The Downton Abbey theme song has won the hearts of millions around the world. It’s notes have a way of soothing the soul and creating a nostalgic yearning. However, unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, its origins aren’t a mystery. In this interview, composer John Lund says that he knew exactly when he had found the perfect sound for the Downton theme.
America is known as a country of religious freedom, but what does that really mean? Join Tisa Wenger, associate professor of American religious history at Yale University, as she discusses her latest book, Religious Freedom: The Contested History of an American Ideal (University of North Carolina Press, 2017).
Dale Midkiff won the hearts of audiences with his portrayal of the loving patriarch on Hallmark Channel’s Love Comes Softly. And yet, while it’s difficult to imagine him in any other role, there are dozens of Dale Midkiff movies and TV shows (including Dale Midkiff as Elvis). In this interview, he talks about his acting career and the importance of his wife and family, and takes readers behind the scenes of Love Comes Softly.
Clark Monson teaches at BYU and is the son of the late President Thomas S. Monson. His essay in BYU Studies Quarterly, Rod Tip Up, recalls his fishing adventures with his father, the prophetic predecessor of President Russell M. Nelson.
What happens when you mix an established global celebrity, a growing worldwide religion, and a mischievous local trickster? This is the tale of Elvis Presley, the Book of Mormon, and a Latter-day Saint myth.
Vaughn Scribner is the author of Inn Civility: Urban Taverns and Early American Civil Society (New York University Press, 2019).
In the Old Testament, King Solomon settles a debate between two women who both claim to be a child’s mother by proposing to cut the child in half. In his latest book, “If Truth Were a Child” (Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 253 pages), BYU professor of humanities George Handley uses the story as a metaphor for the way people treat truth.
T. C. Christensen is a cinematographer and director best known for religious films associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the pioneers, such as 17 Miracles and Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. His latest movie is The Fighting Preacher.
Jewel Staite has more Stargate memories that she knows what to do with. She loved working with Joe Flanigan, Paul McGillion, and Amanda Tapping. And when it comes to David Hewlett, the Stargate: Atlantis actress sums him up in one word (hint: it has to do with food).
Natalie McKnight is president of the Dickens Society and Dean of the College of General Studies at Boston University.