Choosing Community over Ideological Purity: Lessons from Exponent II with Katie Ludlow Rich & Heather Sundahl

Feb 1, 2026

Heather Sundahl, a marriage and family therapist who studies boundaries and vulnerability, and Katie Ludlow Rich, a writer and scholar of Mormon women’s history, discuss Exponent II’s 50-year history. They trace its roots to the Woman’s Exponent, show how print and retreats made room for messy conversation, and explore staying in relationship across differences with curiosity, listening, and neighborliness.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Community Over Ideological Purity

Exponent II privileged community over ideological purity by publishing opposing views side-by-side.
This approach let readers sit with complexity instead of forcing binary choices.

ANECDOTE

Contrasting Essays On One Page

The third issue printed opposing essays on the same page about women at home versus working mothers.
Placing both pieces together modeled acceptance of diverse Mormon women's choices.

ADVICE

Create Intentional Listening Spaces

Bring intentional listening and witnessing, not persuasion, into group spaces to allow difficult conversations.
Use Relief Society skills like hosting and discussion to create structured, safe dialogue.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Hey everyone, this is Aubrey Chaves from Faith Matters. Today I’m excited to share my 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, 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.

Listen to the audiobook of The Bible Storybook by Sarah and Josh Sabey in Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Our donors and paid subscribers make this collaboration possible--thank you for your support!