Why do We Write to Advice Columns?

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Writing to a complete stranger about your most pressing, personal issues seems a bit odd. But that's exactly what the advice column is! From their origin as the Google of the 1600s to the booming renaissance of today, Danielle examines the strange history of advice columns.

Special thanks to our Historian Harry Brisson on Patreon! Join him at   / originofeverything  

Created and Hosted by Danielle Bainbridge
Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios

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Origin of Everything is a show about the undertold histories and cultural dialogues that make up our collective story. From the food we eat, to the trivia and fun facts we can’t seem to get out of our heads, to the social issues we can’t stop debating, everything around us has a history. Origin of Everything is here to explore it all. We like to think that no topic is too small or too challenging to get started.

Works Cited:
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Slate Magazine. (2020). How to Do It. [online] Available at: https://slate.com/human-interest/how-... [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Owen, L. (2020). Can’t read just one: Slate’s daily advice columns are strange, funny, deep, and increasingly a major traffic driver for the site. [online] Nieman Lab. Available at: https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/07/can... [Accessed 18 Jan. 2020].
LaFrance, A. (2020). The Questions People Asked Advice Columnists in the 1690s. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/technolog... [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
LaFrance, A. (2020). The Questions People Asked Advice Columnists in the 1690s. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/technolog... [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Historyofinformation.com. (2020). "Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic," the First Newspaper Published in North America, Suppressed after a Single Issue : History of Information. [online] Available at: http://www.historyofinformation.com/d... [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].
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Sanghani, R. (2020). 19th century advice for single women: 'Sexual indulgences should be kept to a minimum'. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/wom... [Accessed 18 Jan. 2020].
Mangan, L. (2020). A brief history of agony aunts. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst... [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Medium. (2020). The Evolution of the Advice Column. [online] Available at:   / the-evolution-of-the-advice-column   [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].
Brammer, J. (2019). The Advice Column Renaissance. [online] Columbia Journalism Review. Available at: https://www.cjr.org/special_report/th... [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Columbia Journalism Review. (2020). Poll: How does the public think journalism happens?. [online] Available at: https://www.cjr.org/special_report/ho... [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/1/16836834...