Author Brian Q. Cannon sits down with editorial manager John Hatch to discuss his new book, Building a Global Zion: The Life and Vision of David O. McKay. The interview offers an up-close look at how McKay’s compassion and love for others shaped his leadership and his global vision for building unity within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Brian Q. Cannon is the Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr. Professor of Western American History at BYU. He is the author of four books and coeditor of three, as well as more than forty articles and book chapters regarding rural history, Western American history, Latter-day Saint history, and social and cultural history.

Beloved and acclaimed author, poet, and playwright Carol Lynn Pearson talks about the diaries she has kept for some seventy years—and why she decided to publish them. Speaking with Signature Books director Barbara Jones Brown, Pearson shares her personal experiences from the 1950s to the 1980s that made her a feminist, activist, and LGBTQ ally.

Pearson describes herself as a troublemaker and a problem solver. A fourth-generation Latter-day Saint who grew up in Utah and now lives in California, she loves the church that taught her courage enough to challenge harmful concepts, even those of her own community. Her first collection of poems, Beginnings, sold more than 150,000 copies, followed by numerous books, lyrics, and stage plays. Her 1986 bestseller, Goodbye, I Love You, tells of her marriage to Gerald Pearson—a gay man—and their eventual divorce and her caring for him in her home as he died from AIDS. The profound impact of this story marked a turning point in the national perception of the gay community.

Join author Andrew Kimball and editorial manager John Hatch as they bring to life the dramatic and deeply human stories behind one of Mormonism’s most prominent families—the descendants of Heber C. Kimball. From Helen Mar Kimball Whitney’s heartbreaking losses, to J. Golden Kimball’s candid self-doubt beneath his famously irreverent wit, Andrew Kimball’s new book, The Blood in Their Veins: The Kimballs, Polygamy, and the Shaping of Mormonism reveals the complexity, faith, and fragility at the heart of Latter-day Saint history. Historian Richard L. Bushman compliments Andrew Kimball as “a master storyteller.” This episode offers a powerful glimpse into why.

After earning a PhD in literature from Harvard University, Andrew Kimball spent his career in the financial industry, including as executive vice president of Moody’s Corporation. He coauthored the popular biography of his grandfather, Spencer W. Kimball: The Twelfth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife, Kathryn, have six children and live in New York City.

Today we turn the tables on popular podcast hosts Susan Hinckley and Cynthia Winward to interview them about their new book, At Last She Said It: Honest Conversations About Faith, Church, And Everything in Between. You may be familiar with their At Last She Said It podcast, and how for the past five years they have helped listeners grappling with their faith within and without the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their podcast has been a soft place to land for many, helping listeners know they are not alone. Signature’s Beth Brumer Reeve explores how Hinckley and Winward are even more vulnerable in their book and how their stories help anyone trying to navigate what can be a fraught journey within a high-demand and patriarchal religion.

SUSAN M. HINCKLEY is a storyteller in words and pictures. A longtime exhibitor with the American Craft Council, her art is held in private collections across the U.S. She’ll travel any distance for good green chile or a glimpse of her grandkids, splitting her time between the southwest and midwest. Wherever she is, her heart roams the desert—preferably in a fast convertible.

CYNTHIA WINWARD makes her home in Provo, Utah although she will always be a California girl. Before pouring all her creative energy into the At Last She Said It podcast, she was the owner of an online embroidery business. Her kitchen is her happy place where she enjoys making the world's greatest red chile enchiladas. She is enjoying the good life as an empty nester with her husband Paul.

Find them online on Instagram @atlastshesaidit

Author and poet Steven L. Peck joins Signature marketing manager Beth Brumer Reeve in an interview about his new book of poetry, Experiments in the Fading Light. Listen as Steven reads some of his favorites from this collection and shares how he got in trouble at school for reading so much during class, which we believe helped him become an amazing writer.

An award-winning novelist, short-story writer, and poet, Steven L. Peck is unusual in that he is also a working scientist who has published dozens of papers on evolutionary ecology and the philosophy of science. His worldwide studies of ecologies have given him a keen understanding of the dangers and troubles we face as a species and as individually embodied beings. He recently began to formally study soundscapes, especially the songs of our avian friends. His poetry reflects on his observations as he explores the wonders of this planet and our place in a complex world. He is an ecology professor at Brigham Young University, where he studies the ecology of birds and insects. He has published over fifty scientific articles on evolutionary ecology and the philosophy of biology.

You can find Steven on Instagram @sciencehoroscope.

Authors McArthur Krishna and Anne Pimentel sat down with Signature Books director Barbara Jones Brown to talk about the impetus behind their new book Changemakers: Women Who Boldly Built Zion. At a time when women are wondering if they matter at church, this book offers a resounding, “Yes!” Stories curated from scripture and global history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints show that women’s voices are needed and have definitively changed the landscape of the faith. Women have played a vital role in growing the worldwide church, with their ideas shaping its structure, policy, and culture. Listen in for a refreshing perspective on why women matter more than ever.

McArthur Krishna graduated from BYU with both an undergraduate and master’s degree. She co-owned an award-winning ideas marketing firm for a decade until she retired, got married, and moved to India. Over eight years she has written nineteen books, including A Girl’s Guide to Heavenly Mother and A Boy’s Guide to Heavenly Mother. Along the way she has coordinated some of the first art featuring women to be hung in the LDS Conference Center, commissioned and curated the first art show focused on Heavenly Mother with global artists, and her own art was selected for the Church’s International Art competition.

Anne Pimentel is a passionate advocate for people who find themselves on the margins of society, church, or life. She enjoys reading and learning about other cultures and perspectives. She works to widen the circle and amplify the voices of those who are often ignored. She is one of the founders of Meetinghouse Mosaic, an organization working to diversify Christian art. She assisted in curating a successful art show with the organization that focused on historically accurate and cultural depictions of Christ. Anne consistently shares about our Heavenly Mother, women's rights and voices, and social justice work on her social media account, The Vision Beautiful.

You can find both McArthur and Anne on Instagram:

@mcarthurkrishna_creates

@the.vision.beautiful

Nationally acclaimed author and journalist Alex Beam joins marketing specialist Beth Brumer-Reeve to talk about his new biography, Wallace Stegner: Dean Of Western Writers.

Stegner had a prolific career that spanned half a century, including fourteen novels and seventeen works of nonfiction. He won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for his 1972 book Angle of Repose, which later became embroiled in accusations of plagiarism.

Beam speaks to the controversy surrounding Stegner, his years growing up with a father who chased riches, and the sense of belonging he felt among the Mormons after his family moved to Salt Lake City in the 1920s.

Alex Beam has written two novels and seven works of nonfiction, two of them New York Times Notable Books of the Year. In 2014, he published American Crucifixion, a narrative history of the assassination of Joseph Smith, "an excellent book about the life and death of an utterly uncategorizable man," according to the Wall Street Journal.

A longtime columnist for The Boston Globe, Beam lives with his family in Newton, Massachusetts.

Author and BYU history professor Ignacio M. Garcia and Signature Books editorial manager John Hatch cover a lot of ground while discussing Garcia's new biography, Eduardo Balderas: Father of Church Translation, 1907-1989.

Balderas was a child refugee from Mexico whose family came to live in Texas in the 1900s. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served a mission, became a branch president, and began translating for the church. Not only did he translate the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus the Christ, church manuals, and the temple ceremony, into Spanish, he also helped establish what became the church's Translation Department today.

Listen in and discover more about Balderas and how he created space for his Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters within the church that he found belonging in.