The origins of self-help writing are often traced back to ancient times. This episode talks through some early versions of it, the goal-setting advice of a founding father, and the beginnings of the modern self-help genre.

Research:

• Brady, Diane. “Charles Manson’s Turning Point: Dale Carnegie Classes.” Bloomberg Businessweek. July 22, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130925204803/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-22/charles-mansons-turning-point-dale-carnegie-classes
• Britannica Editors. "Lunyu". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Jan. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lunyu
• Britannica Editors. "Norman Vincent Peale". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norman-Vincent-Peale
• Carnegie, Dale. “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” London. Vermillion. Digital: https://dn720004.ca.archive.org/0/items/english-collections-1/How%20To%20Win%20Friends%20And%20Influence%20People%20-%20Carnegie%2C%20Dale.pdf
• Fairbanks, Douglas. “Laugh and Live.” New York. Britton Publishing Company. 1917. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12887/pg12887.txt
• Fontaine, Carole R. “A Modern Look at Ancient Wisdom: The Instruction of Ptahhotep Revisited.” The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 44, no. 3, 1981, pp. 155–60. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3209606
• Franklin, Benjamin. “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.” HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY. 1916. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm#X
• Battiscombe G. “THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAH-HOTEP AND THE INSTRUCTION OF
  KE'GEMNI: THE OLDEST BOOKS IN THE WORLD.” London. John Murray. 1906. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30508/30508-h/30508-h.htm
• Lilienfeld, Scott O. and Hal Arkowitz. “Can positive thinking be negative?” Scientific American. May 1, 2011. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-positive-thinking-be-negative/
• Ray, J. D. “Egyptian Wisdom Literature.” Wisdom in Ancient Israel. Ed. John Day, Robert P. Gordon, and Hugh Godfrey Maturin Williamson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 17–29.
• Stableford, Brian. “Samuel Smiles.” Ebsco. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/samuel-smiles
• Seneca, Lucius Annaius, and Garth D. Williams (tr.). “On the Shortness of Life.” https://ia601705.us.archive.org/25/items/SenecaOnTheShortnessOfLife/Seneca%20on%20the%20Shortness%20of%20Life.pdf
• Tabor, Nick. "Dale Carnegie". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Nov. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dale-Carnegie

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This 2019 episode covers Paul Julius Reuter, who had a knack for filling in the gaps in communication systems, and making a lot of money doing so.

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Holly talks about the ways Joseph Medill could be both problematic and surprising. Tracy shares her additional thoughts on the book about caroling she used during research that wasn't always about caroling.

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