EP 123: Why Dismissing the Importance of Family is the Ultimate Luxury Belief

Lean Out with Tara Henley

It’s not unusual for well-heeled people to try to imagine what it might be like to grow up without money. But my guest on today’s program says it is uncommon for them to try to imagine what it might be like to grow up without a family. And his new book chronicles exactly that life — his childhood in foster care — but also, his journey from a working-class town in California to the military, Yale University and beyond.

Rob Henderson is the American writer who coined the term “luxury beliefs.” His debut book is Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class.

You can find Tara Henley on Twitter at @TaraRHenley, and on Substack at tarahenley.substack.com