Life Matters

When author Barbara Ehrenreich was diagnosed with breast cancer she found the emphasis on positive thinking a burden rather than a support.

She describes positive thinking as an ideological force in American culture that is denying reality and promoting individual rather than social solutions to problems. She advocates a return to realism and critical thinking.

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Guests

Barbara Ehrenreich
Author and journalist

Professor Phyllis Butow
Chair of Psychology, University of Sydney

Gordon Spence
Research Fellow Coaching Psychology Unit University of Sydney

Trish Bolton
Women's health researcher

Further Information

Barbara Ehrenreich

Professor Phyllis Butow

Gordon Spence

Publications

Title: Smile or Die How Positive Thinking Fooled America & the World
Author: Barbara Ehrenreich
Publisher: Granta
URL: http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781847081353

Presenter

Richard Aedy

Producer

Amanda Armstrong

Story Researcher and Producer

Lindy Raine

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