McKay Coppins began covering Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential race and because the two shared a common faith as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, other reporters often looked to McKay, a very young journalist at the time, as a source on Romney’s religion. Over a decade later, Coppins’ new biography profiles the Latter-day Saints’ life and career in the public sphere. In anticipation of the book’s release, we talk with Coppins on today’s episode about the faith that is deeply embedded into both he and Romney’s lives. 

Show Notes 

2:08- Varied Latter-day Saint Characters
5:04- “I’m Actually a Member of This Church”
7:27- Folding Into Faith
11:27- The Latter-day Saint on the Campaign Trail
16:22- Sharing Faith in a Secular Biography
22:24- Refusal to Denounce Faith
28:50- A Young Missionary in France
35:24- More To Your Life Than Making Money
40:38- The Worth of Integrity
45:21- By Their Fruits
49:10- Legacy
53:03- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ? 

“I realized in that moment that I could do both. I didn’t have to pretend like I wasn’t a Latter-day Saint to be a good reporter and I didn’t have to be a bad reporter to be a good Latter-day Saint. I could do all of it and I wasn’t going to set aside my faith.” —McKay Coppins 

Links & References: 

Romney: A Reckoning biography 

Romney on CBS News