Hello, Why Religion Listeners, Professor Anthony Swet here from BYU Church History and

Doctor and Welcome to another great episode of The Why Religion Podcast.

When the 2002 Winter Olympics came to Utah, if you remember, it was a big deal for us

as Latter-day Saints.

Not only was the world stage coming to Salt Lake City for a few weeks, but members of

the Church intuitively also knew that the reputation of the Church would go out on the world

stage for much, much longer.

Many Latter-day Saints collectively wondered what in the world will the world think of us?

That question has been a common one in the history of the Church.

How does the rest of the world think about us as a people of faith?

We've long been written about, caricatured, defended, condemned, praised, or even vilified

in the National Press.

During the federal polygamy crusades against the Church in the mid to late 1800s, for example,

it's estimated that the Church was written about once every week in the New York Times

on average.

That focus in the international and national eye hasn't dropped since we dropped polygamy.

I've long been interested in how the Church's portrayed in national outlets like Time Magazine

and have noticed how often they seem to mention the Church almost sometimes disproportionately

to our national membership in their presses.

I'm keen on whether the article is accurate or inaccurate if it's positive or if it's

negative.

As a podcaster, I've long listened to national popular podcasts like This American Life

...