Welcome to Part 40 of our Joseph Smith Podcast series with Dr. John Turner!

Today we are covering the final chapter of Dr. John Turner’s new book, Joseph Smith; The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet. The chapter is titled “Bleeding Hearts.”

In this episode we unpack the turbulent final months of Joseph Smith’s life in 1844. We explore escalating legal pressures, political tensions in Nauvoo, and the controversial events surrounding the Nauvoo Expositor, press freedom, and Smith’s increasingly complex role as prophet, mayor, and military leader.

We also examine the accusations of polygamy and misconduct circulating at the time, the internal fractures within the Latter-day Saint movement, and how Joseph Smith responded through sermons, leadership decision, and public defense.

As tensions rise, we follow the path from legal entanglements and political conflict in Illinois to Smith’s final days, his decision to flee, and the events leading to his death at Carthage Jail. The episode closes with reflections on the aftermath of his killing and its lasting impact on the movement he founded.

This is a deep historical discussion drawing on Dr. Turner’s scholarship and primary source material to better understand one of the most consequential and contested moments in early American religious history.

If you’d like to help keep this project going, please consider donating to support this series here. Your support makes long-form, in-depth historical discussion like this possible!

Purchase John Turner’s book here.

Let us know your thoughts on a Brigham Young series (comprising ten episodes) covering John Turner’s book Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet.

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At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

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Welcome back to part 2 of Dr. Michael Coe week here on Mormon Stories Podcast, where we are re-releasing some on the most important episodes in the history of this channel.

The original description for this episode reads:

"We are excited to revisit Dr. Michael Coe at his home in New Haven, Connecticut, to discuss some of the challenges facing Mormon archaeologists attempting to prove the historical truth of their central scripture.

Dr. Michael Coe is the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University and Curator Emeritus of the Division of Anthropology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. He is an expert on the Maya, who inhabited the same part of Mexico and Central America where Mormon scholars say the events of the Book of Mormon took place."

This episode was released in April of 2018.

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Show Notes

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At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m

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Join us today for another re-mastered classic Mormon Stories episode!

This interview with Dr. Michael Coe is one of the most important Mormon Stories episodes to date. In order to introduce this significant conversation to our newer audiences, we have compiled it into a single episode and re-broadcasting it.

The original description for this episode reads,

"Dr. Michael Coe is the Charles J. MacCurdy professor emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University and curator emeritus of the Division of Anthropology at the school’s Peabody Museum of Natural History. He is an expert on the Maya, who inhabited the same part of Mexico and Central American where Mormon scholars say the events of the Book of Mormon took place. In this interview, Coe discusses the challenges facing Mormon archaeologists attempting to prove the historical truth of their central scripture and his own views on Joseph Smith."

This episode originally aired in August 2011, and was titled "Dr. Michael Coe – An Outsider’s View of Book of Mormon Archaeology" (episodes 268-270). A follow-up conversation was filmed and released in April 2018, which will be re-broadcasted this week as well.

___________________

Show Notes

YouTube

At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

Our overall mission is to:

1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology

2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis

3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today

One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories

Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories

Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories

Join this channel to get access to perks:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join

Our Platforms:

🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes

🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories

✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1

🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772

🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories

📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast

🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF

Contact us:

📧 MormonStories@gmail.com

📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117