The Rap on Happiness

Here's a piece from the New York Times Book Review that discusses a recent backlash against the self-help industry and positive psychology: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/books/review/Bloom-t.html?scp=1&sq=rap%20on%20happiness&st=cse. The article, by fiction writer Amy Bloom, mentions Against Happiness as well as another book worth checking out: Barbara Ehrenreich's Bright-Sided.

Gnostic Media

Last week I had a very interesting conversation with Jan Irvin, the host of a weekly podcast for Gnostic Media Research & Publishing. His show, as he describes it, "takes you far beyond the commonly understood concepts of religious practice, history, philosophy, the ancient mysteries, and politics, into the heart of cognizance itself." We talked about America's addiction to superficial happiness and the powers of melancholia, of course, but also about an array of other subjects, ranging from shopping malls to politics to Paradise Lost. Here's a link to the show: http://gnosticmedia.podomatic.com/