Connor Boyack is nothing short of prolific, most notably as the author of The Tuttle Twins books. They (the twins) teach young children the important values that schools won't—economics, civics, philosophy, and more!

A Bit More About Connor Boyack

Connor Boyack is president of Libertas Institute, a free-market think tank in Utah. He is the author of over a dozen books on politics, education, and culture, along with hundreds of columns and articles championing individual liberty. He is also president of The Association for Teaching Kids Economics, a national non-profit helping K-8 students learn free-market ideas. A California native and Brigham Young University graduate, Connor currently resides in Lehi, Utah, with his wife and two children.

Here are Ed’s questions from the interview:

How are you and your family doing during the Great Suppression?
Ed told Connor how he was first introduced to his work. A book one of Ed’s brought home from school was The Rainbow Fish, the only banned book in the Kless household. As an antidote to that book, I came across another book, The Big Orange Splot, the most anti-homeowner association book ever written. Then, Amazon recommended one of your books, the first was The Tuttle Twins Learn About the Law, which is about Frédéric Bastiat’s work (see our Episode #125) and you bring it down to a K-8 level. I was thrilled to buy it, and even more amazed when I read it. Tell us how you got to writing children’s books that promote free market ideas.
I have five of your books, and perhaps two or three others. I don’t have the complete set. I was told by my son to tell you that his favorite book of yours is The Tuttle Twins Learn About the Law, and my daughter’s favorite is The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil.
I’ve read a couple of them to my kid’s classes. Because of what’s going on with COVID-19, we almost need a reverse I, Pencil essay, to try to explain to people what we are doing by hitting the pause button on the economy.
The rhetoric we’re hearing about how this economic pause is a market failure is maddening.
The word unprecedented is thrown around a lot, but we truly never have had the snooze button hit on the economy.
Connor, I want to bring it up to a more adult level conversation, though many of things you write about in your blog are related back to your books. Shelly Luther, the salon owner in Dallas, who engaged in civil disobedience violating the Governor’s order, and a county judge’s order, was arrested and put in jail for seven day for opening her salon during the lock down. Governor Abbott then changed his mind about not wanting people to go to jail, you wrote in a blog post called “Are All Laws Inherently Violent?” Could you unpack that for us?
Usually when I ask this question it is with irony in mind, but I am genuinely curious now, do you think taxation is theft?
I’ve often thought the best type of taxation would be on transactions, like a use tax. But that leads to the creature from Jekyll island, which is using the Federal Reserve currency. But I wanted to ask you, at the end of The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island, you mention Bitcoin. What are your thoughts on alternative currencies, the gold standard, or would you rather see a system of privatized currencies that people use.
I’ve been a fan of the Brave browser for over a year, and anticipate making money from surfing the Internet. Another essay you recently wrote, in light of what’s happening with the Great Suppression—what do you think will happen with regard to homeschooling? Are we going to have a pick uptick in that, or will there be a backlash the other way?

…and here are Ron’s questions:

I have such respect for what you do because I’ve written nonfiction books, but children’s books are completely different. You probably know this, William F. Buckley, Jr. who wrote 50-plus books over his career, and one children’s book. He said it was, without a doubt, the hardest to write. Rush Limbaugh also writes children’s books. I’m curious, did you find it harder, easier, what you expected?
The reason I could never write a children’s book, I can tell stories in a nonfiction book, but you only have to deal with what people think. But you have to plot—deal with what people do—which I think is really, really hard.
To prepare for this show, I went back and listened to some of your earlier interviews with Tom Woods and you had quoted Frederick Douglas (you think apocryphally): “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Was that the driver behind these books? Because that’s a profound line.
To concretize this, how do you, for example, teach the non-aggression principle to children (5-10 years of age, or at a Congressman’s level, as you say)?
Not only did you take on Frederick Bastiat in The Tuttle Twins Learn About the Law (April 2014), you’ve taken on Frederick Hayek in The Tuttle Twins and the Road to Surfdom (2017), and The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil (Dec 2014), which I wish I would have read when I was a kid because I think it’s one of the most mind-blowing essays to read. You mentioned to Ed that The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island is the most popular book, but I would imagine The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil was really popular as well.
Have you ever run across a book called The Toaster Project? It’s about a UK design student who tries to build a toaster from scratch. He spends a ton of money, it takes him well over a year, and in the end it doesn’t work. It’s I, Pencil on steroids. A great story of how ridiculously complex it is to build something we can buy for $8.
Maybe I’ll ask you when we come back, you wrote The Tuttle Twins and the Search for Atlas (2017), which is about Ayn Rand’s ideas. What was the reaction to that book?
Connor, you take on so many great topics. Have you ever tackled the subjective vs. labor theory of value?
Another possible topic I wish I had known as a kid is negative vs. positive rights.
What’s your take on the Universal Basic Income? And have you ever thought about doing a book on that topic?
Tell us about your book Passion-Driven Education: How to Use Your Child’s Interests to Ignite a Lifelong Love of Learning (2016)?
It’s sort of like the motto of the Unschooling movement isn’t it?
And tell us about your book, Skip College (July 2019)?
Thank you so much, Connor, it’s been a pleasure to get to know you. Keep up the good work because it is vitally important!

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits.

Here are a few topics discussed from the most recent bonus episode: