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Oct, 11, 2026

The Sunday Interview: "Women Are a Snare"": Purity Culture and the Scandal at Wheaton

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Summary

Brad Onishi talks with three Wheaton College alumnae about the growing controversy over how the college handled abuse by a former administrator, and why they say the problem is systemic rather than the work of one person. The abuse took place in the 1990s. Alumni say it was covered up for roughly 25 years, leaving students and later victims at risk. The conversation covers the case itself, the calls for President Philip Ryken to resign, the theology of gender and sexuality that shapes how reports are received, and what it’s like to parent students on campus now. Content note: this episode discusses sexual abuse and assault. Guests Andrea Sorensen Hamler: Wheaton class of 2004, writing teacher, scholar of rhetoric, and longtime behind-the-scenes member of the Axis Mundi Media team Christy Hemphill: Wheaton class of ‘99, parent of two current Wheaton students, former international development worker and current public school teacher Erika Roland: Wheaton alum, holds an MBA and CFRE, PhD student in organizational leadership, lives in Minnesota UPCOMING EVENTS (Brad Onishi, American Caesar) Oct 11: Knoxville, TN, Unitarian Church, with the Rationalists of East Tennessee Oct 12: Nashville, TN, downtown library, 6 p.m., with Phil Williams Oct 14: Memphis, TN, Rhodes College MORE FROM STRAIGHT WHITE AMERICAN JESUS Sunday: Interview | Tuesday: Live show with Brad and Matt Taylor, 1:30 ET | Wednesday: In the Code with Dan Miller | Friday: Weekly Roundup If you enjoy our work, please subscribe. Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com Books mentioned: 📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e... 📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/... Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... 🔗 axismundi.us www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices