Mormon Land

By all accounts, Richard Bushman could be considered the patriarch of Mormon history.

For more than nine decades, he has lived it, studied it, analyzed it, shared it with fellow believers and explained it to nonbelievers.

The soft-spoken scholar — with three degrees from Harvard and a drive toward understanding truth — has been writing about Mormonism for much of his academic career. He is a giant in his field and a mentor to many young historians.

He penned a seminal biography of Joseph Smith, founder The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and later published an examination of the importance of Smith’s “gold plates,” from which sprang the Book of Mormon.

To many, the emeritus history professor from Columbia University is a dream representative of the Utah-based faith — quiet, reasoned, faithful but open and willing to ask hard questions.

So what has he seen of the church in his 94 years? What eras were most difficult? Most satisfying? What struggles has he faced as a member and where does he see the church in the 21st century as compared to when he was born?

On this week’s show, Bushman, who is writing his memoirs, reflects on the past, ruminates on the present and imagines the future.

Daily life in and around Minneapolis has taken on a sharper edge since the federal government unleashed a mass deportation campaign in the city.

Raids on suspected immigrants have become a common occurrence, observers on the ground report. Gas-mask-wearing protesters take frequently to frozen streets. Twice federal agents have shot and killed U.S. citizens, 37-year-old Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Amid this chaos, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have sought to replace fear and isolation with faith and service — even as the church’s top leaders have remained largely silent on the issue.

On this week’s show, Cindy Sandberg and John Gustav-Wrathall talk about their experiences from the front lines in the beleaguered city.

For most of its nearly 200-year history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considered temple clothing — including what are known as “garments,” worn under everyday attire — too sacred to discuss, even within families or among friends.

That has slowly changed. In 2015, the Utah-based faith posted photos and videos of garments on YouTube to show the outside world that there is “nothing magical or mystical about temple garments.”

These days images of garments (especially the new sleeveless design) are posted on the church’s online store and by faithful Latter-day Saints themselves.

But how did the practice of wearing garments begin? What were early garments like? What did they signify to the wearers? And how have they evolved through the years?

On this week’s show, Nancy Ross and Jessica Finnigan, authors, along with Larissa Kanno Kindred, of a forthcoming book, “Mormon Garments: Sacred and Secret,“ discuss the history and purpose of this religious underwear.

Enter many a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the U.S. and you will find a pew-packed chapel next to a ready-made sports court separated only by an accordion-like folding wall.

That pairing says a lot not only about how the faith views the intertwining of the spiritual and the physical but also about the vaunted place in Latter-day Saint culture held by this particular sport: basketball.

From its conception, it was seen as a way to exhibit “muscular Christianity,” build character, learn discipline and practice teamwork — “no place,” its inventor said, “for the egotist.”

Latter-day Saint leaders and the members quickly adopted it, to the point that “church ball” became an integral ingredient in congregational life.

Fast-forward to today’s NBA, where showtime and showboating sell tickets, and the college ranks, where money increasingly rules — even at church-owned Brigham Young University, where millions in name, image and likeness cash helped the Cougars land prized recruit AJ Dybantsa.

How did this happen? How did basketball blend into church culture for so many years? And how does the modern game fit with BYU’s religious mission?

On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Matthew Bowman and scholar Wayne LeCheminant, authors of “Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball," answer those questions and more.

The new year started and so did the reality television. On this 'Mormon Land' and 'Mormons in Media' crossover, we unpack TLC's new docuseries The Cult of the Real Housewife. This takes a deep dive into Mary Cosby, from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and how she runs her Utah church. It brings up uncomfortable questions about tithing, how it's regulated and what exactly that money goes towards. Is "cult" too strong a word in this instance, or does charisma make scamming easier to overlook?