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The epic story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be told without including its dedication to speechmaking and eloquence. Richard Benjamin Crosby and Isaac James Richards collect important speeches from a broad range of sources that highlight the history, diversity, and centrality of public speaking in Latter-day Saint life. An expert introduces each speech while offering perspective on its place in Latter-day Saint history. The collected works express a diversity of viewpoints and experiences at odds with the notion that Latter-day Saints speak in a single voice while declaring the significance of the Latter-day Saint...

The Latter-day Saint tradition features a prodigious number of eloquent speakers and famous speeches — from Brigham Young's sermons to Mitt Romney's "Faith in America" address. But how does this tradition, especially with its lack of formal homiletical training, boast such a rich, deeply ingrained, and democratic culture of public address? On today's episode of Scholars & Saints , host Nicholas Shrum probes these questions with Professor Richard Benjamin Crosby and PhD Student Isaac James Richards, editors of Latter-Day Eloquence: Two Centuries of Mormon Oratory (University of Illinois Press, 2026). Crosby and Richards discuss the oratorical culture in which Latter-day Saints are raised, as well as the different rhetorical topics commonly employed in public addresses, such as rhetorics of exaltation, Zion, and peculiarity. They also examine the adaptation of Mormon rhetoric and public image in response to cultural assimilation, as well as the impacts of the digital age on Latter-day Saint oratory and communication. Richard Benjamin Crosby is Associate Professor of English at Brigham Young University, where he studies and teaches rhetorical theory and practice, with an interest in political and religious communication. Isaac James Richards is a PhD Student in Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. He studies the history and theory of writing, rhetoric, media, and communication, with particular attention to the intersection of memory, religion, and democracy.

Richard Benjamin discusses highlights from his days shooting The Last of Sheila in the south of France - including the friendships he forged with writers Anthony Perkins and Steven Sondheim and fellow actors, Joan Hackett, James Mason and James Coburn. Visit Warner Archive for The Last of Sheila and other great Richard Benjamin films.