tara westover was born into a family of strict mormon survivalists in idaho. for the first years of her life, her very existence was kept secret. she didn't go to school, she didn't have access to doctors, and she didn't even have a birth certificate. at 17, she stepped into a classroom for the very first time and ten years later westover achieved a ph.d. from cambridge university. in her new memoir "educated" she describes that incredible journey. and this week she told me how her relationship with her family became collateral damage. tara westover, welcome to the program. >> thank you for having me. >> you have an incredible story. it's a really dark story. it starts, anyway, like that. did you see it like that? did you see your childhood as something that you dreaded or was it a happy childhood? >> i didn't see it as dark. in a lot of ways i had a really beautiful childhood. i grew up on this beautiful mountain in idaho, but because my father had some kind of radical beliefs, we were a bit isolated. so i was never allowed to go to school or to the doctor, i

tear rah westover -- tara westover. and former democratic senate of staffer ira shapiro shared his thoughts on partisanship in the senate. in the coming weeks on "after words," human rights campaign press secretary sarah mcbride will discuss her life as a transgenders person and lgbtq rights. james swanson retraces the events leading up to the assassination of dr. martin luther king jr. and this weekend economist brian kaplan argues against college for everyone. >> obviously, there is about a trillion dollars of government funding at all levels on the side of the status quo. very much we're keeping that in mind. this means that we have a very accessible education system which people normally think of as purely good. in the book i said, well, there's a dark side. it may just mean that everybody needs to spend a lot of years in school in order to end up at the same place they ended up with a lower level. when people think this way, they're thinking of the talented kid from a really poor family who gets a leg up. they're n

that's followed by tara westover's recount of her childhood in the idaho mountain ands her first introduction to formal education at the age of 17. then experimental psychologist steven pinker explores the thought processes behind extremism while making the case that the country is in better shape than you might think. trevor noah's memoir of growing up in south africa, born a crime. and wrapping up our look at some of the books from amazon's nonfiction bestseller list is dale carnegie's self-help book, how to win friends and influence people. many of these authors have appearedded on booktv, and you can watch them on our web site, booktv.org. >> he delivered, i think we're -- i think i know the stump speech you're referring to. it's a speech he deliver about originalism and why it's superior to what's called the living constitution approach to jurisprudence. >> right. >> and i heard him deliver that speech too in madison, wisconsin, in 2001. and it's one he delivered very often. it was his stump speech. i was looking forward to finding a written version of that because i loved that speech. i

and tara westover talks about her book, "educated." booktv all this week in prime time on c-span2. >> tonight on "landmark cases," join us for gideon very wainwright as we explain the story of clarence gideon who challenged the state of florida which had denied him access to an attorney. >> the next case on the docket is the state of florida versus clarence earl gideon. what says the defendant, are you ready for trial? >> i'm not ready, your honor. >> did you plead not guilty to this charge by reason of insanity? >> no, sir. >> well, why aren't you

tara westover discussed her expenses going up with survivalist parents and subsequently earning a phd at cambridge university. democratic senate staffer ira shapiro shared his thoughts on partisanship in the senate. lack lives matter founders talked about her life and the birth of the movement. economists argues against college for everyone. this weekend, former usa today editor-in-chief joanne lipman will look at improving workplaces through gender equality. >> it was a little over three years ago, i was on a plane on my way to des moines and i was sitting next to a businessman and we were having the nicest conversation. he was telling me about his new house and his children and their sports teams and then he said to me, why are you going to des moines. i said i'm going to speak at a women's leadership conference and suddenly this lovely man got that deer in headlights look and he's like sorry i'm a man and proceeded to tell me he had just been through diversity training and the diversity training he felt was a couple days worth of getting beaten over the head and put in the corner,