Sustainable Minimalists

Are we treating the symptoms of modern life while simultaneously ignoring our habitat? The average American now spends 93% of their life indoors. But humans evolved for millennia alongside the natural world, and research suggests that our indoor lifestyle is disrupting our sleep, focus and long-term health. You don’t need a gym membership or expensive workout gear to get your health back on track....

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. Yet 15 years after the challenge’s inception, plastic production continues to exponentially grow. It’s all-too easy to dismiss the challenge as little more than an opportunity to post a picture of a bamboo toothbrush on social...

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 h...

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 Eri...

The plastic-drenched, disposable world we live in didn’t happen by accident. It was slowly, methodically built by Big Oil. They’re doing everything in their power to get people to use as much plastic as possible, all so they can make money from every single molecule they extract from the ground. And right now, they’re pouring billions of dollars into plans to double, or even triple , plastic produ...

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...

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, tha...

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 Noki...

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. The link between our environment and our well-being goes far beyond aesthetics. On today’s show, author Leidy Klotz offers research-backed strategies for des...

Plastic has infiltrated our wardrobes, our water and even our bloodstreams, where it is quietly disrupting our hormonal health. That’s the premise of Netflix’s ground-breaking new documentary, “The Plastic Detox”. On today’s show Dr. Shanna Swan , the renowned environmental epidemiologist from the film, exposes exactly how plastic chemicals are quietly reshaping our health. Here’s a preview: [6:00...

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 mov...

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 distr...

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 ye...

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 rea...

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 Suttaji...

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...

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 market...

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. Here's a preview: [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 b...

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 develo...

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. If you’re feeling heaviness and overwhelm, embracing a downsizing approach to life may serve as an act of personal liberation. Detaching from possessions often frees up time, money, and energy for what really matters....

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...

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 marketi...

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 symbol...

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...

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. Times are uncertain and everyday goods are getting more expensive. Still, we should purchase with intention anyway. On today's show...