Why Walden, Why Now

Kaag was fourteen when a Latin teacher named Mr. Eames handed him Henry David Thoreau's Walden, and by the time they had walked all the way around the pond itself he had made Mr. Eames a promise about the rest of his life. This first episode is his case for the whole series: why this book found him, why it keeps finding readers, and why he thinks Thoreau is best read alongside an ancient philosopher who lived in a barrel and barked at the rich. And listen for the date Thoreau moved to the pond. It asks a question most readings walk right past.