Finders and Keepers

Can a childhood memento bring good luck and inspiration decades into the future? For comedy writer Alrinthea Carter, who’s held onto her MC Hammer doll from the 1980s, the answer is an emphatic yes. In this episode, Carter discusses her pop culture favorites from the 80s and 90s, what MC Hammer meant to her then (and now), why the doll has pride of place on her talisman shelf (along with a Prince...

What can a recovering hoarder learn from a decluttering expert? Find out as Finders and Keepers host Rachel Kramer Bussel gets tips from Avery Cundill, host of The Declutter Queen podcast. They discuss how Cundill went from being someone with her fair share of clutter to an avid declutterer, why Cundill prefers the term “collectors” to “hoarders,” why clearing out clutter is important, and how to...

Are print magazines dead? Of course not! While many once-thriving magazines have shuttered or switch to digital only, a new crop of independent print magazines are filling valuable niches. We spoke with Laura LeBleu, editor of Geezer magazine, a new publication aimed at Generation X, to find out how she got the idea for Geezer , why analog is back, and what makes her generation love the feel of tu...

Moving is a process most people dread because it forces us to closely examine what we own and decide what really needs to be packed up, lugged around, then unpacked in a new home. Items we’d been content to let stockpile in a closet become another matter entirely when faced with storing them in boxes upon boxes. In this episode, thriller author Rob Hart discusses how he went about downsizing twice...

Writer Athena Dixon owns hundreds of items of Black memorabilia, ranging from household goods with racist Jim Crow-era artifacts dating back to the early 20th century, such as a 1931 “Colored Entrance Only” sign from Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama, to civil rights movement-era mementos. From segregated water fountain signage to household items such as napkins and tchotchkes, her vast col...

As they get older, our children naturally outgrow formerly beloved toys and move on to more age-appropriate ones. But what about their parents? For father of two Aymann Ismail, saying goodbye to those toys is a more emotionally fraught process. Having witnessed his kids spending hours with their toys, when he looks at them, he sees their past selves, not just objects that once sat on a toy store s...

Choosing which clothes we want to wear on any given day is about so much more than fashion. How we dress is often deeply connected to our self-expression, creativity, and gender identity, which we dive into with our guest Edgar Gomez, author of memoirs Alligator Tears and High-Risk Homosexual . Edgar discusses curating a queer life, how being non-binary relates to their fashion choices, selecting...

In the late 2000s, Kari Ferrell become infamous online when she was dubbed the “Hipster Grifter” in the media for scamming men out of money in Brooklyn. While the sensationalized version of her life grabbed headlines, behind the scenes, a lot more was going on. Ferrell’s memoir, You’ll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist , explores what led up...

To promote her new boy band cruise novel American Fantasy , novelist Emma Straub, who co-owns Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic, went all out with swag. Partnering with VistaPrint, Straub created promotional items tied to the novel’s theme, featuring things vacationers would need on a cruise, including a Boybands Are Magic hat (her favorite item), a water bottle, sunscreen, breath mints, and play...

Host Rachel Kramer Bussel didn’t even know what fly fishing was when author and angling educator Nick Parish reached out to proclaim that fly fishing is the ultimate sport for hoarders. Since Finders and Keepers is all about our emotional attachments to our belongings, Rachel felt compelled to learn more. Parish, who’s based in Portland, Oregon, runs what he calls a “fly fishing media empire” onli...

Sara Schaefer is a comedian who’s appeared on or written for shows on Comedy Central, Apple+, Netflix, MTV, and more, and is the host of Crafting Through It on YouTube, where she, in her words, “infuses the handmade with the humorous.” In this episode of Finders and Keepers, Sara introduces us to the world of miniatures, from how to make a mini comedy club set to just how much math is involved, wh...

Emily Hessney Lynch, host of the podcast It’s a Lot , joins us to discuss two topics that are emotionally heavy and very much a lot: how to handle items we inherit from family members when we’re not sure why we’re inheriting them or what role they might play in our lives, and how to preserve memories of our children’s earliest moments. Emily shares why an apple juice bottle plays such a pivotal ro...

How do we develop a lifelong reading habit? What turns someone into a “book person?” And once we are a confirmed book person, how do we decide which books to keep on our bulging bookshelves? Deesha Philyaw, author of the bestselling, award-winning short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and forthcoming novel The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman , shares her journey to becomi...

Emily Mester, author of American Bulk: Essays on Excess , joins us to discuss the thrill of Costco shopping, the agony of online shopping returns, and why we just can’t quit the excitement of looking for the next item that will change our lives. Can shopping be just a pleasure instead of a “guilty” one? Join us as we dive into Emily’s family history with shopping, reading reviews of products we’re...

Kristyana, April, and Twanna have been friends for over 25 years, and teddy bear Nathaniel Behr has been an integral part of their friend group. What started as a small purchase has morphed into decades of shared memories as the teddy bear has traveled with them on adventures around the world. The three friends live in different cities in the United States and Portugal, but their teddy bear gets s...

We’re thrilled to announce that this week, we’re launching the podcast Finders and Keepers, about our emotional attachments to our belongings, hosted by Open Secrets Magazine editor-in-chief Rachel Kramer Bussel . You can listen to the trailer above. The podcast will cover everything from keepsakes to collections, minimalism to maximalism to hoarding and far beyond. If it’s about possessions and h...