Most of us spend some part of our lives feeling bad about ourselves and wanting to feel better. But this preoccupation is a surprisingly new one in the history of the world, and can largely be traced back to one man: a rumpled, convertible-driving California state representative named John Vasconcellos who helped spark a movement that took over schools, board rooms, and social-service offices across America in the 1990s. This week, we look at the rise and fall of the self-esteem movement and ask: is it possible to raise your self-esteem? And is trying to do so even a good idea? Special thanks to big thank you to the University of California, Santa Barbara Library for use of audio material from their Humanistic Psychology Archives and to their staff for helping located so many audio recordings. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Heather Radke and Matt Kielty Produced by - Matt Kietly Original music and sound design by - Jeremy S. Bloom and Matt Kielty Flute performance and compositions by - Ben Batchelder Voiceover work by - Dann Fink and David Gebel Mixing help by - Jeremy S. Bloom Fact-checking by - Anna Pujol-Mazzini and Angely Mercado and Edited by - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: Articles - UCSB Humanistic Psychology Archive (https://zpr.io/HfVjUmvcVevE) Books - Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us ( https://zpr.io/eGRyqz9zNQHu ) by Will Storr. Counterpoint, 2018. A Liberating Vision (https://zpr.io/tJn7BR5m84fv) by Vasconcellos, John. Impact Publishers, Inc., 1979 The Therapeutic State ( https://zpr.io/tJn7BR5m84fv ) by Nolan, James, Jr. NYU Press, 1998 Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.