067 - The Self-Help and Guru Industrial Complex feat. Ian from Camp ReEducation

We talk about the history of self-help movements and gilded gurus that proselytize their cure-all tonics, wish-fulfillment effects, et cetera, and find something interesting in their modern roots (socialism). We also lay out a taxonomy of the various subspecies of contemporary self-help/life coach/guru figures, from OG kings of the grift like Tony Robbins to the humanoid slugs in the Pickup Artist underbelly to the deranged infomercial doom-pastor Jim Bakker and his reasonably priced buckets of Food™ slurry. We close the episode with a look at how neoliberalism, social atomization, and "personal responsibility" (i.e. self-help) converge and self-perpetuate on grand socio-economic scales. Check out Ian's podcast Camp ReEducation: campreeducation.com Twitter: @CampReEducation Instagram: @campreeducation General Recommendations JD's Recommendations: 1) Shadow and Bone 2) Bullshit Jobs JNM's Recommendations: 1) Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America 2) Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America both written by Barbara Ehrenreich Ian's Recommendation: Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism by Fredric Jameson Further Reading, Viewing, Listening The Radical Origins of Self-Help Literature THE SELF-HELP MYTH Here’s Why Tony Robbins Should Definitely Not Be Your Guru 'Bright-Sided': When Happiness Doesn't Help Locationless Locations heatdeathpod.com Every show-related link is corralled and available here. Heat Death of the Universe - @heatdeathpod JD Newland - @jdnewland Joshua Nomen-Mutatio - @ImbalancingAct Please send all Letters of Derision, Indifference, Inquiry, Mild Elation, et cetera to: [email protected] Send us Fan Mail Support the show Support: patreon / buzzsprout