Forensic Tales

6 high-traffic, high-impact spaces to declutter that you can complete in 20 minutes or less. Here's a preview of the spaces we're decluttering today: [4:00] Your car console [9:45] Your purse/backpack/baby bag [16:00] Your linen closet [25:00] Your medicine cabinet [28:00] The surface of your desk [33:00] Your spice cabinet   Resources mentioned: Episode #009: A Sustainable Minimalist'...

When it comes to skincare, loads of products line store shelves. Almost all of them make bold, anti-aging claims (fountain of youth, anyone?). But buying All. The. Products. comes with hefty financial and environmental price tags: If we want to age gracefully, what's the average woman to do and buy? On today's show, board certified dermatologist  Dr. Mary Alice Mina  makes the case that us...

#165 - On September 20, 1988, Tara Calico left her home in New Mexico to go on a bike ride she took almost every morning. When she didn't return home, her mom anxiously looked for her, but never found her. Over three decades later, Tara is still missing with little forensic evidence in the case.   Support My Work If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positiv...

And we’re at it again! On today's show I’m answering 4 listener questions in rapid-fire format. Here's a preview of the questions I'm answering: [1:30] What should conscious consumers consider when buying eco-conscious undergarments? [13:30] What are some practical first steps for college students who want to practice sustainability? [18:00] Oh what to do with baby bottles, car seats,...

Inflation got you down? Chin up, friends! On today's episode: 12 tangible grocery store hacks that save money and reduce food waste.  Here's a preview: [2:00] What it looks like in real life to sacrifice convenience for better prices [7:30] Even more reasons why you should consider buying dried beans instead of canned [13:00] Can you freeze cheese? (Answer: Yes! Here's how) [18:00] Whe...

#164 - In November 1981, actress Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned off the coast of Southern California during a boating trip with her husband and friends. Her death was ruled as an accidental drowning, but rumors swirled that something far more sinister happened to the Hollywood star.   Support My Work If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating w...

88% of US and UK consumers want brands to help them be more sustainable in their daily lives and many are willing to pay a premium for plastic-free products. But despite consumer demand, plastic is everywhere and downright impossible to avoid. On today's show: 9 places those pesky polymers lurk, plus hacks for avoiding them. Here's a preview: [4:00] Here's what you never knew about tir...

The typical American funeral boasts exotic flowers, a coffin made of fancy wood, and formaldehyde-based embalming. But green burials require fewer resources and skip a number of unnecessary steps; they also tend to be less expensive. Today I speak with green mortician  Elizabeth Fournier  about alternatives to conventional burials and cremations that are easier on the planet. Here's a preview:...

#163 - A young college student was found murdered inside her North Carolina off-campus apartment in September 2012. The more the police released about the investigation, the more questions everyone had about what happened to Faith Hedgepeth. Explicit language used in this episode. Please take care while listening.   Support My Work If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by l...

Cyberpsychology is an emerging field that examines the ways in which technology influences human behavior. On today's show we discuss what happens to our purchasing habits when psychology, sociology, and 21st century tech collide. Here's a preview: [1:30] Who you think you are is influenced by others (hello, looking glass self!) [8:30] It's human nature to compare and compete: Here&#39...

Quitting is aerobics for your brain; it's also the counterintuitive secret to success. Today I bring you a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist  Julia Keller  about how to view quitting not as a pejorative but instead as a tool for swapping one destiny for another.  Here's a preview: [5:00] How the self-help movement created our anti-quit bias [9:00] The similarities between...

#162 - In July 2014, 52year old Lynn Messer mysteriously disappeared from her family's 260-acre farm in Bloomsdale, Missouri. After searching for Lynn for days, the official search was called. And for the next two years, everyone wondered where Lynn Messer was. But when her body was eventually discovered, this led to more questions than answers. What happened to Lynn Messer?   Support My Work If y...

Organizing mega-influencer Marie Kondo made headlines earlier this week when she admitted to "kind of giv(ing) up" on tidying after having her third child. If, like Marie, you're feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned with minimalism, today's episode is here to help.  Here's a preview: [6:00] Let's first reign in our expectations: minimalism won't solve EVERYthing (but i...

When we return an unwanted gift to the manufacturer, it goes back on the shelf to be resold, right? Wrong. Most returned gifts (5.8 billion tons, to be exact) end up in landfills each and every year. The solution lies in responsible gifting, which alleviates the consequences associated with massive finite resource waste; it also saves shoppers time, money, and unnecessary stress. Today author  Tra...

#161 - In December 2010, a 24-year-old woman was mysteriously found dead at the bottom of a trash chute inside an Australian apartment building. Foul play was quickly ruled out, but her loved ones believe the police conducted a botched investigation. What happened to Phoebe Handsjuk?   Support My Work If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating wit...

Thanks to its rich supply of antioxidants, dark chocolate has long been revered for its health benefits. But there's a dark side to dark chocolate: Recent research has found heavy metals in many of our favorite brands. The worst part? These heavy metals - cadmium and lead - are linked to serious health problems including cancer in both children and adults.  Today we round out Chocolate Week wi...

Ah, chocolate. While those decadent brown rectangles enjoy near-universal consumer love, the reality is far less sweet: Chocolate is one of the most unethical and unsustainable foods we eat.  We can continue to enjoy chocolate by purchasing smarter. Today's show is Part 1 in a 2-part series about chocolate, and today - just in time for Valentine's Day! - we unearth the ethical and environm...

#160 - In 2004, 22-year-old Leonila Stickney left poverty behind in the Philippines. She dreamed of her slice of the American dream. Shortly after arriving in the U.S., she met a much older man who promised to care for her and her family. But only five years later, her American dream ended when she was tragically shot and killed during a hunting accident. Although her death was ruled an accident,...

70% of American parents worry their children spend too much time on screens. Are you one of them?  Here's a preview: [3:00] The implications of multiple screen shifts on attention span and executive functioning [5:00] Exactly how much screen time children *should* get versus what they *actually* get [7:00] School performance, inactivity, and more: 4 consequences associated with too much screen...

Algae is having moments in many spotlights. First, innovators are using microalgae - not petrochemicals - to create disposable packaging. Elsewhere, macroalgae is fed to cows to reduce their methane emittance. And pesky algae blooms? There's actually a company that first captures then transforms algae blooms into our favorite sneaker's cushiony foam.  Still, algae's biggest potential c...

#159 - In April 2016, Jessica Boynton, the wife of a Griffin police officer, was found with a gunshot wound to the head inside her apartment. The case appeared to be a simple case of suicide. But almost three weeks after the shooting, everything changed. Was this a self-inflicted gunshot? Or was someone else responsible for shooting Jessica that night?   Support My Work If you love the show, the e...

A Top 10 list of minimalism's best and biggest life lessons. Here's a preview of a few we're covering: [4:00] Memories don't reside in trinkets. [10:00] Save so you can spend ... on what matters. [21:30] Extras keep us cluttered. [23:30] You can’t recoup “worth”. [29:00] Space is more valuable than stuff (and peace of mind is most valuable of all). [31:00] It’s not a deal if you do...

From meat-free 'chicken' nuggets to non-dairy ice creams, plant-based foods that actually taste good are becoming increasingly available in grocery stores. In many ways it's never been easier to find kid-friendly and carnivore-friendly cuisine. So then why aren't more of us (myself included) transitioning our families to plant-based eating? In honor of Veganuary I bring you a conve...

#158 - On November 13th, 2022, four University of Idaho students were murdered in their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho. All of them had been fatally stabbed to death. After a seven week investigation, the police arrested a suspect in the murders. A 28-year-old Ph. D student. The suspect is currently being held in jail without bail and has been charged with four counts of first degree murder. Wi...

Stuff breaks. In 2023, stuff breaks often. Few amongst us possess the knowledge to fix the evermore complex gadgets we use every day; worse, professional repairs (if they're even available) often cost more than replacing the item outright. What's a sustainable minimalist to do? On today's episode we discuss all-things conscious consumption as it relates to home appliances, planned obso...