Our Interview on KJZZ

You can listen to our broadcast on KJZZ, public radio in Phoenix, right here!  I'm pleased with the result!

Interview with KJZZ

Martha & Temple at preschool graduation, 2013

Back in 2011, I did an interview with NPR.  It turned out to be a very pleasant experience.  It was refreshing that the producers did everything that they said that they would, and we were pleased with the results.  (You can read about it here.  You can listen to it here.)  Sarah, the producer, spent some time with the phone on me, and she was very friendly, open, and kind.  After the interview, I friended her on Facebook.  I loosely kept in touch with her career at NPR, listening to some interesting pieces on music.  She has varied and eclectic tastes.  I always brag that I know a lot about the various music scenes, but Sarah is truly a hipster in the positive sense of the word.

Recently, she relocated to her hometown of Phoenix and went to work for the NPR-affiliated KJZZ.  I received the following email from her a couple of weeks ago:

"Hey Moroni,

"I'm so sorry that you haven't been feeling well lately, and I really hope that your foot/bad toe gets better soon!

"I was actually writing because I wanted to see if you'd be up for talking for another public radio story. This one is for KJZZ -- the public radio station in Phoenix. I remember you posting on Facebook a little while ago about separating from one of your wives, and that it was a unique and interesting transition to go from having two wives to only one. If you're open to it, I'd like to talk to you (and then have you talk to one of our hosts) about what that transition has been like for you and your family, and what it is like openly identifying as a polygamist while being in a monogamous relationship.

"Let me know what you think and of course if you have questions, and hopefully we'll talk soon!

"All the best, Sarah"

I immediately responded:

"Anything for you, Sarah. Sounds like an interesting topic. The only thing I would be emphatic about is maintaining Temple's privacy. We get along great, but she wouldn't appreciate being the focus of the interview."

So she called me, and we did a pre-interview.  Sarah told me that she needed to fact check a lot of the things I said with Temple, who has since moved on since we separated, and is now remarried.  I suggested that, as long as they were going to call Temple that they might as well ask her to be involved.

After the phone call, I sent Temple a text, saying, "You're going to get a phone call."  She became concerned and contacted me.  I explained a little bit about the interview to her.  Within a couple of days, Sarah had called Temple and explained the whole thing to her.

Temple called me and asked, "What are you expecting from this?"

I told her, "In the media, they constantly show wives that have left plural marriage in the context of 'Oh, she escaped polygamy!'  Your circumstance is different.  You are proof that not every circumstance is like that.  You have shown that two people can end a relationship like that and still remain friends."

So she agreed to do it.  So, last week, Martha, Temple, and I each called on our own phones into KJZZ and had a conference call with the host, Mark.  It was about a 35 minute interview, and it went very well.  Each of us got a chance to tell what our lives were like after plural marriage.  I have to say, I was very proud of Martha, and especially Temple.  The focus was on Temple, which it should have been.

Since the interview, Temple is suspicious about how the finished product will turn out after editing, given our previous experience with the  media.  I am confident that it will turn out okay.

The interview will air on KJZZ FM 91.5 in Phoenix only, tomorrow, April 25, between 2PM and 3PM, Arizona time.  You can listen to it here.  They will later post the interview on their website, and I will post a link later.

Dawn O'Porter Talks Polygamy

Dawn O'Porter

This morning, in the Independent in the UK, Dawn O'Porter spoke a bit about polygamy:

"Polygamy is not as harmful as tabloids make us believe I did a documentary on polygamy and I visited this affluent family in Utah with three wives and 16 very happy, bright, socialised and interesting kids. Though I'm anti-religion, I admired the way they were bringing up the children within the family unit and I thought, they're making this work. We must stop this tabloid-level judgement of alternative groups of society. We need to look at the good and the bad and try to have a balanced argument."


She was referring to the family she interviewed in Centennial Park.  I am a but disappointed that she didn't mention her interview with me or my family.  Perhaps because we are not "affluent".  But I was VERY pleased with her comments - her open-mindedness and positive outlook.

Thank you, Dawn O'Porter!  You rock!