Latter Day Struggles
The Latter Day Struggles Podcast addresses beliefs and issues within the LDS faith that are challenging to talk about but vital to discuss for those trying to navigate their relationship in or around the church. Valerie and her guests invite psychological maturity, theological health, and institutional integrity.
Episodes
393 episodes
390: How Fear Shapes Humanity's Gods, Buildings, and Beliefs
Series Title: Exploring Mormonism's Immortality Projects [Episode III of IV]In this episode, Valerie and Nathan continue to explore the universal impulse that humans have to sense our divinity but channel it into false-s...
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1:05:44
389: Faith & Feminism: Valerie's Vision & Maxine’s Musings
In this part one of a two-part conversation, Valerie is joined by Maxine Hanks for a deeply personal and reflective conversation exploring their parallel journeys as Latter-day Saint female thought leaders navigating faith transitions, church d...
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58:23
BONUS EPISODE: Why the LDS Church is Vulnerable to Underreporting of Child S*x Abuse & What to Do
In today's BONUS EPISODE Val breaks down some ideas around why the LDS Church is uniquely vulnerable to the underreporting of child sex abuse. While some of its issues will be vulnerabilities of all patriarchal systems, there are others t...
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1:32:00
388: What if We & our Dead Do Not Need Saving but the Temple Helps Us See This?
Series Title: Series Title: Exploring Mormonism's Immortality Projects [Episode II of IV]In this engaging episode, Valerie and Nathan dive deeper into ideas about spiritual transformation for those wanting more depth as they progre...
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46:15
387: Mission Eligibility Age Dropped to 18 for LDS Young Women: A Conversation with Dr. Julie Hanks
Join Valerie and therapist colleague Dr. Julie Hanks in this recording of a recent “Instagram Live” where they explored the recent breaking news from LDS Newsroom decreasing the eligibility age from 19 to 18 for young women interested in servin...
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55:43
386: How Every Exhausting Detour Leads Us Back to God
Series Title: Exploring Mormonism's Immortality Projects [Episode I of IV]Today Val & Nathan kick off a four-part series that you will not want to miss if you want to make more sense of your Mormon experience working reall...
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44:17
385: Honoring Relationships AND your Nervous System Over the Holidays
If Episode 384 (the one right before this one!) addresses the larger psychological question of why the holidays & family events can be extra challenging and painful for those on the LDS faith expansion journey--then this episode an...
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51:52
384: Office Hours Meets the Holiday Family Gathering (& Accompanying Emotions)
Join us for this special Office Hour edition of Latter Day Struggles, recorded right before the bustling holiday season of 2025. Our conversation dives deep into the complex world of family relationships during the holidays while on a faith jou...
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52:19
383: Why We Care So Much about Transcending & Including Mormonism
Are you curious about what has happened in the minds and hearts of the Hamakers eight months post-resignation from the LDS church due to the waves that this podcast has made throughout the world for the past couple of years? Well, ...
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49:44
382: Moving from Saviors & Sin to Remembering & Returning
In this episode of Latter Day Struggles, Valerie compares and contrasts her understanding of the 'plan of salvation' internalized from her traditional LDS upbringing with a 'plan of salvation' that aligns with ideas about humanity's awakening j...
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39:37
381: Polygamy is Having its Mormon Moment (Again) in 2025
Series Title: Unpacking LDS Polygamy Developments in 2025 [Part II of II]Join Valerie and Jana Spangler as they finish their conversation about the fascinating currents of 2025 surrounding polygamy in the Church of Jesus Chris...
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43:18
380: A 'New' Plan of Salvation for an Expanding Mormon Consciousness
In this thought-provoking episode, Valerie dives into the idea that the old plan of salvation needs an update to align with our expanding understandings of God, love, and our own awakening journey. She explores another kind of plan of sa...
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36:26
379: When Mormon Polygamy Comes to Primary in 2025
Join Valerie and her guest Jana Spangler in the next two Monday episodes as they delve into the complexities of polygamy within the Mormon church, focusing on the year 2025 when several significant events around this topic unfolded.
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1:25:07
378: The Great Ascent: Evolution as the Fingerprint of God
Are you longing to transcend the God of your earlier spiritual development while including your desire to believe in some kind of more wholistic God? We see you! Join Valerie and Nathan on this deep dive into the f...
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34:51
377: When One's Soul has the Audacity to Grow, Right there in Church
Series Title: A Two-Hundred Year Old Mirror: How the Faith Expansion Journey has Always Made Christian Leadership Sweat! [Episode II of II]In this thought-provoking episode, Valerie and guest Casey McFarland dive into part two of their s...
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52:02
376: Broken Up with God Lately? Allow Us to Introduce you to...
Have you lost your faith in the old white man in the sky but don't want to lose God altogether? We've got you! Join Val and Nathan in this enlightening episode of 'Latter Day Struggles 2.0' as they dive deep into the evolving understandin...
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44:32
375: When God Refuses to Be Church-Correlated
Series Title: A Two-Hundred Year Old Mirror: How the Faith Expansion Journey has Always Made Christian Leadership Sweat! [Episode I of II]In the next two Monday episodes you are going to LOVE this conversation between Valerie ...
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1:08:50
374: Spiritual Lost & Found: Gathering the Shadows We Ghosted on Lower Rungs
Join Val and Nathan in this 2.0 episode exploring how our human shadow parts can "leak" all over our respective "ladders of development" and what happens when (not 'if') they do. This episode processes not only why we much integr...
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39:49
373: What Caterpillars Can Teach us about Blind Conformity
Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part IV of IV]Join Valerie and her special guests, Steve and Ginger Hitz, in the final episod...
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43:41
372: The Stagnant, the Straddling, and the Slightly Snooty on the Spiritual Growth Ladder
Series Title: Rungs and Revelations: Ascending the Spiritual Ladder [Part II of II]Why is spiritual growth so incredibly hard and confusing? Why do some people stay put in the same world view forever? Why do some people seem to grow quic...
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46:09
371: To Find Divinity, Look No Further than the Mirror
Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part III of IV]In this thought-provoking episode, Valerie and guests Ginger and Steve continu...
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43:15
370: Rungs and Revelations: Ascending the Spiritual Ladder
How does one break down the intricacies of the spiritual transformation journey? Although different for each person, there is in fact a common thread that connects every person’s onward and upward climb towards their greatest potential consciou...
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38:34
369: Drowning in the Shallows: Fabricated Fellowship Explored
Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part II of IV]In this second episode (of a four-part Monday series), Valerie dives deeper with Stev...
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48:18
368: “Is There No Other Way??’ to Reach My Spiritual Potential?
When Val first stumbled into the scholarship on transpersonal psychology (western psychology meets Eastern Spirituality meets the Perennial Tradition) she saw “transcend and include” on every page of this powerful scholarship. As she took this ...
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51:08
367: Faith on Fire: A Family’s Tragedy Becomes a Faith System’s Invitation to Awaken
Series Title: An Exploration of ‘Fabricated Fellowship’ & ‘Harmful Religiosity’ on the Path Towards Healing Spiritual Community [Part I of IV]As Richard Rohr has often said, "It is through great love and great suffering" that the sou...
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29:09