Dr. Taylor Petrey is an Associate Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College where he teaches courses on the Bible and biblical interpretation, early Christianity, ancient Judaism, and theory and method in the study of religion. He is the author of several books and publications and is the current editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. He may be best known for his most recent work Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism, for which he won the 2021 Best Book Award through the Mormon History Association.

In Tabernacles of Clay,  Dr Petrey meticulously documents the changing narratives within the LDS church that have informed and shaped its doctrinal perspectives over a period of decades. Taylor and I will be covering the church’s evolving views on race, marriage, sexuality, and gender in this conversation. 

You can find his book at the following link: 

https://www.amazon.com/Tabernacles-Clay-Sexuality-Gender-Mormonism/dp/1469656221/ref=sr_1_1?crid=U0ZF77P81Q8M&keywords=tabernacles+of+clay&qid=1636649554&sprefix=tabernacles+%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-1

William Davis is the author of Visions in a Seer Stone: Joseph Smith and the Making of the Book of Mormon published last year by the University of North Carolina Press. It is this book that William and I discuss at length in the podcast today. 

We try to cover some of the most interesting topics in the book, Joseph Smith’s history with seer stones, his early experiences with exhorting and debate society, and aspects of 19th century sermon culture familiar to Smith that end up within the text of the Book of Mormon. Whether you believe the Book of Mormon is a translation of ancient records, or that Joseph Smith was the author, Davis’ work sheds greater light on the production process. 

William also spends time addressing common apologetics around Joseph Smith’s level of education and whether he was capable of producing a work like the Book of Mormon naturalistically. 

You can find the book at the following link: 

https://www.amazon.com/Visions-Seer-Stone-Joseph-Making-ebook/dp/B07XFH7T9P

Emily Kaplan is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in publications such as The Atlantic, NPR, The New York Times, and The Washington Post Magazine. You can find selections of her work at emilykaplan.net. There, you’ll find that her writing topics range from immigration, to education, to Mormonism. Her most recent piece is titled “The Rise of the Liberal Latter-Day Saints” and has received much attention since its publication in the Washington Post Magazine last week. Today Emily is joining me for a discussion on the topic of Liberal Latter Day Saints, as well as the tensions that arise when a minority faction within a faith becomes larger and more vocal. We’ll also discuss the challenges of expressing spiritual autonomy in a church that puts great emphasis on hierarchal authority. 

You can find Emily's article at the link below:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/09/27/rise-liberal-latter-day-saints/