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Benjamin Park, Historian

Upcoming Live Discussion with Dan McClellan: The History Nerd's Newsletter for 1/4/2026

Published 5 days ago • 3 min read

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed a good holiday season and have started the new year on the right foot. I feel refreshed and ready to face what I imagine will be a crazy year. Below you'll find announcements, video links, and, as a reward for making it to the bottom of the newsletter, my list of favorite US history books from 2025.

NEWS/NOTES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • I'm very privileged to be hosting the popular biblical scholar Dan McClellan on this month's live Youtube discussion, which will take place this Wednesday, January 7, at 7pm MT. We'll be discussing Mormonism's relationship to the Bible, among other related topics. Please mark your calendars, make sure you're subscribed to my YouTube channel, and come ready with your questions.
  • Because I'll be visiting Utah later this month for the Utah Historical Society's Award's Banquet, I've arranged with the good folks at Benchmark Books to do an informal book signing on Tuesday, January 27, at 5pm MT. Benchmark is the premier Mormon history bookstore in Salt Lake City, so it'll be a great excuse to spend your remaining holiday money on books that I promise you'll enjoy. I hope to see some of you there.
  • I was privileged to go on Brandon Griffin's Youtube Channel to talk about, well, my Youtube Channel. So if you're interested in listening to me talk about my approach, goals, and lessons from wading into this weird world, you can check it out here.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

  • ​Inside the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (available for members now; available for everyone 1/5): This is a long and detailed walk-through of Joseph Smith's attempt to produce his own version of the Bible. I discuss his types of revisions, the theological consequences, and the questions of contemporary influences. I also survey how the JST has been interpreted by the LDS tradition since it's creation.
  • ​Why 2025 Will be a Turning Point in Mormon History (12/29): I provide an overview of what I think will be the consequential lessons, moments, and themes in the Mormon world in 2025. The include leadership turnover, curriculum development, cultural obsessions, and other categories.
  • ​Wake Up Dead Man and American Religion (12/24): I loved the new Knives Out movie, as I do all the Benoit Blanc mysteries. But I thought this film was a thoughtful meditation on modern American religion, which I explored in this video. What does a congregation's defense of their controversial priest tell us about the evangelical support of Donald Trump? Watch to find out.
  • ​From Martyr to Myth: The Literary Legacy of Joseph Smith (12/23): this video uses a new--and compelling--epic poem about Joseph Smith to explore how Latter-day Saints have remembered, commemorated, and celebrated their founding prophet.

SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEOS

  • My Ten Favorite Books in US History from 2025 (12/22): TikTok and Insta​
  • Defining "Evangelical" in the Age of Trump (12/23): TikTok and Insta​
  • Remembering Dean C. Jessee (1/1): TikTok and Insta​
  • How a Volume of Brigham Young's Letters Got LDS Historians in Trouble (1/2): TikTok and Insta​
  • Initial Thoughts on the New Jodi Hildebrandt Documentary (1/3): TikTok and Insta​
  • How Trump's Attack on Venezuela Fits a Larger & Tragic History (1/3): TikTok and Insta​

ODDS AND ENDS

Since we made it through the year, I thought I'd share my ten favorite books in US history that were published in 2025. Note that I'm not claiming these are the "best," nor did I even come close to reading everything, but here are ten that I strongly recommend:

  1. Martha Jones, The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir
  2. Greg Grandin, America, América: A New History of the New World
  3. Michael Vorenberg, Lincoln’s Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War
  4. Jill Lepore, We The People: A History of the US Constitution
  5. Richard Carwardine, Righteous Strifes: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Union
  6. Richard Bell, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World
  7. Zaakir Tameez, Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation
  8. Judith Weisenfeld, Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery’s Wake
  9. Jessica Lepler, Canal Dreamers: The Epic Quest to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific in the Age of Revolutions
  10. Joshua Paddison, Unholy Sensations: A Story of Sex, Scandal, and California’s First Cult Scare

And that's all I got for this week! I hope to see many of you at my live YouTube discussion Wednesday night.

Until next time,

Benjamin Park, historian and nerd

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Benjamin Park, Historian

History Has Never Been More Relevant Than Today

Interested in learning how history informs the present? Subscribers receive periodic messages that compile my recent videos, notices of upcoming events, and general reflections from a historian's perspective. While much of my content covers Mormon history, I also frequently touch on broader issues in American religion, culture, and politics.

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