and Laura Skaggs Dulin about their experiences. Listen to this episode here.

Donia Jessop is the first woman—and first non-FLDS person—to be elected mayor in Hildale, Utah. Shirlee Draper interviews Jessop about her campaign and about the difficulties and successes of her time in office. Listen to this episode here.

Join Firesides host Blaire Ostler as she and her husband Drew recount their experiences attending the last run of the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah. They discuss an overview of the experience, the doctrinal and cultural implications, and the history of the pageant itself. Listen to this episode here. Links mentioned in this episode: http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2010/11/18/moronis-purported-rambles/comment-page-1/ 

A Columbine shooting survivor, Kathy Carlston is a self-identified queer woman who was raised within Mormonism and became married to her wife Berta Marquez. In this podcast she discusses candidly and with raw honesty her battles with conversion therapy, depression, her own suicidality, and the death by suicide of her beautiful wife 'Bear'. Kathy shares thoughts of how we can better grieve as support people around those who are hurting, and her hopes and plans for the future. Content Warning: Reparative Therapy, School Shooting, Suicidal Ideation, Death By Suicide, PTSD Listen to this episode here.

Gay individuals who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and who wish to remain in good standing have two options as it relates to romance and marriage. Pursuing a same-sex relationship is considered a grievous sin and is contrary to as-of-yet revealed doctrine. Celibacy during this life is one option. The other is entering into a Mixed-Orientation Marriage. Although not officially encouraged for several years, MOMs for decades were the de-facto answer for gay and transgender people wanting to pursue a path that would lead them to Eternal Life from within Mormon theology. Kimberly Anderson and Laura Root have collected several varied stories of gay individuals who have reached outside their Mixed-Orientation Marriage for that comfort. They explore them here, with permission, in this podcast. Listen to this episode here.

Firesides host Kalani Tonga interviews three mystic Mormon women about their current spiritual practices including tarot, Lotería and Kabbalah. Jennifer Gonzalez, Sara Katherine Staheli Hanks, and Kimberly Lewis each discuss their mystical practices and how it intersects with their collective Mormon upbringings. Listen to this episode here.

Sara Fisk interviews Fatmeh, a refugee who left Syria at the height of the war. Hear about her upbringing in Syria, her experience with the war, and what it was like to resettle in the U.S. Listen to this episode here.

Lindsay Hansen Park interviews Representative Sara Burlingame of Wyoming Equality about the murder of Matthew Shepard by two Mormons and the impact two decades later. Listen to this episode here.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains reference to self harm and suicidal ideation. In this episode, Blaire Ostler interviews Kris Irvin, a trans-masculine, asexual Mormon about their experience in the Church, coming out, and living their life in a heterosexual marriage. Listen to this episode here.

On this week's episode, Cristina speaks with Quincy Newell about her upcoming book, Your Sister in the Gospel: The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-Century Black Mormon. While many know brief parts about Jane's life, Quincy offers a complex look at Jane's life, faith, infamous sealing, and legacy. Her book seeks to understand Mormonism's intersection with broader questions about American religion, and what contemporary scholars and Mormons can learn from Jane's faith and struggle. Quincy founded Women in Mormon Studies, an organization seeking further representation in the academic study of Mormonism. Listen to this episode here.

Trigger Warning: This episode focuses on ritual abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Lindsay Hansen Park interviews Amber Whitley and Teresa Edmunds on the topic of abuse and healing. Amber Whitley has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Utah. Her research focused on the healing process of sexual abuse survivors in the LDS Church. She is currently finishing her residency at the University of Utah. Teresa Edmunds is an abuse survivor who writes and advocated on topics surrounding abuse. Listen to this episode here.

Join Shirlee as she interviews Vicki Darger, a fundamentalist Mormon and practicing polygamist. In this interview, Shirlee and Vicki offer an inside look at the legal and social implications of living the practice and how these implications affect fundamentalist communities. Listen to this episode here.

In this episode, Cristina interviews Jana Riess, author of Millenial Mormons: How Millennials are changing the LDS Church. Jana discusses some of the particularities of Millenials who leave the LDS Church and how this generation is different than the ones that came before. Listen to this episode here. 

Trigger Warning: This episode contains descriptions of abuse and severe neglect. The foster care system is something we might hear a lot about, but seldom understand the details. In this episode, Malia interviews Ashley, a CPS worker, and Belinda, a woman who was raised in the foster care system to offer an inside look at the system from both perspectives. Listen to this episode here.

Join Lindsay Hansen Park as she interviews three incredible Mormon women, Christina Atwood, Sara Bybee Fisk, and Nicole Earl about the work they do helping refugees and asylum seekers in the United States. Listen to this episode here.

On this week'e episode of the Sunstone Firesides Podcast, Kimberly Anderson and Shirlee Draper discuss each other's lives and current projects. Kimberly Anderson shares about her experience as a transgender woman in Mormonism and her current work in counseling psychology. Shirlee Draper was raised FLDS and currently directs Cherish Families, a non-profit that offers services for fundamentalists and individuals leaving fundamentalist communities. Join Kimberly and Shirlee as they discuss their shared passion for community engagement and the impact of Mormon trauma on their experience both inside and outside of their respective churches. Listen to this episode here.

On this episode, co-host, Cristina Rosetti, sits down with Dr. Colleen McDannell to talk about her new book, Sister Saints: Mormon Women Since the End of Polygamy. Dr. McDannell is the Sterling M. McMurrin Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Utah. Her research covers topics such as the history of Heaven, Vatican II, material culture, and now, Mormon women. In this conversation, McDannell talks about the impact Mormon women had on the creation of parallel organizations in the Church, the legacy of Helen Andelin and Sonia Johnson, and the impact correlation had on women in Mormonism. Listen to this episode here.