Libsyn Directory

Ep 169 — 3 Mormon Lawsuits; Spotlight

Release Date: 02/05/2025

Ep 176 — Mormon fasting vs other religions | South Park

Glass Box Podcast

Fasting! In all its forms and purposes. We take a wander through world religions to see how fasting plays a part in almost all of them. Mormon fasting is far less peculiar than we thought. Then a few episodes of South Park that provide wonderful commentary on fasting, the economy, and witch hunts. We round out with happy news about land being returned to Indigenous people and burn through listener mail that’s been piling up. Show notes: Fasting: Fasting: Religious Fasting: Fasting in Islam: Ramadan: Native Teachings are...

Ep 175 — The God Who Weeps Wrap-Up | The Meaning of Life

Glass Box Podcast

We’re finishing The God Who Weeps by Terryl Givens and Fiona Givens. This is the first book in a trilogy of Mormon theology and we want to leave room in the year to get through it all. What does today hold for us? We start with a long discussion on the pre-mortal existence, transitioning into existence, then ascending to perfection thanks to Mormon beliefs. We didn’t realize until pretty late in the project that the 5 chapters of the book are structured around the different stages of the Mormon Plan of Salvation (PoS), but it become clear pretty early on in our discussion. All told, the...

Ep 174.4 — Sun Afternoon Apr 2025 GenCon

Glass Box Podcast

April 2025 General Conference Sunday Afternoon session. Patrons of the show get the appendix of Saturday Evening session at the end of the record. Ulisses Soares – Reverence; Moses and the burning bush; you-damn-kids talk; pray for guidance from the Holy Ghost for AI, don’t weaken your connection to God with AI!!! Michael Strong Q70 – Killed a kid on a bike during his mission, was really sad that he had to spend the night in jail until a ‘compassionate’ fellow missionary stayed with him Scott Whiting Q70 – Hazed as a deacon and sat on a cactus; Garden...

Ep 174.3 — Sun Morning Apr 2025 GenCon

Glass Box Podcast

April 2025 General Conference Sunday Morning session. David A Bednar – Joseph Smith totally restored the one true church; and other sundry sacrament meeting talking points Steven Shumway Q70 – Do your callings, no matter how demanding they may be Tamara Runia FC YW GP – Cry for repentance; Jesus is excited every time he sees us on our knees Gerald Causse PB – Dude who controls the church’s wealth is moved by seeing people suffering in poverty Gerrit Gong – Jesus Wept; Easter, Palm Sunday, holy week; mortal and moral agency and...

Ep 174.2 — Sat Afternoon Apr 2025 GenCon

Glass Box Podcast

April 2025 General Conference Saturday Afternoon session. Niel Anderson – Heinous abortion is evil diatribe, the church is extreme Conservative Steven Lund YM GP – Priesthood is awesome, men run everything in the church S Mark Palmer Q70 – Willow tree, cut up the fallen ones Sandino Roman Q70 – Drowning story Dale Renlund – A dumb 6-year-old thought the second coming was real Hans T Boom Q70 – Poor people donated their washing machine money to build a temple; Armies of Helaman Dieter Uchtdorf – The Church isn’t...

Ep 174.1 — Sat Morning Apr 2025 GenCon

Glass Box Podcast

April 2025 General Conference Saturday Morning session. Jeffrey R. Holland – Little boy bites a little girl, better teach her to forgive! Camille Johnson RS GP – Waiting to be healed filling spiritual holes Ronald Rasband – Church is DOING GREAT! Don’t check our numbers… Quentin L. Cook – Handcart companies and tragedy Ricardo Gemenez Q70 – Checklist Mormonism Henry Eyring – Zombie Jesus Other appearances: Chris Shelton interviewed us in the beginning of a series on Mormonism. Here’s the most recent episode on...

Ep 173 — Joseph Smith Wasn’t a Polygamist | O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Glass Box Podcast

It’s time to examine Joseph-Smith-polygamy skepticism. After the recent Journal of Mormon Polygamy conference, we decided to seriously consider the evidences used by this cohort of Mormon studies, leading us to understand that polygamy was a creation of Brigham Young and the Utah Mormon movement. After that we discuss O Brother, Where Art Thou? An Oddessy movie interweaving many storytelling archetypes and tropes. Then some good news about automotive subsidies coming in the form of tariffs. Show notes: Joseph Smith Wasn’t a Polygamist video playlist Journal of...

Ep 172 — All About Cults feat. Chris Shelton | Don’t Look Up

Glass Box Podcast

We have a guest for our main segment this time. Chris Shelton is a cult expert content creator who eats, breathes, and sleeps high-demand, coercive groups. We discuss everything from what makes a group a cult, how to identify them, is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a cult, and proper ways to approach conversations about high-demand groups. Be sure to check out our series collaborating on Chris’s YouTube channel linked below. After that we discuss Don’t Look Up, a 2021 movie about the cult of politics and a major natural disaster that affects everybody across the globe....

Ep 171 — Death Penalty pt. 2 Mormon Violence, Religion and DP, Ethics and Morals

Glass Box Podcast

It’s time for part 2 of our Death Penalty series! Since this is a Mormon podcast, we first look into the history of Mormons and the death penalty. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young both ordered assassinations and fostered environments where random acts of violence became inevitable. The State of Deseret, Utah, has a comparatively bloody, theocratic history. Then we take a broader view of religion and capital punishment. After that, we look into the ethics/morals of capital punishment and give you a look at the Innocence project. We wrap by discussing your responses from Survey #1 as well as...

Ep 170 — Death Penalty pt. 1

Glass Box Podcast

We begin our next series, this time on Capital Punishment. We start with the history of crimes throughout written history that justified the death penalty. Then we get into colonial history and how the death penalty was built into the foundations of racist America. Multiple Supreme Court rulings have shifted the landscape. We end with the recent EO attempting to expand the powers of the death penalty. Death Penalty survey #1: Show Notes: History of the death penalty: Timeline of the history of the death penalty: History of the...

More Episodes

3 lawsuits against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We discuss the class action suit, Judson et al v. LDS, the recently tossed case of Huntsman v. LDS, and the civil RICO suit Gaddy v. LDS. Where do they stand? How likely are they to prevail? What are the next steps? We go over them and discuss the implications and steps forward. Then we chat about the 2015 movie Spotlight about the Boston Globe journalists who reported on Cathlolic sex abuse in the early 2000s. We wrap with some happy news about a new solar plant being built in Oregon!

We are on BlueSky now! If you’re on BlueSky already, you can find us @glassboxpodcast.bsky.social, @bryceblankenagel.bsky.social, or by following the link in the show notes below!

Show Notes:

Gaddy v. LDS

https://casetext.com/case/gaddy-v-corp-of-the-president-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/utah/utdce/2:2019cv00554/116009/141/

https://becketfund.org/case/gaddy-v-corporation-of-the-president-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints/

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.utd.116009/gov.uscourts.utd.116009.135.3.pdf

https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/75208-gaddy-lawsuit-judgement/page/2/

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-utd-2_19-cv-00554/pdf/USCOURTS-utd-2_19-cv-00554-3.pdf

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16025781/gaddy-v-corporation-of-the-president-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0UQYzFYaxc

Judson et al v. LDS

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/utah/utdce/2:2024cv00296/147894