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.

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Episode 494: Quick Fixes for Poor Sales Productivity With Townsend Wardlaw