Public Radio International

Wisconsin Public Radio

REINVENTING YOURSELF

Program 05-10-30-B

Listen!

Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars to try to improve themselves. They buy books and CDs, go to seminars...some even walk over hot coals in their bare feet. In this hour of the Peabody Award-winning program To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll try to find out if the self-help movement is really helping us.

SEGMENT 1:

Jessica Lamb-Shapiro attended a conference of self-help authors featuring Mark Victor Hansen of "Chicken Soup for the..." fame. She tells Anne Strainchamps that the self-help industry seems to involve a lot of selling. Lamb-Shapiro wrote about her experience for the September issue of "The Believer" magazine. Also, Micki McGee is a sociologist and cultural critic. She tells Jim Fleming how Americans' social and economic history predisposes us to embrace self-improvement as a way of staying competitive in a tight job market.

SEGMENT 2:

TTBOOK's Doug Gordon profiles singer/songwriter Al Anderson, formerly with NRBQ, the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. Anderson's music has been covered by George Jones, Vine Gill and The Mavericks. His latest solo album is called "After Hours."

SEGMENT 3:

Jonathan Cott has written 16 books. The latest is "On the Sea of Memory: A Journey from Forgetting to Remembering." In it, Cott describes what it was like to re-invent himself after E.C.T. (Electroconvulsive Therapy) treatments created a fifteen year gap in his memory.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 05-10-30-B.

................................................................

Books:

• Jonathan Cott, On the Sea of Memory: A Journey from Forgetting to Remembering (Random House)
• Micki McGee, Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life (Oxford University Press)

Links:

• -- "We Need Heart-Touching, Soul-Penetrating Stories!"
  by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
  from the September 2005 issue of "The Believer" Magazine
  http://www.believermag.com/
  If you'd like to read the entire story...
  http://www.believermag.com/issues/200509/?read=article_lamb-shapiro
• -- Micki McGee
  http://www.selfhelpinc.com/
  
• -- Al Anderson
  http://www.bigalanderson.com/bigalanderson/index.asp
  

Music:

• -- "I'm Just Raw"/Lyrics Born
  from the CD, "Same ! @#$ Different Day" (Quannum Projects)
  http://www.lyricsborn.com/
  
• -- "Morning"/Mark Adler
  from the CD, "Focus -- Original Score" (Milan)
  http://www.milanrecords.com/
• Music used in Al Anderson mix:
  -- "A Change Is Gonna Do Me Good"/Al Anderson (live)
  from Robbie Fulks' "Secret Country" monthly music series
  at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music
  http://www.oldtownschool.org/secretcountry/
  http://robbiefulks.com/
  -- "Every Little Thing"/Carlene Carter
  from the CD, "Little Love Letters" (Giant Records)
  -- "In My Dreams"/Al Anderson
  from the CD, "After Hours" (Al Anderson Music)
  -- "Movin' Into The Light"/Al Anderson
  from the CD, "After Hours" (Al Anderson Music)
  -- "Another Place I Don't Belong"/Al Anderson
  from the CD, "After Hours" (Al Anderson Music)
  -- "Better Word for Love"/Al Anderson
  from the CD, "After Hours" (Al Anderson Music)
  -- "Never Take the Place of You"/NRBQ
  from the CD, "Tiddly Winks" (Rounder Records)
  http://www.nrbq.com/
  -- "Never Take the Place of You"/Dave Edmunds
  from the CD, "Closer to the Flame" (Capitol)
  -- "Love Make A Fool of Me"/Al Anderson
  from the CD, "After Hours" (Al Anderson Music)

  http://www.bigalanderson.com/bigalanderson/index.asp
  http://www.bigalanderson.com/bigalanderson/Store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=5
  

Distribution dates:

week of 10/22/2006 - hour 2 week of 10/30/2005 - hour 2

Listen!

................................................................

Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

Wisconsin Public Radio is a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.

Page design and management by Jim Fleming at Wisconsin Public Radio and Sarah Fleming.

© 2006 WHA Radio and the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved.