Listener Feedback: August 2025

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, August 29th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Time now for Listener Feedback for August. We’ll start with corrections.

In our August 22nd obituary for Dr. James Dobson we misstated the year he started the James Dobson Family Institute. The correct year is 2010.

EICHER: A couple pronunciation notes, in a July 30th story we mispronounced the name of the FDA commissioner. It is Marty Makary.

BROWN: And in my August 21st story about a cancer survivor using art therapy, I fumbled a Japanese artform, listener Carol Baker helped us out:

CAROL BAKER: Pronounced "gyo taku", "gyo" for fish and "taku" for stone impression. I understand the pronunciation in the story was a local pronunciation, but just in order to clear things up…Thank you so much for all you do. Your stories are truly inspiring.

EICHER: Well, I’ve got one too, Myrna. A physician got in touch to straighten me out on the correct pronunciation of fentanyl: fenta-nill, not fenten-all, like alcohol. It’s fenta-nill.

EICHER: And one more this morning … this is kind of funny. Remember your dialogue with Mary about all the new slang in the Cambridge dictionary?

KEITH RUSSELL: Hello, my name is Keith Russell. [LAUGHING] I'm calling from Superior, Wisconsin. I was listening this morning to Mary Reichard try to pronounce some of the new words added to the dictionary. It is pronounced “skibbity”…just got to speed it up a little bit there. And I only know that because I teach middle school and high school and have heard that word way too many times over the past years…but I love the show. Love what you guys do. Thanks for making me laugh this morning.

BROWN: And back at ya! Well said!

EICHER: Well, now on to some tougher feedback. Robert Mineo in Brooklyn, New York, thought our August 19th discussion on the war in Ukraine didn’t go far enough.

ROBERT MINEO: I am calling because this morning I heard George Barros speak, and I just couldn't get that piece out of my head, because the gentleman was dour and negative, the way he came across. The fact that he would seemingly present that the best thing to do is to let Russia and Ukraine continue to fight—and that at some point Russia will run out of soldiers—seems crazy to me.

BROWN: We also heard from Rachel Wilson, who wrote in about our take on the American Eagle blue jeans ad. She said she agreed with our cultural critique—but wished we would have leaned more on Scripture, pointing to 1st Peter 3 and Proverbs 31 for a fuller, more Biblical view of beauty.

EICHER: Well, this month marked the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Trial … Jenny Rough reporting that one for us. Susan Kamphuis from Kalamazoo, Michigan sent this:

SUSAN KAMPHUIS: I thought it was a great segment. I come from a family that has had a passion for creation science for many years, but many of the arguments that you guys had in this segment were presented in a really beautiful new way to me that I really appreciated. I just wanted to thank you for covering the history of this trial and the science that was connected to it. This was a really wonderful piece.

BROWN: We also heard from Nathan Howell in Amarillo, Texas, about our “tech exit” conversation with Claire Morrell:

NATHAN HOWELL: I do see the way that screens affect children as being something which is gaining steam…In the story today…she clearly talked about the need to do digital detox and other beneficial activities to get kids less damaged by screens.

But I saw that almost lurking in the background there's problems for adults as well … I would love to know more about what is being done to address adult problems.

Thank you for the work on all of this and I look forward to hearing more about ways to follow Christ in a world that has been so transformed by screens.

All right, we’ll stay on it.

EICHER: Next an extended comment from Brenda Davis in Antioch, California. An appreciation of the life and ministry of Dr. Dobson.

BRENDA DAVIS: Dr. James Dobson, for me, was a warrior, and he provided a lifeline. I began tuning into his radio show in the early 1980s, every morning, and it became a 10 o 'clock thing for me. A show I even structured my morning around. My toddlers knew that Focus on the Family was Mom's show, and they knew to play quietly, or at least leave the kitchen so Mom can listen to Dr. Dobson.

He was my cheerleader on the radio. He gave me so much encouragement as a mom reminding me I was a working mom, not just a stay-at-home mom, and I was valuable to God, and I was the best adult for my children.

He added so much to my degrees in education for child development and early childhood education, and now I was at home, raising my own kids. He gave me some strong advice to hug my kids after discipline or affirm correction, and to kiss them every night before bedtime, and to pray with them after discipline, and to keep praying for them, for they were more precious to God than to me. …

He actually helped get me involved in political action and learn who my congresspeople were. And write them letters and make phone calls about family bills in the House and Senate. I still do that.

He helped me be a loving mom who discovered I had the most important job on the planet. I love the clip you shared by Shirley Dobson that now her husband is with his Savior Jesus.

Praise the Lord for the work he has accomplished and what a gifted man he was. And now he's receiving a great reward. Thank you, WORLD.

And before we go, one more: Katherine Lipscomb sent in this recording of her two-year-old, Gregory:

KATERINE LIPSCOBROWN: Gregory, what did she say? Grace and…peas?

Katherine says young Gregory especially loves hearing Myrna’s closing words. As he hears it, though, he hears grace and peas, not quite the Biblical shalom we were going for. But when he eats his peas, that’ll probably bring some peace at home.

One note before we go: The WORLD Stage event in Houston, if you didn’t hear about it on Monday. If you’re near enough to the Houston area, join us for our very first WORLD Stage event, Monday, September 15th. David Bahnsen will speak on themes from his book Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life, followed by Q&A and a chance to meet him and the WORLD team.

It’s at First Baptist Houston, downtown. There’s no charge, but space is limited and it is filling up fast. Reserve your spot today at WNG.org/TheWORLDStage.

BROWN: If you’d like to comment on a recent segment, send us an email or a recorded message to: editor@wng.org. You can also phone it in: 202-709-9595

And that’s Listener Feedback for August!

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