My friends Laura and Brian Hales join me for an informed, candid interview about the practice of early Mormon polygamy. A catalyst for our discussion is their recently published Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding—a distillation of Brian’s three-volume magnum opus Joseph Smith’s Polygamy (Brian has generously uploaded most of his documentation to Mormon Polygamy Documents: A Research Database). Our conversation covers a range of issues from polyandry and polygamy to misfires in rolling out plural marriage to secrecy that attended Joseph Smith’s sealings.

Laura is copyeditor of Mormon Historical Studies, the journal of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation. In a forthcoming edited anthology, she assembles a cadre of scholars who help readers navigate Mormonism’s more difficult historical terrain (Anchored in Truth: Faithful Answers to Sincere Questions, slated for release in spring 2016 under the imprints Deseret Book and BYU Religious Studies Center). Brian is an accomplished anesthesiologist who works at Davis Hospital; he also volunteers for organizations such as Medical Reserve Corps and Utah Medical Outreach. He is the current president of the John Whitmer Historical Association and will deliver his presidential address at the 2016 JWHA conference in Kirtland, OH—and he has a message for listeners: “Attend or else!” (Okay, I just made that up… but you really should attend.)

Brian & Laura Hales trivia: Brian’s finely tuned vocal cords rocked the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, 1999–2013; Laura is a real-life grammar maven who has taught English on a college level.

(Intro and outro music: “History Song” performed by The Good, the Bad, & the Queen from their eponymous album.)

A prolific interpreter of Mormonism, Dan Vogel is an engaging guest and a decades’ long friend. In this interview we discuss his most recent publication, an annotated edition of Eber Dudley Howe’s 1834 Mormonism Unvailed: Or, a Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion from Its Rise to the Present Time—the first book-length assault on Mormonism. He elucidates the strengths and weaknesses of Howe’s tome. We also discuss Joseph Smith’s role as a village scryer for local money-digging troops, and the phenomenon of early Mormon glossolalia and Joseph Smith’s pursuit of Adamic language.

Dan’s multivolume Early Mormon Documents is essential reading for students of Mormonism. His forthcoming source- and text-critical analysis of the History of the Church will provide an indispensable guide for understanding Mormonism’s most popular historical narrative. For in-depth, well-documented musings on Mormon history, visit Dan’s YouTube channel.

Dan Vogel trivia: he has published eleven books and fourteen essays (thus far), dotes on two adorable dogs, and adeptly performed magic tricks as a youngster.

(Intro and outro music: “History Song” performed by The Good, the Bad, & the Queen from their eponymous album.)

Authoring the Old Testament: Genesis–Deuteronomy is the first in a three-volume series by David Bokovoy on the composition of the Tanakh, which he suggests can inform and clarify our understanding of Joseph Smith’s translations. A gracious podcast guest, David shares why he values scriptural criticism over traditional apologetics and sacred narrative over dubious history.

David is a distinguished scholar who knows his stuff and then some. After receiving a BA (major in History, minor in Near Eastern Studies) from Brigham Young University, David earned an MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and a PhD in Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East from Brandeis University. He has published in internationally renowned venues, including the Journal of Biblical Literature and Vestus Testamentum. His contributions to Mormon studies have appeared in the FARMS Review, Studies in the Bible and Antiquity, and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. He currently teaches courses in Biblical and Mormon studies at the University of Utah. Check out David’s blog When Gods Were Men.

David Bokovoy trivia: he is a pit master, an avid surfer (water not web), and a devotee of Bob Dylan.

(Intro and outro music: “History Song” performed by The Good, the Bad, & the Queen from their eponymous album.)

In her newly published revision of Search, Ponder, and Pray: A Guide to the Gospels, Julie M. Smith invites readers to engage the gospels devotionally by asking questions critically. In our podcast, Julie elaborates on the benefits she sees in this approach. We also discuss the pitfalls of ignoring the assessments and conclusions of Bible scholars. Julie skillfully articulates why she believes biblical scholarship can help fortify rather than harm faith.

She comes to the discussion well prepared with an MA in biblical studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkley, CA. She is also a member of the steering committee for the BYU New Testament Commentary series and is writing the commentary on Mark. A prolific blogger, Julie’s posts can be found across the Bloggernacle.

(Intro and outro music: “History Song” performed by The Good, the Bad, & the Queen from their eponymous album.)

Jan Shipps is the perfect inaugural interview for the Mormon Studies podcast. She has become the matron saint of Mormon studies (that’s a promotion from her previous role as the den mother of Mormon studies).

She is professor emeritus of history at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis and a former president of the John Whitmer Historical Association (2004–05) and the Mormon History Association (1979–80)—a scholar’s scholar who has influenced a generation of students of Mormonism, often reaching across and even narrowing the chasm between believer and nonbeliever.

Over the past several years Jan has laid the foundation for a forthcoming book on the history of Community of Christ (a.k.a. “prairie saints”; formerly RLDS) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. “mountain saints”) from the end of World War II to the present. Explicating 1950s strategic missiology and convert retention to 2010s ecclesiastical polity and women’s priesthood, she has new and trenchant insights that she shares with podcast listeners.

Given her expertise some may find it interesting that Jan is one of an elite body of Mormon scholars who are, in the words of Poe’s raven, “never,” um, “mo…”

Jan Shipps trivia: She is co-instructor of a popular study group in her Methodist congregation; Mr. Darcy is her faithful canine companion and Sally Barringer Gordon is Mr. Darcy’s Godparent.

(Intro and outro music: “History Song” performed by The Good, the Bad, & the Queen from their eponymous album.)