Flightless Bird

This week on Flightless Bird, David looks at Dr James Dobson and Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs based fundamentalist Christian group formed in the 70s. Using his status as a child psychologist, Dobson wrote over 30 parenting books, creating a media empire that changed how many parents raised their kids. With a very strong focus on discipline and breaking the will of the child, Dobson’s ideas travelled far and wide, ending up in places like New Zealand. With hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, Dobson turned his focus to lobbying, extremely angry that females and gay people were getting a voice in society. David talks to people raised by adherents of Focus on the Family, before talking to DL Mayfield of the “Strongwilled” podcast about Dobson’s problematic roots and ideas. He then tracks the influence of Focus on the Family in New Zealand, talking to Michael Frost and Shane Meyer-Holt of the “In The Shift” podcast.

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