Sometimes it is good to peel the curtain back and enter a world in which you’d never inhabit, and perhaps would only judge it based on your the surface-level understanding. Educated by Tara Westover provides this opportunity as she explores her childhood memories and ultimate decision to leave the only world she knew behind in order to pursue scholarly studies and knowledge. Kim and I discuss her debut memoir, a stunning and gripping tale of growing up in a survivalist and fundamentalist family in the hills of Idaho. Tara faces death way too many times as a child, she believes in the end of times, and blindly trusts her family until slowly she is exposed to an education that will never allow her to turn back. There was so much to unpack in this book, so Kim and I only scratch the surface, but it’s a memoir well worth reading. Tara’s experience, described in a shocking and yet compassionate way, is emotional and demanding of our attention, and exposes light onto what it’s like living without an education.

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We welcome any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, you can also email us at [email protected].

NEXT BOOKS: Wilderness Essays and Our National Parks by John Muir