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:
General Recommendations
Further Reading, Viewing, Listening
Locationless Locations
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:
General Recommendations
Further Reading, Viewing, Listening
Locationless Locations