Broadcast: May 19, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
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The rise of the wellness industry and marketing of wellness products moves us away from the individualized practices that actually make us feel healthy. How do we find our way back?
The term “wellness” is a nebulous one — encompassing everything from your rest practices and exercise regimen to stress management and eating habits. This broad scope has led to a large wellness industry, full of companies and brands selling products responding to concerns about our mental and physical health.
But what the companies sell is often a Band-Aid to greater structural and collective issues that make us feel unwell.
Host Anita Rao talks with journalist Rina Raphael, the author of “The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the Promise of Self-Care,” about how the wellness industry came to be and the marketing tactics behind it. She also runs the Substack newsletter "Well To Do."
And Kim Young, a licensed clinical social worker also known as the Dope Black Social Worker, joins to discuss incorporating our wellness into our work life.
Special thank you to Dr. Della Mosley, David Young Oh, Liza Kindred and Dr. Ellen Vora for their contributions to this episode.