Faith Matters

Feb 15 2025 260 ep. 54 mins 1.2k

Faith Matters Podcast artwork

Faith Matters offers an expansive view of the Restored Gospel, thoughtful exploration of big and sometimes thorny questions, and a platform that encourages deeper engagement with our faith and our world. We focus on the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) tradition, but believe we have much to learn from other traditions and fully embrace those of other beliefs.

Religion & Spirituality

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When Faith Heals and When it Hurts -- A Conversation with Janeen Martin

Feb 15 2025 60 mins

This week, Tim and I are sharing a fascinating conversation with therapist and researcher Janeen Martin about the complex and deeply personal ways that religion and mental health intersect. Janeen has spent years working with clients navigating the full spectrum of religious experience—some who find their faith to be a source of deep resilience and healing, and others for whom it

How Free is your Will? A Conversation with Terryl Givens

Feb 08 2025 60 mins

This week, we are thrilled to welcome back Terryl Givens—one of our all-time favorite guests and collaborators and someone we always have a running list of topics for. This time, we’re finally diving deep into the topic of agency and free will: it’s something that has come up in many of our past conversations but never had its own dedicated discussion. Terryl’s new book, Ag

Can God Speak Through AI? - A Conversation with Carl Youngblood

Feb 01 2025 66 mins

This week, we’re thrilled to talk with Carl Youngblood— longtime technologist, software engineer, and president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant, futuristic idea—it’s already shaping the way we learn, work, and even practice our faith. And just this past week, AI made big headlines again in the tech world with the relea

Is it Rational to Believe? - A Conversation with Ross Douthat

Jan 25 2025 60 mins

This week, Zach Davis is joined by New York Times columnist and author Ross Douthat to talk about his new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. Ross has spent his career bridging worlds—explaining faith and conservatism to a largely secular audience while also translating secular ideas back to religious readers. In this conversation, he makes a compelling case for why

Mercy at the Margins - A Conversation with Shima Baradaran Baughman

Jan 18 2025 65 mins

This week, we’re joined by Shima Baradaran Baughman, a nationally renowned expert on criminal justice reform and a law professor at BYU. After years focusing on shaping public policy and reforming systems, Shima began to recognize that the deepest and most lasting change wasn’t coming from legislation alone, but from the quiet, compassionate efforts of faith communities and ind

Be Ye Therefore a Perfectionist? - A Conversation with Justin Dyer

Jan 11 2025 59 mins

This week, we’re so grateful to share a conversation with Justin Dyer, a professor of religion at BYU and a researcher who has spent years exploring the intersection of faith and mental health. Justin’s most recent work focuses on perfectionism, especially within the church. He recently edited a special issue of BYU Studies Quarterly dedicated entirely to this subject, and you

How to Stop Running from Your Feelings - A Conversation with Jana Spangler

Jan 04 2025 61 mins

This week, we’re joined by Jana Spangler for a powerful and practical conversation about emotions—especially the ones we’ll do just about anything to avoid feeling. Jana explains that emotions aren’t our enemies; they’re signals—messages from deep within us, rooted in ancient systems designed to guide and protect us. While emotions can feel overwhelming or even painful,

Heretics & Popes - A Movie Show with McKay Coppins

Dec 28 2024 69 mins

As we wrap up the year, we’ve got something a little different in store for you today. We’ve invited Zach Davis, Bill Turnbull, and McKay Coppins on for a conversation about two Hollywood Films that are making waves. Zach is the executive director of Faith Matters, Bill is one of the founders, and you may remember Mckay from his previous episodes. He’s a New York Times bestse

“O, Great Mystery": A Christmas Eve Meditation with Tyler Johnson

Dec 24 2024 8 mins

Today, as Christmas Eve settles around us, we invite you into a quiet meditation written by Tyler Johnson and published as the culmination of the advent series in the FM magazine, Wayfare, with music from the King's College Choir singing O Magnum Mysterium. This reflection draws us into the sacred reality of the Nativity—the laboring Mary, exhausted and tearful, the beauty born t

A Carol of Joy: a Reading by Lori Forsyth

Dec 21 2024 14 mins

In the spirit of this Christmas season, we’re so excited to share a beautiful reflection with you, written and read by Lori Forsyth, Managing Editor of the Faith Matters magazine, Wayfare. This piece is part of Wayfare’s Advent series. If you've missed any parts of this series, you can still find them at wayfaremagazine.org. You can also subscribe to the digital or print versio