John Dehlin is thinking about bringing Mormon Stories back

[OrangeUte]

i just listened to dehlin's interview of the danzigs. i thought the most interesting part of the interview was the very end where Dehlin comments that he gets lots of interest in stories/threads/articles etc about blacks and the priesthood, etc., but many "progressive" members of the church have said to him - well, that gay issue, that's just not my cup of tea...

got me wondering. i have been teetering on this edge for a while between accepting that i have belief in the church and acknowledgment that my belief is really just failure to be true to myself because of fear of external forces like friends and family and co-workers that are lds, loved ones, etc. it's a topic that i'm know has been discussed in numerous threads on this site, and i think it's timely for dehlin to be focusing on these issues.

i noticed he recently added an interview re: wives whose hubby's have lost their testimonies. i'll listen to that when i'm driving this week out of town. i am sure that the existence of this topic on message bard to many would be proof that satan is subtly destroying the families within the church...

i'm rambline because i'm tired.

glad to have Dehlin back putting together these stories. very good stuff and well-done.

[Rosebud]

i should amend. bryan knows half the story...what he doesn't know is the other half and the revenge that so many probably sought, unknowingly got. can't wait to speak with him. it's been a long time.

You're cracking me up. Stop teasing and spit it out. There IS a story, right?

[LA Ute]

i noticed he recently added an interview re: wives whose hubby's have lost their testimonies.

It happens the other way too (wives losing their testimonies). That would also be interesting to see explored.

[myboynoah]

i just listened to dehlin's interview of the danzigs. i thought the most interesting part of the interview was the very end where Dehlin comments that he gets lots of interest in stories/threads/articles etc about blacks and the priesthood, etc., but many "progressive" members of the church have said to him - well, that gay issue, that's just not my cup of tea...

Off your topic, but something that wasn't addressed in that interview was that in his letter to the editor, he identified himself as a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square. To me, that seemed like that would have been the major issue at hand, with which The Church and the Orchestra would have taken most issue. But it is never addressed in the interview.

[Solon]

Off your topic, but something that wasn't addressed in that interview was that in his letter to the editor, he identified himself as a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square. To me, that seemed like that would have been the major issue at hand, with which The Church and the Orchestra would have taken most issue. But it is never addressed in the interview.

I noticed that too. Seems like kind of a big omission.

[OrangeUte]

I noticed that too. Seems like kind of a big omission.

from what i understand of dehlin, he's a grad student of some sort. probably not used to the give and take of an interview or an examination of someone. overall, he seemed to just ask broad questions and allow the danzigs to just tell their story, and maybe that's all he's offering. it would have been interesting to know why danzig put down that he was a member of the orchestra - was it intentional in order to get the church's attention or something like that?

i hope to find out more about the resignation of craig jessop and also the purported witch hunt the danzigs spoke about.

[I.J. Reilly]

from what i understand of dehlin, he's a grad student of some sort. probably not used to the give and take of an interview or an examination of someone. overall, he seemed to just ask broad questions and allow the danzigs to just tell their story, and maybe that's all he's offering. it would have been interesting to know why danzig put down that he was a member of the orchestra - was it intentional in order to get the church's attention or something like that?

i hope to find out more about the resignation of craig jessop and also the purported witch hunt the danzigs spoke about.

From what I've listened to, Dehlin appears to have pretty interesting/insightful questions, but they definitely are favorable to the subject. There is no Frost/Nixon thing going on at mormonstories.

[LA Ute]

from what i understand of dehlin, he's a grad student of some sort. probably not used to the give and take of an interview or an examination of someone. overall, he seemed to just ask broad questions and allow the danzigs to just tell their story, and maybe that's all he's offering. it would have been interesting to know why danzig put down that he was a member of the orchestra - was it intentional in order to get the church's attention or something like that?

i hope to find out more about the resignation of craig jessop and also the purported witch hunt the danzigs spoke about.

He has some kind of job running IT services at Utah State. Very nice guy. I met him at a Sunstone symposium and he had a leadership role there too at the time.

[OrangeUte]

i friended him on facebook, but that's my only connection to him. he's kind of like david gregory - not quite a tim russert, but not bad either.

[OrangeUte]

It happens the other way too (wives losing their testimonies). That would also be interesting to see explored.

yes. maybe more of a rare occurrence, but absolutely this would be fascinating to listen to.

[Moliere]

Is Mormon Stories out of ideas? I hadn't checked into that site it quite some time and it looks like the last episode posted was in early June, and it was just a rehash of one of their conferences. I wonder if the lack of new content is upsetting the donors

It's also interesting to see new podcasts popup and basically just rehash all the same things over and over again. It's almost like participating in CUF.

[UtahDan]

Is Mormon Stories out of ideas? I hadn't checked into that site it quite some time and it looks like the last episode posted was in early June, and it was just a rehash of one of their conferences. I wonder if the lack of new content is upsetting the donors

It's also interesting to see new podcasts popup and basically just rehash all the same things over and over again. It's almost like participating in CUF.

My sense (not having talked to him, but just from what I have observed) is that they and he are trying to figure out exactly what they want to be. They have their fingers in a lot of pies and it is a lot for one guy to keep track of and have his name attached to. I know they are launching a number of new podcasts under the Open Stories Foundation umbrella and I have even heard whispers that John would like to focus back in on podcasting and less on events and other things. Other pieces may be breaking off into independence. That is mostly conjecture and third hand info.

As for the recycling, I think there is something to that. But having watched the evolution from the beginning the difference between that and the CUF comparison is that whereas we get a trickle of new faces who might not know about all the old conversations, podcast listenership is ever grow and people's interests within that are ever shifting. For a while it was just Mormon Stories and Mormon Expression, which represented pretty different poles. Now not only is there my project (which at least seeks to not be at a pole) but you also have Mormon Matters, Stochastic Kitten, Infants on Thrones, an FMH podcast, Larsen now doing a Atheism podcast, plus the numerous other OSF properties that are just getting off the ground. All of these represent different voices and points of view. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in another two years. A lot of people have gained the skills to put something out there and so far the interest has not waned. The history seems to be that the podcasters, not just the listeners, seem to have finite shelf lives when it comes to this topic. On the other hand, the demand just grows.

[sparky]

Something's up with their server. The mobile version has episodes through the Sep 18, and I'm also seeing the normal website is broken like you said.

ETA: I really liked the episode on pre-temple civil marriages, dated Sep 2. Hit home in a big way.

[DrumNFeather]

My sense (not having talked to him, but just from what I have observed) is that they and he are trying to figure out exactly what they want to be. They have their fingers in a lot of pies and it is a lot for one guy to keep track of and have his name attached to. I know they are launching a number of new podcasts under the Open Stories Foundation umbrella and I have even heard whispers that John would like to focus back in on podcasting and less on events and other things. Other pieces may be breaking off into independence. That is mostly conjecture and third hand info.

As for the recycling, I think there is something to that. But having watched the evolution from the beginning the difference between that and the CUF comparison is that whereas we get a trickle of new faces who might not know about all the old conversations, podcast listenership is ever grow and people's interests within that are ever shifting. For a while it was just Mormon Stories and Mormon Expression, which represented pretty different poles. Now not only is there my project (which at least seeks to not be at a pole) but you also have Mormon Matters, Stochastic Kitten, Infants on Thrones, an FMH podcast, Larsen now doing a Atheism podcast, plus the numerous other OSF properties that are just getting off the ground. All of these represent different voices and points of view. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in another two years. A lot of people have gained the skills to put something out there and so far the interest has not waned. The history seems to be that the podcasters, not just the listeners, seem to have finite shelf lives when it comes to this topic. On the other hand, the demand just grows.

Fess up, you want to put MS out of business.

[Moliere]

My sense (not having talked to him, but just from what I have observed) is that they and he are trying to figure out exactly what they want to be. They have their fingers in a lot of pies and it is a lot for one guy to keep track of and have his name attached to. I know they are launching a number of new podcasts under the Open Stories Foundation umbrella and I have even heard whispers that John would like to focus back in on podcasting and less on events and other things. Other pieces may be breaking off into independence. That is mostly conjecture and third hand info.

As for the recycling, I think there is something to that. But having watched the evolution from the beginning the difference between that and the CUF comparison is that whereas we get a trickle of new faces who might not know about all the old conversations, podcast listenership is ever grow and people's interests within that are ever shifting. For a while it was just Mormon Stories and Mormon Expression, which represented pretty different poles. Now not only is there my project (which at least seeks to not be at a pole) but you also have Mormon Matters, Stochastic Kitten, Infants on Thrones, an FMH podcast, Larsen now doing a Atheism podcast, plus the numerous other OSF properties that are just getting off the ground. All of these represent different voices and points of view. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in another two years. A lot of people have gained the skills to put something out there and so far the interest has not waned. The history seems to be that the podcasters, not just the listeners, seem to have finite shelf lives when it comes to this topic. On the other hand, the demand just grows.

You're probably right. I'd wager that a lot of the traffic in those things is transient. The one thing I liked most about MS is when they interview people about thier own journeys. The intimacy it brings is nice. I don't care as much for MM or the others as it's less intimate and usually just goes into a rehash of most everything I've already hashed.

I don't doubt the demand is growing. I had a conversation with a guy at work who is an EQP in a neighboring stake. He has several members in his quorum that don't believe in the faith claims of the church but they attend mostly to appease family and because they think the church is "good". He's struggling to understand why they would participate at all, but I can see these podcasts appeallilng to the people in his quorum, at least for a while.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the size of the listening audience for yoru project? Is it growing since the first couple webcasts? I don't doubt the Holy War episode got big time ratings!!

Something's up with their server. The mobile version has episodes through the Sep 18, and I'm also seeing the normal website is broken like you said.

ETA: I really liked the episode on pre-temple civil marriages, dated Sep 2. Hit home in a big way.

I just noticed that. Looks like a few have come out since June and they look decent.