Kristen and Jolenta chat with By the Book’s resident historian and fairy Godmother Trysh Travis. Professor Travis answers listener questions about the history of self-help and race, why Marie Kondo is so popular, and shares some of her favorite self- help books. Trysh Travis is a cultural and literary historian in the Center for Women's Studies at the University of Florida

If you want more of Professor Travis, check out her books:

The Language of the Heart: A Cultural History of the Recovery Movement from Alcoholics Anonymous to Oprah Winfrey

Re-Thinking Therapeutic Culture

For further reading on the history of the self-help industry, Professor Travis recommends:

Oracle at the Supermarket, by Steven Starker

Self Help, Inc., by Micki McGee

Bright-sided, by Barbara Ehrenreich

Kristen and Jolenta's new book How to be Fine is available now.

You can subscribe to Jolenta and Kristen's new show, We Love You (And So Can You) on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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