Please Bless This Podcast: Recent Episodes
Katie & Elisa
This is the place where two sisters chit chat about all things Mormon in pop culture and do some deconstructing along the way. Please bless that we'll all have a great time together! New episodes every other Friday.
Join us as we close out our second season with a quick note on the new(ish) Mitt Romney biography by McKay Coppins—it certainly is a reckoning! And we reckon it won’t be Mitt’s last...And stay tuned to the end for a delightful little blast from the past. Thanks for listening and follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Is Lisa Barlow actually mormon? How could she possibly not know that her own son was preparing for a mission for a YEAR?? Are we missing something??? In honor of Jack Barlow's mission call party featured on RHOSLC, we're talking all things Mormon mission related and the moms who make it all happen. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
This week we're talking about whatever you want us to talk about and answering listener questions! Do Mormons think other Christians are "saved"? What's the deal with the Temple? Let's get into it. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Turns out there are a lot of Mormon young adult authors, and it's no mystery why. The adult fiction section is dark and full of terrors—the smutty romance, the gritty memoir. Mormons are desperate for a literary escape that won't lead them down a path to sin, and they aren't above reading books meant for children! This week we're talking about how Mormons police the media they consume in order to protect themselves from temptation, and, as usual, we go a little deep along the way. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod, and have a wacky wild condom-style summer!
This week we're responding to our very first listener voice message (keep 'em coming) and taking a look at the mysterious and maybe magical Mormon temple garment. What does the average Mormon kid know about their parent's sacred underthings? Do folks even wear them anymore? Let's dig in. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Welcome to this week's deep dive into the new season of Sister Wives on TLC! You didn't think we were done talking about Kody Brown's bouncing curls, did you?? Join us as we recap the first 3 juicy episodes of season 18 (sorry) as well as chat about our own family's polygamist background and more. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
This week we're chatting about (Ex) Mormon celebs, why members of the church LOVE to claim them as one of their own, and (of course) how Elisa has met several of them. We also maybe go a little deep - sue us! Thanks for listening and follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod.
We're throwing it all the way back to 2004 with this week's look at a cult comedy classic. Tune in for a dive into all things Mormon in the world of Napoleon Dynamite. And follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Astrology, talismans, magic rocks and assorted magical artifacts: not just for your cool aunt! Join us as we dive into the magical history of Mormonism and follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
This podcast is now a Reagan Baker fan club!! Join us as we fawn over our new favorite reality TV ExMo and take a stroll down memory lane, reliving all our most treasured Mormon dating memories. (Yikes) Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Life's a stage and Kody Brown is putting on the performance of a lifetime! Join us as we give him the respect he DESERVES and chat Sister Wives, polygamy, genealogy, curly hair... And follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
We're back baby!! Catch up with us as we recap our months away from the pod and share our plans for the future. We're talking encounters with missionaries, having babies, buying houses, "soaking," and more. Thanks for joining us, and please bless!
Join sisters Katie & Elisa for the season 1 finale episode of Please Bless This Podcast! We're celebrating 20 years (almost to the day) since the release of the unforgettably kooky and cringey Mormon film, The RM. This episode has it all: laughter, indignation, early aughts nostalgia, and a dramatic reading of an unhinged email from the CEO of Living Scriptures. Don't miss it!
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This week we had the pleasure of watching Mama's Boy, the HBO documentary based on the memoir of screenwriter/director/producer/activist Dustin Lance Black. Join us as we dive into the story of his life, his relationship to his incredible mom, his experience growing up in the LDS church as a closeted gay kid, and his time as an LGBTQ+ rights activist. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Join sisters Katie & Elisa as we review the first 4 seasons of Netflix's Dream Home Makeover, a Utah-based show with some obvious Mormon leanings. In this episode, we dig into Mormon home decor trends, Mormon swear words, and our personal love for bidets. Come along for the ride!
Happy Dry January to those who celebrate! Join us this week as sisters Katie & Elisa talk Below Deck, ExMormon drinking culture, Heather Gay's Mormon royalty status, and share stories from their own experiences with alcohol. Spoiler: It gets deep! Thanks for listening and follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod!
Ring in 2023 with sisters Katie & Elisa, as we set some New Year's resolutions inspired by our Mormon upbringing. From memorizing our Articles of Faith in primary to earning (or not) our Personal Progress medallions in Young Women, to tracking every move we made in our missionary planners, we have a LOT of practice setting (and falling short of) goals. Come along for the ride!
Join us for a merry little Christmas Eve episode of Please Bless Pod! Sisters Katie & Elisa share their beloved traditions and chat about the short film, "The Christ Child: A Nativity Story". Things get a little deep when Elisa has a Grinch moment and discovers the true meaning of Christmas. Happy Holidays and we'll be back with more next year!
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Nothing rings in the holiday season quite like the trippy, Mormon-made 1980 TV movie, Mr Krueger's Christmas, starring Jimmy Stewart and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Join us as we experience this movie for the first time since leaving the church and find that it comes really close to reactivating our Mormon programming.
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TW: SA, grooming.
Many of us saw the 2017 Netflix documentary "Abducted In Plain Sight,” the true story of Robert Berchtold grooming the (Mormon) Broberg family, and his subsequent kidnappings of young Jan Broberg. Peacock released a new series this past October, a retelling and dramatization of their story, and we went ahead and watched it so you don't have to! Join us as we break down the good, the bad, and the shockingly accurate from the new series, “A Friend of The Family.”
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TW: suicidal ideation; conversion therapy.
In November 2022, American Idol alum and self-described Mormon poster boy David Archuleta announced that he's stepping away from Mormonism after coming out as LGBTQ. Join us and our special guest, Matt, as we discuss the Mormon church's misguided condonement of mixed orientation marriages and the tremendous pressure of growing up gay in a homophobic faith community.
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It’s Please Bless Pod’s first ever Thanksgiving Special! In honor of the holiday, sisters Katie & Elisa are digging into all things Mormon cuisine. Scoop up a heaping plate of creamy Jell-O salad and join us as we count down all the hits.
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Join sisters Katie & Elisa for a special 20th episode of the podcast! We figure it's about time we share a little about who we are, about the motivations behind this podcast project, and about our individual journeys through—and eventually out of—Mormonism.
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This week's episode gets its title from @morgannychole on TikTok, who requested a 10-page paper on what goes down at Brigham Young University. Sisters Katie & Elisa—along with special guest Spencer—submit this as our response. Along the way, we cite TikToks from @blackmenaces and @danbanbam, as well as our own sometimes funny, often horrifying, and always idiosyncratic experiences at BYU.
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Happy Halloween, friends! In this episode, sisters Katie & Elisa finish recapping the most Mormon moments in the Twilight Saga by digging into Eclipse and Breaking Dawn I & II. Make sure to listen to episode 17 first to get all the context about Stephenie Meyer's intense Mormon belief, then let's talk about how it waters down some of the most climactic moments in the franchise: Bella & Edward finally sealing the deal, and Bella finally becoming a vampire.
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Spooky season continues with a deep-dive into the vampires and werewolves of the Twilight Saga! Do we think that Stephenie Meyer intentionally crafted the saga as a kind of Mormon allegory? Nah. Do we think that her intense Mormon-ness inevitably filters into her books and movies? We sure do! Join us this week as we discuss all things Mormon in Twilight and New Moon.
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Visions, seer stones, evil spirits, oh my! Join us as we recount our own ghost stories and take a look back at Mormonism's occult origins.
If you've seen the Netflix docuseries Sins of Our Mother, you know that Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were so consumed by their extremist beliefs about the end of days that they felt justified in murdering anyone who got in their way--including Lori's own children. In this episode, we dig deeper into the infrastructure that upheld and fed their beliefs, and the ways that Mormon fascination with the End Times can breed radical doomsday preppers.
Back by popular demand, we're talking about all things Mormon on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Sisters Katie & Elisa recap the season 3 premiere episode, including all the shifting alliances, membership resignations, and Utah accents.
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After the heavy subject matter of last week's episode, sisters Katie & Elisa offer a palate cleanser with this dive into the 2003 episode of South Park titled, "All About Mormons". Why are the South Park creators so obsessed with Mormons? What did this irreverent cartoon get SO right? Lets dive in. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod
Tara Westover's massively successful 2018 memoir, Educated, begins with a disclaimer: "This story is not about Mormonism." Why might Westover make this claim? Is it really true, or is Mormonism foundational to the experiences she shares? What are sisters Katie & Elisa watching on TV these days? Join us as we dig into these questions and more.
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Remember the 2001 Mormon classic The Other Side Of Heaven, starring Anne Hathaway? You might, but you probably don't remember how shockingly racist, sexist and otherwise bizarre and upsetting it was. Allow us to refresh your memory.
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Katie & Elisa love the new memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy of iCarly fame. But did you know that McCurdy grew up Mormon? In this episode, we talk about McCurdy's experiences as a self-described "second-rate" Mormon and how the church felt like a safe haven from her abusive home life—until it didn't. Follow us everywhere @pleaseblesspod.
In this week's episode, hosts Katie and Elisa take a look at the new Netflix doc, "Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist". Why was Manti Te'o such a prime catfish victim? What did we eat for lunch? Tune in for all this and more.
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Sisters Katie and Elisa are joined by our first-ever guest, Emer—an aficionado of all things Bravo—to discuss the conflicting conceptions of Mormonism on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. We dig into Heather Gay's orthodox Mormonism vs. Lisa Barlow's cafeteria-style Mormonism and why the tension between them makes for such great TV.
In this week's episode, sisters Katie and Elisa dive into the cut-throat world of Utah soda shops. Why are they so popular? And don't Mormons abstain from caffeine, anyway? Join us as we explore the Word of Wisdom as it relates to our favorite fizzy beverages...
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Why are there so many Mormon influencers? Why are Mormons so over-represented among mommy bloggers and instagram lifestyle gurus? In this episode, sisters Katie & Elisa unpack some of the think-pieces and conspiracy theories out there that attempt to make sense of this phenomenon.
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The scientists at Please Bless This Podcast have developed a highly sophisticated system for rating Mormon jokes in pop culture. So this week, sisters Katie & Elisa use said system to rate Mormon jokes found in classics like Two Weeks Notice and Gilmore Girls. This inevitably leads to some soul-searching about why these jokes made us so uncomfortable when we were active Mormons. Come relive the trauma with us!
In this episode, Elisa and Katie revisit the 2003 classic, Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy. Relive the glory days of early-aughts Mormon cinema as we break down one of our all-time faves.
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In this episode, the new Hulu docuseries Mormon No More inspires sisters Katie & Elisa to go down the rabbit hole of Mormonism's history with anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric. Needless to say, it's a rough journey.
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In this week's episode, sisters Katie & Elisa dig into Netflix's new docuseries, Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey. We research the origins of modern-day Mormon fundamentalism (shout out to Mitt Romney's ancestors!), and we talk about seeing our own mainstream Mormon upbringing reflected in the FLDS stories of Keep Sweet. Turns out, we're closer than we ever knew.
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Welcome to our first episode! Join us while sisters Katie & E break down FX's Under the Banner of Heaven; what they got right, what they got wrong, and ultimately, whether non-practicing Mormons should be trusted to tell Mormon Stories. Spoiler alert: they should. What's your take?
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