Episode 139: The History of the Exponent II

**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** (0:32)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day. Saddle up.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:37)
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** (0:44)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:07)
Hi, everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Sunstone Mormon History Podcast. We are doing a video today. That's something new that we've been trying. So thank you if you're watching our faces. We're not just disembodied voices. We have mortal tabernacles in the flesh. So just like we're going to be un-predicted, we would. Thank you for joining us. I'm so excited to talk about this new book that is a new history book, Women's History in Mormonism. It's about the women's exponent. We've mentioned it on the podcast before. If you've heard us talk about Emeline Wells, we did it before you're famous. Some of these early writers of this women's magazine.
We're going to talk about the history and what happened to it and where it is today. But I have always really found a connection to my heritage and faith because of the women's exponent, because of the materials that women have been writing for a long time since the 70s. Then of course, before that, I think that it's an important thing in our culture that still exists today. I'm very pleased to have the authors of the history of this incredible publication on here today. Katie and Heather, Katie and Heather, thank you for joining us.

**Heather Sundahl** (2:27)
Thank you.

**Katie Ludlow Rich** (2:28)
Yeah, thanks for having me back on the show.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:31)
Yeah, we've had Katie on before to talk about the history of the Relief Society, pretty groundbreaking stuff. And so I talk about my historian crushes and Katie is one of them. Try not to blush behind the book. Bryan, why don't you introduce the authors and then we'll get into the conversation.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:50)
I just want to point out an important fact that there is Exponent II swag out in the world, and some of us in the room are wearing it, some of us aren't, and I think it shows.
So much fun. We've known Katie for a while now, and we just got to meet Heather, so it's been very fun. Here's our authors. Katie Ludlow Rich is a writer and independent scholar of Mormon women's history. Her work focuses on centering women's voices and their agenda decisions even when functioning within a patriarchal tradition. Is there patriarchy in Mormonism? Well, somebody told me there was. Katie has a bachelor's in history and a master's in English, both from a certain school named BYU. Her writing has appeared in Exponent II, that's good, that helped, Dialogue and the Journal of Mormon History and the Salt Lake Tribune. Heather Sundahl believes in the power of stories. In pursuit of this, she has volunteered with Exponent II for 28 years. As a writer and editor, Heather works to amplify the voices of marginalized folks, and has collected the oral histories of Botswana, South African, Native American, and queer Mormon women. She received an MA in English from BYU in 1994, and an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from UVU in 2023 Heather currently works as a Residential Treatment Center, where she helps her teenage clients find narratives that promote growth and healing. I'm very happy to have you both here, and I have to say, I just finished reading the book, and it is so fun. I love modern history.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:20)
Thank you so much.
Bryan doesn't say that about a lot of books, so that's high praise.
I'm so excited to talk about it, and I'm noticing, I just got my copy in the mail today. I'm noticing that the cover of the exponent that I did is right there. There's my artwork.

**Katie Ludlow Rich** (4:38)
Yes. You are on the cover, Lindsay, and you are in the index.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:42)
I know. We're in the index as we find out because Katie did the index, because teachers are doing it for themselves when it comes to publishing. This is so great. I'm so excited to dig in. Before we get into the book, do you want to give us a brief history of the exponent and the exponent to bridge that gap? That might be a good place to start.