Digging Up the Duggars

The whole family attends a “lively” (their words, not ours) service at Restoration Church with Trainer Steve and Pastor Howard. The Stache finally reveals the “ginder” of the latest Duggar grandbaby. 

At the Tater Tot Mansion, it’s the final weigh in for Lego Hair and Pest’s long running weight loss challenge.  The brood splits into teams and there’s a whole family relay race before the final weigh in to determine the winner. 

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We all know Lego Hair is the epitome of buffoonery and incompetence, but he is in rare form in this episode. Even Cannon pulled out her rare, high pitched annoyed voice. 

Meanwhile, Pest and Anna visit her family, giving Josh and David the opportunity to engage in more competition and… other things.

We lean into the spooky season and dig into, "A Thief in the Night", the classic Christian horror/rapture film that terrified a young Baby Cannon.

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The producers really ramped up the drama in this one when Pest and Anna confer with Lego and Cannon about a potential move out of state, for a job. Later, the brood goes to collect Joe from his ALERT graduation.

In our Dig, we go through the most exciting competition you could imagine: the National Bible Bee!  How do you get kids/teenagers excited about religion? Rote memorization (and its gamification) of course. 

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Steve is back to torture Pest and Lego.  He has them training outdoors for the first time.  Little Jordyn is having to have her tonsils out, but it means all the popsicles and ice cream she wants.  We end the episode with the Stache being the only one privy to the “ginder” of Pest and Anna’s next blessing. 

In our Dig, Whit explores the Basic Care Bulletin on how to avoid “unnecessary hysterectomies”. It’s the most accurate booklet on women’s health that you can find… put together by a “doctor” and a bunch of...

At the Pest Nest, Josh’s helpmeet shows us how she’s trying to cook healthier while still making something children will eat.  Mackynzie has the secret to being able to enjoy this new menu. Meanwhile, at the Tater Tot Mansion, there’s a whole army of people coming over for dinner. Trainer Steve and his family joined the brood. Steve even brought his Pastor, and his family. 

    In our Dig, we continue the second half of the Andrea Yates story.

General Content Note: This episode covers a heavy true crime and le...

In this week’s Dig, we take a look at the highly publicized case of Andrea Yates, and how it ties in with themes and topics we discuss in this podcast.

General Content Note: This episode covers a heavy true crime and legal case involving severe mental health struggles, tragedy, and violence. Because those facts are central to the whole story, discussions around those topics are interweaved throughout the episode from start to finish.

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Cannon and Lego are off to Puerto Rico!  This isn’t a regular travel episode though; they’re on a marriage retreat.  A chance to get away from all the kids (that their daughters raise) and the house (that their daughters take care of).  It’s a good thing they’re getting a break from it all. 

Cannon says she’s most excited for the chance to reallycommunicate some things that are weighing on her and to really be heard. Lego takes multiple opportunities in this episode to state and reconfirm that he’s just there to bo...

This episode has been rated TMJ, Too Much Joe.  He spends quality time with Cannon followed by way too many people talking about how he’s an accountability partner and makesthe right decisions. Yeesh! Trainer Steve returns to make the mens suffer even more in their weight loss competition.

In the Dig, Whitney explores the short lived IBLP children’s magazine, Bright Arrows. We all know “Highlights” is the pinnacle of child-focused magazines, but this one isn’t even close. It fails to hit the mark. 

If you would...

The show has decided to give us a break from reexplainingthat Lego Hair and Pest are doing a competition to lose weight.  Instead, we watched Jinger and Jessa (in a totally not staged scene) asking their parents if they could do a fundraiser at a coffee shop for an orphanage in Guatemala. It’s a big day for showing off Jinger’s personality. 

In the Dig, we look at the IBLP connection to Russian orphans.  We all know that a grifter is gonna grift, but learn how Billy G took advantage of turm...

Let the workout montage commence! Now, I would usually say that this episode had way too much Pest in it, but most of it is getting roasted by their new personal trainer. It makes it okay.  We watch as the kids plant seeds to do a little plant growing competition.

In a longtime-coming dig, Whit gets into the Power Team! Do you have vague memories of some muscle-bound dudes in windbreakers and tank tops coming to your school and smashing cinder blocks, breaking handcuffs and ripping phone books?  Then you might ha...

Here we are at the underwhelming payoff of last episode’s cliffhanger.   We get to see the meeting with the doctor to go over Lego and Pest’s medical exam results.  Neither one of them eats well, nor exercises, and the results are what you would expect. At the Pest Nest, they get a visit from ole Pecan Waller and the little lady he married, whatever-her-name-is. 

In the Dig, we finally get to Priscilla Waller.  In typical Priscilla fashion, this Dig was planned before but kept getting pushed out of the way by other I...

  So, we are here again, at the recycled plot line of “Lego needs to lose weight”.  This time, we got Pest involved so we can see the mens show off how competitive they are. The whole episode lets us explore our new bingo square: “Who’s a Big Man?”.  They suffer through 1 workout and a fitness test at the doctor.

This week we dig into the biblical way to grow plants- Dan Carlson’s  “Sonic Bloom”.   It’s a fascinating dig that weaves in storylines you can’t foresee: Guinness World Records, the best whistler on the pla...

Starting off the season with a double length episode means this week is a Dig-only podcast. Whit explores a long-time resident on her potential Dig list: "Combating Cult Mind Control" by Steve Hassan.

Steve explores the complex ways that cults control multiple aspects of their members lives to maintain control. It's a fascinating look at the "BITE" model, a framework to evaluate authoritarian or destructive control in groups, cults and relationships. Let's just say that we have definitely seen some of these examples in our recaps of the show.

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Aaaaaaand we’re back! We kick off season 7 with all sorts of new things!  New episode naming convention? Check! New updates on Pest and Joe? Check! New Bingo board? Double Check! Since we start this season with a double length episode, we get a double length recap, as well.  Go figure, theseason gets started with a pregnancy announcement.

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That's a wrap on Season 6. While the middle of the season felt a bit uneventful, we did witness some memorable moments. We saw some of the younger Duggars come into their own in talking heads, watched Lego try and speak Spanish to the Japanese and Chinese people alike, and saw what Michelle could look like with some semi-modern hair.

Enjoy our season Superlatives and our look back at some of our favorite Digs. We also get some discussion in on Bingo Boards going into next season. Thank you to everyone who...

We have reached the last of leg of this season’s travel episodes with them in Beijing, China.  This gigantic mob always seems to have challenges with subways.  Whether it’s tickets, exchange rate, or saying “Gracias” to people in *checks notes*…China; Jim Bob is gonna Jim Bob.  The family ends the trip experiencing some of the more exotic street food that China has to offer. 

In our Dig section, we review details of the court’s ruling on Pest’s 2255 Motion.  Whit also reviews the Duggars’ foray into the video game space with...

We close out the Duggars’ time in Tokyo with the crew being on a morning show and watching the hardest working PA in the business.  As the crew travels to Kyoto, they do some “ginder” segregated activities with “samurai training” and a traditional clothing and makeup photoshoot. 

Inspired by the emails from last week, in our mini dig, Whit explores IBLPs teachings on oral sex.  If bitterness can cause cancer, what can oral lead to? 

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In our second ever "Just Dig" episode, we dig into the sexual content of the jail emails between Josh and Anna. We explore how it escalated over time, spend way too much time talking about dick and sex emoticons, and say "oral" more times in 2 hours than our entire lives combined. If you're the bib clutching type when it comes to talking about sex, consider yourself warned.

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Here we go with the Duggars invading Tokyo, Japan.  If you enjoyed the buffoonery with foreign currency from their last travel episodes, you’ll love this one. Would you care to see another culture’s cuisine make Lego Hair uncomfortable? Just you wait. 

We don’t do a full dig, but Whit touches on some of the content in the now-infamous Pest emails that have come out. 

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It's a Baby Cannon Birthday Extravaganza! The fam (whichmeans the Duggirls) set Michelle off on a birthday scavenger hunt.  We get a whole spread of Duggar craziness.  Cannon firing a gun.  Eating Arkansas quality fried chicken.  Shopping for some questionable fashion choices. One of the last stops features Miss Cindy helping to give her a hair styling that Michelle…uh…will learn to love. It all ends with her surprise birthday party at home where they reveal her gift and the last episodes of the season: a trip to Japan and China. 

We also...

This episode starts with a Bang!  The gang heads to a fireworks stand to prepare for their 4th of July celebration.  Lego Hair reinforces the fact that he’s a very ineffective parent when we see the 3 year old child that he was supposed to be watching roll up with a hand basket full of fireworks.  Be prepared for the most thorough safety briefing you’ve ever heard.  The crew then goes to a fencing (fin-cing) center and get their en-garding and reposting on.  Watchas Cracker Justin continues his role as rival to Lego Hair. 

I...

Why do we start this episode with the fam putting together (seemingly new) furniture?  Because the Duggars have decided to invite a family that has even more kids over for a meal!  Who even knew those existed? Then we watch the whole mob invade Silver Dollar City.  Jim Bob definitely splits his time between trying to be funny and creating moments. 

In our Dig, we explore the IBLP teachings on “contentment”.  Anything in IBLP that is about disregarding your feelings and just shutting up is geared towards the little ladies.  They won’t come...

It is the first Duggar grandson’s first birthday.  We watch Pest (kinda) and Anna (mostly) put together a huge kid’s birthday party.  This party had everything: a different buffoon on a grill, a huge cake disaster, kids flinging themselves down an inflatable slide…

In our Dig, Whitney explores the IBLP teachings on divorce.  This ain’t no booklet, it’s all contained in a 250-page tome.  While they do deviate from some standard Christian stances on the subject, predictably it focuses on telling women to stay in shitty marriages.

It's safe to say that we are thrilled with the number of felines in this episode. Not to mention the lack of Josh compared to last week.  The brood is silly with cats! They found two kittens, named them, and then found three more.  Even the electrician working on one of their houses found a kitten. 

In our Dig, Whit explores the IBLP teachings on Discouragement. This came up due to Joe's released phone calls from jail. He goes on and on about reading the book of Psalms and how it mak...

When you think of Josh, I don't think anyone thinks he would be a good boss. He confirms that in this episode. Lego and Cannon join Ma Keller, Pest, and Anna for a thrilling "bowling match".

In our Dig, Whit explores some problematic patterns and behaviors in the Duggar family. We look back at Grandpa and the situations laid out in Amy's book. It really highlights how abusive behavior and sweeping it under the rug, really does run in the family.

If you would like to...

Pecan Waller and that lady he married stop by the TTM for a visit. Then, a friend of theirs that's a Popeyes franchisee brings over the largest order of Popeyes I've ever heard of. We know this crew loves when other people foot the bill for a meal with the Duggars. He also invites the crew to go turkey hunting.

In our Dig, Whitney takes us through everything we know about the Joe and Kendra situation so far and our initial thoughts and feelings after the news broke.

***We are aware of Joe's arrest for sexual abuse of a minor We weren't able to get into it in this week's episode, but we will discussing it in depth next week.***

We start this episode with a heavy dose of irony, with Lego telling Cannon she better leave the house so she's not late. Even she seems more annoyed than normal at his antics. Cannon is taking some of the kids and Grandma to a charity event called Laundry Love. The Duggirls give a talk at an ATI conference, where...

One of the real Moms in this family is finally getting some time away. We watch as CinderJana takes a 10 day break from the fam to be a leader at the "Journey to the Heart" retreat. Meanwhile, while the family takes a bike ride, Soundman Jim proves that he is the engine that makes this show go.

In our Dig, Whit breaks down the aforementioned, Journey to the Heart program. We take a look at the genesis, the history and dig into "Wrong Heart Conditions."

If...

Lego Hair plans a family excursion to a property that Grandma Duggar owns. He takes them on a hike through some very rough terrain. The footwear that this family chose was...ill-advised at best. At least in the last scene the kids decide to give Grandma a spa day.

In a previous episode recap there was an in-frame shot of Tim Tebow's first book, "Through My Eyes". We dig into the Tebow family, their connection into the IBLP sphere, and how Tim became a poster boy for Christians. It seems "Timmy" was...

There are some big developments this week. Do you crave sopping wet chicken in a lukewarm-at-best "Flour Tortilla Shell"? The Chicken Kassuhdeeyuz recipe has been found! While the family was hosting some dinner guests, Whit and I discover and dig into a previously unknown ingredient in Tater Tot Casserole.

In our Dig, we continue with the second part of James Dobson's book, "The Strong Willed Child: Birth Through Adolescence." We get into the breadth, influence, and effects that this book has had on an entire generation who grew up under a...

We start the episode with the family doing a Mother's Day event. You know that even with Lego on the mic, The Stache was the real draw. Plus,the family gets their picture "made"...slowly but slowly.

In our Dig, we explore James Dobson's book "The Strong-Willed Child: Birth Through Adolescence". Our disgust for this vacuous trash bag and the book he wrote cannot be understated. The entire book is a way for Dobson to get sleep at night and justify villainizing your children and beating them. Alternate titles could have...

Ever wondered how Cannon would fare, having to actually watch multiple little ones and 2 dogs on top of it? Not well. They are pet-sitting 2 puppies and we proceed to watch the kids stuff these poor dogs with lots of cheese, more cheese, and then, cheesy eggs. Poor things.

In a follow up to last week's Dig, we explore the IBLP version of finishing school, EXCEL. They have to train all these little ladies on how to grow up and be manipulated and coerced by their authorities. We look at how it evolved...

In this week's episode we get a grand explanation of the J Crew and their snacking habits. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for Hannie trying to break into that delicious...(checks notes)um, garlic in the fridge door?

In our Dig, we explore an IBLP Seminar for teen girls and young women called "Designed for God's Glory". Spoiler Alert: it's just another way to make them feel bad about their bodies. But don't worry, even though they'll give them new insecurities, at least they also teach them how to cover up...

The first half of the recap felt like a clip show for some reason. It was like the editors had some B Roll laying around and figured they would pad out the run time. Put on your gloves and masks because 8 of the brood have strep throat. We wouldn't touch anything in that house, ew.

In our Dig, Whit lays out the maze-like SOP in order to make an appeal to your authority. As is the case with most restrictive social structures, they're just trying to get you to stay quiet. Join...

The King of Beats is back, baby! We watch Lego and Cannon doing a speaking event in DC which sets the stage for them to meet with Kirk Cameron again. The Dug-girls get to take the rest of the fam to Tulsa with no parental supervision; which to be honest, is pretty par for the course.

In our Dig, we explore a more recent King of Beats event, when he and his son pissed a whole bunch of fellow Christians off by daring to explore their opinions on the eternal punishment that...

Just Dig. Da-Da-Doo-Doot! Due to our first episode back being a double length David Waller love-fest, we decided to do a just-dig episode. We get into the nitty gritty of why it felt like every Duggar was fawning over ole Pecan Waller.

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We're back and Digging into 2026! We are starting off the year with a double length episode, "Duggars Down the Aisle." Those clever folks at TLC got us though, it's the wedding of Priscilla and David Waller. It's so unfortunate that the first episode of the year has so much Pest in it. He turns the smug up to 11. Since he is married already, he feels as though he has some sort of wisdom/judgement to impart. This entire episode felt like a lovefest for David Waller, but stay tuned, next week we will shed light on why. We do...

In this week's double length episode, we get to see the fam voting on what names they think the new baby should have. Jessa picked a name with a little spice,Jim Bob thinks they need another Jim Bob, and Jana is trying to get her Arby's product placement in there.

Once they go to their ultrasound, sadly, the tech cannot find a heartbeat.

Back when the show was airing, this was the last episode before a 5 month hiatus. We are taking this as a chance to start our holiday break. Catch...

The Boys wildin' out today! We see them go to Fort Rock for a Father Son campout. We watch them play laser tag out in the woods, and Lego shows his absolute disregard for his son in the heat of "battle". We get a completely obvious product placement at a fast food establishment, shout out to their next level mozzarella sticks, though. We end with Cannon, keeping soooooo sweet.

Inspired by Thanksgiving Day, in our dig we explore the Character booklet on the character quality of "gratefulness". The key to being...

This week's episode was an exploration of Duggar Time. We watch the family show up late to the big fish fry in Little Rock. Don't worry though, Lego Hair has a big secret (yet ineffective) plan.

In our Dig, we explore what the family was up to while these episodes were airing. They were on the campaign trail with Rick Santorum. We talk of using a Cricut machine to deck the bus in vinyl campaign signage, impromptu concerts in Fuddruckers, and a very interesting campaign commercial. It's a good thing those kids don't have to...