Traitor in the First Presidency - John Turner Pt. 38 | Ep. 2137

Mormon Stories Podcast

Dr. John Dehlin

Religion & Spirituality

4.5 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2026

⏱️ 132 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Part 38 with historian John Turner we dive into his latest book Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet. In this episode, we focus on Chapter 29, “Cool as a Cucumber,” unpacking the turbulent years of 1843-1844 –arguably the beginning of the end for Joseph Smith.

We explore mounting legal pressure, political entanglements, and growing internal dissent with Nauvoo. Along the way, we examine controversial and often difficult topics, including Joseph Smith’s relationship with William Law and his wife, accusations of coercion tied to plural marriage, and an alleged physical altercation involving Watler Bagby.

This episode traces how tensions –both inside and outside the church –escalaated rapidly, setting the stage for the final chapter of Joseph Smith’s life.

If you’d like to help keep this project going, please consider donating to support this series ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Your support makes long-form, in-depth historical discussion like this possible!

Purchase John Turner’s book ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

Let us know your thoughts on a Brigham Young series (comprising ten episodes) covering John Turner’s book Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet.

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⁠⁠Show Notes⁠⁠

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The internet is coaching our kids.
0:04.9	When boys hear that on repeat, it shapes how they see themselves.
0:08.4	We can't leave it to those voices.
0:10.3	We have to be louder.
0:11.6	Together with EE, we need to coach them, guide them, back them.
0:15.6	Building our boys up every chance we get.
0:18.0	Be yourself.
0:18.8	Back your mates.
0:19.9	Confidence comes from a vin.
0:21.1	As proud partner of the England team's EE has support and guidance to help build all our
0:26.4	boys up on and off the pitch. Search EEES, Yes, Boys. Hello everyone and welcome to another episode
0:32.8	of the Joseph Smith podcast brought to you by Mormon Stories Podcasts in the Open Stories Foundation.
0:38.1	I am John DeLinn.
0:39.7	It is April 1st, 2026, and today we are going to be covering chapter 29 in our book,
0:49.1	in John Turner's book, Joseph Smith, the rise and fall of an American prophet. John Turner, I almost feel like this is partly my book, which Smith, The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet.
0:54.4	John Turner, I almost feel like this is partly my book, which is dumb, but like we've,
0:59.7	we've covered this so much of this book, and it's starting to feel personal.
1:04.8	I mean, I am happy for you to have a sense of ownership here, John DeLynn.
1:10.6	No, we have just about made this,
1:12.7	we could have called this a year of Joseph Smith because we started, I think we recorded
1:18.6	episode one in May of 2025. And that's a, you know, we're going to finish about one calendar
1:26.2	year later. That's amazing. Yeah, this has been really finish about one calendar year later.
	...

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