Where Do We Go From Here? Devi's Back for the Dr James Dobson Autopsy
In this special one-off reunion episode, Jessica is joined by former co-host Devi Abraham to do a kind of “Dobson autopsy.” When Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, passed away last month, his legacy sparked heated debate. Was he the warm fatherly voice who helped parents raise families—or the architect of purity culture and harmful teachings?
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📻 Dobson’s global reach — Focus on the Family aired in 164 countries, translated into more than a dozen languages, and reached *200+ million daily listeners (Britannica, Radio Hall of Fame).
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🧬 Eugenics roots — the surprising connection between Dobson’s mentor Paul Popenoe, a eugenicist, and the framing of Dare to Discipline (Baptist News Global).
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⏱ The 72-Hour Rule — teaching couples not to go more than three days without sex, widely critiqued as unscientific and harmful (Bare Marriage).
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🏫 Purity culture & adolescence — how Preparing for Adolescence shaped generations and linked teenage sexuality to loss of faith (Dobson Family Institute blog).
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✋ Masturbation — Dobson’s contradictory teaching that it was “not much of an issue with God,” leaving many adolescents confused (Evidence Unseen).
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🪓 Corporal punishment — “Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked…” (Dare to Discipline, 1970), making spanking mainstream in Christian homes.
👉 Listen in as Jessica and Devi unpack the paradox of Dobson’s life: the man who created a global empire of evangelical family teaching, and the movement that shaped—and scarred—millions.
🔗 Sources & Further Reading