19: Advice and Anonymity feat. Danny Lavery, Rebecca Ariel Porte, and Kali Handelman: OU + the Podcast for Social Research

Ordinary Unhappiness presents a live recording of the Podcast for Social Research! Abby recently joined Danny Lavery, Rebecca Ariel Porte, and Kali Handelman to celebrate Danny’s new book, Dear Prudence, which spans his tenure as beloved advice columnist “Prudence” at Slate. The group tackles historical antecedents of advice columns from the New Testament to the Great Depression; how advice columns dramatize social norms as they change in real time; fictional representations of advice columns like Nathanael West’s Miss Lonelyhearts; tricksters who set out to deceive advice columnists but wind up asking real questions despite themselves; transference and the idiosyncratic role of the advice columnist as both generic and specific Other; and crowdsourced advice seeking (AKA Reddit’s Am I The Asshole?). They wind up by taking questions and offering live, unscripted advice about real estate commitments, relationship commitments, and the dicey intersection thereof. Plus: pro tips on how to stage difficult interventions with roommates and others in your life about grooming, household chores, and more.

Danny’s book Dear Prudence: Liberating Lesson’s from Slate.com’s Beloved Advice Columnist is available here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/dear-prudence-liberating-lessons-from-slate-com-s-beloved-advice-column-daniel-m-lavery/18617330?gclid=CjwKCAjwt52mBhB5EiwA05YKow6xPL0DB2XXUyrThg9vTl7opsMa6wGA0cVaDkJUHDHWjp1K2vzW2BoC9NYQAvD_BwE

You can subscribe to his Substack, The Chatner, here: https://www.thechatner.com/

Rebecca’s magazine Dilettante Army is here: https://dilettantearmy.com/

You can learn more about Kali’s work as an editor and writing coach here: https://kalihandelman.com/

For more information about classes, events, and other programming at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research: https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/

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A podcast about psychoanalysis, politics, pop culture, and the ways we suffer now. New episodes on Saturdays. Follow us on social media:

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Theme song:
Formal Chicken - Gnossienne No. 1
https://open.spotify.com/album/2MIIYnbyLqriV3vrpUTxxO
Provided by Fruits Music