BYU Dictating Speakers at the May 2026 Interpreter Foundation Conference

[Philo Sofee]

Really? The organizer of the entire thing has to leave a current event because the "arrangements" for a "special" meal were not in place? What about an upcoming meal does he need to arrange? Advance tastings???? So far, he has jusitified skipping out on multiple presentations due to administrative duties. These tales he tells are hilarious.

It is curious. I read his summary of the second day, including this enigmatic passage:

Alas, I spent a lot of the day in private conversations outside of the plenary and concurrent sessions. I say “Alas,” but they were interesting, pleasant, and worthwhile. I don’t regret them at all, except in the inescapable sense that they meant that, yet again today, I missed many of the presentations. (I also spent a bit of time hiding out, making some unsatisfying changes to my own paper, with which I’ve never been satisfied.) I missed many very interesting presentations. Not only for that reason, but definitely including it, I look forward to eventually seeing these papers appear in print. And I hope that an even broader audience will be able to hear and see them still sooner than that, when video recordings of them go up online. This has been, from what I’ve seen and heard and been told by other attendees, a very good conference.

Sounds like a very good conference. It’s unclear why he missed most of it.

Because he is more interested in HIS status, not what the conference offers...

[Marcus]

Deane’s latest Facebook post:

For the record, I don't have much interest in becoming a pawn in someone else's fight. I'm naturally curious and write when I think I have something worth saying. I'm content to let my arguments stand or fall on their own merits.

What has surprised me through this whole affair is that the people most interested in what happened have often been people who disagree with me. I was disappointed that friends and colleagues I respect didn't have much to say about it.

What has been disappointing isn't the politics so much as losing an opportunity to participate in a space where ideas that bring me a great deal of joy might have found a hearing. That's the part that stings.

The conference organizer said my paper might be included in the published volume. But after all the drama surrounding this, my enthusiasm for the whole thing has largely evaporated..

That is rough. I'm sure if DCP publishes it he will imply it was part of the conference; for that reason alone I hope Deane withdraws it, but of course he should do what's in his best interests.

What a schmuck the Afore is.

[Gadianton]

Alas, I spent a lot of the day in private conversations outside of the plenary and concurrent sessions. I say “Alas,” but they were interesting, pleasant, and worthwhile. I don’t regret them at all, except in the inescapable sense that they meant that, yet again today, I missed many of the presentations.

He's not the first priesthood holder bored by the meeting to escape to the foyer under the cover of an important conversation. It really looks bad given that he's the president of the organization. Of course he was bored to tears by the talks. I would have been also. And it's no surprise that he found his conversations "worth while". I mean, idle chit-chat ranks number three on his list of favs thing to do, right below food and travel. It wasn't practical to fly to Egypt during the talks and he'd already escaped with food to the extent that he could, and so a good bull session made total sense. My prediction is that during those "conversations" that one of the two participants talked between 70-90% of the time, and the other talked between 10-30% of the time. You can only imagine how worthwhile that was for conversation participant A.

(I also spent a bit of time hiding out, making some unsatisfying changes to my own paper, with which I’ve never been satisfied.)

Not hard to imagine it was unsatisfying. How much effort had been put into it? Well, once a copy of the talk surfaces, I'll be interested in how much of it was original material and how much was repackaged talking points from previous talks and posts on his blog. If it turns out that there was some new stuff in there, then I'll admit that it at least makes sense that he wished to make it better. Although it's terrible planning. The president of the org should set the example.

I missed many very interesting presentations. Not only for that reason, but definitely including it, I look forward to eventually seeing these papers appear in print.

The biggest selling point for the book will be to see the "missing talk". I'm sure people will be curious about the "contraband" ideas, and so if that talk doesn't make it to print, I predict that sales will be cut in half. I doubt he'll read the book thoroughly, but he might skim it for stuff to blog about and mine a quote or two.

And I hope that an even broader audience will be able to hear and see them still sooner than that, when video recordings of them go up online. This has been, from what I’ve seen and heard and been told by other attendees, a very good conference.

Wasn't good enough to capture his attendance.

I won’t quote all that he said, but this will suggest the flavor of it: “University matters have to be university matters but personal friendships continue. Hope you are well.”

Sounds like Holland could be a real statesman when he needed to be. I wonder if that episode will be paid forward to the guy who was excluded from speaking?

[drumdude]

How many of the Becoming Brigham episodes has he watched, I wonder? I doubt he sits down and wastes his valuable time on that slop. But he wants someone else to.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

How many of the Becoming Brigham episodes has he watched, I wonder? I doubt he sits down and wastes his valuable time on that slop. But he wants someone else to.

The declining view count suggests Bowdlerizing Brigham is slowly turning into a private monologue.

[I Have Questions]

I'm wondering what proportion of the sessions that Peterson has actually attended, in full. With the special dinner emergency, the unforeseen admin duties and important, cannot wait till the sessions are finished, conversations...has he attended even 50%?

What I find more fascinating than the public confessions that he's been ducking out of lots of sessions "because reasons", is that he would publicise that he's been ducking out of lots of sessions "because reasons". He is really going out of his way to tell people about how busy and important he is. Psychologically it's fascinating. I wonder how those people whose sessions he ducked out of feel...did he expect them to turn up for his talk? Did they?

[Doctor Scratch]

And I hope that an even broader audience will be able to hear and see them still sooner than that, when video recordings of them go up online. This has been, from what I’ve seen and heard and been told by other attendees, a very good conference.

Wasn't good enough to capture his attendance.

Indeed. And he immediately skipped off for more travel in the aftermath of it! The remarkable thing is that, in his own words, he *WAS NOT* the actual one running the conference! Instead, it seemed that he needed to handle the more...clandestine (?) administrative tasks.

I won’t quote all that he said, but this will suggest the flavor of it: “University matters have to be university matters but personal friendships continue. Hope you are well.”

Sounds like Holland could be a real statesman when he needed to be. I wonder if that episode will be paid forward to the guy who was excluded from speaking?

Yes, and I think that Holland's diplomacy has very likely been misinterpreted in Mopologetic quarters on more than one occasion. It's worth noting that the Afore is deliberating leaving out contents from the message (what a shocker!), but my read of this small excerpt suggests that he was gently putting this infamously bombastic "servant of the Lord" in his place. A way of saying: "Get your act together, and we can still be 'friends'." But, of course, they are "friends" in much the same sense that Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are 'friends.' Remember that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Vader is required to make contact with the Emperor, and he kneels down on that pad and says, "What is thy bidding, my master?" Yeah: it's easy to envision the relationship being in the same vein as that.

Meanwhile, this admission on "SeN" was shocking:

I related that story at the dinner that the Interpreter Foundation hosted on Friday evening for presenters at our conference on the Small Plates of Nephi and special invited guests.

In his own subsequent remarks on Friday evening, Elder Matthew S. Holland of the Seventy, who is a son of President Holland, told about his father’s last days. Sometimes, he said, his father was a little bit unclear. But, he told the audience, my story had clarified one puzzlement for him. At one point, President Holland drew Matt close to him and instructed him to “Go down to Provo, find Dan Peterson, and plug that cannon!”

Elder Holland commented that, until Friday night, he had been mystified by what his father’s directive had meant. Now, though, he finally understood. And I’m sure that his remembered account is literally true in every detail.

On its face, the simplest interpretation of this is that Elder Holland did indeed have a problem with the Mopologist Chief's behavior, and did, in fact, consider him a "loose cannon." There are plenty of other reasons to believe this: all those times that he, Gee, and whoever else were summoned to SLC to explain their behavior (such as the attacks on the Joseph Smith Papers Project), and I was told by the late D. Michael Quinn that there had been repeated phone calls over tot he Maxwell Institute telling the "Boys" to knock it off with their spiteful antics.

And, let's not forget that it was Holland who was the key player in the destruction of "classic FARMS." Holland was the one John Dehlin went to--and who apparently intervened--when the plug was finally pulled. All of this seems to point to the fact that, in person, Holland was probably quite friendly and diplomatic towards the Afore. But in his heart? It would seem that he fundamentally regarded the Afore as a "loose cannon."

I recognize that there are other ways you could interpret his son's anecdote. Maybe the senior Holland was joking? Or, being at such an advanced age, it was a comment that had been garbled by senility or dementia? But the story says, "President Holland drew Matt close to him and instructed him." This definitely suggests intent: "Go shut that guy up! He's causing more problems and he needs to be taken care of!" It's like Don Corleone telling Luca Brazi that one of Solazzo's thugs needs to be "given an offer he can't refuse."

So I consider this an absolutely stunning, remarkable admission, and absolute proof that the Brethren have had problems with Mopologetics all along, and with the Afore's behavior in particular. This might be the greatest single revelation in the entire history of Mopologetics.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Boy, D. Carl Peterson really has his long johns in a twist over the board noticing his utter contempt for vegetables. In his latest travel blog entry he can’t stop talking about it.

“Only Everybody Wang Chung could vex me with a pie reference … I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my ministalker’s peach cobbler.” - A Storm of Hor d’Oeuvres by George RR MariNara

[Tom]

Wasn't good enough to capture his attendance.

Indeed. And he immediately skipped off for more travel in the aftermath of it! The remarkable thing is that, in his own words, he *WAS NOT* the actual one running the conference! Instead, it seemed that he needed to handle the more...clandestine (?) administrative tasks.

Sounds like Holland could be a real statesman when he needed to be. I wonder if that episode will be paid forward to the guy who was excluded from speaking?

Yes, and I think that Holland's diplomacy has very likely been misinterpreted in Mopologetic quarters on more than one occasion. It's worth noting that the Afore is deliberating leaving out contents from the message (what a shocker!), but my read of this small excerpt suggests that he was gently putting this infamously bombastic "servant of the Lord" in his place. A way of saying: "Get your act together, and we can still be 'friends'." But, of course, they are "friends" in much the same sense that Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are 'friends.' Remember that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Vader is required to make contact with the Emperor, and he kneels down on that pad and says, "What is thy bidding, my master?" Yeah: it's easy to envision the relationship being in the same vein as that.

Meanwhile, this admission on "SeN" was shocking:

I related that story at the dinner that the Interpreter Foundation hosted on Friday evening for presenters at our conference on the Small Plates of Nephi and special invited guests.

In his own subsequent remarks on Friday evening, Elder Matthew S. Holland of the Seventy, who is a son of President Holland, told about his father’s last days. Sometimes, he said, his father was a little bit unclear. But, he told the audience, my story had clarified one puzzlement for him. At one point, President Holland drew Matt close to him and instructed him to “Go down to Provo, find Dan Peterson, and plug that cannon!”

Elder Holland commented that, until Friday night, he had been mystified by what his father’s directive had meant. Now, though, he finally understood. And I’m sure that his remembered account is literally true in every detail.

On its face, the simplest interpretation of this is that Elder Holland did indeed have a problem with the Mopologist Chief's behavior, and did, in fact, consider him a "loose cannon." There are plenty of other reasons to believe this: all those times that he, Gee, and whoever else were summoned to SLC to explain their behavior (such as the attacks on the Joseph Smith Papers Project), and I was told by the late D. Michael Quinn that there had been repeated phone calls over tot he Maxwell Institute telling the "Boys" to knock it off with their spiteful antics.

And, let's not forget that it was Holland who was the key player in the destruction of "classic FARMS." Holland was the one John Dehlin went to--and who apparently intervened--when the plug was finally pulled. All of this seems to point to the fact that, in person, Holland was probably quite friendly and diplomatic towards the Afore. But in his heart? It would seem that he fundamentally regarded the Afore as a "loose cannon."

I recognize that there are other ways you could interpret his son's anecdote. Maybe the senior Holland was joking? Or, being at such an advanced age, it was a comment that had been garbled by senility or dementia? But the story says, "President Holland drew Matt close to him and instructed him." This definitely suggests intent: "Go shut that guy up! He's causing more problems and he needs to be taken care of!" It's like Don Corleone telling Luca Brazi that one of Solazzo's thugs needs to be "given an offer he can't refuse."

So I consider this an absolutely stunning, remarkable admission, and absolute proof that the Brethren have had problems with Mopologetics all along, and with the Afore's behavior in particular. This might be the greatest single revelation in the entire history of Mopologetics.

Curious story. Nearly forty years after the “Galileo Event,” Holland—in what seemed to be a moment of “terminal lucidity” (see here for a post by the Afore on the phenomenon of terminal lucidity)—refers to the Afore as a cannon. Was it a running joke among Holland and the other Brethren in council meetings to call the Afore a “loose cannon” when he wasn’t present? “Brethren, we should invite the ‘Loose Cannon’ to give us a lecture on Islam next month [hearty laughter ensues as members of the Twelve pass a box of chocolates by seniority].”

I’m struck by Holland’s apparent response to the watershed events of 2012. Recall that Holland—presumably a member of BYU’s board of trustees in 2012—boasted in his infamous August 2021 address at BYU that Russell Nelson—in his position as president of the board of trustees in 2021—“has the final ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ on every proposal we make from a new research lab, to more undergrad study space, to approving a new pickup for the physical facilities staff!” Did Holland propose to Thomas Monson—who served as president of BYU’s board of trustees in 2012—that action be taken so that the Afore was returned to his rightful place at the Maxwell Institute? Did he attempt to intervene? Apparently not.

Instead, Holland sends a “very kind email … expressing his ‘best wishes’” to the Afore, offering a Hallmark-card-worthy platitude about how university matters must remain university matters but friendships endure. I cannot help but wonder if the Afore was stung—at least slightly—by Holland’s email.

[Gadianton]

Remember that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Vader is required to make contact with the Emperor, and he kneels down on that pad and says, "What is thy bidding, my master?" Yeah: it's easy to envision the relationship being in the same vein as that.

This is exactly right. As I understand it, I never got very deep into Star Wars, but wasn't Darth Vader a "rogue" agent of Palpatine? He operated outside the standard lines of authority and held more traditional leaders in contempt. And wasn't he a "mystic" of sorts? He distrusted science -- "Don't be so proud of your technological terror" he said once to an Admiral. And he was quite paranoid, and ruthlessly protected his relationship to Palpatine but here's the thing -- Vader was a mere tool, a "loose cannon" for the Emperor to use at his will. The Emperor manipulated Vader into thinking he was the favorite but held no loyalty to him whatsoever nor was he very fond of him.