Debunking the False Promises of the Wellness Industry

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2023

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Juicing, biohacking, mindfulness apps, collagen supplements: the wellness industry has exploded into a $4.4 trillion movement. Wellness industry journalist Rina Raphael says that the self-care movement has taken sound ideas about nutrition and fitness and packaged them up into exploitative offerings with questionable claims. Drawing on her new book, The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the False Promise of Self-Care, Raphael discusses how women in particular are targeted and pressured into a cycle of sacrifice and performance, encouraged to purge their bodies of excess fat, rid their minds of negative thoughts and cleanse their organs of ’toxins’ – in order to maintain an illusion of control. In conversation with journalist Nelufar Hedayat, Raphael shows us how we can find evidence-based, personalised solutions to our problems and get ourselves onto the path of genuine wellbeing. ... Did you know that Intelligence Squared offers way more than podcasts? We’ve just launched a new online streaming platform Intelligence Squared+ and we’d love you to give it a go. It’s packed with more than 20 years’ worth of video debates and conversations on the world’s hottest topics. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch back on-demand totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into for just £14.99 a month. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, it's Kamala Ahmed here, and I'm here to tell you about energised, the brand
0:08.6	new podcast Intelligent Squared is launching in partnership with E. Bedrola.
0:14.3	The climate crisis is the most pressing issue of our time.
0:18.7	Temperatures are set to rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in
0:24.4	the next two decades, and increase that will cause irreversible damage to our planet.
0:29.5	But is there still hope?
0:33.1	If humans are to blame for climate change, then we must also provide the solutions.
0:38.3	And that's where energised comes in.
0:41.0	Join me as I bring together experts and policymakers to delve deep into the key issues at the heart
0:46.6	of the global drive towards net zero and the innovations that promise to accelerate the
0:51.4	energy transition and transform the way we live.
0:55.2	Search energised wherever you get your podcasts.
1:26.2	Rina Raphael's writing takes a skeptical view of the wellness industry.
1:32.2	It's the topic of her recent book, The Gospel of Wellness, and joining Rina today in conversation
1:37.5	is Nellafar Hadayat, the award-winning broadcaster and journalist whose work focuses on social
1:42.5	issues.
1:43.5	Let's join Nellafar now with more.
1:47.8	Welcome one and all to this Intelligent Squared event with Rina Raphael.
1:52.9	She is a journalist who specialises in health, wellness, tech and women's issues.
1:59.0	Her analysis has helped the readers of the Fast Company magazine, The New York Times,
2:03.1	and many, many other publications question the beautifully presented, but rather dubious
2:09.2	world of wellness.
	...

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