Greetings fellow history nerds,

I hope the late-summer days are finding you well. It still feels as hot as ever here in Texas as we're part of the nation surviving a horrible heat wave. But the heat will break at some point, right? Right?

The beginning of a new semester is supposed to mean a lot of hope. (Right? Right?) Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time feeling that hope right now. Not just because this is going to be a heavy teaching load this semester--I have a few additional classes on top of my additional rotation--but because I've been reading some heavy books. A couple weeks ago I read through Kristin Kobes Du Mez's forthcoming Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made in preparation with my interview with her, more on that below, but I also recently finished Bradley Onishi's American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords are Turning America Into a Monarchy and just began Jill Lepore's The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, all of which focus on the illiberal trajectories shaping our modern world.

I will need to take a break and read some Romantacy or something soon.

History books are often written for a particular moment. They use our current climate to ask questions about the past, seeking solutions to our pressing issues, or at least context for how we got here. And given the last few years, it makes sense that some of our best authors are attempting to make sense of our current dark era.

These are important topics that deserve somber responses.

It's just not fun.

Anyways, on to the main points.

NEWS/NOTES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Most importantly, I'm really excited to host a LIVE AMA with Kristin Du Mez on Monday, August 31, at 8pm ET/6pm MT. Dr. Du Mez doesn't really need an introduction--she's one of the most prominent historians in our public sphere, her NYT-bestselling book Jesus & John Wayne is a cultural phenomenon, and she is a frequent commenter on religious, cultural, and political issues. Her new book, Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made, will be published by Liveright in September. I can promise it's great--even if it's a bit sobering. This will count as my LIVE discussion for September, even though it's taking place before the turn of the month and it takes place on Monday as opposed to Wednesday. Think of it as Nerd Home Evening!
• If you are within driving distance of Logan, Utah, on September 24, I'll be delivering the Leonard Arrington Annual Lecture at the Logan Tabernacle. This named lecture series is part of the Utah State University's Mormon studies program. My lecture is titled "Declarations of Interdependence: Why the Latter-day Saints Just Can't Quit the United States," and I'll be walking through 200 years of the faith's complicated relationship with the nation that gave it birth. It will be part lecture and part reader's theater, as I'll have performers reading from the texts that I'm dissecting. It should be a lot of fun.
• I was privileged to join the legendary RadioWest program this week, along with Lindsay Hansen Park, to discuss the cultural history of the "Mormon" label. Who owns a name? And how has it evolved over the years? I hope the discussion adds to the broader conversation surrounding the current lawsuit in the news.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

• ​The Forgotten History of Islam in America (8/26): Islam has been part of American history for centuries—but so has Islamophobia. This video traces the long history of Islam in America, beginning with enslaved African Muslims and moving through the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Black American Islam, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, immigration, the aftermath of 9/11, and the changing public perception of Muslim Americans. It shows why portraying Islam as something foreign or newly arrived in the United States ignores a much deeper American history.
• ​The Original Mormon Trad Wife: Helen Andelin (8/24): Long before Ballerina Farm and today’s tradwife movement, Helen Andelin was teaching millions of American women to embrace submission, femininity, and traditional gender roles. Her 1963 book Fascinating Womanhood emerged at almost exactly the same moment as Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique—but offered a dramatically different answer to the question of women’s roles in postwar America. This video explores Andelin’s Mormon background, the origins of Fascinating Womanhood, its teachings about marriage and femininity, and how the movement spread from Latter-day Saint communities to women across the United States.
• ​The Mormon Leaders Who Helped Canonize the Book of Abraham (8/21): How did the Book of Abraham go from Egyptian papyri purchased in 1835 to canonized Latter-day Saint scripture? This video explores the complicated origins of the Book of Abraham, beginning with Michael H. Chandler’s arrival in Kirtland and Joseph Smith’s acquisition of Egyptian mummies and papyri. We examine the Egyptian alphabet documents, early Book of Abraham manuscripts, Joseph Smith’s translation claims, and the historical sources that illuminate how the text developed.
• ​Why Are Young Women Leaving the Church? (8/19): Why are young Latter-day Saint women leaving the LDS Church at rates that challenge decades of assumptions about gender and religion? Scholar and journalist Jana Riess joins the conversation to explain a striking shift in Mormonism and American religion: younger women are increasingly likely to disaffiliate from organized religion. Riess breaks the trend down through three major factors—politics, purity culture, and powerlessness—and explains why changing expectations around gender, authority, sexuality, and religious identity matter.
• ​Hugh Nibley: Scholar, Apologist, and Mormon Rebel (8/17): Hugh Nibley remains one of the most influential—and controversial—figures in modern Latter-day Saint history. This video explores his remarkable life, from gifted linguist and World War II intelligence officer to legendary BYU professor whose work transformed Mormon apologetics and intellectual culture. Discover how his scholarship shaped generations of believers while also creating debates that continue today.
• ​The Joseph Smith Blessing That Changed Mormon Theology (8/14): One of the most beloved teachings in Latter-day Saint history may have begun with a little-known blessing tied to Nauvoo polygamy. This video traces the origins of Orson F. Whitney's famous 1929 General Conference statement about wayward children and "the tentacles of divine providence" back to an 1843 blessing written by Joseph Smith for Sarah Ann Whitney. Drawing from newly available historical documents, the episode explores how one family's private records shaped generations of LDS thought about eternal families, sealing, and salvation.
• ​Why Mormon Fertility Has Dropped (8/12): Utah's fertility rate has fallen more dramatically than any other state in America—and the reasons go far beyond economics. This video explores how changing family sizes, women's religious participation, and shifting cultural expectations are reshaping modern Mormonism. By tracing the historical origins of the LDS ideal of the large nuclear family, this discussion connects past beliefs with today's rapidly changing social realities.
• ​Edward Tullidge: The mormon Intellectual Nobody Talks About (8/10): Few figures in 19th-century Mormon history lived a life as remarkable—and contradictory—as Edward Tullidge. A missionary, theologian, historian, journalist, atheist, Godbeite, Josephite, and prolific author, Tullidge repeatedly reinvented himself while helping shape both Mormon thought and how outsiders understood the faith. His writings influenced generations, even as his own religious convictions continually evolved.
• ​Why Mormon Communities Turned on This Plural Wife (8/7): How did Mormon communities go from risking everything to protect plural marriages to exposing them? This episode explores one of the most fascinating transitions in Latter-day Saint history through the remarkable story of Margaret Geddes Eccles, whose life reveals how secrecy, loyalty, surveillance, and community dramatically changed after the 1890 Manifesto.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

• The Coded & Clandestine Nature of Joseph Smith's Polygamy Documents: TikTok/Instagram​
• Why Academic Publishing Takes a Long Time: TikTok/Instagram​
• The Long History Behind Brazil's 12th LDS Temple: TikTok/Instagram​
• How Mormon Fundamentalists Shaped the LDS Temple Recommend Questions: TikTok/Instagram​
• Using Gothic Horror to Wrestle with The Legacies of Mormon Polygamy: TikTok/Instagram​
• Orson Hyde's Unorthodox Proposal for a Mormon Colony in Texas: TikTok/Instagram​
• Reading Totally Normal Responses to my Video on Young Women Leaving Mormonism: TikTok/Instagram​

That's all I have for this week. I hope to see many of you at the live YouTube discussion this coming Monday!

Best,

Benjamin Park, historian and nerd