S5B2 March Email Madness

Summary

Standard of Truth Podcast: Season 5, Bonus Episode 2 - "March Email Madness"

Hosts:

• Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat: Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU
• Dr. Richard Leduc: Co-host and fellow historian

Release Date: March 18, 2025

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Overview

In this special bonus episode of the "Standard of Truth" podcast, hosts Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat and Dr. Richard Leduc diverge from their usual deep dives into Latter-Day Saints history to engage in a lively and entertaining "March Email Madness." This episode centers around a bracket challenge inspired by NCAA March Madness, where listeners and missionaries submitted their bracket picks for a chance to win prizes. The hosts discuss the overwhelming response, highlight humorous entries, share listener emails, and infuse the conversation with personal anecdotes and playful banter.

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March Email Madness Bracket Challenge

Engagement and Participation

From the outset, Dr. Dirkmaat and Dr. Leduc express their surprise and delight at the massive influx of emails from listeners, predominantly missionaries, eager to participate in the March Email Madness bracket challenge.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (00:01): "There are apparently 99% of the people who listen, only listen for Richard."
• Dr. Leduc (03:00): "Baylor over Mississippi State. Baylor at the nine seed over Mississippi."

Humorous and Notable Team Names

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to showcasing and laughing over the creative and amusing team names submitted by participants. The hosts share their top picks, highlighting the wit and creativity of their audience.

• Dr. Leduc (05:01): "Bodie McBoatface. John C. Bennett's picks would all be secretive and sinful."
• Dr. Dirkmaat (05:18): "Boat Face is one of our best call outs ever."
• Dr. Leduc (08:40): "Ask Jeeves. That one made me smile."
• Dr. Dirkmaat (10:39): "Twin relics of barbarism."

Personal Involvement and Hosting Dynamic

The hosts engage in friendly teasing about each other's bracket picks and personal stories, adding a layer of authenticity and camaraderie to the discussion.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (05:01): "Bodie McBoatface. John C. Bennett's picks would all be secretive and sinful."
• Dr. Dirkmaat (06:00): "That's a direct shot at you."
• Dr. Leduc (06:44): "There is some subjectivity here."

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Listener Emails and Mailbag Segment

Diverse and Entertaining Submissions

The episode features a segment where the hosts read and react to various listener emails. These emails range from humorous anecdotes to expressions of support and questions about the podcast content.

• Email from Elder Greenleaf (12:52):
  "Elder FA'A Otoa. Which is totally wrong, but..."
  (Dr. Dirkmaat attempts to pronounce a Polynesian name, leading to laughter and light-hearted correction.)

• Email from Mike (16:03):
  "Your episode, brow beating ChatGPT. Did it truly learn its lesson?"
  (Discussion about the effectiveness of their previous episode critiquing AI responses regarding Latter-Day Saints teachings.)

Personal Stories from Missionaries

Emails from missionaries provide insight into their experiences and interactions with the podcast, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

• Elder and Sister Jones (24:11):
  "Thank you for clarifying that Boise is pronounced 'boy C.'..."
  (Hosts share plans to visit Harmony, Pennsylvania, and anecdotes about their interactions with missionaries.)

• Email from Sarah (27:47):
  "I always on the lookout for new sources that I can't wait to see what it has. Thank you for the content you put out."
  (Appreciation for the podcast's informative and entertaining content.)

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Personal Anecdotes and Banter

Mispronunciations and Personal Stories

Throughout the episode, the hosts engage in playful exchanges about mispronunciations, personal missions, and family interactions, adding depth and personality to the conversation.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (07:54):
  "I'm about to pronounce this name incorrectly. I'm trying, though, and I apologize. Hey, brother Dirkmot. I'm elder FA'A Otoa."

• Dr. Leduc (21:36):
  "We're bringing our whole family, by the way."
  (Discussing upcoming tours and family reunions during missions.)

Humorous Encounters with Recognition

Dr. Dirkmaat recounts an amusing encounter where a stranger recognized him solely as the podcast host, highlighting the unexpected ways listeners connect with the show.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (30:22):
  "I was actually on the phone, and all of a sudden someone goes, hey, hey. And like, oh, someone shoplifting. Are you Garrett?"
  (Describes the awkward yet pleasant recognition and interaction with a listener.)

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Tournament Picks and Predictions

Bracket Strategies and Upset Picks

The hosts delve into their bracket strategies, discussing potential upsets and favorites, providing listeners with insights into their decision-making processes.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (34:03):
  "Give me a first-round upset that you feel really good about. And please don't say that it's VCU over BYU."

• Dr. Leduc (35:30):
  "I have Liberty over Oregon. That's a classic 5-12 matchup."

Discussion of Team Performances and Prospects

Engaging in spirited debate, the hosts analyze team performances, injuries, and historical data to support their bracket choices.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (36:05):
  "I'm looking at the distinct possibility of Baylor over Mississippi State."

• Dr. Leduc (37:01):
  "I have some hard feelings towards Missouri because of the extermination order 175 years ago."

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Conclusion

Appreciation and Community Building

In wrapping up the episode, Dr. Dirkmaat and Dr. Leduc extend their gratitude to listeners and missionaries for their support and participation. They express enthusiasm for future episodes and continued engagement through activities like the bracket challenge.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (33:51):
  "But we just thought we'd get on. Thank you to everybody who listens."

• Dr. Leduc (35:52):
  "We've got a few more emails, but that is all of the emails fit to print."

Upcoming Plans and Farewells

The hosts share glimpses into their personal lives and upcoming plans, maintaining a personal connection with their audience before signing off.

• Dr. Dirkmaat (41:06):
  "I'm sure he'll love some Kansas City barbecue."

• Dr. Leduc (41:16):
  "It's in a Chevron gas station. But it's the best barbecue you'll ever have."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Dr. Dirkmaat (02:13):
  "The question is, why are we doing what we're doing and why do we continue to do the podcast?"

• Dr. Leduc (03:03):
  "There will be prizes for the winners. Although we don't know what those prizes are."

• Dr. Dirkmaat (10:39):
  "We'll be reading it on the air as I avoided a lot of big words and hard to read phrases."

• Dr. Leduc (16:43):
  "ChatGPT seems to be willing to just give you any answer. Like a parent who just wants you to stop asking."

• Dr. Dirkmaat (21:02):
  "I have two weeks at home and then we'll meet him in Kansas City at the tour."

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Final Thoughts

This bonus episode of "Standard of Truth" blends historical discussion with contemporary cultural phenomena, specifically the excitement surrounding March Madness. By engaging directly with their audience through email interactions and humorous exchanges, Dr. Dirkmaat and Dr. Leduc create a vibrant community atmosphere. The episode underscores the podcast's commitment to not only educating listeners about Latter-Day Saints history but also fostering a sense of camaraderie and fun among its diverse audience.

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Thank you for listening to the "Standard of Truth" podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with others who might benefit from its insightful and entertaining content.

Transcript

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Welcome to the Standard of Truth podcast. In this podcast, Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat and Dr. Richard Leduc explore the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the life and teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith. They examine the original historical sources and provide context for events of the past. They approach the history of the church with faith, expertise and humor. Foreign Hi, welcome to a special bonus episode of the Standard of Truth podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat, and I'm joined by my friend, Dr. Richard Leduc, whom I'm actually going to introduce by his proper title. A few episodes ago, I erroneously referred to him as professor, and there were so many of his fans that came out of the woodwork. It was. I had, I had kicked a hornet's nest of just. There's apparently 99% of the people who listen, only listen for Richard. And I found out when I. When I did not give him the proper title. Richard leduc.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Hello, Garrett. Thanks for having me back. We had an extended family night where I brought it up, and so they just, with a lot of aliases, send in emails. Okay, I think that you're overstating. Overstating it with the 99. But it was 98. Yes. Anyway, it's very, it's very. It's very good. We. There's a lot of fun things. One of the things that we've been doing this year is spending a lot of time in the Doctrine Covenants for some reason. And so we've, we haven't done as many regular episodes as we would in a regular season. Season. And so we, we've received so many emails and they're so great. And we're doing, we're doing multiple things in March and it's really gotten out of hand.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yes. I mean, the question is, why are we doing what we're doing and why do we continue to do the podcast?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, these were questions that the IRS is actually asking us now. We're very excited.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

The IRS for. These are the questions I ask myself at night when I'm crying.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So we're doing a missionary madness and we've gotten 400 gajillion emails.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You need to tabulate that up. The missionaries are wanting to know which missions. We got like seven from the Portugal Lisbon mission.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, Lisbon's coming pretty strong. I think we've almost received, I don't know, over 500 emails from missionaries in the past couple weeks. It's been really fun. So we will have to tabulate that up and get a winner. And we're also just, you know, because why not. Or doing a. A, you know, NCAA bracket challenge. The standard of truth podcast. Bracket buster.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Entertainment purposes only. Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yes, for entertainment purposes only.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Although we need to put a hotline up.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

There will. There will be prizes for the winners. Although we don't know what those prizes are.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Right.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I mean, because everything we have to offer them is terrible.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Like, oh, my God.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Well, we'll give you a. We'll let you. We'll have Garrett call and talk to you for 10 minutes. You have people tanking their brackets, and they're picking High Point to defeat Florida, the championship game. I mean, just. They're not offer.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, they're picking Florida to go to the championship. They're not trying to lose. They're. They're probably picking. How do you. How do you pronounce limscomb?

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It's in Kentucky, I think.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, it's in Nashville, actually.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Oh, in Tennessee. Okay. Yeah. Somewhere in the middle there.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

In my call with my missionary son today, we spent the entire time going through the bracket. He is in Elder Leduc. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. South is his name. The names of the people that are participating are hilarious.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You should all join the bracket challeng because it's free, first of all, and because you want to support the podcast, but primarily you want to join just to see how incredible the names are. What are, what are some of your favorite names?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So I do have. I do have a top five list.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Okay.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That I've. That I put together. I've got.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Starting with number five.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, I've got three outside looking in.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Oh, okay. So you always have outside looking in.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Oh, I.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

A top 10 list for Richard is always a top 17 list. It's always. There's other things.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

They're all. So I have Oli, but then I also have, you know, Oli to the Oli.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Right. So you have people who pick the brackets themselves. Like, these are the first four out and these are the next four.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So I mean, here's here. Here are names that are also really funny and really good, but didn't make the Oli. It didn't make the top five. Also, these are things that are specific that I find to be hilarious. So there is some subjectivity here. But. So Bodie McBoatface. That one made me smile.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Boat Face is one of our best call outs ever.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

John C. Bennett. I don't know why that one made me laugh.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

John C. Bennett's picks would all be secretive and sinful.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah. Yeah. It's NCAA Wifery.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So the. I thought Yours was funny. There was no Dirk Moss. I thought that was good. Apostle apostate. Apothecary. Again, These didn't make it. Willard Richard Arsenal. Guadalupe Hidalgo. Hard in the paint. I mean, these are just some that are on the Oli of the Oli. Now. Now, getting into the Oli. If I had a drum roll, we would have it here. Chapstick under the seat. That one made me laugh.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

That's a direct shot at you. It is.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Why doesn't he just let go of the chapstick?

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

For those of you who don't know that story from one of our previous podcasts, we talked about how on our tour. Was it last year? The year before? Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

No, it was last year. I still have the marks on my wrist.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. Richard dropped a chapsee. A Chap seat. Chapstick.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, so when you're driving a long time, you'll get a Chap seat and.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You will get a Chaps.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I never said where I was applying the chapstick.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

The chapstick fell under his seat, and in an effort to reach under the seat while he was driving, he wedged his hand in the metal bracket under the seat and like a monkey trap.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It was a monkey trap. Yeah.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

He couldn't get it out. And I mean, we were on the phone of the Braff Hour, and. And we had a. We had a very Brooklyn bus driver. I mean, I'm pretty sure that, like, the only reason he wasn't cast in my cousin Vinnie is because they hadn't met him. But, I mean, he. He was very New York. And. And he's like. And he kept calling Richard Rich.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, that's the go to.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

He never. I. We. We never once referred to Richard as Rich. We said Richard every time. But he's like. He's. He's like, hey, what's going on with Rich back there? His hands stuck under the seat. You know what it is? I see this so many times. He's. He's. He's got his. He's grabbed a hold of the chapstick and he won't let go. You just got to tell him to let go of the chapstick. And I'm like, actually, he's. He. He. Bob, he. He just. He can't. He isn't holding the chapstick. His head is stuck. He's like, no, you check with him, because I guarantee he's still holding on to that chapstick. Like, was. Hands been stuck for an hour. He's like. He's still holding on. You got to tell him to let go of the chapstick to pull it out.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, so Becky was asleep and I was trying to get myself unstuck. I never actually even touched the chapstick. I got it down, got it wedged. Those Kias, they make them pretty tight.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So you know, we were running, you know, you're in the bus and. And then we're running ahead having snacks and treats and other things at the stop and yeah, it was. Becky had to get the, get the Jaws of life. Yeah. Anyway, so that one, that one made me laugh. So that's outside looking in seafoam green. Jersey thought that was pretty funny. We love a good frock. And then last for the Oli is one acre in Quebec.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

That's very good.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That's pretty funny. Okay, so top five, number five, sponsored by Jersey Mike's. I thought that was a good name. Number four, Ask Jeeves.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Made it on there.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That one made me smile. I thought that was funny. Somebody sent us a, Somebody sent us a, an image of yoohoo as you know, great search engine. That's where I go for all of my answers as to Yoohoos, chocolatey fake.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Milk drink search engine and surprisingly is not able to find anything.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, you're gonna find lots of nutrition facts, by the way. There isn't much, but you're gonna find lots of nutrition facts. All right, number three, build the adulterer picks.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah, that's pretty good.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That's good. Hinkley, April 2005.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

That's amazing.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That's funny. Again, there is no money changing hands here. And then the number one, twin relics of barbarism.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah, see, that's mine too. Twin rogues of barbarism. That comes from our, our good friend Mark who, who threw that one up. Very good, Mark. That's, that's pretty good. Although one of our recent ones is Long Time Littner, first Time gambler. Now we're not gambling, there's no money on this, but Long Time Littner, first time gambler.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Oh, that's very, very funny.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Well, we've got, we've got some other great ones up there.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I mean, yeah, so, so there's going to be a link here in the, in the description of the, of the bonus episode. We're going to be dropping this Monday night and so you can, you can go on click and join. You can get, you can get the picks in until, you know, relatively you've got, you know, you've got two days.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

To drop this tonight if it processes and you'll have, you'll have roughly two days to get it in because on Thursday morning, things are rolling.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

They are. Now we do have Phoebe Draper Palmer Brown mailbag. And we kind of went through and picked a bunch of emails here. I emailed it over to Garrett because we're going to kind of go back and back and forth on some of the emails. And when I sent it over to him, I sent it in the font that I read it in.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Have you ever, you know the scene on Christmas vacation when they turn the house lights on and their neighbors are blinded by it and they go flopping down the stairs and they can't walk because they can't see?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yes.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

That's what it was like opening this email. The font is large. Came flying out at me in a way that I'm probably legally blind now.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It's the largest font size. The next font size up, I think is braille. I mean, it is.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It. There is no way that braille is this big because it would take a year for a blind person to read anything if it was this big.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, no, we, we had a, a kind either optometrist or ophthalmologist email in a year or two ago.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It could have just been a random.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Guy claiming, well, he said he was from Nampa, so I believe him and everything he says. So anyway, he was talking about, you know, how I just have old eyes. And while we thought that that was the case, the absolute decline of my vision has been astonishing.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Now, a lot of people, including yourself, mocked your ability to read in their names of their teams that they put up for the bracket madness.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Oh, so.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

And so I feel like, you know, you're really leaning on it's your eyes, but there are other people leaning on the fact that. So maybe eyesight is my reason why.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

My team name was Hooked on Phonics was my team name.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

And then you made a joke in one of the last episodes we did We're Hooked on Phonics. More like Dabbles in Phonics. And I changed it to Dabbles in Phonics because I think that's funnier.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So it was funny. Very, very mean and cutting, but funny.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It was mean. It was, it was.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It was never, never cut. Funny. If it's funny, leave it in. So. So this first email comes to us from Elder Greenleaf. Sister Greenleaf and I decided to serve a part time service mission just for your premium subscription. Make it worth our while. We're here in the west branch of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mission, better known as Utah Salt Lake City. Headquarters mission. It's funny. So church headquarters is getting second billing below.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Before, people would brag about that, like, you know what? I'm going to be serving in the church headquarters. Now they're like, if only I was in Pennsylvania or Tucson. Those are the two places where I would get the most. Pub.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah. Not where my kids were. Bar.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Or Lima East. My kids aren't sharing it. They're like, my dad's embarrassing, but.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Well, I mean, Riker's embarrassed by me as well.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, sure, but. Yeah, but your mission president. So this next one, Garrett, this comes to us from, from Steven. My daughter is serving in the Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh or the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania South. So again, it's not my reading. The, the font.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

And so the font though is so big it can't possibly be the font at this part. It's just.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yes. My daughter is serving in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania South Mission, AKA Baton Rouge, Louisiana mission Spanish speaking. And would love to get the podcast. Thanks for all you do for our missionaries. Your insights are amazing, Stephen. Thank you very much. And this next one, I am Sister Huffmeyer from the Washington Seattle Mission. My friend Morgan recommended your podcast to me.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

And so they have that in Chinese after that, I think, is that what it must be, a Chinese speaking mission or they just really wanted to impress us? I'm not sure.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yes, I think, I think that Morgan is the one that emailed in and some of it was in Chinese and then I responded to it also in Chinese because my Mandarins, it's. It's fine, you know?

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. I mean, what's funny is that, you know, you have him read Mandarin Chinese and he doesn't make one mistake. Not English, single mistake, English, 77 point font. Yeah, he's got that. He's got problems there.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

But Chinese, first of all, Idaho school system. Second of all, Garrett and I went to the same. Same. Went through the same school system, so I don't know.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Well, and you, you were from the, the hoity toity side of Idaho where they actually spent money on students in Canyon County. Yeah, well, compared. Compared to Shelley, Idaho. Yeah, it's true, it's true.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I saw my first parking meter when I was 15, Garrett. So I don't know.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah, I mean, I, I think I saw one earlier than that because I traveled. Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

When it was 15 to Boise and I'm like, they got parking meters. I've heard tell of these things. Anyway, we have an email here from Mike. The subject is your episode, brow beating. ChatGPT. I enjoyed this episode where you Brow beat Char GPT until it admitted it was wrong and gave you more correct answer. Did it truly learn its lesson, though? If you go back and ask the same question as if you asked first each time before, will it give you more nuanced answer or go back to its Protestant roots?

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It's going to go back to its Protestant roots for sure. Like.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Like a dog to its vomit.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. I mean, so the learning. I mean, as, as powerful as my argument was, my guess is that they don't have the entirety of the Chat GPT algorithm revolving around my conversations with it. I'm gonna just guess you have the.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Free version though, right?

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So the free. The free version does kind of load everything up. Sure. That's one of the things in Silicon Valley that they say, is that if the product is free, you're the product, essentially.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Right.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So they're taking that information. I'm sure it's bubbling up and getting to the, the top of the highest echelons of, you know, I, I actually.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Just used Chat, you know, Chad GBT again today just because someone had said, hey, do you know where someone says this? And I'm like, no, let's see whether or not we can pull that up. And, you know, where did Joseph Smith say this? And so I looked it up, threw it into Chat GBT just to see what it would say. It gave me back very authoritatively a totally wrong answer. It was like, oh, yes. Joseph Smith taught that in his March 1839 letter that he wrote to the church. Well, the March 1839 letter, I know really well because that's the letter that Joseph writes from Liberty Jail that eventually portions of it become parts of doctrine covenant section 121 and 122. So the moment it put that up, I was like, it is not in that letter. And it was like, it was like, you're right, I'm sorry for that. It isn't in that letter. And then it put up a different letter that it's also not in. And so I was like, what is going on here? The weird part about it is, is that ChatGPT seems to be willing to just give you any answer. Like, Like a parent who just wants you to stop asking. Yeah, it tells you something, even if it's 100% false. And in that case, both of these letters it gave me were wrong. And I was like, that's neither one of them. But now I've got a letter here that I'm going to read that I'm begging this missionary to forgive Me before I read it. Richard and I are both. We are both blessed with quite European sounding names that while they are great for our heritage, they're great to demonstrate the acreage that you purchased in Quebec.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah. I don't know how great it is for the heritage. I don't know.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah, but it. They are never spelled correctly, and they're never. They're never pronounced correctly either. And in fact, Becky has a running gag that she sends to all of us together. Richard's wife, every time she receives a message about her daughter or Richard and Becky's daughter at the school. It's as if the woman who's putting in that message is deliberately misspelling the name in as fantastical a way as possible.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It's incredible.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I mean, stunning, in fact. Like, I can't even remember all of them, but. But it is like, you know, do luch. You know, Ledecky. I mean, just. It's just like, what. What is going on?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

She's a great swimmer, by the way.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Well, is your daughter a great swimmer? She better be if she keeps the date.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, no, it's. It's pretty. It's pretty bad. It's not even close. And. And so. Yeah, so we're. We're sensitive to that. Right?

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yes. So I'm about to pronounce. Pronounce this name incorrectly. I'm trying, though, and I apologize. Hey, brother Dirkmot. I'm elder FA'A Otoa. FA'A Otoa. Which is totally wrong, but.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

And I'm sure you killed it the second time. I feel like you got it. Yes. And with the deep love and respect for our Polynesian brothers and sisters.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I mean, look, the worst part is my uncle was some Samoan. He's passed away, but so, like, I should do a better job, and I legit can't. It's, you know, so that. That's a problem. I'm serving in the Kennewick Washington Mission. You know, that's where my. My brother Nathan lives up in the Tri Cities area. So maybe you'll run into him. Although he's an active member, so I guess maybe not. I mean, I'm not. I'm not gonna, you know, say that you're just hanging out at members houses all day. Elders. Fa. Otoa. But maybe you are.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Third time. Even better. You just blew right past that. That was awesome.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

My mom let me know about the podcast you put on. My mission president said it's okay for me to listen to your podcast. Could you send me the drive? And so we are. I I think that it's one of the best parts of what we've. What we do here. I mean, if you're thinking like, is there a good part? No. I mean, we are so grateful for the young men and women who choose to sacrifice a portion of their lives to go on a mission, especially in a world right now where everyone and everything is telling them that literally nothing matters except how happy you are, how successful you are, how, and how much money you make. The crush of messages that our youth are getting is just overwhelming. And yet you have these tens of thousands of faithful young men and women who say, yep, I know that everything around me is telling me not to go, but I'm going to go. And so, like, the. One of the best parts of the podcast is that we've been able to provide it to these missionaries by use of the Google Drive, which very rapidly reached its capacity of missionaries.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

We now have four different Google Drives that we're sharing with the missionaries because we've loaded them up.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

We have thousands of missionaries that are listening as a part of that. And to all of you, thank you so much. You are absolutely doing the work of the Lord and trying to take the gospel to people, serving in a service mission, helping people who are learning English, things like that. We have missionaries at every kind of walk of life, and I'm just grateful for the people that are willing to sacrifice. It means a lot to me. Speaking of which, the. We have another missionary who wrote to us that I thought it might be nice to read here.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Sarah's.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah, well, no, I'm going to read to. I'm going to. I'm going to drop down to Larry's here. While I'm on the topic of missionaries, this is someone that we're hoping to just try to get in good with, basically. You know, that's why we're reading it. Elder and Sister Jones, my companion, Elder Jones and myself are senior missionaries serving in the New York and Pennsylvania historic sites. First of all, thank you for clarifying that Boise is pronounced boy and capital C. Boy C. Don't say Boise. There's no Z in it. It's not a zebra. Boy C. Boise. Like, like think of the, the. The. The. The fruit drink high C and just. It's Boise. Right?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Right.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. Whenever you hear someone say boy Z with a Z, what do you think, Richard?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I think if hi C was made from soylent grain.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. You say you, you what you want to. You have all kinds of negative thoughts about them.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, it's people, Garrett.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It's Soylent greens made out of people. We're currently serving in the Susquehanna Harmony, Pennsylvania at the Priesthood Restoration site as site Missionaries. Does that qualify for the exceptionally premium, wildly fabulous, supremely remarkable, vastly entertaining, altogether amazing, extra special content? Well, first of all, that's what we're going to rename the premium to. Let's just rename it to the Exceptionally premium, wildly fabulous, supremely remarkable, vastly entertaining, altogether amazing, extra special content. And then someone will click on that and they'll get to our discussion of, you know, townships in early America in our history one and they will quickly quickly realized that Sister Jones is now part of the lie.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

There's certain truth in advertising laws that exist. I don't know that this podcast is is monitored by the SEC or the fda, but I feel like we'd be running afoul of all of them if.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

We I mean it might be monitored by the SEC right now just because it's the, it's the Southeastern Conference because they have so many teams into the dance and so they might be monitoring what our picks are.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It's possible.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I'm sure we have. We carry that kind of weight. Our question is heaviness for sure. Our question is, have you planned a tour out here yet? Because we want to be your tour guides. Thanks for filling our day with laughter and fun. And oh, the next time you talk to John and Hank, tell them thanks for introducing you guys to us. That's super nice. In fact, Elder and Sister Jones, we are going to Harmony on our tour this August and we are scheduled to be there August 4th at 9am so I don't know if you'll still be at the site then, but I sure hope you are because it would be great to have a fellow Litner guiding us through and I'm sure that we'd appreciate getting to meet you as well. So sorry, I kind of went out of order. Richard, does that make it impossible for you now to figure out where we're at? No.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

No. So we got an email from Sarah that similarly talked about Boise.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Another Idahoan, or just someone who loves to have towns pronounced correctly.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

From the context, I'm assuming that she's an Idahoan, but it's possible that she just really is a big fan of proper pronunciation of words, which is why she loves listening to me read emails, I assume. But she was also very she did have a jab. I haven't tried yoohoo.com yet, but I always on the lookout for new sources that I can that I can't wait to see what it has. Thank you for the content you put out. Very informative and hilarious at the same time. So thank you very much, Sarah.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Oh, it's very nice. And then let's see, we got another one after that. Oh, I think we should mention that Sarah thought that our chat GPT episode was so fun that she was going to make it a family night.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Oh, yeah.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I mean that. Which you know what, what we're looking for is for our bad takedowns of AI generated anti Mormonism to make it mainstream into what people are sharing at family night.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah. We're putting together kind of a. Kind of a. A youth and then also like a primary book there. They'll obviously they'll be felt involved. We're excited to be selling that in Deseret books sometime in 2093 when we'll.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Probably sometime around when we get to season 38. That's the thing is that it'll be polygamy.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Primary and polygamy. It'll be.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It'll be perfect. The two major untapped parts of where we're at. So this one comes to us from Jaron. Dear doctors, I think of the scene from Spies Like Us when I think of you two greeting each other. Doctor, doctor, doctor. We actually opened one of our episodes right after you got your PhD with that, right?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

We did. We did. It was one of my favorite opens. It was very funny.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I appreciate all the efforts, awesome laughs and great information. I'm not the clever one or really the funniest one. So this is definitely not an email that will make it the cut to read of the podcast. You know what? Looks like. Looks like you're wrong about a lot of things, Jerry.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, in fairness. Yeah, fairness though, this is a bonus, so it's not getting.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You know what though? If someone wants it read on the air and they're not willing to listen to our bonus episodes, they deserve to not hear them.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That's true. We get a decent traction on the bonuses. They're a little more playful and fun loving. Not necessarily for Rex's elders Quorum president to lead with when he's sharing the podcast.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yes. I expect no responses. I understand that your fame is reaching far the far edges of the world and beyond. Yeah. Yeah. It's nothing like having a Latter day Saint F grade celebrity. It's valueless. You can get nothing out of it. You are asked to give firesides.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Garrett has had to stop going into chuckaramas on Saturday evenings because his fame goes far too high.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

The choice is yours. I'm walking around The Walmart just last week. And I was actually on the phone, and all of a sudden someone, you know, goes, hey, hey. And like, oh, someone shoplifting. Like, so I thought, you know, that was. And like, are you. Are you Garrett? And I was like, now, when someone does that in normal life, you, like, start looking through your mind like, was I in a ward with this guy at some point? You know, like, is this my. Is this one of my brothers in law that I haven't seen? You know, like, you're. You start racing in your mind trying to figure out who this person is. And he was just someone who, like, I guess recognized me. I don't know how. We don't really do it. Video. And. And he's just someone who loved the podcast. It was super nice to. To meet him. And that happens occasionally. But the reality is, you know, it's. It's f. F grade celebrity that is. Is essentially worthless. But anyway, we did read it on the. On there, but my son is serving in. How do you say this, Richard? The Paiura Peru mission. I don't know how you say it.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, I just.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You're the one who's Peru centric.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah. Lima. That. It helped me out. Yeah, I think. I think you're right. That sounds about right.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

And I would love access to the podcast. Oh, and would love add access to the podcast there. I literally try to record snippets and then send them to him. So. So Jerem's pirating our content.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That's very funny.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

He's recording. He's recording parts of it and then just sending it to him. You know, these can't be reproduced without the express written consent of the National Football League and ourselves. I mean, those are the. The two. Anyway, he said he loves them so much that he often goes back and listens to them again and again. He must be that bored. Like, it's been said when there's nothing else to do.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It's okay.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

It's okay. I appreciate all you do. And who knows? This email may make the cut for the podcast as I avoided a lot of big words and hard to read phrases.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That is a shot. And I still had Garrett read it.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, that's. That is a direct shot to my intelligence. You really went after my intelligence there.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. Our conversation about Manaway. Yes, because he's from there. But he also made a reference to the fact that he knows it's a speed trap. So, you know.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, they're running a real scam there.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Literally anyone who went to school at Utah State is well aware that about, I don't know, 137% of the manaway City budget comes from tickets that are written.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It comes from. Yeah. It comes from Utah State students that are driving either to or from campus.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yes.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

To visit their parents.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah. Who. And, you know, aren't exactly cash flush, but, you know, there they are. Well, is that all of our emails there, Richard?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That is. That is all of the emails fit to print.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

We actually have dozens and dozens more. We'll cover more on our other podcast, but we just thought we'd get on. Wait, before we go, we need to. What's your, what's your pick for the tournament?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yes, I, I obviously didn't get any work done today, and I.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You were spending time with your son.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I was. I did spend some time with my son. I obviously also skipped church yesterday, even though we have, we have 10:30 church. And, and the, and the brackets weren't until much, much later when they were put together, but I was preparing and.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

You know, analyzing, doing a lot of stuff. I see. So first of all, let me just ask you what. Give me a, give me a first round upset that you feel really good about. And please don't, please don't say that it's VCU over BYU.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

BCU's tough man. I know, but that was a bad. That sucked, actually.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

That was a terrible draw.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

That is not great. I mean, that's, that's not ideal. So I have, I have a, I have a couple, I have a couple picks. So look there in. I don't want to lay out my strategy here. I've come in 9th or 36th many times, and so you should listen to all of the feedback that I have here. But essentially, the thing is that everyone focuses on the first round, and the first round isn't nearly as important as each following round. Right. And so if you get to a final four and you've got two or three of the final, like, you just, you won, like, it's all over. Right.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

So, people, that's where you took Lipscomb is to the Final Four, obviously.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So that's the thing is people over, overthink, you know, that first round. But the reality is you've really got it. If you can Nail the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8, you're going to finish in the top five. You're going to do really well. You're at least not going to embarrass yourself. Right. So I do have a couple. I will. Let me pull this up here. If you could filibuster I'll pull up my.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I'll tell you one of my upsets that I'm looking at. I'm looking at the distinct possibility of Baylor over Mississippi State. Baylor at the nine seed over Mississippi. State. Of the.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Wow. You're really going out on a limb.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I feel like that is. Yeah, I'm digging deep on that. And, you know, I. I don't know if that's gonna actually happen.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

You've heard it here. I also have Baylor, by the way.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Oh, so you were looking at my bracket. I see.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I have. I have. I have two notable upsets.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Okay.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I have. Minus the nines and eights that you're talking about.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I have. I have Liberty over Oregon.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Okay. Okay.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Okay. That's a classic 512 matchup. And then I also have Drake over Missouri.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

So I was thinking about Drake over Missouri, but then I've been looking at some of the analytics and it looks pretty good.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It's my hatred for people that lived there 150 years ago.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

So you're picking against Missouri because 175 years ago because of the extermination order.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, I mean, I've got some. I've got some hard feelings. The people in Missouri now. Lovely. We'll be there in June. Can't wait. We're bringing our whole family, by the way.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Basically like a Leduc family reunion.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

We haven't been together in three years. And is.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Is. Is Rigdon going?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Rigdon is going now. Rigdon. I have a. I have a trip to Europe that I planned in, thinking that he was going to be coming home at a different time. His flight's supposed to get in around 12:30 on June 11th. And Becky and I are flying to Europe at essentially like 3:30 on June 11th.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I would like to remind our listeners who've been with us for a long time that Richard and Becky were not present when Rigdon was dropped off at the mtc. We were on a trip. Where were you?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I think we were in Alaska. Garrett, we. With you.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Actually, it wasn't my friends. Yeah, we.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Garrett and Brady.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

And legitimately, Brian and Becky and Richard were not there. Now, in fairness, they had planned their cruise. I mean, you have to book this, Mike. Months and months and months out, Rachel. And so when his MTC report date was going to be, nobody knew. But it just so happened to fall in the dead center of when we were on the ship.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, that's right.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

And, well, you know, so when we found out, Angie and I were like, oh, no. Becky and Rich are gonna have to not go on the cruise. But sure enough, there they were on the cruise.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I mean, we prepaid. I mean, I don't want to, I don't, I don't, you know, I don't know what kind of people are making.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I bring that up because what you're about to say I think involves him coming home.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Well, so yeah, here's the thing. We thought he was going to come home on a different date and he is not coming home at that date. He's coming home at the same time. He currently has bedbugs or something. He's got. He's covered.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Okay, I don't want to.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

He's covered in sores. So look, he has had an incredible mission and he loves the people of Peru and he's been teaching and baptizing and it's just been an incredible experience and he's grown into an incredible priesthood holder and man. And I couldn't possibly be more proud. And also I pre purchased these tickets and so I will see him in Kansas City as we fly from Egypt to Kansas City and he flies from Salt Lake to Kansas City and we'll see him there.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

So.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

So later.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Wait a minute. So is he going to be released as a missionary before we're gonna have his.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

We're have his 17 year old brother drive him up to the stake President's office and have him released because we don't have time. So he's gonna be on our plane.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

He's gonna be greeted at the airport by his 17 year old brother. That's who's gonna be greeting well by.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

His friends and other family members and there's a potential that we'll also be there if his flight's not delayed or our flight is delayed, then we'll be able to see him. All he has requested is a Jersey Mike sandwich. This this episode not sponsored by Jersey Mike's but he. That's all he wants. He's been starving for two years and that's all he wants. A number seven Mike's way, which is delicious, obviously. So we're gonna pick him up, take him into Salt Lake, get him a sandwich and then he'll be saying goodbye to us as we go through the security and he goes and he has two weeks at home and then we'll meet him in Kansas City at the tour. Our whole family will be there for the first time together in three years. It's very exciting.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

That sounds great. I'm sure he'll love some Kansas City barbecue.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, we'll go to Oklahoma Joe's which is just fantastic. Have you had, have you had that, by the way, this episode not sponsored by Oklahoma Joe's.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

But no, frankly, all of our episodes are not sponsored by anyone.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

It's in a Chevron gas station. But it's the best barbecue you'll. You'll ever have.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Yeah.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Anyway, so I, I have. Yeah. So Drake, Drake and Liberty are kind of my big upsets. I have BYU beating vcu, but Wisconsin, I, I have, you know, your, your former.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Frankly, I think Wisconsin's the best three seed matchup that BYU could have gotten outside of Iowa State because we know that BYU can be Iowa State.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Yeah, it's true. I think that they've got a shot, but I think, I think Wisconsin pulls it out and then, and then going to the, to the end, I, you know, by the end I whittle it down and I don't take as many risks and I'm relatively chalk, so nothing too exciting for me. I do think, I think, I think Houston and Florida are two of the best teams. I think they look, I think they.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Look really so hard to know. What kind of a flag do we get back for Duke?

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

What kind of flag we get back.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

For Duke because he got injured.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

Oh, yeah.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

I mean, they're awesome. Superstar. I mean, so like he's supposed to be back. They are saying he's going to be available for the tournament, but he didn't look terribly available as they carted him off the floor in the ACC championships. Not. Well, tournament, not championship. So, I mean, he was, he was, he looked like he, that ankle was pretty messed up. But I, you know, things like quarters don't exist.

[Dr. Richard Leduc]

I think Duke has really the easiest of the brackets, by the way. The easiest of the, the east, whatever is, is, I think the weakest. So I think Duke, I think, I think Stuke still makes it through.

[Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat]

Okay. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us for this bonus episode. I know that you're thinking, well, wait a minute, wasn't there anything of substance here? No, it's just like every other episode, only we hope to see more people on the bracket picks if you can. But seriously, just thank you to everybody who listens. Thank you for all the kind emails. We're so sorry that we can't read all of them on the air and that we can't respond to all of them. But we're sure are grateful for the people who have supported us and grateful for those missionaries who are out serving the Lord. Thank you so much for joining us and best of luck with all of your brackets. Thank you for listening to the Standard of Truth podcast, hosted by historian Dr. Garrett Dirkmot and Dr. Richard Leduc. If you know of anybody that could benefit from the material in this episode, please share it with them. Until next time.