Bright-Sided

322. Talk Back: Why Arguing With Yourself Can Help You Flourish

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques, 10 September 2026. The book comes up at 13 min 26 sec in.

Martin Seligman recalls that the late Barbara Ehrenreich, a critic of positive psychology, wrote Bright-Sided, which compared him to the Wizard of Oz. He describes how near the end of her life the two entered a dialogue in which he reframed her social-justice engagement as a health-preserving optimism, and says she wrote to him shortly before her death finding that meaningful.

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