Sustainable Minimalists

Modern conveniences make life easy. But has living become too easy? Convenience culture has made us vulnerable, and outsourcing our basic needs has cost us our independence and problem-solving skills.

The remedy to modern restlessness is working with your hands. Whether you live on sprawling acreage or a tiny apartment, you can take back your agency from the corporations profiting off our desire for ease. Learning new skills rewires your brain for better focus; it builds confidence and builds resilience through real-world problem-solving, too.

On today’s show, homesteader Sandy Eplett encourages you to take st...

In our fast-paced, convenience-driven world, we’ve made our waste invisible. But 'out of sight' isn't out of existence, and our wastefulness is creating big problems for future generations.

True self-awareness starts with taking responsibility for what we throw away. On today's show, author Cassandra Marketos joins us to reframe composting from a messy chore into an easy-as-pie, grounding antidote to instant gratification that teaches us slowness, observation, and presence.

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[5:00] Nature wants to decompose, no expensive gadgets or insane time commitments required!

[11:00] Composting is "soul-opening". Here's how<...

Not so long ago, humanity’s main pursuit was finding food and staving off hunger. But these days, we’re throwing out strawberries. We’re letting salad greens go bad in the crisper. And when it comes to transforming those broccoli stalks or potato peels into something delicious, we’ve lost the know-how.

In an age where the average home discards enough edible meals to sustain an entire extra person, reclaiming our kitchens from unnecessary food waste has never been more urgent. On today’s show, author Teralyn Pilgrim explores what our wastefulness says about us as a culture—...

A quiet revolution is starting in our backyards.

News headlines are certainly frightening at the moment, and watching billion-dollar corporations harm people and the planet in the name of profit is infuriating. But don’t let yourself slide into hopelessness. Whether you have a small urban balcony or sprawling rural acreage, you can reclaim your power as an activist through the small-scale choices you make every day.

On today’s show, author and homesteader Devon Ballard-Hudson walks us through her hopeful, accessible framework for reshaping the systems harming the planet, starting in our own homes and...

We live our lives surrounded by smart phones, smart devices, Wi-Fi networks, and wireless wearables. But as our homes become "smarter", the constant electropollution these devices emit carries risks for our long-term health.

Your home should be a sanctuary, not a radiation zone. On today's show, radiologist and author Dr. Rob Brown offers simple ways to dramatically reduce your daily electropollution load without giving up modern technology.

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[5:00] A doctor explains why he believes electropollution is "the secondhand smoke of our generation"

[13:30] Should our children wear Airpods o...

Reaching for your phone out of habit rather than necessity isn't a failure of self-discipline—and the fix isn't raw willpower. If you find yourself on your phone more than you'd like, it's likely time to make your phone far less enticing to pick up in the first place.

On today's show, author Ruby Ryba shares how decluttering your home screen can quiet the impulse to scroll, restore your personal boundaries, and build a peaceful analog environment at home.

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[4:00] Is your phone a neutral tool you happen to ove...

Our economy is built to keep us consuming on autopilot. Between frictionless digital checkouts, targeted algorithms, and subscription traps, buying has become effortless. So effortless, in fact, that we rarely register it as an active choice anymore.

But what happens when we slow down and reclaim that awareness?

On today’s show, author David Gaines makes a case for moving away from isolated, guilt-driven consumerism and toward community-based choices that have the power to transform our buying habits for the better.

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[6:30] Why algorithms and one-click buying strip away...

In a world filled with endless digital noise, it’s easier than ever to lose touch with the natural world.  Children are drawn to the excitement of screens, parents are increasingly anxious about real-world outdoor risks, and our culture far too often views the earth as a commodity to be bought and sold, not valued and preserved.

How do we rebuild our relationship with nature when our schedules are packed and our kids don't self-identify as "outdoor kids"?

On today's show, author Amber Vilhauer reminds us that nature isn't just a place to visit—it’s one o...

Extreme heat, wildfires, flash floods, and poor air quality are no longer abstract future projections—they form the backdrop of our kids' childhoods. Right now, extreme weather and their subsequent environmental factors are directly impacting our children's physical health, brain development, and outdoor play.

On today's show, national climate advisor Dr. Laura Schifter offers urgent, practical advice for protecting our children, fostering resilience, and moving from climate anxiety into meaningful family action.

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[11:00] Should we send our kids to summer camp during a heat wave? Play outdoor sports?

[16:00] Every sc...

In a world dominated by digital noise, reclaiming our peace has become one of the most urgent challenges of modern life. For parents, the stakes are even higher. How do we set healthy screen boundaries for our tech-obsessed kids? Where do we draw the line as artificial intelligence inserts itself in our homes and routines?

On today's show writer, father, and dumb phone user Andrew Broman explores what it really takes to disengage from the smartphone ecosystem and cultivate an intentional approach to emerging technology for both ourselves and our families.

Here's a p...

Ever wonder where your bags of donated clothes actually end up?

Most of us treat dropping off a bag at a donation bin like a magic trick. We hand it over, walk away, and assume it finds a good home.

But very often, away is Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, where 15 million secondhand garments arrive every single week.

On today’s show, contemporary artist Emmanuel “DoTT” Kunfaa pulls back the curtain on the dark side of donating and highlights they ways in which the illusion of charity is feeding waste colonialism.

Here's...

When the world is burning, finding joy can feel impossible—or worse, selfish. How do we make space for celebration without turning a blind eye to reality? Why would we even want to?

On today’s show, author Cheryl Leutjen dives into the idea that choosing delight counters the oppressive systems that thrive on our exhaustion, isolation, and apathy.

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[5:30] Are we dancing while...

Are we treating the symptoms of modern life while simultaneously ignoring our habitat?

You don’t need a gym membership or expensive workout gear to get your health back on track. On today’s show, Dr. John La Puma argues that all you need is a 17-minute dose of nature, every single day.

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[4:00] Modern medicine tends to pri...

What started in 2011 with just one woman and a small local government has exploded into a worldwide movement of over 174 million people. That movement is Plastic Free July.

But we aren’t just facing a litter problem anymore; we’re facing climate and health crises. A July that’s free of plastic is about building permanent habits, changing your relationsh...

Every week, we drag our trash bins to the curb, close the lid, and forget about them. But where does "away" actually go? And does the mere existence of waste "management" mean we can continue to consume more and more without major consequence?

On today's show, author and sanitation worker Simon Paré-Poupart discusses what he's learned in his 20 years on the back of a Montreal haul truck. He's here to pull back the curtain on the grueling yet essential work of waste collection. He's also here to offer a  sociological reflection on modern consumerism, systemic waste, an...

New things are everywhere—and they’re causing us to disconnect from what we value most.

In a world that constantly tells us that new is better, our relentless pursuit of material wealth is costing us money, time and happiness. Worse, when we define ourselves by what we own rather than who we are, we reduce our lives to a single, superficial dimension.

On today’s show, New York Times journalist Eric Athas offers advice for stepping away from the cycle of constant buying, saying no to shallowness, and discovering the right kind of “new” in our liv...

The plastic-drenched, disposable world we live in didn’t happen by accident. It was slowly, methodically built by Big Oil.

This week, award-winning environmental journalist Beth Gardiner joins us to pull back the curtain on who’s behind all this plastic and why. We explore why producti...

Why aren't we talking about the elephant in the room?

Broaching the topic of climate change can be socially awkward at best and polarizing at worst. In fact, psychology, evolutionary biology and modern day tribalism keep many of us tongue-tied.

But staying quiet isn't an option. Breaking the silence around our warming planet is one of the most powerful tools we have for systemic change. On today's show, author and climate scientist Norm Leo offers a formula for unlocking more deeply human, empathetic, and impactful conversations about climate change.

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We've come a long way. But not necessarily in the right direction.

From the the nostalgic days of AOL Instant Messenger to 2026's high-stakes, algorithmic landscape, constant connectivity has fundamentally shifted our attention spans, our peace of mind, and the way we show up for our families.

Worse, the desire to show up online often takes us directly out of real life. It's no surprise, then, that we're feeling the mental and emotional weight of the "scroll".

We don't have to throw our phones in a lake to find the reprieve we desperately...

In this era of relentless connectivity, taking an exit ramp from our digital lives has never looked more inviting. In fact, emerging science is now confirming what many of us feel: Smartphones are draining our cognitive reserves, shattering our focus, and keeping us in a state of low-level chronic anxiety.

To see if there’s a better way, reporter Courtney Lindwall shelved her iPhone for a $45 Nokia flip phone. Courtney is on the show today to discuss  the "dumb phone" movement, the logistical friction of navigating an app-dependent world, and why research says our brains are so desp...

In a world obsessed with consumption, we may try to buy our way into a sense of belonging. But a true feeling of “home” isn’t found in the latest trends or newest decor. It’s actually built by aligning our spaces with our deepest, core needs.

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Plastic has infiltrated our wardrobes, our water and even our bloodstreams, where it is quietly disrupting our hormonal health.

On today’s show Dr. Shanna Swan, the renowned environmental epidemiologist from the film, exposes exactly how plastic chemicals are quietly reshaping our health.

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[6:00] What’s “Phthalates Syndrome,” and what is this class of chemicals doing to masculinity? What about their evil twins, bisphenols?

[19:00] Stop assuming that products on store shelves are safe! (And other advice for listene...

We’ve all seen the images. The stark white rooms, the single designer chair, the perfectly curated capsule wardrobe. We’re told that if we just clear the clutter, we’ll find peace. 

But if we’re not careful, the minimalist aesthetic can become just another thing to buy, another thing to consume. 

On today’s show, Melora Johnson deconstructs the modern minimalist movement so that each of us can move from the clutter-free, beige-everything  minimalist aesthetic to a deeper, more sustainable practice rooted in intentionality.

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[7:30] Feeling that donation hi...

We’ve all heard the minimalist mantra: If you want peace, clear the clutter. But while clearing clutter reduces the “noise,” it doesn’t automatically fill the void.

On today’s show author Suzanne Searcy Johnson argues that the true antidote to our “more is more” culture isn’t just owning less—it’s connection. And to truly connect, we must first peel back the layers of noise, clutter, and distraction to find what’s actually real.

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[4:00] The materialism myth: We don’t buy things out of greed. We buy them because we’re disconn...

American culture tends to market aging as a slow fade into the background. After all, women are told that getting older comes with a loss of relevance, memory, and attractiveness.

But what if the season of midlife isn’t a crisis?

We aren’t just getting older; in fact, we’re getting louder, bolder, and more authentic. On today’s show podcast host Stacey Hutson dismantles the myth that our best years are behind us by breaking down the the science behind those hormonal shifts while also celebrating the fierce second act that follows.

Here’s a...

Behind every clever AI response is a massive, windowless data center humming with heat.

From the water-starved plains of West Texas to the sprawling 'Stargate' megaprojects in Wisconsin, the infrastructure that powers ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude is eating up natural resources and altering the landscapes of countless communities.

And while news headlines are hyper-focused on what AI can do, the real story lies in the uncovering the important resources it's devouring. On today's show we're pulling back the curtain on AI data centers to reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. We're also outlining...

In a world of minimalist trends and beige-on-beige living rooms, it’s easy to feel as though your home should look like a page from a high-end decor catalog. But when you prioritize perfection over personality, your home may become just another place in which you feel pressure to "keep up".

Let's ditch picture-perfect spaces in favor of lived-in havens. On today's show author Don Suttajit encourages us to curate homes that support our growth, restore our energy, and help us uncover who we truly are.

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[9:00] If we're not...

The world has changed so much, but the tenets of timeless parenting haven't changed one bit.

Our culture tends to treat childhood like a race. But the push to meet academic benchmarks at younger and younger ages is counterproductive to how a child's brain naturally develops. And when parents overschedule their children because they're afraid they'll be left behind, they may be robbing them of the downtime they need to thrive.

On today's show world-renowned child psychologists Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff dive into how to raise healthy, happy children without burning...

A former Meta executive recently revealed that, when a girl posts a selfie on social media and takes it down, the algorithm then targets her for beauty products.

Enter today's teen and tween skincare craze, where Sephora Kids and "SkinTock" reign supreme. But pushing skincare on young girls is a business that's off of highlighting a child's flaws. Worse, many of the products being marketed to them contain powerful ingredients that may actually harm — not help — developing skin.

On today's show: A minimalist parent's take on multi-step skincare routines for tweens and teens, with the help...

My husband and I made a fatal error. We gave our pre-teen limited access to a screen at a developmentally vulnerable age. And then we took it back.

On today's show: A cautionary tale about what happened when we eased up on our household's screen rules.

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[3:00] My household's descent into screendom: How did we get here?

[16:00] "The light went out behind her eyes" and other tween behavioral and personality changes

[21:00] The four foundational harms of smart phones, according to Jonathan Heidt

[28:00] Kids are highly...

While suburbia has long symbolized comfort, safety, and home ownership, its consequences reach far beyond picket fences and cul-de-sacs. From traffic congestion and environmental degradation to economic inequality and declining community life, our reverence for sprawl has reshaped how we live, work, and connect.

On today's show author and developer Steve Nygren discusses how this pattern of development took hold, who benefits when we're isolated, and what better alternatives can look like.

[6:30] Calling out the "boundaries that box us in"

[14:30] The antidote? Connect with people who have common concerns

The downsizing mindset isn’t just about moving to a smaller home or getting rid of clutter. It’s a lifestyle that creates a habit of routinely shedding excess weight from your life.

A downsizing mindset quietly trades excess for ease and distraction for depth. On today’s show podcaste...

Want to get off fossil fuels but don't know where to start? Thinking about ditching utilities but overwhelmed by the complexity? Many off-grid advocates attest that countercultural living saves money and infuses meaning into daily life. For my environmentalists listening, burning fewer fossil fuels also means you're living and breathing your pro-climate values.

On today's show author and off-grid enthusiast Ryan Mitchell offers his best tips for stepping back from—but not completely abandoning—society's (fossil fuel burning) systems. And because clean energy tax credits are soon expiring, today's conversation has a special focus on installing solar pane...

After World War II Americans became bonafide consumers. And yet conditioned consumerism sneakily hijacks our time, money, and mental bandwidth. It also harms the planet.

The system is entrenched, the marketing is omnipresent, and it's all designed to keep us buying until we die. But there IS a way out. On today's show author and former marketer Ashlee Piper pulls back the curtain on modern marketing so that we may hop off the addictive consumer hamster wheel for good.

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[5:30] There's a reason why so many of us shop to soothe...

From a young age, many of us were exposed to messages linking financial success with personal value. Advertisements, media, and even family conversations equate wealth with achievement and social status.

Not surprisingly, this constant reinforcement creates strong associations between money and self-worth.

Although our culture tends to regard money (and fancy job titles, for that matter) as symbols of success, my guest todays argues that money is nothing more than a tool. And if money is just a tool, it certainly doesn't have the power to say much about who we are as people: How...

Cultural messaging and suggests you should be happy all the time. But your "happy chemicals"—dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin—evolved to motivate survival behavior, not make you happy.

In fact, unhappiness is your brain's default state.

On today's show Dr. Loretta Breuning argues that you can manage your happy chemicals when you know how they work in the state of nature, and she's here to show us how.

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[9:00] Serotonin is about social dominance. Enter comparison and competition

[13:00] Want a dose of oxytocin? Be part of a her...

Every purchase you make has an impact on the world. If you aren't careful, your shopping choices contribute to climate change and social injustice. But when you align the contents of your shopping cart with your personal values you slowly but surely shape the market.

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[4:00] 70% of the U.S. economy is...

Influencer marketing is a case study in how easy it is to sell things to followers who trust their favorite online personalities. But offering that elusive 'personal recommendation' for EVERYthing has normalized both inauthentic endorsing and impulse shopping. It has normalized the buying and selling of your precious attention, too.

Here's a sneak peak of today's episode for subscribers. Listen to the whole episode by becoming a paid supporter! On Apple Podcasts hit the "Try Free" button or, if you listen elsewhere, sign up via Substack. Thanks for considering!

There are few things more satisfying than completing a proper spring cleaning. Deep cleaning when the weather warms is a biological imperative that's rooted in centuries of tradition because the practice lightens moods and improves health. It also symbolizes renewal as we come out of hibernation and back into the sunshine.

You aren't alone in your seasonal desire to deep clean. On today's show: Opening the windows, deep-cleaning those closets, stripping the beds, and vacuuming those oft-ignored places just in time for the Spring Equinox.

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[5:00] The evolutionary reasons t...

When we let go of what doesn't serve us, we remove weight that holds us down. On today's show we turn to Zen Buddhism for wisdom on letting go of anxiety about the future, grudges, stuff, dead relationships, and more.

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[4:00] Insanely anxious about the future? (Me too!) Don't spend your energy worrying; do this instead

[12:00] Think of decluttering not as throwing stuff away; think of it instead as setting your stuff (and yourself!) free

[19:00] How to let go of lost friendships and relationships, straight from the mouths of...