Unleashing Sister Saints

Feb 06 2025 108 ep. 16 mins 12

Unleashing Sister Saints Podcast artwork

Unleashing Sister Saints was created to strengthen the testimonies of sisters in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while helping them wrestle through the cultural and gender dynamics that can limit or challenge women's influence and impact. Join host Dr. Susan R. Madsen, a global expert in women and leadership, mom of four, and a devoted member of the Church as she shares research, personal experiences, and weekly challenges to help women feel freed to bring their whole selves to the Lord’s work.

Religion & Spirituality

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108. The Illusion of Choice

Feb 06 2025 10 mins

Recently I wrote and published an editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune called “In Utah, a woman’s choice can often be an illusion.” I read and comment on this piece during this episode. So much of this relates to how we are socialized more generally, and particularly in the Church. I believe you'll appreciate what I'm trying to teach here. Of course, I would also apprec

107. Melissa Inouye’s Writing on Women in the Church

Jan 30 2025 17 mins

I really appreciated the writings of Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye, as she was such a powerful women scholar and writer in the Church. A few months before her passing, I read her final book, titled “Sacred Struggle: Seeking Christ on the Path of Most Resistance.” I was profoundly impacted by the book and Melissa’s vulnerability in her writing. I never met her personally but read h

106. Teen Girls, Leadership, & Relationships - Research Findings

Jan 23 2025 9 mins

This is the fourth and final episode in a series I’ve been doing to share the key findings of a large 2023 study called The Girls’ Index. The first focused on confidence and social media, the second on stress and well-being, and the third on school. Now, in this final episode focuses on the topic of leadership and relationships. As a reminder, The Girls’ Index, the largest s

105. Fascinating Research on Girls and School

Jan 16 2025 8 mins

For the last two episodes, I’ve been sharing the results of a large study on girls, and today I’m going to share the third set of findings (and I’ll finish up with the next episode). In this episode, I share results on the impact of school on girls and how they feel about it. School is a big part of how girls feel about life! As a reminder, The Girls’ Index shared compellin

104. Research on Teen Girls' Stress and Wellbeing

Jan 09 2025 9 mins

In the last episode, I talked about the results of a major study on girls in the United States, and I shared some results on girls’ confidence and social media. As a reminder, I’m talking about a major study that was published in 2023 called, The Girls’ Index. The report highlighted compelling data on girls in the United States (I’m sure it is similar for other counties as

103. Teen Girls' Confidence & Social Media (Research)

Jan 02 2025 8 mins

Although I love this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt - “No one can make me feel inferior without my consent" - I must say that teen girls are struggling right now and need help. In 2023 a large study, The Girls’ Index⁠, reported compelling data on girls in the U.S. It was the largest national survey of its kind, with 17,502 girls participating. Researchers collected data for th

102. Shifting Expectations

Dec 28 2024 8 mins

For this last episode of 2024, I wanted to talk about how expectations for ourselves and others sometimes need to shift and that's okay. I share some personal examples, while also discussing how our definitions of "success" may also change. I'll get back to sharing some research next year but wanted to end the year with some personal reflections and experiences.

101. Taking Offense is the Easy Part

Dec 19 2024 11 mins

When we consider how we want to use our time in better ways in 2025, I've been thinking of the time we sometimes spend being offended, and why we take offense. I walk through a recent experience of where I temporarily took offense and analyzed why I did, and how I worked quickly to get it out of my system. I also wrestle through how we can overcome feelings of offense as well. List

100. Blessings & Responsibilities

Dec 01 2024 9 mins

For my 100th episode of this podcast, I decided to focus on a recent trip to Asia I took and the blessing that I was reminded of while at the same time, I discuss some of my thoughts around the profound responsibilities I believe we have when we experience so many blessings.

99. God's Favourite

Nov 21 2024 9 mins

One of my favorite talks in the past general conference was Saturday morning and given by Elder Karl D. Hirst of the Seventy and titled “God’s Favorite”. In this episode of Unleashing Sister Saints, I share some of the quotes I love and make some comments about them. For example, he said, “Isn’t it wonderful that there are times when we can feel so fully and personally n