I am extremely pleased to finally publish this interview of Jared Anderson. Jared teaches religion courses at Westminster College and online at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is finishing his PhD. His passions are the history of the Bible and especially the function and future of religion. He is the president of the Olam Institute, a non-profit that seeks to facilitate conversation and education about religion, and runs the podcast Mormon Sunday School. (He lives with his wife and five children in Salt Lake).

This episode has been divided into two episodes. In part one, we provide a short history of Jared’s life; we discuss diversity and the belief spectrum; we discuss some of the research from Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, and some applications of his work to Mormonism; and we discuss Mormon identity and community. To share your feedback, as well as any thoughts and questions, please post them below so that we can continue this discussion.

Some of the materials and resources mentioned in this episode include

Thank you for listening and watch out for part two of the interview.