Sunstone Firesides Podcast

Blaire Ostler talks with Dr. Jordan Roberts about the basics of COVID-19: how it may have originated, how it spreads, what families can do about containing it, and hopeful scenarios for the future. Listen to this episode here. 

Though he loves BYU, as a gay student, Danny Dawson was never able to be himself there until the recent honor code revisions seemed to make homosexual dating and displays of affection acceptable. But the later clarification blasted any sense of safety he had. Blaire Ostler talks with Dawson about his experience. Listen to this episode here.

The latest LDS Handbook update about transgender members shows promise for the future but also has some theological and scientific problems. Blair Ostler talks with philosophy professor Kelli Potter about the complexities of gender and how it can affect LDS theology and practice. Listen to this episode here. 

Samantha Richardson transitioned to being a woman in her 40s, and—to her great surprise—the Utah ward she moved into immediately embraced her. In this episode, Blaire Ostler and Richardson talk about the recent additions to Handbook 1 regarding transgender people, and how they impact those, like Richardson, who want to be a part of the LDS community. Listen to this episode here. 

Marta Vázquez came to the United States from Honduras at 17 years old, pregnant and with a small daughter in tow. Her goal was to join the U.S. Army. Now she is an advocate for asylum seekers in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Vázquez talks with Sara Bybee Fisk about her fascinating life. Listen to this episode here.

The stresses of race, patriarchy, politics, and sexual shame all contributed to the collapse of Laura Ruiz’s marriage. Cristina Gonzalez Cole talks with Ruiz about her journey. Listen to this episode here. 

Community of Christ started ordaining women to the priesthood in the mid-1980s and then (in the United States) members of the LGBTQ community in 2013. Kay Fletcher, a lifelong member of the Community of Christ and a member of its Quorum of Seventy, talks with host Kimberly Anderson about how these changes transpired. Listen to this episode here.

One day, Jennifer Gonzalez found out that there was a refugee detention center just 20 miles from where she lived. Her life changed when she and some friends wrote to the people who were being held there, including a man named Nephi. In this episode, she shares her story with Cristina Gonzalez Cole. Listen to this episode here. 

Two hundred years before John Fowler’s Stages of Faith, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had already come up with a few stages his own. And the best part is, he represented them with animals! Join Blair Ostler and Drew Ostler as they talk about why you might be a camel, a lion, or a child. Listen to this episode here.

Answering a spiritual call to move from Oregon to Utah, Jerilyn Pool has been feeding, housing, and partying with Utah’s LGBTQ community for years now. Blaire Ostler talks with Pool (and her pigeons) about her journey. Listen to this episode here.

Blaire Ostler gets to know Cristina Cole, one of the co-hosts of the Sunstone Firesides Podcast. She’s a single mother and health care worker who calls herself “brown and bi-sexual”—giving her a unique perspective on LDS Church culture. Listen to this episode here.

She loves Mormonism, but doesn’t believe in the LDS Church—just one of the surprising things about author Mette Ivie Harrison. Kimberly Anderson and Harrison talk about writing, grieving, and spiritual growth. Listen to this episode here.

Wendall Hair converted to the LDS Church while living in North Carolina and served a mission in St. George, Utah, where he returned almost immediately to continue life as a Mormon. But being African-American and gay led to challenges in Wendall’s faith in Church leadership. Kimberly Anderson talks with Wendall about the Mormons who helped him and Mormons who hindered him. Listen to this episode here.

Hosted by Kimberly Anderson, this episode features Saundra Merth giving a personal perspective on the growth of the LGBTQ community in the Community of Christ and how they eventually gained the priesthood. Listen to this episode here.

A lot happened during the leadership session of general conference, from changes in who can be an official witness for a baptism to an official interpretation of the word “gender” in church policies. Blaire Ostler and her husband Drew Ostler analyze the session talk by talk. Listen to this episode here.

On September 17, 2019, Russell M. Nelson delivered a speech at BYU outlining five “truths,” causing a big stir in the LDS LGBTQ community. In this episode, Blaire Ostler shows how his concepts sound to LGBTQ ears. Listen to this episode here. 

Rania, Nebal, and Aya Alsorani fled Syria with their parents when they lost everything to civic unrest and violence. They became refugees first in Jordan, and second in Phoenix, Arizona. Sarah Bybee Fisk interviews the sisters about their journey and what it is like to be a refugee. Listen to this episode here.

Roni Jo Draper has made it her mission to train BYU education students in the art of welcoming and supporting queer students in their classrooms. Blaire Ostler and Roni Jo talk about how she journeyed from the edge of a reservation to the LDS Church, then to a Ph.D., and finally to a BYU professorship. Listen to this episode here.

Roni Jo Draper has made it her mission to train BYU education students in the art of welcoming and supporting queer students in their classrooms. Blaire Ostler and Roni Jo talk about how she journeyed from the edge of a reservation to the LDS Church, then to a Ph.D., and finally to a BYU professorship. Listen to this episode here.

Roni Jo Draper has made it her mission to train BYU education students in the art of welcoming and supporting queer students in their classrooms. Blaire Ostler and Roni Jo talk about how she journeyed from the edge of a reservation to the LDS Church, then to a Ph.D., and finally to a BYU professorship. Listen to this episode here.