Today we’re excited to share a conversation with Katie Ludlow Rich and Heather Sundahl about 50 Years of Exponent II, their new book tracing the history of a space where Latter-day Saint women have engaged the most urgent questions of their time, while also honoring the dailiness of life.
The roots of this effort go back to 1872, when women began publishing the Woman’s Exponent to speak for themselves and stay connected across distance. A century later, Exponent II carried that work forward—not to create consensus, but to make room for complexity, difference, and the kind of deep listening that makes real community possible.
And that’s what this conversation is about: what it takes to stay in relationship, even when ground we used to share—whether in belief, perspective, or experience—starts to shift. We’re probably all navigating this now in some spaces, whether that be in families, wards, or friendships. And so today, Katie and Heather explore the difference between discomfort and danger, how we can sit with the tension of disagreement without walking away, and what it means to listen, not to persuade, but to witness—to be present with someone else’s experience, even when it’s different from our own.
Katie is a writer and independent scholar of women’s history. Heather is a marriage and family therapist in Orem, Utah.
This was a deeply personal conversation, and we’re so grateful to Katie and Heather for showing up with such honesty and care. Their own lived experiences have led them down different paths, and it was a gift to sit with them in dialogue—watching the ways they do this together and make space for others to do the same. That kind of wisdom is hard won, and we’re honored to share it with you now.
You can find their book, 50 Years of Exponent II, on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or wherever books are sold.
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FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 1 - GOSPEL MEETS DHARMA MEDITATION RETREAT
Putting on the Mind of Christ and Exploring Buddha Nature Through Meditative Practice
Join Thomas McConkie and Lower Lights for a 3-day meditation retreat in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This retreat will include:
Copious amounts of meditation!
Mindful walking, eating, and interacting with like-hearted pilgrims
A nourishing lunch provided each day
Detailed instruction and lecture on Buddhist and Christian approaches to meditation
Time in nature
An ongoing invitation to weave yourself into a community that walks the inner path
You will love this meditation retreat if:
You sense that the Christian tradition is more expansive than what you were taught to believe.
You prefer soul work to Netflix, but damn if it ain’t hard doing soul work alone.
You want to bring wisdom teachings to life through shared reading and practice
You trust silence, nature, and community to help you heal and grow.
You want to suck the marrow out of life. (Hat tip to Henry David Thoreau).
Thomas McConkie has been practicing in Buddhist meditation and Christian contemplation for over 25 years. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School in transformative practice and envisions a renaissance in consciousness on the Wasatch Front.
