At Last She Said It

Our spiritual lives are our own, but they don’t exist in a vacuum. We can do all the inner work we want, but as Latter-day Saint women our personal journey is always going to intersect with our Church membership, theology and history, our marriages, friendships and families, our communities, education and politics, and all the messaging we absorb in these interactions. In Episode 200, Cynthia and Susan discuss how looking at our journey in context can help us better understand our individual story.

There are some topics that seem to surface again and again in our ALSSI conversations: love, fear, self, change, and patriarchy, to name a few. In Episode 203, Cynthia and Susan are joined by Valerie Hamaker for a conversation that touches on these themes and others as we discuss evolving faith.

In Part 2 of the conversation about biblical marriage, Susan and Cynthia ask Dr. Jennifer Bird about virginity, purity culture, and—of course!—biblical polygamy. Joseph Smith drew on polygamy in the Hebrew Bible to justify instituting the practice in early Mormonism, teaching that sometimes God not only condoned but actually mandated it. So what does a feminist biblical scholar say about it?

“What is it like to be an introvert in a church that really supports extroversion?" When therapist C.A. Larson asked this question in a previous episode, it was a lightbulb moment for many listeners. Through voicemails, emails, and on social media, women of the ALSSI community reported feeling seen, and understanding their own church experiences in a new way. In Episode 213, Susan and Cynthia share and discuss the messages listeners submitted, as well as their own experiences. What might our church gain from fully embracing all personality types?

As a finale to this season of conversations about women’s spirituality, in Episode 197 Susan and Cynthia revisit some ideas that stood out to them, discuss personal takeaways, and chat about what’s on each of their minds now.