Mormons in Media

Temple garments have always been a buzzy topic, but these days they're on reality TV, in the NYT, and all over our Instagram feeds. Lindsey and Rebbie discuss the tricky realities of wearing garments (shade shirts, safety pins, nursing top hacks), whether "Garment Girlies" are a thing (please no), and the insanity of being jealous of another woman's religious clothing.

Eli discusses the pain of growing up in the church and being gay. Rebbie talks about the cognitive dissonance of having a testimony but struggling with doctrine that feels exclusionary. We talk allyship on social media vs in real life, whether flags are worth the fuss, and of course, both start crying at some point.

It's another Mormonland crossover! Nicole asks Rebbie all her "outsider" questions from the season. We talk maternity garments, coffee vs. diet coke, cross necklaces, and that culty Young Women's chant. Most importantly we wonder how a middle aged man in a Chippendale's costume almost starts a fight while stone cold sober.

She's a mom blogger who broke the mold, a Latter-day Saint who wrote a book about being pro-choice, an American renovating a 400-year-old house in France. Gabby and Rebbie talk juggling parenthood and work, our favorite weird parts of Mormonism, and how to use who you already are to make your work stand out.

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Our first ever crossover! In which we learn Nicole's exposure to Mormon theology comes mostly from a Housewife. We talk temples vs. meetinghouses, varying degrees of orthodoxy in Mormonism, and whether it's culturally acceptable for women to be the breadwinner a la Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

We talk Kirby's career beginnings in the Mormon Movie Moment, what it really takes to make it as a performer, and revisit the absurdity of beer-commercial-gate. We also discuss what it would take to recreate the glory days of 2003 and how one of us might be on the way to making it happen (!!)

Rebbie is joined by Lindsey Encinas and Meg Walter to talk about the cursed intersection of Mormonism and The Bachelor -- from Jef with one F, to the LDS Millionaire, to Litia being the most eligible woman in history who still didn't get the final rose.

The Salt Lake Tribune's Senior Religion Reporter casually tells a dozen stories that blow Rebbie's mind. From starting a Mormon magazine decades before the bloggernacle, to interviewing the Dalai Lama, and Mark Hoffman (pre-explosions), and every Latter-day Saint Prophet since Gordon B. Hinckley, to running her fingers through David A. Bednar's pristine hair. Consider this a teaser for Peggy's memoir, which we need ASAP.

Eli and Rebbie are sick of internet fights between people who love and hate the church. Why do we do this? And what would it look like to support each other, whichever side you're on?

McKay Coppins is here to blow up my theory that owning Mormonism will ruin your media career. We talk about how Mormonism has shaped his career from Buzzfeed to The Atlantic, what it's like living in DC right now, and the time he got marooned at Mar A Lago.

Our guy Andy Reid had a real bad day. We talk about what makes him so great, whether member athletes benefit from double standards, and a few stealth Mormons who made ads and won rings.

Conclave is a 2024 film starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci that has been nominated for 8 Academy Awards. In this episode, Rebbie and Meg ask their Catholic friend Cristina many dumb questions about the religion, its media depictions, and learn she somehow knows more about Mormonism than they do.

Rebbie and Lindsey dissect The Washington Post's piece that claims 2024 was the year of Mormon women. Is Hannah Neeleman ambitious or repressed? Is influencing working or "shilling?" We also get into women's (in)visibility at church from Amy Watkins Jensen's recent op-ed and discuss public figures leaving the church a la Rosie Card.

From New York to LA, the theater to The Groundlings, Shelley and Rebbie debate the likeliness of making it as a funny person when you're full in on church. Do all the best comics make dirty jokes? Does sobriety inhibit funniness, and are all our post-Mormon friends doing mushrooms?? (yes) We'd like to break the myth that clean stuff can't be funny but we're mostly breaking our brains.

A horror movie about sister missionaries. A religious film that’s rated R.  Hugh Grant quoting Gordon B Hinckley!!! Heretic is the movie none of us expected, but we're thrilled to process together. We discuss whether it's offensive, how it triggered us, what it does for Mormon representation, and the scene that made two of us kind of weepy in that churchy way? We're as surprised as you are.