Maxwell Institute Conversations are special episodes of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, hosted by Terryl Givens and created in collaboration with Faith Matters Foundation. Audio and video available.

Thomas Wirthlin McConkie was born into a prominent American Latter-day Saint family, but the faith didn’t resonate with him as a teenager. He disconnected from the Church and began exploring the wider world’s faith traditions. He followed a thread through eastern religion and philosophy, then was surprised when that thread guided him all the way back to the faith of his youth. As a Latter-day Saint specialist in meditation and adult psychological development, Thomas Wirthlin McConkie appreciates how connecting with his past opens a new vision of the future.

About the Guest

Thomas Wirthlin McConkie is author of Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis: A Simple Developmental Map and the founder of Lower Lights School of Wisdom. He has been practicing mindfulness and other meditative techniques for twenty years and studying their effects on human potential. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his partner Gloria and their dog Luna.