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 need. On today's show author Emily Feldpausch argues that it isn’t about rejecting technology. It’s about reclaiming the intentionality that the algorithms try to take away.

Here's a preview:

[5:00] Reflections on the shift from the early days of AIM and MySpace to the current user experience that often feels designed against us

[8:45] How being always on has eroded our collective sense of peace and altered the dynamics of modern family life

[18:00] How to stop checking in and start being present

[23:00] A candid look at 2026 internet culture, from shopping hauls to harmful beauty standards. Can we still find corners of the web that align with our true values?

[27:00] Emily's personal strategies for maintaining phone boundaries to protect her mental space

Resources mentioned:

• This episode is sponsored by Fearless Finance. Use code SUSTAINABLE to get $50 off your first meeting.
• Technology Is Getting Worse
• The Unfollow Effect: Intentional Living in a Digital Age
• Book Club

• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

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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 desperate for a break.

Here's a preview:

[7:00] Continuous partial attention, instinctual muscle memory, and other ways in which our smartphones are working against us

[9:00] Gray scale? screen limits? Here's why the tools and tricks don't work for the vast majority of us

[14:00] Thoughts on our emotional attachments to our phones—and the emotional experiences they provide

[22:00] The psychological benefits of embracing a bit more "friction"

[33:00] Our brains are malleable, and we get used to a new normal quite quickly. Lean into that!

• How an old-school flip phone changed my life (via Consumer Reports)
• This detox may erase 10 years of social media brain damage, researchers say (via The Washington Post)
• The Brick phone access blocker device

• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

Resources mentioned:

• Episode #184: In Defense of Subtraction
• In a Good Place: How the Spaces Where We Live, Work, and Play Can Help Us Thrive (via Bookshop.org)

• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

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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.

Here’s a preview:

[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 listeners who feel they have too much on their plate to worry about microscopic amounts of chemicals.)

[24:00] “It’s definitely not easy, but it’s also not that hard.” Here’s how Dr. Swan avoids plastic in her own life

[32:00] Hormone disrupting chemicals are in EVERYthing. How to identify which lifestyle swaps actually move the needle and which are just noise

[34:00] Are older items less dangerous?

Resources mentioned:

• The Plastic Detox (via Netflix)
• Unplasticyourlife.com
• Episode #393: Single-Use Poison (via Apple Podcasts, with investigative journalist Matt Simon)
• Environmental Working Group consumer guide

• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

Here’s a preview:

[7:30] Feeling that donation high? Here’s why decluttering and donating feels so good in the moment but often fails to stop the cycle of re-accumulation

[11:30] Can authentic minimalism exist in a consumerist culture?

[16:00] Candid thoughts on how and why minimalism has been commercialized

[25:00] How to tell if your minimalism is driving more shopping or actually shrinking your ecological footprint

[28:30] Listen to your whispers!

Resources mentioned:

• Sustainably Styled by Melora
• Melora on Instagram
• Our Book Club pick for Mon. March 2: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life

• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

Here’s a preview:

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

[9:00] Are you disconnected? Here are some warning signs

[11:45] Health! Clarity! Stress reduction! A laundry list of problems that reconnecting with nature can help solve

[18:30] Thoughts on embracing the beautiful mess of real-life relationships

[28:00] When we’re disconnected to ourselves, we’ve blocked our intuition

Resources mentioned:

• Beyond Decluttering Book
• Suzanne on Instagram
• Suzanne’s free resources
• Our Book Club pick for Mon. March 3: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life
• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 preview:

[7:00] IDGAF Energy: How hormonal shifts can actually fuel a powerful new sense of assertiveness and boundaries

[16:00] Science-backed ways to navigate the intersection of “puberty in reverse” and the relentless mental load of motherhood

[19:00] Mindfulness, cycle syncing, creatine, and other “buffer supporting” practices

[25:00] Musings on why our culture tends to dismiss older women

[28:00] Rejecting the idea that aging equals irrelevance, plus: Thoughts on leaning into the mundane

Resources mentioned:

• The Next Phase podcast
• Explain Cycle Syncing to Me: Your Guide to Aligning Food, Fitness & Energy with Your Hormones (via Apple Podcasts)
• How to Eat With Your Cycle to Balance Hormones in Perimenopause (via Apple Podcasts)
• Fair Play (via Bookshop.org)
• Stacey on Substack
• Our Book Club pick for Mon. March 3: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life

• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 action steps if a data center is in your community.

Here's a preview:

[5:00] Data centers simply must stay on 99.999% of the time (and other little-known data center facts)

[10:00] A single AI query emits ten times more carbon into the atmosphere. Plus: Rising electricity prices for everyone!

[21:00] Cognitive offloading? AI offloads *thinking*

[25:00] Your attention is your most valuable currency

[27:00] Not in your backyard! If a data center being planned in your community, stop, drop, and follow these action steps

• What We Can Know by Ian McKewan
• Community Action Works
• This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!
• Join our (free!) Facebook community here.
• Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists
• Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.