Trigger warning for all things religious, cult related, and sexual abuse. If you had cable TV between 2008 and 2015, chances are you caught a glimpse of the Duggar family and their rise to fame in their show 19 Kids and Counting. Theirs was an early domino to fall in the world of reality television based around fundamentalist Christianity and the Quiverfull movement, which encourages members to have as many children as possible and homeschool them under the church’s guidance.
This four-part series interviews Jill, who spent her young life on television and was exploited by her father as well as other former members of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) church led by Bill Gothard. The series explores the secrets and sensationalism behind the organization and the true impact of being raised in a cult setting.
Infuriating and eye-opening, this documentary series explores what it means to live under the thumb of extreme religious oppression and what the difficult path to break free looks like. (four approximately 50-min. episodes)
—Anna Starkey
This article appears in Jul 20-30, 2023.