My wife and I met yesterday with Mark Goodman and Russell Richins, who are, respectively, the director and producer of the Interpreter Foundation’s current Six Days in August film project. For the first time, we saw some of the footage from recent filming in Ontario and New York and at the LDS Motion Picture Studio. It’s looking good, and Mark and Russ are very pleased with what they’ve gotten from the actors and the crew. Slightly more than... Read more
Last night, my wife and I attended a screening in one of our local theaters of the film After Death. , which, by the way, is distributed by Angel Studies, the Utah Valley operation that also distributes The Chosen and Sound of Freedom. I commend After Death to you. It introduces and features some of the standard names in the study of near-death experiences (e.g., Dr. George Ritchie, Dr. Kenneth Ring, John Burke, Dr. Jeffrey Long, Don Piper,... Read more
After our visit to the Churchill War Rooms in London the other day, I bought a copy of Boris Johnson’s The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2014). Boris Johnson was himself the, umm, colorful and controversial prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022 — and, in addition to that, a member of Parliament from 2001 to 2008, the mayor of London from 2008... Read more
Well, we’re back. For a little while. (Fairly soon, we plan to be off for visits with far-flung members of our family both at home and abroad. This additional travel will drive my most obsessive critics berserk with rage, of course, but, candidly, I value my family more than I value the opinions of those critics.) And a major part of my obligation as the president of the Interpreter Foundation and as an executive producer of the film project... Read more
We will shortly board a jet airliner to return from our truncated trip to the Middle East. We were scheduled to lead discrete tours to Türkeye (on behalf of the Interpreter Foundation) and Egypt and Israel. For rather obvious reasons, the tour to Israel had to be cancelled. I would have cancelled it anyway, but factors beyond our control took the decision out of our hands: there was simply no way for us to enter Israel; Delta, United,... Read more
We’re just back from a matinee performance of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. To the best of my recollection, I’ve seen only two plays by Michael Frayn, and they are about as different as could possibly be conceived. I’ve seen Noises Off twice before, I think, and it’s about the most slapstick farce imaginable. Lots of action. Hilarious. By contrast, Copenhagen, which we saw here in London years ago, is a very serious play... Read more
I’m not sure that I called this Meridian Magazine article of mine to your attention, although it was published roughly two weeks ago: “What Are the Seven Churches in the Revelation of John?” It isn’t coincidental that the article appeared at roughly the same time that I was actually visiting the churches addressed by John the Revelator in Acts 2-3. Today was focused mostly on Churchill’s War Rooms, which include both the underground complex that housed... Read more
Halloween is nearly upon us — here in England as well as in the colonies — so some of you might find this article of interest that my late and much lamented friend Bill Hamblin and I published in the Deseret News back in 2015: “Are Halloween’s roots evil and satanic?” And, speaking of Bill Hamblin, I sometimes receive notes from faithful Latter-day Saints wondering whether the rumor is true that Bill had lost his faith by the... Read more
Just back in from a leisurely stroll with my wife along the south bank of the River Thames near Blackfriars Bridge and the Tate Modern. As the evening came in and the lights went on, the view across to St. Paul’s Cathedral and to the new skyscrapers to its east was absolutely gorgeous. I love this city. Even more than I don’t love New York. It was just a few minutes’ walk from where we’re currently staying... Read more
A new publication has come from Professor Matthew Bowen, via the Interpreter Foundation: Ancient Names in the Book of Mormon: Toward a Deeper Understanding of a Witness of Christ: The names of individuals, places, and peoples in the Book of Mormon are strong evidence of its authenticity as an ancient scriptural record. But these names are more than mere ornaments. By reading carefully and using our knowledge of ancient Hebrew and Egyptian—the languages Book of Mormon writers claimed they... Read more
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