What happens when you follow 100 self-help books to the letter? (with Kristen Meinzer‪)‬ Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/210/#transcript) • Why does it seem that many people read self-help books with no intention of actually doing what the books prescribe? Why are self-help books often less clear than it seems they ought to be? What are self-help books actually designed to do? Why do self-help authors continue to write as though their ideas will help everyone when it seems fairly obvious that no single self-help book has ever been a global panacea? Should self-help advice differ based on the gender of the receiver? How does life coaching differ from self-help? How does therapy differ both from life coaching and from self-help? Should therapists fire their clients once the clients' problems have been solved? Should therapists give homework? What are the best and worst ideas commonly found in self-help books? • Kristen Meinzer is a culture critic, podcaster, and author. She cohosts the podcast How To Be Fine (Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-be-fine/id1217948628), Instagram (https://instagram.com/howtobefinepod)), formerly called By The Book , which looks at the good and the bad of the wellness industry. She also cohosts the podcast The Daily Fail , which does comedic close readings of the tabloids. Additionally, Kristen is a frequent contributor on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour . • Further reading: • How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books, by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer (https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Fine-Learned-Self-Help/dp/0062957198) • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) — Transcriptionists • Alexandria D. — Research and Special Projects Assistant • Music • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/210/kristen-meinzer-what-happens-when-you-follow-100-self-help-books-to-the-letter]