Dives vs. Streeter - The Lost Episode! Unaired Broadcast w/Jonathan Streeter - Mormon News Roundup
In March 2023, I was thrilled to invite Jonathan Streeter, a prominent voice in the ex-Mormon community, to cohost an episode of the Mormon News Roundup. Unfortunately, despite our initial recording session, the episode never aired. Join me as I share the story behind the scenes, detailing our collaboration challenges, and my reflections on the experience. This episode offers an inside look at the ups and downs of podcasting and the importance of preparation and mutual respect in creating meaningful content.
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Streeter’s Response to this Episode “Dives, I'm sorry about how this turned out and how it affected you - I could have handled it better. The whole episode was a challenge for me for a number of reasons, which include stylistic differences in content, as well as how the show is prepped and pre-run as well as what the expectations of a guest are. I have a full plate already with my day job and family obligations and taking on an additional show that is more than an appearance and off the cuff discussion or a presentation of things i have already given consideration to is more of an ask than usual. I hear your criticism that I could have done more research into your show to have gotten a better sense of things, and I can own my shortcoming on that. In my cursory review of things, i thought i would give it a chance based on a limited scan and your kind invitation.
My hesitation to give a full throated criticism on many of the news items we covered was not out of disinterest or disrespect. I've grown increasingly cautious of the "hot take" and the impulse to attribute every negative thing to the church's influence. It makes it less exciting and interesting and doesn't get as much internet fire and views to be that cautious, but I've been there before and have been burned and have grown more conscious of how i can blind myself to other considerations by going down that path. I realized in doing the show that I couldn't provide type of responses that were as engaging and provocative as you need for a show like yours. This isn't to say that there is no role for that style of news commentary - I still enjoy listening to a good rant and passionate response now and then, and I still do it myself from time to time, but its less frequent and bold for me nowadays.
You may notice that i produce much less content these days than in the past and that is due to the balance i have had to make in virtual interactions vs family and IRL stuff. I didn't realize that was what was required for the appearance and the forcefulness of your communications made it difficult for me to politely decline once I had given a positive response, but I should have given voice to my reservations at the time and given you a chance to respond prior to the dry-run. I'm not sure if you have appeared on many other shows, but most other platforms i have been on did not have the high bar of pre-run time commitment.
You've done an admirable job of pioneering mormon news commentary and getting guests from all across the spectrum”