What's next for the Mormon Church after death of longtime leader

Here & Now Anytime

NPR

News

4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It was a hard weekend for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Longtime leader Russell M. Nelson died on Saturday at the age of 101. On Sunday, a deadly attack on a Mormon congregation in Michigan killed at least four people. We look back on Nelson's life and leadership with Patrick Mason, chair of Mormon history at Utah State University.

Then, a new survey of 60 cities from the U.S. Conference of Mayors finds that most mayors want more funding and support from the federal government to deal with violent crime, but they don't want the deployment of the National Guard. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor joins us to discuss.

And, American soybean farmers in the heartland aren't happy about the Trump administration's promise to bail out Argentina's economy. Wailin Wong, co-host of The Indicator from Planet Money, joins us.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at MathWorks.com.
0:18.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston. He really wanted the church to stand out and to be different and for members of the church to row against the tide of polarization that we see all around us.
0:31.6	Is it the end of an era for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
0:52.2	It's Monday, September 29th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBR.
0:53.2	I'm Chris Bentley.
1:00.3	Today on the show, as National Guard troops head to Portland,
1:05.1	some mayors across the country say if the administration really wants to fight crime,
1:06.8	they can find a better way.
1:08.6	But it needs to be collaborative.
1:12.6	You know, if the National Guard are coming in just as an occupying force, it's really not going to have any lasting impact. Also, why is the U.S. bailing out
1:19.6	Argentina to the tune of $20 billion? Many people want to know the answer to that question,
1:25.2	including a group that's already being squeezed by the president's trade war.
1:29.6	American soybean farmers are asking, why is the U.S. extending a financial lifeline to
1:35.1	Argentina when Argentina is taking away our soybean business?
1:40.7	But first, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began the week with some
1:46.5	horrific news. Yesterday, a gunman drove into a crowded church service in Grand Blank, Michigan,
1:52.6	and started shooting. Authorities say he killed at least four worshippers and set the building on fire.
1:59.5	While police investigate the motives of the alleged gunmen,
2:02.9	whom they say they killed, Mormons are also mourning the church's president, Russell Nelson. He died
2:09.3	in Utah, Saturday, at 101 years old. He ushered in big changes for the church, and he preached
2:16.1	tolerance in an era of heated politics.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.