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

By Paige Miranda,

Published January 5, 2024 at 5:30 AM EST

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:

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

Dig Deeper:

Kristen's podcasts How To Be Fine and Daily Fail

Sondra's Medium article on self-help