On Mar 19, 2025, the James Madison Program hosted Dr. Rob Henderson, who
discussed his upbringing in foster care, the challenges of childhood
instability, and the role of social class in shaping identity, outlook,
and opportunity. In addition, he introduced the concept of "luxury
beliefs," which critiques how affluent individuals often advocate for
ideals that unintentionally burden poor and marginalized individuals.
Through his journey from foster care, to the U.S. Air Force, to later
receiving degrees from Yale and the University of Cambridge, Dr.
Henderson reflected on broader societal themes, offering insights into
both personal resilience and the systemic challenges facing
disadvantaged children.
Rob Henderson is the best-selling author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster
Care, Family, and Social Class. He grew up in foster homes in Los
Angeles and in the rural town of Red Bluff, California. After enlisting
in the U.S. Air Force at the age of seventeen, he subsequently attended
Yale on the GI Bill and was then awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship
to study at the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a PhD in
psychology in 2022. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan
Institute and a Contributing Editor for City Journal. Rob’s writing has
appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston
Globe, among other outlets, and his Substack newsletter is sent each
week to more than sixty thousand subscribers.
Greg Conti is an Associate Professor of Politics at Princeton
University, a political theorist and intellectual historian. His
research focuses on the history of modern political thought, especially
on questions of liberalism, democracy, and representative government.
His first book, Parliament the Mirror of the Nation: Representation,
Deliberation, and Democracy in Victorian Britain, was released from
Cambridge University Press earlier in 2019.
