Podcast appearances and mentions of Todd Compton

This is a throwback episode with Brian Hales from 2017. Brian is the author of Joseph Smith's Polygamy, Volumes 1-3, and it's just in time for the Journal of Mormon Polygamy Conference this weekend at the University of Utah. Check out our conversation.... https://youtu.be/WVs0ypGKq5o Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission Canadian Polygamy – Should it be Legal? The Interview GT:  Well I'd like to welcome everybody out here to Gospel Tangents Podcast.  I'm really excited to talk to Dr. Brian Hales.  He's the expert on polygamy, or one of the experts I guess. I'm grateful to have you here and thank you for letting me take some of your time today. Brian:  Rick it's really a privilege for me to be here. GT:  Well thanks.  One of the things I'd like to do is to introduce you to my audience a little bit.  Typically I try to talk to a lot of historians who are doctors but you are the first physician, although I have talked to a physician's assistant as well.  Could you tell us a little bit about your background, even in medicine?  I think you're a Utah man.  Is that right? Brian:  I am actually.  I went to Utah State, grew up in Logan and got a medical degree from University of Utah, so I have a little bit of the Ute blood in me as well. GT:  Aggie and Utah, ok. Brian:  Aggies primarily.  Then I had a member of my family who was involved with Mormon fundamentalism and that kind of steered me over into thinking about polygamy.  This is back in 1989 so it's been quite some time ago.  At that point I was in a residency for anesthesia and I do tell people that my books are part of my full anesthesia services.  You've probably heard me say that joke, but I got interested then in Mormon fundamentalism and published a book, co-authored a book in 1991 dealing with that topic but then later a couple of other books. People were asking me about Joseph Smith's polygamy, and I didn't have answers and really I would argue none of the books did.  Todd Compton's book has some things that were very helpful but he had written biographies and it wasn't focused specifically on Joseph, so there was still a lot of room for research and to also try to figure out some of the historical aspects that really were just big question marks I think in a lot of people's minds. So in 2006-2007 I hired Don Bradley who is a dear friend but also a remarkable researcher and he went out and did a lot of research for me, gathered documents, and I told him to get everything:  anti-Mormon or supportive, whatever he could find.  We wanted to get every known document, and it was interesting because after we had been going about six months, it became obvious that if we kept going, eventually we would be able to put either a transcript or at least a reference to every known document on polygamy within the volumes that we were putting together.  So we got kind of excited about that but that was mostly Don Bradley's work.  But his help, I put together three volumes (vol 1, vol 2, vol 3) on polygamy.  There's been a few new things come out.  This was in 2013 that they were published, but not a lot has come out but a few very important things that we can talk about. GT:  Yeah we'll definitely want to talk about that.  Well great!  I'm glad you talked about how you got interested in fundamentalist Mormonism, I guess.  There are different branches.  Could you just kind of briefly give a sketch of the main ones? I guess we've got the FLDS, AUB.  Are there any others?  Could you give a background on Mormon fundamentalism? Brian:  Well do you mind if I just talk about what's going on in Canada right now? GT:  Sure, that would be great. Brian:  I just got back last week, it was a week ago today from Cranbrook, [British Columbia,] Canada.  That is where they are holding a trial right now for two leading polygamists:  Winston Blackmore and J...

In this short episode, Jessica Woodbury records a few additional thoughts about the topic of Joseph Smith and his possible involvement in the practice of polygamy referred to in episode 145. She emphasizes taking the time to listen to women's stories and becoming thoughtful consumers of our sources of historical information. She also shares how this discussion around Joseph's polygamy can often be triggering for women when it feels like individuals may be following societal patterns of undermining the belief in women's stories for the sake of the protection of an influential man. She shares a few resources that can help individuals seek out the stories and words of women involved, including the books In Sacred Loneliness, by Todd Compton (https://a.co/d/1hln4BX) and In Sacred Loneliness: The Documents (https://a.co/d/5ItoGZa), also by Todd Compton.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/inherimage/support

This episode introduces the concept of “non-heirarchial revelation” as key to the spiritual health of any Christ centered organization.   This episode dives into ideas about how revelation going in both directions:  1] creates a synergistic partnership between leadership and lay membership where both parties are increasingly growing in their abilities to not only communicate with God, but also where all parties learn to work together as spiritual equals 2] insulates the church from the misplaced idea that God limits revelation to those with certain positions of formal power  3] protects leaders from a burden of perfection in receiving revelation that no one cannot be expected to maintain  4] takes the pressure off of leaders [and their predecessors]  from fruitlessly defending their own stances when their directions prove afterwards not to have been revelatory.   In sum, the model of non-heirarchal revelation invites our entire spiritual community to become more mature, seeking, and collaborative as it spreads out the burden of responsibility amongst the entire body of the church!  Book and chapter referenced heavily in this episode:  Women and Authority edited by Maxine Hanks.  Chapter title:  “Non-Heirarchial  Revelation” by Todd Compton.   ____________________________________________________ Contact Valerie at info@valeriehamaker.com or jump onto latterdaystruggles.com to JOIN Valerie's MAY 2023 support and processing faith expansion group—3 OPENINGS LEFT!…Join now & meet some lifelong friends & spiritual allies!  __________________________________________________ NEW!! Go to latterdaystruggles.com and purchase a brand new online course moderated by couples therapist Valerie Hamaker titled “An LDS Couple's Guide to Faith Crisis and Expansion.” ____________________________________________________ Are you impacted by Valerie's willingness to tackle some of the most historically and currently “taboo” topics in the LDS faith tradition and want to financially support her deep commitment to shifting her professional time in this direction?  You can financially support Latter Day Struggles podcast by donating via Venmo @valerie-hamaker (last 4 digits 3447 if applicable) and THANK YOU for so many enquiring on how to support our work! ____________________________________________________

Date: February 3, 2023 (Season 5, Episode 8: 62 minutes long). For the entire show notes and additional resources for this episode, click here. Are you interested in other episodes of Speak Your Piece? Click here. The episode was co-produced by Brad Westwood and Chelsey Zamir, with sound engineering and post-production editing by Jason T. Powers, from the Utah State Library Recording Studio.Host Brad Westwood interviews Dr. Todd M. Compton regarding his award-winning book: A Frontier Life: Jacob Hamblin, Explorer and Indian Missionary (University of Utah Press, 2013). In this episode, Compton offers a more fully rendered story of Jacob Hamblin, beyond the long-held popular stories. Hamblin's life was  filled with constant exploration and resettling,  while he survived many harrowing events; however, he was also a religious seeker, something of a mystic, combining his faith with that of the spiritual life he encountered among Native Americans. Hamblin worked and hunted, rested, recreated, and sought to speak fluently among them, developing a mutual respect and trust. Hamblin's story starts in Tooele, then he lived for many years in Southern Utah where he aided in the settlement of Santa Clara (Washington County), then Kanab (Kane County), before he moved on to Arizona and New Mexico. Hamblin worked among the Gosuite, Paiute, Hopi and Navajo, and hoped to convert them despite the cultural chasm between them; but equally so – and in conflict with his missionary work – Hamblin was an ardent colonizer, accepting multiple missions from Salt Lake City to identify viable lands for settlement. Compton wrestles with, then helps us understand, the many paradoxes in Hamblin's life. Hamblin's dogged work as an explorer and early settler would inescapably lead to the loss of traditional lifeways, and eventually to the dispossession of Native American homelands.For the guest's bio, please click here for the full show notes plus additional resources and readings. Do you have a question? Write askahistorian@utah.gov.

For today our goal is to gain an understanding on why we struggle sometimes with dishonesty and engaging in lying behviors that do harm to ourselves and the others around us.    Come join our Facebook group for discussion and support.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/unpackingmormonismandotherreligioustrauma   Brene Brown- the Power of Vulnerability. Compassion- knowing our darkness well enough that we can sit in the dark with others, it is never a relationship between the wounded and the healed, it is a relationship between equals.   https://www.amazon.com/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-audiobook/dp/B00D1Z9RFU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36OXY64KRQQXD&keywords=the+power+of+vulnerability+by+brene+brown&qid=1667759965&sprefix=the+power+of+vu%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1  Maslow's Hierarchy of needs https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html   “In sacred loneliness” by Todd Compton.   https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Loneliness-Plural-Wives-Joseph-ebook/dp/B019RD9ZX8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2326GCOGF5EHS&keywords=in+sacred+loneliness&qid=1667765283&s=audible&sprefix=in+sacred+lonliness%2Caudible%2C123&sr=1-1-catcorr 

Lindsay sits down with the historian who started it all, Todd Compton. They discuss his latest book, In Sacred Loneliness: The Documents and read directly from the accounts of the wives of Joseph Smith. Links mentioned in this podcast: Buy […]

Lindsay sits down with the historian who started it all, Todd Compton. They discuss his latest book, In Sacred Loneliness: The Documents and read directly from the accounts of the wives of Joseph Smith. Links mentioned in this podcast: Buy […]

Welcome to a five part series on what Sarah found antithetical to living a mentally, physically and spiritually healthy life. She shares deeply with her experiences both lived, read and researched and how they were completely opposite of what the LDS church professed to be about. These issues are massive, world reaching and beyond any borders. They were unacceptable and kept her from growing into what she felt was her best self for her family, her community both local and far beyond.   This isn't a countdown, they aren't ranked in order of difficulty.      Brene Brown- the Power of Vulnerability https://www.amazon.com/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-audiobook/dp/B00D1Z9RFU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36OXY64KRQQXD&keywords=the+power+of+vulnerability+by+brene+brown&qid=1667759965&sprefix=the+power+of+vu%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1   In sacred loneliness by Todd Compton.   https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Loneliness-Plural-Wives-Joseph-ebook/dp/B019RD9ZX8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2326GCOGF5EHS&keywords=in+sacred+loneliness&qid=1667765283&s=audible&sprefix=in+sacred+lonliness%2Caudible%2C123&sr=1-1-catcorr    

As we continue our conversation with Dr. Todd Compton, we'll discuss some of the more controversial marriages of Joseph Smith. Fanny Alger was just 16 years old inn 1833. Was her marriage to Joseph that early, or as late as 1836 as some claim? We'll also discuss Sylvia Sessions Lyon. Was she havinng sexual relations […]

Dr. Todd Compton is the author of a couple of books, both of them called In Sacred Loneliness, but the new one is subtitled, The Documents. So we're going to talk a lot about both of his books, In Sacred Loneliness and In Sacred Loneliness: The Documents. These are two fantastic books. We're going to […]

Esta es la tercera parte de nuestro programa respondiendo las mentiras de Central del Libro de Mormón sobre la poligamia. Referencias: - Brigham Young insulta a Emma Smith: https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Emma_Smith/Brigham_Young - Hyrum le lleva la revelación de la poligamia a Emma: https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/history/emma-smith-struggles/ - La reacción de Emma: https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/history/emma-smith-struggles/#back_ajs-fn-id_15-70 - Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness - El problema de "intercambiar" mujeres: https://tinyurl.com/ycka3rf2 - Eliza Webb cuenta sobre el matrimonio de José con Fanny: https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/eliza-jane-webb-to-mary-bond-april-1876/ - Emma niega que José hubiera practicado la poligamia: https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Plural_wives/Fanny_Alger/Discovered_in_a_barn - Malissa Lott confirma que tuvo sexo con José: https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/common-questions/plural-marriages-sexual/malissa-lott-evidence-of-sexuality/ - José le pidió la mano a Sarah Pratt mientras Orson estaba en la misión: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V19N02_71.pdf - Josephine Lyon pensaba que era hija de José: https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/sylvia-sessions/#link_ajs-fn-id_1-5660  

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews Steven Pynakker has a delightful conversation with Anne Wilde. Anne is a widowed plural wife of Mormon Fundamentalist writer Ogden Kraut, one of the most important and influential polygamists of the 20th century. In the interview we discuss her role during the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics of informing the world press about the modern practice of plural marriage. We also discuss the friendship that they had with Jerald and Sandra Tanner. Anne helped edit 65 of Ogden's books and worked at Benchmark Books. She talks about the legacy of Curt Bench and how decent of a man he was. We also discuss her book "Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage" as well as "In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton. Many people outside Mormon Fundamentalism don't realize the important role Ogden played in developing and defending Fundamentalist doctrine. I want to thank Anne for coming on to discuss his legacy and her's as well.PatreonVoices in HarmonySacred Loneliness

Every great book has a great backstory. In Joe Geisner’s new edited work, Writing Mormon History: Historians and Their Books (Signature Books, 2020), well-known historians describe their journeys of writing books that have influenced our understanding of the Mormon past, offering an unprecedented glimpse into why they wrote these important works. Writing Mormon History is a must-read for anyone interested in Mormonism--historians, students of history, scholars, and aspiring authors. The volume’s contributors are: Polly Aird, Will Bagley, Todd Compton, Brian Hales, Melvin Johnson, William MacKinnon, Linda King Newell, Gregory Prince, D. Michael Quinn, Craig Smith, George D. Smith, Vickie Cleverley Speek, Susan Staker, Daniel Stone, John Turner The majority of the essays appear here for the first time. Daniel P. Stone holds a PhD in American religious history from Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) and is the author of William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (Signature Books, 2018). He has taught history courses at the University of Detroit Mercy and Florida Atlantic University, and currently, he works as a research archivist for a private library/archive in Detroit, Michigan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every great book has a great backstory. In Joe Geisner’s new edited work, Writing Mormon History: Historians and Their Books (Signature Books, 2020), well-known historians describe their journeys of writing books that have influenced our understanding of the Mormon past, offering an unprecedented glimpse into why they wrote these important works. Writing Mormon History is a must-read for anyone interested in Mormonism--historians, students of history, scholars, and aspiring authors. The volume’s contributors are: Polly Aird, Will Bagley, Todd Compton, Brian Hales, Melvin Johnson, William MacKinnon, Linda King Newell, Gregory Prince, D. Michael Quinn, Craig Smith, George D. Smith, Vickie Cleverley Speek, Susan Staker, Daniel Stone, John Turner The majority of the essays appear here for the first time. Daniel P. Stone holds a PhD in American religious history from Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) and is the author of William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (Signature Books, 2018). He has taught history courses at the University of Detroit Mercy and Florida Atlantic University, and currently, he works as a research archivist for a private library/archive in Detroit, Michigan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every great book has a great backstory. In Joe Geisner’s new edited work, Writing Mormon History: Historians and Their Books (Signature Books, 2020), well-known historians describe their journeys of writing books that have influenced our understanding of the Mormon past, offering an unprecedented glimpse into why they wrote these important works. Writing Mormon History is a must-read for anyone interested in Mormonism--historians, students of history, scholars, and aspiring authors. The volume’s contributors are: Polly Aird, Will Bagley, Todd Compton, Brian Hales, Melvin Johnson, William MacKinnon, Linda King Newell, Gregory Prince, D. Michael Quinn, Craig Smith, George D. Smith, Vickie Cleverley Speek, Susan Staker, Daniel Stone, John Turner The majority of the essays appear here for the first time. Daniel P. Stone holds a PhD in American religious history from Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) and is the author of William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (Signature Books, 2018). He has taught history courses at the University of Detroit Mercy and Florida Atlantic University, and currently, he works as a research archivist for a private library/archive in Detroit, Michigan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every great book has a great backstory. In Joe Geisner’s new edited work, Writing Mormon History: Historians and Their Books (Signature Books, 2020), well-known historians describe their journeys of writing books that have influenced our understanding of the Mormon past, offering an unprecedented glimpse into why they wrote these important works. Writing Mormon History is a must-read for anyone interested in Mormonism--historians, students of history, scholars, and aspiring authors. The volume’s contributors are: Polly Aird, Will Bagley, Todd Compton, Brian Hales, Melvin Johnson, William MacKinnon, Linda King Newell, Gregory Prince, D. Michael Quinn, Craig Smith, George D. Smith, Vickie Cleverley Speek, Susan Staker, Daniel Stone, John Turner The majority of the essays appear here for the first time. Daniel P. Stone holds a PhD in American religious history from Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) and is the author of William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (Signature Books, 2018). He has taught history courses at the University of Detroit Mercy and Florida Atlantic University, and currently, he works as a research archivist for a private library/archive in Detroit, Michigan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every great book has a great backstory. In Joe Geisner’s new edited work, Writing Mormon History: Historians and Their Books (Signature Books, 2020), well-known historians describe their journeys of writing books that have influenced our understanding of the Mormon past, offering an unprecedented glimpse into why they wrote these important works. Writing Mormon History is a must-read for anyone interested in Mormonism--historians, students of history, scholars, and aspiring authors. The volume’s contributors are: Polly Aird, Will Bagley, Todd Compton, Brian Hales, Melvin Johnson, William MacKinnon, Linda King Newell, Gregory Prince, D. Michael Quinn, Craig Smith, George D. Smith, Vickie Cleverley Speek, Susan Staker, Daniel Stone, John Turner The majority of the essays appear here for the first time. Daniel P. Stone holds a PhD in American religious history from Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) and is the author of William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (Signature Books, 2018). He has taught history courses at the University of Detroit Mercy and Florida Atlantic University, and currently, he works as a research archivist for a private library/archive in Detroit, Michigan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are the four pillars of the LDS worldview? In this episode, we explore the four pillars and go in depth into the first one, which is marriage not just on earth but that extends into the afterlife forever.  The resources mentioned are His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy by Susan Ray Schmidt and In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton. Finally, the handout we refer to, 4-Step Eternal Marriage, can be found here.

On this episode, we seek to humanize a controversial and fascinating figure of Nauvoo Mormonism. Helen Mar Kimball has been leveraged as an attack against Joseph Smith for decades. The person at the center of those attacks is a wonderful and dynamic woman who was torn with following the prophet and her parents, or living the life of a teenager with her friends. Let’s inject the human element into the historical enigma, Helen Mar Kimball. Links: Helen Mar Kimball Smith Whitney autobiographical sketches https://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/HWhitney.html https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=usupress_pubs 1881 letter https://faenrandir.github.io/a_careful_examination/helen-mar-kimball-whitney-1881-autobiography/ https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/womans-view-helen-mar-whitneys-reminiscences-early-church-history/11-appendix-one Life of Heber C. Kimball by Horace Whitney https://archive.org/details/LifeOfHeberC.Kimball/page/n10 JSP Helen Mar Kimball http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/helen-mar-kimball/#link_ajs-fn-id_5-5638 In Sacred Loneliness by Todd Compton https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019RD9ZX8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 SUNSTONE!!! https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/sunstoneshortcreek-2019/ MORMON HAPPY HOUR!!! https://www.patreon.com/MormonHappyHour Show links: Website http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com Twitter @NakedMormonism Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Mormonism/370003839816311 Patreon http://patreon.com/nakedmormonism Music by Jason Comeau http://aloststateofmind.com/ Show Artwork http://weirdmormonshit.com/ Legal Counsel http://patorrez.com/

We're continuing our discussions with Dr. Newell Bringhurst.  In our next conversation, we'll continue to talk about polygamy.  We'll talk about Todd Compton's book, In Sacred Loneliness, a biography of Joseph Smith's plural wives. https://youtu.be/EZ-2eW_8kn0 Newell:  Todd Compton's is mainly a biographical, collective biography of the wives themselves.  It doesn't get into as much of Joseph Smith interacting or justifying polygamy and all of that.  So I think Todd Compton's is the best as far as giving us a feeling of who the wives were and how they reacted to Joseph Smith and polygamy and their subsequent activities after Joseph Smith's martyrdom. We'll also talk about what Bringhurst thinks of Richard Bushman's book, Rough Stone Rolling and its treatment of Joseph's polygamy. Newell: One of the weaknesses, glaring weaknesses I saw in Richard Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling was he kind of slighted Joseph Smith's involvement with polygamy.  I found that one of the most disappointing parts of his Rough Stone Rolling.  He kind of slights—he doesn't even really acknowledge some of the wives that Joseph married and the relationship and the work that was done by Todd Compton. We'll also talk about some early rumors about polygamy in Nauvoo, and we'll get Newell's opinion on that.  Don't forget to check our previous conversation with Newell on polygamy!  Check out our conversation….. [paypal-donation]

Join Lindsay as she talks with historian Corey Howard about the life of Phoebe Woodruff, first wife to Wilford Woodruff (President of the LDS Church during the Manifesto period). Links and text mentioned and read in this podcast: Todd Compton’s work on women married to Wilford Woodruff LDS.org Woodruff’s teachings on marriage

Lindsay speaks with Kristy Money, author of a recent oped discussing LDS.org’s essays on polygamy and how they can contribute to grooming and predatory behavior. Links mentioned in this podcast: FAIR Mormon’s take on these issues. Brian Hales’ views on these issues. Todd Compton’s take on these issues. Grant Palmer’s take on these issues. Critic’s […]

In part 3 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness.

In part 3 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness.

In part 2 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness.

In part 1 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness.

In part 1 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness.

In part 2 of a 3 part series, we interview Todd Compton about the basics of polygamy in the Mormon church. Todd Compton is the author of the book In Sacred Loneliness.