Digging Up the Duggars

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 Christia...

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 gamif...

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 hysterecto...

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 cont...

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 through...

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...

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 “Highli...

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 or...

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...

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 Pr...

  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”...

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 eva...

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. If you would like to support the work that we do, head on o...

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 o...

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, w...

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 c...

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....

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.  If you would like to suppo...

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 a...

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...

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 “con...

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 th...

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 r...

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...

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 Kendr...