Rationalists of East Tennessee upcoming events

June RET Book Club (06/14/2026)

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT

In person Book Club Event! Note time and location!

Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results

by Nir Eyal

Behind every endeavor are beliefs that shape outcomes. Most people never question those beliefs, even when they hold them back. Beyond Belief by bestselling author Nir Eyal reveals one counterintuitive truth: these beliefs aren't facts. They're tools. Understand how they work, and you can set them aside when they are unhelpful and replace them with better ones to change what's possible for you. Backed by the latest neuroscience and psychology research, Eyal shows you how your hidden assumptions filter what you see, what you attempt, and what you achieve, and gives you a clear, practical method to change them. Learn how to: See what others miss – Beliefs filter your perception. Shift them, and options that were invisible come into view. Stay grounded under pressure – Change how you respond to uncertainty, so steadiness becomes your default, not something you force. Break costly patterns – Improve your health, relationships, and career by removing interference – not adding more effort. Expand what you think you're capable of – Your limits aren't fixed. They're learned. And what's learned can be relearned. Once you understand how belief really works, you can stop fighting yourself — and start building change that lasts.

June 14, 2026 1:00PM to 2:30PM

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

2931 Kingston Pike

Knoxville, TN 37919

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July RET Book Club (07/12/2026)

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice

By Virginia Roberts Giuffre

The world knows Virginia Roberts Giuffre as Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s most outspoken victim: the woman whose decision to speak out helped send both serial abusers to prison, whose photograph with Prince Andrew catalyzed his fall from grace. But her story has never been told in full, in her own words—until now.

In April 2025, Giuffre took her own life. She left behind a memoir written in the years preceding her death and stated unequivocally that she wanted it published. Nobody’s Girl is the riveting and powerful story of an ordinary girl who would grow up to confront extraordinary adversity.

Here, Giuffre offers an unsparing and definitive account of her time with Epstein and Maxwell, who trafficked her and others to numerous prominent men. She also details the molestation she suffered as a child, as well as her daring escape from Epstein and Maxwell’s grasp at nineteen. Giuffre remade her life from scratch and summoned the courage to not only hold her abusers to account but also advocate for other victims. The pages of Nobody’s Girl preserve her voice—and her legacy—forever.

Nobody’s Girl is an astonishing affirmation of Giuffre’s unshakable will—first, to claw her way out of victimhood, and then to shine light on wrongdoing and fight for a safer, fairer world. Equal parts intimate and fierce, it is a remarkable narrative of fortitude in the face of depravity and despair.

August RET Book Club (08/09/2026)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention

by Clara E. Mattei

Capitalism isn’t inevitable, scientific, or natural—it's a relatively young system that can be replaced.

We live in a world where cuts to social programs are deemed necessary, unemployment is considered natural, and rising living costs are accepted as normal. We’re told that change isn’t possible—the markets know best and there’s no alternative to capitalism. But what if mainstream economics itself is the problem?

In this groundbreaking manifesto, economist Clara E. Mattei shows us how the dogma that rules our economies is not only delusional but also detrimental to our societies and livelihoods and fundamentally hostile to working people. Pseudoscientific models are used to justify enduring problems such as poverty and inequality in order to support a system that unfairly rewards people who already have the most resources.

Today’s economic institutions, from the Federal Reserve to the International Monetary Fund, wield immense power over monetary policy yet are shielded from democratic scrutiny. All the major problems we face—from a health care system that prioritizes profits over well-being to the rise of ultranationalism—are rooted in an economic system that fails to serve the common good.

Why should we accept this? In this urgent intervention against capitalism, Mattei shows how escaping this system begins with understanding the economy from a fundamentally different perspective. The time has come to challenge the broken economics of our modern age—to achieve true economic freedom and finally escape from capitalism.