This episode dives into the controversies and complexities surrounding Elder TikTok, a well-known LDS TikTok personality who’s faced repeated cancellation and criticism throughout his social media career. The hosts Cardon Ellis, Jonah Barnes, and guest Austin Falter discuss both the specific recent incidents and the broader cultural context in which Elder TikTok operates.

Cardon and Jonah Barnes dive deep into scripture, scholarship, and the culture of LDS academia.The discussion begins playfully as Jonah explores chiasmus—a poetic structure in ancient texts—within the Book of Moses. He highlights a striking pattern between Adam and Eve’s statements after the Fall, jokingly calling it their “epic rap battle.” Adam’s partial chiasmus is countered by Eve’s bold, complete one, centering the doctrine of the “fortunate fall.” Jonah notes this insight hasn’t appeared in scholarly literature, making the discovery all the more thrilling.

Cardon Ellis is joined by Ella Katzenbach, who put together both an article and a video on the topic, capturing authentic responses from fellow students on campus. This episode centers around the immediate student reactions at BYU to the passing of President Russell M. Nelson, the late prophet and leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The conversation opens with Cardon and Ella discussing the news of President Nelson’s death, which sadly was overshadowed in broader media by a tragic shooting in Michigan that same day. Despite this, Ella was able to gauge campus sentiment and conduct interviews with several students.