(Self) Helped: Inside The Industry That Wants To Change Your Life

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(Self) Helped: Inside The Industry That Wants To Change Your Life

By Paige Miranda,

Kaia Findlay, Anita Rao

Published January 5, 2024 at 5:30 AM EST

An illustration of a woman with long, brown hair, a white shirt, blue jean and white sneakers. She has a curious expression. She is walking up steps made out of various self-help books with titles that read: 鈥� The Four Agreements,鈥� 鈥� 鈥淭he Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,鈥� 鈥淵OU ARE A BADASS,鈥� "Atomic Habits,鈥� and 鈥淭he Secret.鈥� The background is a light green color with large white and yellow flowers. Across the top right are the blue words 鈥�(Self) Helped鈥� on a yellow background.

Anita is committed to self-improvement but skeptical of self-help. She brings her qualms and questions to the experts: Kristen Meinzer, a podcaster who has lived by the rules of more than 50 self-help books, and Beth Blum, a scholar who's traced the genre back to its roots. Plus Sondra Rose Marie, a former self-help fan, shares how the industry has failed her as a woman of color.

Meet the guests:

pop culture commentator and podcast host, shares what she learned from following the rules of over 50 self-help books
Harvard humanities professor and author, talks about the long history of the self-help industry, and how it's changed over the decades
writer, talks about why she started following a self-help guru...and what events made her leave

Dig Deeper:

Kristen's podcasts and

Beth's book

Sondra's on self-help

Read the transcript |

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Paige Miranda

Paige Miranda is a producer for "Embodied". Previously, she served as 吉彩网网站鈥檚 2023 AAAS Mass Media Fellow.

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Kaia Findlay

Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, 吉彩网网站's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the 吉彩网网站 team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.

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Anita Rao

Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.

See stories by Anita Rao