Episode 118: Believers and Skeptics panel

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:05)
Well, hello there, Sunstone History Podcast listeners. Today's episode is going to be a special bonus episode, and then we'll get back to our regularly scheduled programming. A couple weeks ago, Bryan Buchanan and I were invited by Montana State University to do a panel on how we talk about history, basically historiography.
So we had such a great discussion with our friends Amanda Hendricks-Komodo and Micah Chang and Benjamin Park, and we thought we would share it with you today. It's how we talk about history, our motivations, why we talk about history, some fun things like that. So we're going to use that audio recording for today's episode, and then we'll get back to Mormon history. And as always, if you're liking this podcast, we are trying something new this year. We are trying to get as many recurring donors as we can to help fund the podcast. It takes a ton of research, hours and hours, which is why we only put out two a month, because we want to make sure we get this history right.
But those are hours that we want to pay folks like Bryan Buchanan, who's squirreling away at the bookstore for. So if you believe we should be paid for our work, bringing this history to you, support us. Become a recurring donor today at sunstone.org. Go to our donate button and set up a recurring donation. We have a goal to get 300 recurring donors this year. You can help us by becoming one of those. So set up a recurring donation today and we hope you enjoy this episode.
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:38)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:40)
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** (2:07)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:13)
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** (2:21)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Amanda Hendricks-Comodo** (2:45)
Michael, you've been trying to get us started, so we will let you.

**Michael Chang** (2:48)
Yeah, or at least prepared to start, because you all are so conversational and such good friends that I feel like you could just talk and yeah, it'd be great. But I think that we should get going. So thank you everybody for coming on this Monday afternoon to this roundtable titled Believers and Skeptics in the Writing of Mormon History. My name is Michael Chang, and I am an Assistant Professor of History at Montana State University. I do agricultural history, the history of race and religious history. So I was really excited when my colleague Amanda invited me to come moderate.
She said it would be a great discussion and I'm really looking forward to hearing what all these amazing panelists have to say. Just a couple of notes. This is being recorded and I think it will be disseminated later on. Is that correct, Amanda?
And then please hold your questions for the end. But if questions do come up as you're listening to the panelists talk, you can direct those to me and during the Q&A, I will just facilitate questions and direct them at panelists if they are directed at someone in particular.
And if you're having difficulty hearing anything, you can also send me a message and I will let everyone know while they're focusing on their roundtable discussion. So without further ado, why don't we have everybody go around in the order that they're listed on this? So Lindsay first and then Benjamin and then Amanda and then Bryan. Introduce yourself, who you are, what you're working on, where you are. Yeah, so go ahead.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:29)
Okay, thanks. My name is Lindsay Hansen Park.
I am the executive director of an organization called the Sunstone Education Foundation.
It's an organization that's been around almost 50 years.
And when I inherited it, it was just such a fun, cool thing because it's an open forum for scholars to come and discuss issues in and around Mormonism. And I use the word Mormon to describe all of the different groups that come from the Joseph Smith restoration tradition, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member and which I grew up in. I do Mormon history. I have a podcast called Year of Polygamy, which is the history of Mormon polygamy. And I co-host a podcast with Bryan Buchanan, who is on the call about the history of Mormonism. And we go in chronological order as best we can. And I do a lot of work in film now and consulting. And so I'm in Salt Lake City. So thanks for having me.