The podcast gets a new cohost! Get to know Ronni Peck on this latest episode.

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Here’s a transcript of our conversation:

Brittany: Hello, Ronni.

Ronni: Hi, Brittany.

Brittany: So, this is a new voice for our listeners. You’re probably wondering who is this sweet-sounding woman on the other end of the microphone. So we have a new co-host who’s gonna be helping Connor and me out on the show. Her name is Ronni Peck, so this is very exciting. I got to meet her in person in Las Vegas. She was working in the Tuttle Twins booth at a conference. We got to talk for a little bit. So I thought for today we do an episode where I’m just gonna pick your brain, Ronni, I’m gonna ask All right. All sorts of questions so that our listeners can get to know you. So the first thing, this is something I think Connor asked me in my first episode, and that we asked Emma, which is how did you get into this space of, you know, individual liberty and you know, what led you to eventually doing some work with the Tuttle twins? What is your story?

Ronni: Well, that’s a great question. So my story into all of this, I feels a little more recent than many other people that I’ve met. So for myself, everything changed during COVID. So before March 2020, I was living in Los Angeles. I was homeschooling my kids, doing my thing. I had a lot of my own beliefs, but I mostly kept them quiet. I didn’t really get politically involved in anything, just because to me, it just seemed like a bunch of people arguing all the time. I don’t know, it just didn’t seem at the times though, something that I needed to be super involved in. I felt as though I could give back to the world in different ways. So I put my energy into other things. But in March of 2020 and being in Los Angeles.

Brittany: The end of the world.

Ronni: Yes, the world change things completely, because, for the first time ever in my life, I was suddenly in a situation in which I was placed under all these rules that made no sense to me, and even stranger suddenly I’m not allowed to associate or be around more than 10 people. I can’t go anywhere, like at all of the homeschool co-ops and things that I’d had for my kids, I know a lot of people had said, oh, you were so lucky you were already homeschooling. But no, I was, my kids were super involved in different activities, and those were also all shut down at the time. I was juggling, I had a part-time job. I was teaching, math online, for this program called Center for a Talented Youth, which was a cool program, but still, so I was also doing all of these things. And so when everything shut down, it was incredibly difficult. And I started asking questions online, on social media asking, like, you know, will there be, what are the future ramifications of this? Isn’t this going to hurt a lot of children’s educational careers? Isn’t this going to hurt a lot of people who have small businesses with their businesses being shut down? And I was just asking questions because I was looking long term, and all of a sudden my then peer group online, I felt as though I was being attacked for asking these questions. And this was a very strange thing for me at the time.

Brittany: Were these other homeschoolers too, homeschool moms?

Ronni: No, well, although they homeschool, a lot of homeschoolers were, very standoffish and wanted to social distance too. But, so in Los Angeles, through my husband, most of my peers were in the entertainment industry. So they worked in like Hollywood and stuff. So when I say a lot of my peers online, it was mostly a lot of entertainment-related people. And so I found myself, at a very weird place when all of a sudden these questions that I thought I was asking because I cared about other people, and I was worried about what the future ramifications of this were going to be. And then suddenly I felt as though I, don’t know, I got pushed to like, I’m on the wrong side now. And I thought that was so weird. I didn’t know there was a wrong side. So it was a very whole profound realization. And then, for the first time ever, I understood the whole concept of like, narrative, right? Where everyone has to believe a certain way, and if you ask a question about it differently, then you’re like an outcast. And I don’t know, maybe I should have been more aware of what I was getting into when I asked questions, but I really wasn’t. I was asking innocently. So it was all this interesting new world, but I suddenly became just aware of how important it was that people had the freedom to make their own choices. And I, for the first time ever really understood why it is important that we stand up for our freedoms. And so that’s kind of how I fell into the whole world of, you know, the liberty movement. and it’s interesting because I only discovered the Tuttle twins in the fall of 2020. I got them for my kids, and we read through them, and in reading through them, I, as the parent thought, oh, these books are wonderful. and I’m learning things too. And so that’s kind of how I first found out about the Tuttle twins. and then, July, like June, July of 2021, so about a year ago I started working for Tuttle twins and just some small little things that, they needed someone for. And then, I kind of moved up when they started the magazine. I started writing some articles for that. And then in March of this year, I moved into the managing editor role of the magazine. And now here I am hosting a podcast with you.

Brittany: That is so fun. I think it’s really cool because, you know, people I’ve known Connor, goodness, Connor and I met probably in 2009 when we were both living in Utah and doing all this Ron Paul libertarian stuff. And even Emma, she’s a great little younger than both of us, but she’s been in this space for a long time. It’s really fun to hear a story of somebody who’s recently, you know, in the last two years, really discovered this and really gotten into it and really dove right in, right, because, gosh, yeah, that was only two years ago. And now look at you. Look you’re here. So that’s incredible. Do you wanna talk a little about, so, oh, go on. Were you gonna say something?

Ronni: I was just gonna say, I was joking earlier, with another girl that works for title twins that I almost feel as though, actually I’ve probably been a libertarian my whole life. I just never knew it, because I’ve mostly just kind of like stuck to my own things. But I always had my own kind of in-between beliefs. and I feel as though everything just came together in the past two years. And so as I felt like a really connected to what I actually really believed, and I was able to find others who believed the same things that I did, and I was like, oh, wow, there’s like a whole movement and world here. So.

Brittany: Well, that’s actually part of my next question, that I was gonna ask, is there like, can you think of like moments as a kid? Cause even before, you know, I even knew what a libertarian was or really what the word liberty meant. I can remember moments when I was in elementary school, in a public school, and remembering things teachers did. And I was just thinking like, that’s so injust even before I even knew what justice really meant, right? I think that we all have these natural libertarian inclinations because I think as people, we always want freedom, right? We crave that. Can you think of any moments when you were, you know, the age of our listeners and you just kind of knew like, oh, okay, there’s something that, you know, this isn’t right or there, or there’s something different that the world could be and you don’t, you know, if you don’t have any examples, that’s fine. I just wanna know if that’s, if you can remember. Like a time when you were younger.

Ronni: When I was younger, I don’t have any specific memories right now at least, but I always was one who typically followed the rules. I was a pretty good kid, except when I was given a rule that made no sense to me. So I was always one of those people who was pretty easygoing, pretty much a rule follower unless there was a rule that made absolutely no sense. And then I was always the first person to stand up and be like, no, this is a dumb rule. Not, even that. It was a dumb rule, but I didn’t understand the logic behind this. So if I didn’t understand the logic behind it, I would usually always say something.

Brittany: I love that. Cause I think a lot of us kind of have that story, right? And I think our listeners have that story. So that’s really fun to know. And then I wanted to know if you wanted to talk about a little bit about, you know, being a mom. You have, you have kids. I know Connor has kids someday I hope I will have kids. I got to be a teacher for a while, so that was really exciting. I felt like I had 19 kids for, you know, each school year. Yeah. but, you know, and your choice to homeschool even before you were Oh yeah. You know, libertarian. Cause I think a lot of just people think like, oh, you’re a homeschooler. You must be a, you know, a super religious or libertarian, you know. So it’s just kind of funny.

Ronni: Yeah. So, actually, when I grew up, I was homeschooled for one year and it, I did, my parents I think were just, you know, concerned about public school or, you know, they weren’t sure. So they pulled me out, but it actually was not a very good experience for me. I didn’t have, back then there wasn’t, many homeschool connections, so I, was, felt so lonely. So my parents ended up putting me into, I went to a private religious school after that. But so fast forward to me becoming a mom, and I knew that there were so many more opportunities for homeschoolers now. And so I just started looking around even before I had kids because, I was curious about, you know, alternative education. I actually, have teaching credentials and so I got my teaching credentials originally, specifically because I wanted to tutor child actors on set. So I was still in the entertainment industry. And so I did that at first when I first got my teaching credentials. And what was great about that is that it showed me, you know, how do child actors, how do they go to school? And, I learned just this whole new educational world that was opening up. I learned about online charter schools, and then I actually started teaching at an online charter school, and this was all before I had my own kids. So I think I was really kinda primed and ready by the time I became a mom to be like, yeah, I wanna homeschool. I know all these opportunities. Plus I was also in the Los Angeles area. And so I think that, was also influenced my decision, to homeschool because it felt like there that was probably a better choice if I wanted to raise my kids the way I wanted to raise them.

Brittany: Yeah. You know, I actually grew up, I, until I was eight, I lived in LA and then I lived in Orange County, California, yeah. So, and it’s just, you didn’t really meet a lot of homeschoolers, yeah. In California, in Southern California. That wasn’t, you know, a big thing there, at least when I grew up. So that’s really cool that you were able to do that there. Well, let’s ask another question. You know, we talk a lot about our heroes on this show and economists and these people that we really look up to, who’s somebody in this space. And it doesn’t have to be, you know, Emma and I used to talk about Jordan Peterson a lot, so it doesn’t have to be somebody who is a libertarian, you know, just who’s someone that you look up to. And when you think about your beliefs and who helps inspire you who’s one of those people?

Ronni: That’s a good question and I feel like I probably have a better answer that will come to me when we’re done with a show. But, and I wouldn’t really call her a hero, but I will say that when I first read Atlas Shrugged, which of course search for Atlas, the Tuttle twin’s book is based on, I was in my, like, I was just out of college, so it was like 23. and I remember reading that and feeling it was profound for me because I had never read any, you know, any author right. From the perspective of, you know, from the perspective of the individual. And, it really stood out to me and it really made a big difference to me. So, while I wouldn’t say that, the author herself was a hero, I do feel as though that book, played a significant role in my life. And so when I first got the Tuttle twins books for my kids, that stood out to me as one of the first things as, oh, they have a book that’s based on Atlas Shrugged. That’s crazy. So that I remember thinking That was really interesting.

Brittany: So now some fun questions. Cause I know Connor and I, and Emma and I talked about a lot of like our hobbies and what we like to do. So what is something you like to do, Ronni? When the kids are doing their own thing and you’re not working? What is a hobby you just love?

Ronni: I am just constantly creating things or making things or coming up with ideas. I dunno if that’s a hobby. Right. Coming up with ideas that you don’t always follow through on.

Brittany: No, but I’m guilty of that too.

Ronni: But I really love being outside, so. Okay. I love swimming. Right now I’m building this dome covering over our pool. I like to garden. We have chickens.

Brittany: What do you garden? What do you plant?

Ronni: Well, I’m planting like everything this year, but the problem is, so I don’t think I mentioned this earlier, I was what they call a California refugee, I guess. And I moved from Los Angeles and I’m now in southern Utah. So I left Los Angeles about a year ago. So I’m here now and it’s a very deserty area, so gardening here is so different. So I am attempting to grow a lot of things, but I am not right now growing anything. Well, because the climate here is so different than the soil is so different. So maybe next year I’ll have a better crop.

Brittany: Maybe next year. But, you know, I’ve always wanted to have, I always say like, oh, I’ve always wanted to have chickens, even though I’m scared of pretty much every animal that is my cat . But I’ve always loved the idea of having like, fresh eggs. I love eggs. You know, having that. So that’s so fun. Well, I’m trying to think. Okay, so you don’t, is there anything musical you like to do? Have you ever like, been into theater, anything like that?

Ronni: I did theater for a little bit, but I wasn’t very good at it.

Brittany: Let’s see.

Ronni: I dunno, I could tell you about my, like, random adventures being on reality shows, but I dunno if that would be interesting.

Brittany: Wait, that is extremely interesting. And you don’t have to go into a lot of detail, but now we know that Ronni has been on reality shows. That is too funny.

Ronni: Well, that’s one benefit of being in LA I guess, is that you know, they’re always looking for people there.

Brittany: There’s always something. Yeah. That is true. Well, okay, what’s one thing out of, I know many things, that you really hope that kids like the generation of kids listening to this podcast. What’s one thing you really wish for them to know or a principle you really wish for them to embody, to have with them?

Ronni: Oh, another good question. So, and I have an answer for this one.

Brittany: Perfect.

Ronni: So, when I first started working for Tuttle Twins, even one of the biggest things that if there was a way for me to do while I was here is that I really wanted to help kids learn how to become critical thinkers. and how to be able to use logical thinking skills. I actually do, in the past I taught, it was a mathematical logic course for three summers, but it was.

Brittany: That sounds like my worst nightmare running.

Ronni: It was actually, it’s like an amazing course and was so much fun. But, and I also learned a lot of things while teaching it, but some of these skills I feel as though they’re not taught to kids or we teach kids critical thinking or logic, but it’s just like, oh, here’s a puzzle. But to teach kids how to be able to look at an argument or to hear something and how to be able to ask questions and say, is that true? How do I know that? And to be, I really do think that that is something that we can teach kids. There just hasn’t been a lot of kind of focus and materials for students in this. So that’s something that I really care about a lot. And in fact, I’m sure in some of our future episodes you’ll hear me go into my more nerdier sides and start talking about math stuff. So that’ll be fun for me at least.

Brittany: That’ll, be good actually. ’cause that’s not my strong suit. Alright, well we will wrap it up there and guys get excited because Ronni’s gonna be with us. We’ll have a lot more good conversations. I love that she’s gonna add things that I don’t have, like math, and some good critical thinking skills. So always guys, follow or subscribe to the podcast, share it with your friends, and we will talk to you next time.

Ronni: Bye.