From Chicken Soup for the Soul to The Secret, self-help is an 11-billion dollar industry. We’ll talk to a writer who attended workshops, conferences and visualizations to understand America’s fixation with being better. And, any pet owner will tell you that having a dog or cat enriches one’s life, but what about a pet tiger or bear? We’ll take a look into the underground world of exotic animal ownership in America. Plus, common sense tells us that reading to children is good for them, but it’s more powerful than you might imagine. We’ll look into the practice of interactive reading and share tricks for bringing up book worms in the age of screens and digital devices.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
Promise Land
- The writer Jessica Lamb-Shapiro set out to explore the 11-billion dollar industry of self-improvement books, seminars, and coaching to figure out why people follow them so devoutly--if they work--and what happens when they don’t. She’s written a memoir called, Promise Land: My Journey Through America’s Self-Help Culture, which is now out in paperback.
Exotic Pets Debate
- From kangaroos bred in captivity to trained tigers, exotic pets come from all walks of wildlife…and ownership of wild animals is increasingly becoming a hot debate. Exotic pet owners defend their right to care for critters from venomous snakes to angry chimps. Animal rights advocates meanwhile, are doing what they can to stop the purchase of exotic pets and place current ones into safe, accredited sanctuaries. Both camps appear to share a love of wild animals. Joining us is Lauren Slater who wrote about the exotic animal ownership debate for National Geographic.
- More on exotic pets right here.
Born Reading
- Jason Boog is director of story investigation at True Pictures. When he became a dad, he wanted his daughter to grow up loving books. So, he talked to doctors and authorities on child development, education and literature to get the latest advice on encouraging today’s kids to read. The result is Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age.
