Dr. Park’s YouTube channel is found here.
Essays and Op-Eds
“Policies from Trump and the Utah Legislature Threaten the Study of LDS History,” Salt Lake Tribune (October 1, 2025).
“The LDS Historical Department Just Published an 1886 Polygamy Revelation,” Religion News Service (June 16, 2025).
“The Current ‘Golden Age’ of Mormon Studies May be Losing Its Luster,” Salt Lake Tribune (April 3, 2025).
“‘American Primeval’ Doesn’t Try to Get the History Right — Problem is, it Doesn’t Get Western Colonization Right, Either,” Religion Dispatches (January 17, 2025).
“LDS Church President Russell Nelson’s Billion-Dollar Gamble,” Salt Lake Tribune (September 29, 2024).
“The Arc of the Moral Universe Bends Not to Popularity,” The Eclective (August 21, 2024).
“Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and Conroe ISD,” Houston Chronicle (May 31, 2024).
“LDS Apostle Ezra Taft Benson Nearly Becomes George Wallace’s Running Mate in a Segregationist’s Dream Ticket,” Salt Lake Tribune (April 3, 2024).
“Not All Mormons are Latter-day Saints,” Wall Street Journal (March 16, 2024).
“How a 1938 Speech Continues to Shape Latter-day Saint Education,” Salt Lake Tribune (January 16, 2024).
“Mitt Romney, the Public Face of Mormonism, Reckons with his Alienation from a Radicalized GOP and His Role in Enabling it,” Religion Dispatches (October 26, 2023).
“How Mormonism Went Mainstream,” Time Magazine (September 21, 2023).
“Sound of Freedom’s Tim Ballard is a Star on the Right. Why Would His Church Denounce Him?” Slate (September 18, 2023).
“Joseph Smith Discovers the Gold Plates,” Origins, Ohio State University (September 14, 2023).
“How September 1993, When Latter-day Saint Leaders Disciplined Six Dissidents, Continues to Trouble the Church,” The Conversation (September 13, 2023). Also syndicated in Salt Lake Tribune, Yahoo News, and others.
“Behind the Latter-day Saint Church’s Vast Wealth Are Two Centuries of Financial Hits and Misses,” The Conversation (March 28). Also syndicated in Salon, Salt Lake Tribune, and a dozen other platforms.
“Spencer W. Kimball Diaries Shine a Light Behind the Scenes of Modern Mormonism,” Religion News Service / Salt Lake Tribune (February 17, 2023).
“The LDS Church’s Support for the LGBTQ Marriage Bill Isn’t Shocking,” Washington Post (November 17, 2022).
“That Small Locket Photo Spurs Big Questions about Joseph Smith and Mormonism,” Salt Lake Tribune (September 26, 2022).
“Orrin Hatch Helped Turn Mormons into Rock-Ribbed Republicans,” Washington Post (April 26, 2022).
“FX’s ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ Adaptation Rejects Reductive Elements of Krakauer’s Book, but Confirms that ‘Mormonism Breeds Dangerous Men,'” Religion Dispatches (April 25, 2022).
“Harry Reid’s Death May Mark the End of the Liberal Mormon Tradition,” Washington Post (December 30, 2021).
“New Documentary ‘Keep Sweet’ Follows Mormon Fundamentalists,” Religion and Politics (November 30, 2021).
“Even LDS Leaders are Struggling to Get Mormons Vaccinated Against the Coronavirus,” Washington Post (August 24, 2021).
“American Democracy Nearly Failed in its Early Decades. It’s Important to Remember Why,” Religion & Politics (August 24, 2021).
“What Senator Mike Lee Tells Us About the Future of the GOP,” Religion & Politics (April 27, 2021).
“‘Murder Among the Mormons,’ Latest True Crime Doc from Netflix, Highlights Issues of Faith, Skepticism, and Authenticity,” Religion Dispatches (March 1, 2021).
“Mormons and Evangelicals Share an Ironic Skepticism of Democracy,” Salt Lake Tribune (October 9, 2020).
“Can a Forgotten Mormon Leader Teach Us Something About Donald Trump Today?” Religion News Service (July 28, 2020).
“Mitt Romney and His Father Both Marched for Civil Rights. But There is a Crucial Difference,” Washington Post (June 10, 2020).
“How an 1843 Revelation on Polygamy Poses a Serious Challenge to Modern Mormonism,” Religion Dispatches (May 14, 2020).
“The Nauvoo Crisis That Continues to Shape the Modern LDS Church,” Salt Lake Tribune (February 25, 2020).
“How Mitt Romney’s Impeachment Vote Was Influenced By His Mormon Faith,” NBC Think (February 6, 2020).
“What the Two ‘Mormon’ Senators Tell us About the LDS Battle Over Sexuality,” Salt Lake Tribune (November 14, 2018).
“Trump and the Division of Nationalism,” Houston Chronicle (October 24, 2018).
“The Revolutionary Roots of America’s Religious Nationalism,” Religion & Politics (March 20, 2018).
“Trump’s View of America as a White Nation Is as American as Apple Pie,” History News Network (January 15, 2018).
“Jeff Sessions is a Hypocrite on States’ Rights. But So is Everyone Else,” Washington Post (January 10, 2018).
“Mormons After Monson: What Comes Next?” Religion News Service/Salt Lake Tribune (January 4, 2018).
“Mormons and the Boy Scouts: Heading Down Different Trails,” Religion News Service (October 17, 2017). (Also published with Salt Lake Tribune.)
“How Funding for the Humanities Helps Public College Students Become Better Texans,” Dallas Morning News (August 3, 2017).
“Mormons Only Need to Look to their Diverse Past for Help,” Newsweek (April 22, 2017).
“The Democratic Lineage of Trump’s Ethnic Nationalism,” Starting Points (April 13, 2017).
“Where is the Mormon Church on Trump? History Demands their Leadership,” Washington Post (January 28, 2017).
“Mormon Tabernacle Choir Will Usher In the Trump Era,” Religion Dispatches (January 2017).
“The Mormon Council of Fifty: What Joseph Smith’s Secret Records Reveal,” Religion and Politics (September 2016).
“Theodore Parker and America’s Religious Nativism,” Christian Century (June 2016).
“Gay Mormons, Reparative Therapy, and the Safe Spaces of Conservative Religion,” Religion News Service (May 2016).
“Why Utah Felt the Bern: Mormonism’s Forgotten Progressive Past,” Religion Dispatches (March 2016).
“Ammon Bundy and the Paradoxes of Mormon Political Theologies,” Religion & Politics (January 2016).
“Kim Davis and the Anxieties of Christian America,” Religion & Politics (September 2015).
“How Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church Triggered White Southern Militarism,” Talking Points Memo (June 2015).
“Mormon Polygamy, Sex, and America’s Contested Tradition of Religion and Domesticity,” Christian Century (November 2014).
“North Carolina’s ‘Official Religion’: The Convoluted History of American States and Established Religions,” Religion & Politics (April 2013).
“Why Do Mormons Love the Fourth of July So Much?” Religion & Politics (July 2012).
“Mormon Patriotism and the Cultural Reading of Scripture,” Peculiar People (May 2012).
“Mitt Romney, Mormonism, and the Tensions of an ‘American’ Religion,” Peculiar People (March 2012).
“The Perils of an Open Canon,” Patheos (March 2012).
“‘Obviously’ Christian: The American Tradition of Using Orthodoxy as a Bludgeon,” Patheos (July 2011).
“Art, Politics, and Religion: McNaughton’s Agenda,” Patheos (May 2011).
Extended Media Interviews
“Strange Bedfellows: Evangelicals, Mormons, and the Politics of Power,” Dialogue Podcast (October 15, 2025).
“How Will Dallin H. Oaks Lead the LDS Church?,” RadioWest (October 14, 2025).
“Dallin Oaks Was a Close Russell Nelson Ally, But He Could Change the Church’s Direction,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (October 1, 2025).
“The Influence of President Russell M. Nelson,” RadioWest (October 1, 2025).
“Under the Banner of Heaven–LDS Representation,” BYU Radio’s The Movies That Made Us (July 28, 2025).
“John Taylor’s 1886 Revelation,” Distinctive Christianity (July 28, 2025).
“How Complete is the Trumpification of Utah’s GOP?,” RadioWest (April 8, 2025).
“Why the Fear Among a ‘Sizable’ Number of BYU Faculty?,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (January 8, 2025).
“Religion and the Great Depression,” Religion in the American Experience (December 10, 2024).
“The Seer Stone and the Prophet,” Magic in the United States (November 12, 2024).
“President Nelson is betting big that more LDS temples will keep more members in the church,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (October 30, 2024).
“The Orator of Abolitionism: Theodore Parker and the Moral Arc,” The Eclectic (August 19, 2024).
“America’s Homegrown Faith,” Saints & Scholars (August 13, 2024).
“Mormonism’s First Rebel Historian,” RadioWest (May 28, 2024).
“The Dizzying, Very American History of Mormonism,” Skipped History (March 9, 2024).
“Benjamin Park Stays Rooted,” Drafting the Past (January 30, 2024).
“A New History of Mormonism,” Radiowest (January 17, 2024).
“Historian on J. Reuben Clark’s Church, Gordon Hinckley’s Olympics, and Russell Nelson’s Reforms,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (January 17, 2024).
“The History of Mormonism,” Unsung History (January 8, 2024).
“Tim Ballard Uproar Reveals Divisions Between LDS Church and Its Far-Right Members,” Salt Lake Tribune’s Mormon Land Podcast (September 2023).
“American Zion with Benjamin Park,” Whitmer Cast Podcast (July 2023).
“Deconstructing Carthage: Why Joseph Smith was Slain and Why it was More than Religion,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (June 2023).
“Religion & Mormon Studies,” Center for Religion & American Culture series (December 2022).
“The Quincy Convention,” Sunstone Mormon History Podcast (November 2022).
“What Joseph Smith Looked Like and Why it Matters to his Followers,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (September 2022).
“How Orrin Hatch transformed the political loyalties of Latter-day Saints,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast (May 2022).
“The Life and Legacy of D. Michael Quinn,” RadioWest (February 2022).
“The Nauvoo Expositor,” Sunstone Mormon History Podcast (December 2021).
“Mormon MAGA Nation,” Straight White American Jesus (July 2021).
“The History of LDS Temple Garments,” RadioWest (July 2021).
“Mark Hofmann and the LDS Church,” RadioWest (March 2021).
“How the LDS Faith Reveres America,” Salt Lake Tribune‘s Mormon Land Podcast(July 2020).
“History Lessons from Hamilton,” BYU Radio’s The Lisa Show (July 2020).
“Nauvoo Historian Hosts Reading and Book Signing,” WGEM (February 26, 2022).
“Benjamin Park Interview with James Dupey,” Arizona State University (February 2022).
“Kingdom of Nauvoo,” History Ago Go Podcast (November 21, 2021).
“The Atmosphere of Polygamy in Nauvoo,” Year of Polygamy Podcast (June 19, 2020).
“336: Kingdom of Nauvoo,” A Thoughtful Faith Podcast (June 8, 2020).
“Kingdom of Nauvoo–Benjamin E. Park,” This Week in Mormons Podcast (April 27, 2020).
“Episode 397: Benjamin E. Park,” The Cultural Hall Podcast (April 17, 2020).
“Kingdom of Nauvoo, with Ben Park,” Whiskey Rebellion Podcast (April 24, 2020).
“Kingdom of Nauvoo,” RadioWest (April 3, 2020).
“Kingdom of Nauvoo,” New Books in History Podcast (April 2, 2020).
Reddit AMA, Ask Historians (March 18, 2020).
“When America Failed to Protect Religious Minorities in the 1830s, the Mormons Hatched a Dramatic Plan,” BYU Radio’s Top of Mind (March 4, 2020).
“The Mormon Kingdom of Nauvoo with Benjamin E. Park,” The Age of Jackson Podcast (February 28, 2020).
“‘Mormon Land’: Theocracy, Secret Polygamy, Female Dissent, and Nauvoo’s Place in the Nation’s Past and a Religion’s Present,” Salt Lake Tribune Podcast (February 26, 2020).
“Polygamy, Politics, and Frontier Justice: Why Nauvoo Still Matters,” Religion News Service (February 24, 2020).
“Historian tackles politics, polygamy, and Joseph Smith in Kingdom of Nauvoo,” From the Desk (February 18, 2020).
“White Horse Prophesy, Mitt Romney, and the Constitution Hanging by a Thread,” KUER (October 2019).
“What Made Americans American,” Maxwell Institute Podcast (September 2018).
“What It Means to Be American,” BYU Radio’s Top of Mind (June 2018). (Starts at 51:20.)
“10 Questions with Benjamin E. Park,” From the Desk (June 2018).
“The Mormon Exodus,” Australia Broadcasting Corporation’s Nightlife (February 2018).
“Mormons and Boy Scouts Part Ways,” BYU Radio’s Top of Mind (May 2018).
“American Nationalisms,” Age of Jackson Podcast (March 2018).
“Plat of Zion,” 99% Invisible (December 2016).
“Seer Stones,” RadioWest, NPR Affiliate (August 2015).
“Art, Politics, and the Paintings of Jon McNaughton,” RadioWest, NPR Affiliate (March 2012).
Condensed Media Interviews
“Dallin H. Oaks Named President of the Mormon Church,” New York Times (October 14, 2025).
“Next Mormon Leader Prepares to Step Up At a Fraught Moment,” New York Times (October 6, 2025).
“Slurs, Stereotypes and Violence Have Long Plagued Members of the Mormon Faith,” USA Today (October 4, 2025).
“Russell M. Nelson, Head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dies at 101,” NPR (September 29, 2025).
“Russell Nelson, Who Led Major Changes to the Mormon Church, Dies at 101,” New York Times (September 29, 2025).
“Mormon Studies Loses a Giant,” Salt Lake Tribune (April 15, 2025).
“The Religious Makeup of the New US Congress, Including the LDS Tally,” Salt Lake Tribune (January 4, 2025).
“Teaching LDS Polygamy in Primary,” Salt Lake Tribune (December 27, 2024).
“2024 Was the Year of Mormon Women,” Washington Post (December 16, 2024).
“What the Bundy Bunkerville Standoff Foreshadowed,” High Country News (October 1, 2024).
“The Truth and Distortions of Ruby Franke,” New York Magazine (September 2024).
“Russell M. Nelson, the Leader of the Mormon Church, Turns 100,” New York Times (September 9, 2024).
“How the Malignant Faith of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell Went Mainstream,” The Daily Beast (November 6, 2023).
“Moroni Comes to the Big Screen, But Some Scholars See Big Problems,” Salt Lake Tribune (December 2023).
“More Bad News for Tim Ballard: LDS Owned Deseret Book Yanks His Books,” Salt Lake Tribune (September 2023).
“How Mitt Romney Reshaped Mormonism’s Image in America,” Axios (September 2023).
“How Extremist Beliefs Played into Lori Daybell’s Murders,” Idaho Statesmen (August 2023).
“Inside The Mormon Church’s Globe-Spanning Real Estate Empire,” Wall Street Journal (June 2023).
“New Poll Suggests Mormon Outreach to Other Faiths is Unreciprocated,” Axios (March 2023).
“How did Joseph Smith Translate the Book of Mormon?” Salt Lake Tribune (March 2023).
“Linda King Newell, Feminist Scholar of Mormon History, Dies at 82,” New York Times (February 2023).
“Does Latter-day Saint Members’ Faith Guide Idaho Politics?” Idaho Statesman (November 2022).
“Is That New Photo Really Joseph Smith? Historians Weigh In,” Salt Lake Tribune (July 2022).
“Is the Picture of Joseph Smith Real? Next Steps and Reactions from Historians,” Deseret News (July 2022).
“Hurricane’s colonial village project backed by Glenn Beck and Dinesh D’Souza falls short on history,” Salt Lake Tribune (July 2022).
“LDS Apostle Calls on BYU Staff to Stay Committed to Faith’s Teachings–Including Same Sex Marriage,” KUER (August 2021).
“Locals Weigh Historic Preservation and Modernization as Manti Temple Faces Renovation,” KUER (April 2021).
“Is BYU Getting Too Liberal?” Salt Lake Tribune (March 2021).
“What Latter-day Saint History Experts Thought About Murder Among the Mormons,” Deseret News (March 2021).
“Will the LDS Church Suffer Consequences After Whistleblower Claims it Sits on $100b?” KUTV (December 2019).
“Mormon Quest for Peace and Freedom in Mexico Shattered by Violence and Adversity,” CNN (November 2019).
“How Mexico Became Home to Communities of Mormons,” Washington Post (November 2019).
“Mission Accomplished: This Leader Got a More Unvarnished LDS History to Its Members,” Salt Lake Tribune (August 2019).
“LDS Temple Ceremony Updates Aim to Put Women on Equal Footing to Men,” KUER (January 2019).
“4 Vermont Towns vs. 1 Utah Developer,” Brave Little State (July 2018).
“What’d ‘Hamilton’ Miss? History Professors on the Musical’s Brilliance and Blunders,” Deseret News (April 2018).
“Sessions Backed States’ Rights as a Senator. As Trump’s Attorney General, It’s Complicated,” Washington Post (March 2018).
“From Personal to Professional: Collaborative History Blogs Go Mainstream,” Perspectives on History (April 2017).
“Fausses nouvelles, un phénomène aux ancrages chrétiens,” Presence (March 2017).
“Not My Choir: By Agreeing to Sing at Trump’s Inauguration, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has Enraged Many Mormons and Forced a Reckoning Over the LDS Church’s Values,” Slate (January 2017).
“Building Zion: The Controversial Plan for a Mormon-Inspired City in Vermont,” The Guardian (January 2017).
“The Second Performer for the Trump Inauguration Is…The Mormon Tabernacle Choir,” Newsweek (December 2016).
“The New Mormon Mission (Against Trump),” Slate (October 2016).
“Viaje a Utah, La Teirra Mormona Que Se Rebela Contra Donald Trump,” Univision (October 2016).
“Mormon Momentum,” The New Humanist (July 2012).
“The Mormon Moment is Now,” Washington Post (April 2012).
Columns and Blogs
Professor Park’s Blog: 2016-2018. Personal blog focused on history, historiography, and pedagogy. Now migrated to this website.
The Junto: founder and contributor, 2012-2017. Blog focused on early American history, historiography, methodology, and pedagogy.
Peculiar People: co-founder and contributor, 2012-2015. Bi-weekly column, split between seventeen contributors, focused on religion and the public sphere.
Juvenile Instructor: co-founder and contributor, 2007-2016. Blog focused on Mormon history and historiography.
Benjamin E. Park 