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Mormon apostle Quentin L. Cook says anonymity is a spiritual risk, and believing Mormons are dropping their usernames. Who does that advice cost most? On November 1, Mormon apostle Quentin L. Cook told young adults that one of their greatest protections against bad choices is not wearing a mask of anonymity. Within days, believing members were switching to their real names. We look at Cook’s 2012 talk on masks, the Ward Radio victory lap, Matthew Watkins’s meeting with HR, and Ziff, an active Mormon who has written under a pseudonym for years. Cook can say this from the position of an apostle. The members listening may not be able to afford to take it. Support the show: Venmo: @postmormonpostmortem buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem Ad-free listening from $2/month: patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem TikTok & Instagram: @postmormonpostmortem postmormonpostmortem.com

In 1849, Fanny Stenhouse converted to Mormonism in England, married a missionary, and emigrated to Utah. Along the way, she discovered how much the church had concealed from its European converts. From Fanny's 1874 memoir, Tell It All, we follow her journey through years of growing disillusionment. Her account includes John Taylor's public denials of polygamy while he had multiple wives, the pressure on converts to gather to Zion, and the disastrous 1856 Willie handcart journey. Fanny's story reveals what happened when converts who had sacrificed everything for Mormonism began discovering what they'd actually signed up for. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem Instagram: https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem Facebook: https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

In October 1974, Mormon missionaries Gary Darley and Mark Fischer disappeared near Austin, Texas, after visiting Robert Kleasen, a member of their ward with a history of violence. Their bodies were never found. Hannah and Jess examine Kleasen's past, the murder investigation, the evidence that led to his conviction, the legal ruling that overturned it, and the decades-long efforts to bring the case back to court. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

Ezra Taft Benson saw communism inside American life and wrapped it in scripture. When an apostle’s politics arrive with a title, how was a Mormon member supposed to tell which one they were hearing? Jess and Hannah trace Ezra Taft Benson’s anti-communism from the 1936 First Presidency statement to the John Birch Society, his link between the civil rights movement and a communist takeover, and a 1965 general conference passage missing from the published report. Hugh B. Brown and David O. McKay show how other Mormon leaders judged the same threat differently. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

What is the Mormon Church doing about mass deportation and family separation? Immigrant Mormons have asked for housing assistance, help finding work, sanctuary, and leaders willing to defend them publicly.  We compare Mormon immigration policy with Catholic, Episcopal, and Southern Baptist responses, examine what immigrant members told The Salt Lake Tribune, and revisit the church’s earlier opposition to enforcement-only immigration laws. In Idaho, a divided membership didn’t stop the church from opposing an abortion ballot measure with a letter and $1 million. What’s stopping it here? SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

Why are young women leaving the Mormon Church? Research points to questions about politics, purity culture, gender inequality, and women’s authority—but researchers disagree about what the numbers tell us. We look at Mormon retention data, Jana Riess’s research, and BYU’s findings on why young people leave. We revisit teachings that told Mormon mothers to quit their jobs, the church’s newer celebration of working women, and what General Conference offered women questioning their faith. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

In January 1988, Mormon fundamentalist Addam Swapp bombed a Mormon stake center in Marion, Utah, claiming God had commanded him to do it. He and the Singer family barricaded themselves inside their heavily armed cabin, convinced that a violent confrontation with police would bring John Singer back from the dead. In Part 2 of the Singer–Swapp story, we cover the bombing, the 13-day armed standoff with the FBI, the death of Lieutenant Fred House, and the criminal trials that followed. Drawing on court records, contemporary news reports, and the family's own writings, they examine the revelations, polygamy, religious extremism, and Mormon doctrines behind one of Utah's most notorious standoffs. Start with Part 1 for the story of John Singer and his fatal 1979 confrontation with Utah law enforcement. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

How did a Mormon couple turn buttery-soft leggings into a billion-dollar MLM empire? Hannah and Jess talk LuLaRoe, the multilevel marketing company founded by DeAnne and Mark Stidham. We get into the Mormon family behind the company, DeAnne's upbringing in a household devoted to traditional femininity, her mother's anti-feminist activism, and the marriage advice that encouraged women to behave like helpless children. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

When Dallin H. Oaks spoke about peacemaking at Washington National Cathedral in September 2026, he held up Utah’s 2015 compromise on LGBTQ rights and religious freedom as a success story. But who got to decide the terms of that compromise? Was the Utah Compromise really a win-win? And who had the power to decide what was negotiable? SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

In 1843 Joseph Smith preached about friends sleeping in each other’s arms. In 1962 a Mormon apostle ordered missionaries into separate beds. D. Michael Quinn traces the LDS turn on homosexuality. Mormon historian D. Michael Quinn documented how the Mormon Church handled same-sex intimacy from the 1800s through 1976. The episode covers Utah’s 1876 sodomy law, the quiet handling of Patriarch Joseph F. Smith in 1946, BYU aversion therapy, Spencer W. Kimball’s marriage counsel, and the 1976 handbook change from “homo-sexual acts” to “homosexuality.” It then follows Dallin H. Oaks and the church’s Supreme Court briefs from Proposition 8 to today. The certainty you were handed as timeless was assembled in pieces, and the dates are on the record. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

John Singer pulled his kids out of school, was excommunicated, took a second wife, and was shot by Utah police in 1979. Mormon True Crime, Part 1. On January 18, 1979, John Singer walked to his mailbox in Marion, Utah, and police were waiting. Part 1 of the Singer-Swapp Standoff traces how a Mormon fundamentalist raised in Nazi Germany ended up at war with his school board, his bishop’s court, and the state of Utah. We follow Singer from the Hitler Youth to a Utah farm, through his marriage to Vickie, his excommunication, the homeschooling fight that went to court three times, and his secret plural marriage to Shirley Black. Includes discussion of a police shooting, suicide, the deaths of children, and talk of wanting to die. Part 2 introduces Addam Swapp and the 1988 siege. Patreon members can listen now. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

Did Joseph Smith really predict that the Constitution would hang by a thread and the Mormons would save it? Jess went looking for an easy debunking of the White Horse Prophecy. The history was messier than that. Jess walks Hannah through the origins of the White Horse Prophecy: a document attributed to Joseph Smith, written down by English convert Edwin Rushton decades after Nauvoo, and denounced by Mormon leaders in 1918 and again in 2010. BYU Studies researcher Don Penrod’s analysis of the Rushton manuscripts shows why the horse document doesn’t hold up. But the “Constitution hanging by a thread” idea doesn’t depend on the horses. It appears in earlier accounts of Joseph Smith, in the Church’s own Ensign magazine in 1976, and in Ezra Taft Benson’s 1987 general conference talk “Our Divine Constitution.” So what exactly did the Mormon Church reject in 2010, and what did it keep teaching?  SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

The Book of Mormon warns that secret organizations infiltrate governments, corrupt institutions, and destroy nations. So what happens when Mormons apply those same warnings to their own church? Following a September 2026 Deseret News article about conspiracy thinking, we examine Mormonism's teachings about secret combinations, Ezra Taft Benson's warnings about modern conspiracies, and the tension between prophetic authority, skepticism, and the church's own history. What happens when the suspicion Mormonism encourages turns toward Mormonism itself? SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

What happens when a family remembers plural marriage as a sacred privilege—and barely remembers the wives? We discuss Joseph Smith’s plural marriages, the accounts of Lucy Walker, Helen Mar Kimball and Zina Huntington, and the church’s changing instructions on polygamy. We also look at what survived in our own families: stories of obedience and sacrifice, missing women, and questions nobody taught us to ask. Then we examine generational trauma, family storytelling and epigenetics. What can families pass down through parenting, silence and religious expectations? And what can research actually tell us about biological inheritance? An episode about Mormon history, religious trauma, and discovering how much was missing from the family story. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening.  https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!)  Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortem  Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortem  Patreon: https://patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem  FIND US HERE  Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.com YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortem⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem⁠ Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick

In 2000, Glen Helzer, a former Mormon missionary and Morgan Stanley financial adviser, told his younger brother Justin and a woman named Dawn Godman that a “Spirit” spoke directly to him, that he was a prophet, and that innocent people had to die. Within days, five people were dead: Ivan and Annette Stineman, Selina Bishop, Jennifer Villarin, and James Gamble. In this episode of Mormon True Crime, Jess and Hannah trace how Glen went from charismatic missionary to excommunicated drug user, self-help devotee, and self-proclaimed prophet. They cover the Twelve Principles of Magic, the Children of Thunder plan, the investigation that unraveled it, and the trials that followed. They also look at what the Mormon context does and doesn’t explain: personal revelation, boundaries on authority, Nephi and Laban, and how a follower’s loyalty can make refusal impossible. SHOW NOTES, including all sources mentioned in this episode, are available on Patreon with a FREE membership. FREE members also get our monthly newsletter. Paid memberships start at $2/month for AD-FREE listening. https://www.patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem TO SUPPORT THE SHOW (Thank you!) Venmo: https://venmo.com/postmormonpostmortemBuy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/postmormonpostmortemPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/postmormonpostmortem FIND US HERE Website: https://postmormonpostmortem.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@postmormonpostmortemTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@postmormonpostmortemInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/postmormonpostmortemFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/postmormonpostmortem Theme song | Vocals: Hannah W. | Guitar: Dr. Dave | Audio: Mick