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.comTwitter: @CampReEducationInstagram: @campreeducationGeneral RecommendationsJD's Recommendations: 1) Shadow and Bone 2) Bullshit JobsJNM'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 EhrenreichIan's Recommendation: Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism by Fredric JamesonFurther Reading, Viewing, ListeningThe Radical Origins of Self-Help LiteratureTHE SELF-HELP MYTHHere’s Why Tony Robbins Should Definitely Not Be Your Guru'Bright-Sided': When Happiness Doesn't HelpLocationless Locationsheatdeathpod.comEvery show-related link is corralled and available here.Heat Death of the Universe - @heatdeathpodJD Newland - @jdnewlandJoshua Nomen-Mutatio - @ImbalancingActPlease send all Letters of Derision, Indifference, Inquiry, Mild Elation, et cetera to: [email protected] us Fan MailSupport the showSupport: patreon / buzzsprout