
Welcome to our new series on estrangement! This episode we discuss what Focus on the Family and the James Dobson Institute are saying about estranged adult children. This episode focus on the reasons given for estrangement, as well as what we think is actually driving estrangement. You can read more about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or at ghost to support this podcast and listen to our series about the developmental impacts of growing up in a high control religion, as well as join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here and DL on instagram here.
Jun 22
1 hr 14 min

Krispin talked with Jenai Auman about learning to spot power and abuse dynamics in any group or organization. She is author of Othered, and writes regularly on her substack. She also serves on the board of The Reclamation Collective. You can also follow her on instagram.They talked talked about the Spiritual Power Inventory which you can find on The Reclamation Collective website. They also discussed whether progressive spaces are more or less susceptible to abusive dynamics, and rhetoric used to dismiss progressive movements. You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or at ghost to support this podcast and join our discord community and hear about why JD Vance is giving DL hope.You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here and DL on instagram here.
May 4
59 min

Trigger warnings: religious trauma regarding purity culture throughout, allusions to pedophilia around 15:00, mention of sexual abuse around 49:00.We were so grateful to have a conversation with Erica Smith, sex educator and author of the incredibly helpful new bookThe Purity Culture Recovery Guide: The Shame-Free Sex Education You Deserve. You can also follow Erica on instagram.Krispin talked with Erica about dating after purity culture, feeling like an imposter in queer spaces when you come out late in life, lifelong impacts of being disconnected from your own sense of desire — as well as the top five things Erica found surprising (and disturbing) about purity culture as an outsider who learned about it as an adult.You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilled.substack.com or strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.
Feb 23
52 min

Krispin and DL discuss the movie Spotlight, about the team of journalists who broke the story about abusive Catholic priests in Boston, and eventually, around the world. The powerful movie is about how systems protect abusers. We originally recorded and released the episode last summer for our paid subscribers, but felt that it was relevant to current times, following another Epstein Files dump, and as a society, we’re discussing how abusers operate — and how those around them enable. If you enjoyed this episode, you can join our patreon community or become a paid subscriber on substack to get these extra episodes. We just released one yesterday titled Dobson in the Epstein Files, Boundaries with Parents & Evaluating the Doctrine of Forgiveness.You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilled.substack.com or strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILLED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.
Feb 9
53 min

TW: childhood sexual abuse, CSAMThis episode, DL gives an overview of their research on Dobson's knowledge and failure to use that knowledge to protect kids, and instead promoted ideas within purity culture that parallel and affirm childhood sexual abusers. It's a long one, and it's tough content, but we feel it's incredibly important. You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilled.substack.com or strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.
Jan 12
1 hr 4 min

Here's another Hopecore episode! DL talks about why the latest Knives Out Mystery gives them hope. We discussed the way it approaches different types of Christianity, as well as asking whether Christianity itself is helpful, as well as what happens to true believers when they become calcified in institutions. We appreciate your continued support and engagement. As always, this is a survivor-led and survivor-supported publication. If you appreciate our work (and our ad-free podcast!) please consider supporting us financially or sharing about the podcast on your social media channels.You can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community.
Dec 18, 2025
1 hr

TW: eugenics, racism, forced sterilization, gendered violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse materials, and homophobia/conversion therapy.This episode, DL talks about Dobson's political career (including helping Putin come to power in Russia), and how Dobson's purity culture is pedophile culture. You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilled.substack.com or strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.
Oct 13, 2025
1 hr 4 min

TW: eugenics, racism, forced sterilization, gendered violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse materials, and homophobia/conversion therapy.This episode, DL gives an overview of the beginning of Dobson’s career prior to founding Focus on the Family, including his eugensistic beginnings, his role on the Meese Commission and the ways he ushered in the religious authoritarianism we’re living under right now.You can read about religious authoritarian parenting and also find the transcript for this podcast at strongwilled.substack.com or strongwilledproject.comYou can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.
Oct 6, 2025
53 min

This is our second Hopecore episode! It's a special series where we take a break from talking explicitly about religious authoritarianism, and talk about something we like. DL talks about why Derry Girls gives them hope during such difficult times. We discussed why it feels like an important story, our favorite characters and why Krispin is a Derry girl. This fall, we’ll be releasing a substack series of writing and podcasts focused on Dobson and his impact on children in religious communities — so we also wanted to make room to talk about things that are life giving and more fun to focus on. Looking ahead, most of this content will for our patreon/subscriber community, but we wanted to share it with the broader community today. You can listen to the audio on the main podcast feed — just search STRONGWILLED wherever you find your podcasts. We appreciate your continued support and engagement. We know that much of our content take enormous emotional energy to process — we feel the same. So we’re very glad to switch it up this week and have a little fun!As always, this is a survivor-led and survivor-supported publication. If you appreciate our work (and our ad-free podcast!) please consider supporting us financially or sharing about the podcast on your social media channels.You can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community.
Sep 15, 2025
48 min

We’re trying something new this week! Instead of talking about religion authoritarianism, we took some time for DL to talk about something they love and that is giving them some hope: The 2025 Superman movie that released this summer.This fall, we’ll be releasing a substack series of writing and podcasts focused on Dobson and his impact on children in religious communities — so we also wanted to make room to talk about things that are life giving and more fun to focus on. Looking ahead, most of this content will for our patreon/subscriber community, but we wanted to share it with the broader community today. You can listen to the audio on the main podcast feed — just search STRONGWILLED wherever you find your podcasts. We appreciate your continued support and engagement. We know that much of our content take enormous emotional energy to process — we feel the same. So we’re very glad to switch it up this week and have a little fun!As always, this is a survivor-led and survivor-supported publication. If you appreciate our work (and our ad-free podcast!) please consider supporting us financially or sharing about the podcast on your social media channels.You can join our patreon community or join our substack to support this podcast and join our discord community. You can follow STRONGWILED on Instagram. You can follow Krispin on Instagram here.
Aug 31, 2025
48 min
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