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The Dialogue Board has today unveiled some new things. A new website. A new journal. And a new philosophy of how to be the cultural and intellectual center of the Mormon world. And the essence of this philosophy is “free.” Free as in speech. Free as in (root) beer. And free as in Dialogue.

In 1966, Dialogue was something brand new and absolutely unique: an independent voice that covered the entire intellectual and creative spectrum of Mormonism–Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintianism, of course, but also the larger Mormon world–its history, literature, poetry, spirituality, and, occasionally, its rough spots. For 52 years, Dialogue has been there for pretty much everything.

And the world–Mormon and otherwise–kept changing. Independent voices multiplied. Blogs happened. Facebook happened. Twitter did whatever it is that Twitter does. And information started wanting to be free. And so it is.

The new Dialogue web site will archive all previous issues of the journal for free. It will host the most recent, up-to-the-date issue for free. It will include extra content, extensions of current articles, podcasts, follow-ups, and interviews for free. You get a free Dialogue. And you, and you, and everybody gets free Dialogue.

This means that you can now access the new Fall 2018 issue, which contains essays and reflections on racial issues in Mormonism 40 years after the lifting of the Priesthood Ban, including a reflective essay by Lester Bush, “Looking Back, Looking Forward: ‘Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine’ Forty-Five Years Later.”

It means that you can access additional, website only content related to this issue, including an interview with Quincy D. Newell, author of the forthcoming biography of the African-American Mormon pioneer Jane Manning James; discussions of the recent discovery of a document proving Elijah Abel’s ordination to the priesthood; and a new essay by one of the issues star contributors, Melodie Jackson.

It also means that you will have free access to upcoming special issues on Women and the Temple and the Book of Mormon. And it means that you will be able to read and enjoy all of the articles, poems, stories, essays, reviews, and sermons that Dialogue publishes on the day that they are published.

And it means that you will be invited (but never required) to become a Dialogue Sustainer as part of a new support model tailored to the realities of the Information Age. Sustainers at $10 a month or more will continue to receive the print journal, which is not going away.

Come for the Mormon. Stay for the Free. Be part of the Dialogue forever.