Episode 1: The Creation

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:00)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:02)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:04)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:31)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:36)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:45)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:05)
Well, hi, Bryan. Are you ready for our first ever Sunstone History Podcast?

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:09)
I'm scared, but the nice thing about this format is that no one can see that I'm shaking right now.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:15)
No one will know but your bishop.
And maybe Holy Ghost. So, Bryan, you and I have podcasted before for those who are just tuning in for the first time. I run a history podcast already called Year of Polygamy, but it's really focused on polygamy, but you've been a guest on that before.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:29)
I have.
We've had some good tales. We've talked about rogue apostles. We've talked about church discipline. We've had some good times so far.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:37)
Okay, so there are like a gazillion Mormon podcasts now, and why do we need another history podcast? I mean, I made a pretty good one. Year of Polygamy is a pretty good history podcast.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:48)
Well, we know the second coming is close, but it might not be close enough where Year of Polygamy can get us all the way there. So we thought, what about a Mormon history podcast that talks about the whole story?
So with this podcast, we're going to try to go chronologically, start to finish, and see what tales we can uncover.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:05)
And like the Year of Polygamy podcast, we're going to tell this chronological history, but in a way I don't think you've heard before. I mean, it surprises me how much people, even like, you know, people that are into Mormon history don't actually know.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:17)
Oh, there are so many great stories that we'll dig up along the way.
And part of it, too, is now this may be a surprise to some of you, but Mormon history isn't just white men. Now, I know that was a surprise. We're going to try to tell some stories of everyone. We'll try to tell stories of women, people of color, and others whose stories are just as important, but haven't been brought out as much.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:40)
I like the term that Maxine Hanks always uses. She's a Mormon theologian. She talks about excavating this history. And actually, this history has been excavated by a lot of good researchers. And we're going to build off their work. We're going to promote their work and maybe sell some books for them.
But Bryan, one of the reasons why we wanted to bring you on is, how do I say this without sounding super rude?
You're a big nerd. You're like the biggest Mormon history nerd I know.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:04)
Guilty as charged. Anyone who's ever been to my basement will know that that's true. We've got books. We've got Adobe bricks. We've got death masks. We've got Mark Hoffman canceled checks.
Yep, I can't escape my reputation.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:19)
You know what? I have not been to your basement, so it's worse than I thought.
I was just going to mention that you work at Benchmark Books. You edit Mormon documents all day long. And every time I come into the shop, which is Benchmark Books for those who don't know, is this really great Mormon history books or Mormon bookstore in downtown Salt Lake City. And Bryan works there. And every time I go in, he is telling me some crazy new facts that I didn't ever hear about before.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:45)
One of the fun parts about hanging out with Lindsay, not many people can appreciate a good nerdy Mormon history story and even a good fundamentalist Mormon history story. So glad to be with people that understand me.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:56)
So that's why I think this podcast is going to be different because we're not just going to tell a story that you can find in, you know, like the new book, The Saints or in Rough Stone Rolling. We have a man here, Bryan Buchanan, who literally studies this stuff all day long.
And he has excavated some things that is going to blow your mind because some of the stuff that Bryan knows, I don't think hardly anyone knows about.