Ep 10 - Hamilton: Church History Needs More Rap Battles

Surprisingly few movies exist about the revolutionary period of American history, but a huge exception is the musical phenomenon known as Hamilton. We discuss the various receptions of the musical, both in the Obama era when it premiered and in 2020 when the Disney+ recording was released. We also look at the significance of the constitutional era of American history for Latter-day Saints and how that impacts our reception of the musical. Can we learn anything about how to treat difficulties in our own history from the musical?

Our Ratings: Content: Telestial Artistic Merit: 5 popcorn balls Gospel Connections: 5 apricots

Best Books:

Liz - The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs

Carl - For All Mankind (Apple TV+)

Daniel - Praying with the Enemy by Steven T Collis; The Burning Book: A Jewish-Mormon Memoir by Jason Olson and James Goldberg

Kristin - Consuming Religion by Kathryn Lofton; Animorphs by K.A Applegate

Comparable Musicals:

1776

Les Miserables

Links:

Arizona lawmaker says his LDS faith prevented him from participating in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s election loss

More on George Washington's use of the phrase "vine and fig tree" in a letter to a Jewish congregation

All the theater references in Hamilton

26 more theater references in Hamilton

On history and Hamilton:

The Issue on the Table: Is “Hamilton” Good For History?

Mormon Land podcast: How the LDS faith reveres America as the ‘Hamilton’ movie debuts and a nation debates the founders’ virtues and vices

Find Us:

Daniel - Nauvoo Neighbor, Public Square

Kristin - kristinhelenperkins.com

Carl - FB: Carl Cranney; Twitter: @CarlCranney

Liz - lizbusby.com

Video editing by Liz Busby; Audio mastering by Carl Cranney

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