Glass Box Podcast
Religion & Spirituality
About
The Book of Mormon is a fascinating work of literature, teeming with stories of prophets, kings, and warriors on the pre-Columbian American continent. Is it a holy writ of ancient history and Christian theology, or did it come from a more recent source. On this podcast, we aim to find out if there are books out there similar to the Book of Mormon that were produced prior to 1830 when the Book of Mormon was released.
Episodes
- Ep 202 — MAGA and Mormonism v. God | Pure in Heart pt. 3
This episode of Glass Box Podcast discusses selected scriptures in relation to the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the MAGA movement, concluding that neither is compatible with Christian belief. It also covers Dallin…
- Ep 201 — Disney, Ferrari, and Mormon Church and Copyright/Trademark Law/History | The Firm
This Glass Box Podcast episode explores copyright and trademark law history, using Disney, Ferrari, and the Mormon Church as examples of litigious entities. It examines recent lawsuits, including one against John Dehlin and Mormon Stories,…
- Ep 200.4 — Sun Afternoon Apr 2026 General Conference
This episode reviews the Sunday Afternoon session of the April 2026 General Conference, with specific commentary on talks given by Christofferson, Wong, Hall, Porter, Anderson, Cook, Wakolo, and Gong.
- Ep 200.3 — Sunday Morning Apr 2026 General Conference
This episode reviews the April 2026 General Conference, focusing on specific talks and speakers such as Acting Presiding Bishop of the Q12 Ulisses Soares, Emily Bell Freeman, and Ronald Rasband. The hosts also mention an interview on the S…
- Ep 200.2 — Sat Afternoon Apr 2026 General Conference
This episode reviews the Saturday Afternoon session of the April 2026 General Conference, discussing talks by Gary Stevenson on lost luggage, Edwardo Ortega and Wan-Liang Wu on new members and diversity, David J. Wunderli on youth burdens,…
- Ep 200.1 — Sat Morning Apr 2026 General Conference
General Conference for Apr 2026 is here. We watched the whole thing so you don't have to. This is our breakdown and hyperfocus on what slipped through what slipped through the cracks! Saturday Morning: Oaks POTLDS Patrick Kearon Q12 - Call…
- Ep 199 — Journal of Mormon Polygamy Conference | Sense & Sensibilities
Bryce attended the Journal of Mormon Polygamy Conference and snagged a few interviews from attendees, organizers, and presenters. It was a fantastic experience! The first issues are printed and ready for purchase at the link below and it's…
- Ep 198 — Women's History Month | Orlando
It's Women's History Month! We first talk about a few women in history who dared to stand out because representation matters. These are women in science, medicine, and even espionage who did amazing things to further scientific advances, t…
- Ep 197 — Clark Gilbert | Pure In Heart pt. 2
The time has come for a new apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Clark G. Gilbert; time for your podcast hosts to rise to the occasion with another Apostolic Profile episode. He escaped the religious persecution Morm…
- Ep 196 — Jesse Owens | 42: Jackie Robinson
It's February and that means it is Black History Month. And since we are in the middle of the 2026 Winter Olympics, we are going to talk about one of THE most famous African-American Olympic athletes of all time, Jesse Owens. We then discu…
- Ep 195 — Ethics, Morality and Professional Responsibility | Pure in Heart pt. 1
Ready for more Dallin Oaks stuff? First we talk about a letter Joseph Smith wrote to W.W. Phelps. Then we discuss the law review article "Ethics, Mortality, and Professional Responsibility", by Dallin Oaks published October 1975 in the BYU…
- Ep 194 — Dallin Oaks | Carthage Conspiracy
Well, it's time. Let's talk about President Dallin Harris Oaks, the Hoaks man, the Mormon Gollum. First, we cover the biography In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks by Richard Turley. Then we take a look at Hoaks' book The…
- Ep 193 — AI and Ethics w/ Chris Mitsch | A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Welcome to 2026! We start out the year talking to an interesting person — Chris Mitsch — a Professor of Computer Science, whose focus has been on AI ethics. We discuss a variety of technologies known as AI, the limitations, costs, potentia…
- Ep 192 — All Media 2025!
As per tradition, we're talking all media to round out the year! Our theme is past, present, future; we're discussing what influenced both of us the most in each category. Thanks for hanging out with us this past year! Shan: Past: The Witc…
- Ep 191 — CIA Torture Program and the Mormons Who Created it | The Report
Yes, the CIA tortured inmates suspected of terrorism in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Two of the primary men involved with creating this program are Mormon, one was called to be a Bishop after taking $81mn from the government to torture…
- Ep 190 — Mormon Money pt. 5; Gerald Caussé | Catch Me If You Can
The new apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken his seat at the table. Gerald Caussé spent his life in corporate business before his call to the Presiding Bishopric in 2012. In 2015 he ascended to Presiding Bi…
- Ep 189 — Endowment Evolution | Heretic
Spring of 1842 was a world-shaping event, the introduction of the endowment ceremony by Joseph Smith to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We've talked about it and a few of the more recent changes to the endowment a few time…
- Ep 188 — The Picture of Dorian Gray | History of the Devil's Music
At long last Shannon gets to talk about the book she's been planning on since the last Halloween episode — The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. We first discuss the Aesthetic Movement of the 19th century and a tiny bit of the life of…
- Ep 187.4 — Sun Afternoon Oct 2025 General Conference
It's that time of year! 195th Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We see what slipped through the cracks! David Bednar Q12 – Moral Agency means doing what you were coerced to agree to do B. Co…
- Ep 187.3 — Sun Morning Oct 2025 General Conference
It's that time of year! 195th Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We see what slipped through the cracks! Jeffrey R. Holland – Book of Mormon is miraculous and stop being so mean to me about i…
- Ep 187.2 — Sat Afternoon Oct 2025 General Conference
It's that time of year! 195th Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We see what slipped through the cracks! Ronald Rasband Q12 – Family: A Proclamation to the World is 'doctrine' Chad Webb FC SS…
- Ep 187.1 — Sat Morning Oct 2025 General Conference
It's that time of year! 195th Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We see what slipped through the cracks! Saturday Morning talks: Gary A. Stevenson Q12 – Be peacemakers no matter what Tracy Y.…
- Ep 186 — REM Model of Human Behavior w/ Chris Shelton | The Christ Who Heals pt. finale
We invite back Chris Shelton MSc from his YouTube channel by the same name to talk all about cults. He's here to share his model of human behavior, the REM (Reason/Rationalization, Emotion, Morality) and we get lost deep into the weeds dis…
- Ep 185 — 3 New Gospel Topics Essays | Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released 3 new Gospel Topics Essays in July. We go through each of them, discuss the information that's missing, chat about the propaganda woven into every line, and speculate as to the impet…
- Ep 184 — Are Mormons Christian | The Christ Who Heals pt. 1
Are Mormons Christian? According to most Christians, no. According to them, Jesus Christ is literally in the name of the church! We dig into the bedrock on this issue to see what does or does not qualify as "Christian". After that, we dive…
- Ep 183 — Hatch & Jones, Victims of Mormon Violence w/ Belle Holsinger | The Godfather
You asked for it and you got it! We interviewed Belle Holsinger who we talked about last episode in our Sunstone recap. She gave us the absolutely riveting information from her presentation at Sunstone titled "Bearing witness: The castrati…
- Ep 182 — Sunstone 2025 Wrap-up
We went to Sunstone Symposium in SLC, like we try to do every year! It was fantastic and a great place to meet good folks, visit old friends, and learn new things along the way. We discuss some of our favorite sessions and experiences from…
- Ep 181 — Word Vomit and Verbosity | The Crucible of Doubt pt. 3
Your two favorite long winded podcasters are talking about word vomit and verbosity today, which is particularly fitting since today's Sword of Laman segment covers the last part of the 2nd Givens book, The Crucible of Doubt. We then clean…
- Ep 180 — John Taylor 1886 Permanent Polygamy Revelation | National Treasure
The Church History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just dropped a revelatory bomb on the Mormon history community and we're gunna talk about it. John Taylor (prophet 1880-1887) wrote a revelation saying that the…
- Ep 179 — Great Leaders | Crucible of Doubt pt. 2
Let's talk leaders. What qualities does a great leader have? What's the difference between a good and great leader? And we talk about three leaders in history. In our Sword of Laman segment, we cover the next few chapters of the Givens' bo…
- Ep 178 — Nov '15 Policy 10-yr Retrospective | Rafiki (2018)
Not only is it Pride month but it's also been almost 10 years since the Mormon church issued their policy against the children of LGBTQIA+ parents. We take a look at the effects that policy had, the increasingly draconian measures the gove…
- Ep 177 — Doubts | The Crucible of Doubt
We're talking about the bane of the Q15's existence! Doubts of the members. We discuss the terrible way they are dealt with which leads into the second installment of the Givens' trilogy — The Crucible of Doubt — Reflections on the Quest f…
- Ep 176 — Mormon fasting vs other religions | South Park
Fasting! In all its forms and purposes. We take a wander through world religions to see how fasting plays a part in almost all of them. Mormon fasting is far less peculiar than we thought. Then a few episodes of South Park that provide won…
- Ep 175 — The God Who Weeps Wrap-Up | The Meaning of Life
We're finishing The God Who Weeps by Terryl Givens and Fiona Givens. This is the first book in a trilogy of Mormon theology and we want to leave room in the year to get through it all. What does today hold for us? We start with a long disc…
- Ep 174.4 — Sun Afternoon Apr 2025 GenCon
April 2025 General Conference Sunday Afternoon session. Patrons of the show get the appendix of Saturday Evening session at the end of the record. Ulisses Soares – Reverence; Moses and the burning bush; you-damn-kids talk; pray for guidanc…
- Ep 174.3 — Sun Morning Apr 2025 GenCon
April 2025 General Conference Sunday Morning session. David A Bednar – Joseph Smith totally restored the one true church; and other sundry sacrament meeting talking points Steven Shumway Q70 – Do your callings, no matter how demanding they…
- Ep 174.2 — Sat Afternoon Apr 2025 GenCon
April 2025 General Conference Saturday Afternoon session. Niel Anderson – Heinous abortion is evil diatribe, the church is extreme Conservative Steven Lund YM GP – Priesthood is awesome, men run everything in the church S Mark Palmer Q70 –…
- Ep 174.1 — Sat Morning Apr 2025 GenCon
April 2025 General Conference Saturday Morning session. Jeffrey R. Holland – Little boy bites a little girl, better teach her to forgive! Camille Johnson RS GP – Waiting to be healed filling spiritual holes Ronald Rasband – Church is DOING…
- Ep 173 — Joseph Smith Wasn't a Polygamist | O Brother, Where Art Thou?
It's time to examine Joseph-Smith-polygamy skepticism. After the recent Journal of Mormon Polygamy conference, we decided to seriously consider the evidences used by this cohort of Mormon studies, leading us to understand that polygamy was…
- Ep 172 — All About Cults feat. Chris Shelton | Don't Look Up
We have a guest for our main segment this time. Chris Shelton is a cult expert content creator who eats, breathes, and sleeps high-demand, coercive groups. We discuss everything from what makes a group a cult, how to identify them, is The…
- Ep 171 — Death Penalty pt. 2 Mormon Violence, Religion and DP, Ethics and Morals
It's time for part 2 of our Death Penalty series! Since this is a Mormon podcast, we first look into the history of Mormons and the death penalty. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young both ordered assassinations and fostered environments where r…
- Ep 170 — Death Penalty pt. 1
We begin our next series, this time on Capital Punishment. We start with the history of crimes throughout written history that justified the death penalty. Then we get into colonial history and how the death penalty was built into the foun…
- Ep 169 — 3 Mormon Lawsuits; Spotlight
3 lawsuits against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We discuss the class action suit, Judson et al v. LDS, the recently tossed case of Huntsman v. LDS, and the civil RICO suit Gaddy v. LDS. Where do they stand? How likely a…
- Ep 168 — Terryl and Fiona Givens | The God Who Weeps
It's time to start a new year and new book for our long-form deep dive reviews of terrible Mormon books. And this one is… not terrible? The Givens present a form of Mormon theology which tries to "make sense of life" and we're here for any…
- Ep 167 — Callis, Kimball, Skousen, Gilbert–Utah & BYU Police State | Minority Report
BYU and SLC anti-vice. We discuss the history of Charles A. Callis, his career in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and politics, and his final assignment before death, creating a sexual purity surveillance and counseling/the…
- Ep 166 — All Media!
You know the time of year! Next Live Show: Monday 12/30/24 https://www.youtube.com/@bryceblankenagel7707 Show Notes: Starship Troopers: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120201/?ref_=tttrv Movie: Book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Tr…
- Ep 165 — Approaching Zion the finale!
We are finally finishing up the Huge Niblet! We cover the last two chapters of Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley followed by our own conclusions about Nibley and what he accomplished. We then finish with some happy news about an environmenta…
- Ep 164 — Gaslighting
Here in the USA, it's right before Thanksgiving and right after a bad election so it's time to talk about Gaslighting. We discuss what it is, how to spot it, and how to fight it. For Media of Great Price, we talk about the 1944 movie Gasli…
- Ep 163 — Science Fiction and the Gospel |Approaching Zion pt. 8
Welcome to another Huge Niblet episode. And yes, it's a bit huge. (You saw the time stamp!) In the A segment, we discuss Hugh Nibley's 1969 diatribe titled Science Fiction and the Gospel as well as the article that likely triggered his rag…
- Ep 162 — Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson | I Write to You, My Darling Decay by A Wake in Providence
It's October and so you finally get a Halloween themed media episode to round out the month. First we talk about Robert Louis Stevenson and his book Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We discuss some of the major themes as well as some…