Joshua and Ryan talk about trading in our materialistic clinging for transcendent freedom with author, podcaster, and comedian Lisa Lampanelli, and they answer the following questions: How do you define “humor”? (00:00) What is the “United States of Avoidance”? (08:26) When life changes your path, how do you stop clinging to the hope you once had? (14:20) How do we accept the death of a dream? (15:33) What do you mean by “daring to suck”? (17:45) Is it helpful to simply treat our passions as hobbies until they pay the bills? (18:25) How did Lisa get her start in comedy? (20:18) When a loved one has passed, how do I honor their final wishes as executor and appropriately distribute the possessions they clung to when they did not leave specific instructions for doing so? (22:46) How do you stop clinging to the security of a job simply because it pays well? (29:56) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about calm, serenity, and the sound of simplicity with musician Andrew Belle, and they answer the following questions: How do we find serenity in the echoes of our decluttered spaces? (00:00) If you’re living a life that aligns with your values, why would it be necessary to take a vacation from it to find solace and silence? (13:39) Is there any evidence that overconsumption of podcasts or other informative audio is linked to anxiety? (21:08) How do we move closer to access and further from excess? (24:18) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about resisting the incessant tug of consumerism while striving to simplify, and they answer the following questions: How do we overcome our shopping addiction? (00:00) What are the three prime indicators of compulsive buying? (04:00) What is consumerism? (06:45) When does something become an addiction? (09:39) Why do people have shopping addictions? (19:17) When creating a capsule wardrobe and running up against challenges regarding durability, should we buy more clothes at once or purchase clothes more often? (19:35) What is Project 333? (21:33) How do I adjust my shopping habits so they better align with my minimalist practices? (26:01) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about removing the excess to expose the everyday beauty that’s all around us with author, podcaster, and pastor Erwin Raphael McManus, and they answer the following questions: What exactly is “beauty”? (00:00) Can beauty help us find peace? (05:01) How do we discover and incorporate singular beautiful accents and items throughout our homes while maintaining a simple, minimalist style? (11:55) What is the value of negative space? (14:21) How do we find the beauty inside ourselves, and then be content with it? (18:42) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about the folly of the self-help industry’s focus on exhausting positivity—on trying to convince us that we can out-eat, out-learn, and out-perform our humanness—with author, podcaster, and professor Kate Bowler, and they answer the following questions: What is the “gospel of hustle”? (00:00) What are the signs that positivity has become toxic for us as individuals, and what are the signs that our well-intentioned positive vibes are becoming toxic to others? (06:58) Where did the ‘good vibes only’ orthodoxy originate? (07:21) Why does complaining seem to encourage camaraderie? (10:03) What is the problem with the language of positivity? (10:43) What is “horizon work”? (12:23) What is “choice poor”? (12:38) How do we address those that weaponize perspectives, such as toxic positivity, to bully us into accepting and adopting their way of thinking as our own; for example, when people that disapprove of minimalism call minimalists “privileged”? (17:11) How do you define “elitism”? (21:45) What is “prudential wisdom”? (23:39) Where did the notion come from that being positive is the cure for everything, the path for everyone, the solution to whatever life throws at you—what is wrong with embracing sadness, contemplation, grief, anxiety? (31:35) What is “limited agency”? (33:13) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about how to avoid recluttering our lives with new possessions, burdens, and obligations once we’ve excised our excess, and they answer the following questions: What is “recluttering”? (00:00) How do we address recluttering with loved ones and roommates who seem to see our clean spaces as places to dump their stuff that doesn’t have a home? (07:55) How do we ensure the items we bring back into our homes after decluttering don’t become recluttering? (18:11) How do I figure out my ‘why’ for recluttering? (32:15) What’s problematic about having options? (35:02) How do you define “consumerism”? (35:39) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan discuss our escalating advice epidemic as our society swells with scores of well-meaning people advising other people on what they are supposed to do, and they answer the following questions: What are ‘shoulds’? (00:00) What possesses some people to insist on giving others unsolicited advice? (03:13) How can we provide appropriate advice and/or guidance to loved ones to alter behaviors that are impacting us negatively? (17:46) How do our expectations complicate things? (21:14) How do we critically evaluate all the ‘shoulds’ out there and take what works for each of us? (23:34) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about all the digital clutter on our computers, phones, tablets, and other devices taking up space on our hard drives and in our minds, and they answer the following questions: What are the benefits of not having digital clutter taking up space in your mind? (00:00) What is the Diderot effect? (04:48) What do you define as ‘digital clutter’? (10:41) Where do we start in addressing digital clutter to ensure we stay focused and motivated and not get overwhelmed with all of it? (13:31) As an avid gamer, how do I ensure I don’t let my enthusiasm and passion for gaming turn into clutter with all of the games and consoles available, and how do I ensure it doesn’t consume me to the detriment of my relationships? (21:00) How about a basic overview of how to manage it all: emails, documents, photos? (30:18) How can overwhelm actually help us? (33:17) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about the perniciousness of compulsive decluttering (aka obsessive-compulsive spartanism) on the occasion of their 300th episode, and they answer the following questions: What is spartanism? (00:00) Hoarding, spartanism, ad nauseum—must we diagnose everything? (06:06) How do we recognize and respect the challenges of others? (06:59) How could letting go of everything be a bad thing? (11:16) How do we ensure our decluttering doesn’t trigger other compulsive behaviors; for instance, the compulsion to constantly check our phones for notifications when we’re trying to sell what we decluttered? (11:46) What is the “art of noticing”? (17:38) When does minimalism turn into compulsive decluttering or obsessive-compulsive spartanism—what signs do we look for? (19:40) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support

Joshua and Ryan talk about “summer simplifying,” and they answer the following questions: Which moniker won in your audience poll—“simpletons” or “minimizers”? (00:00) Where do you start when your entire home needs decluttering? (06:04) What is the most important thing to do to get started? (10:04) How do we get our children to participate in decluttering? (13:27) How do I break my emotional and sentimental attachment to my collection of books, and how do I appropriately curate my collection and recycle the books I don’t keep? (14:07) What is the Enneagram? (22:19) What do we do with items that have a sentimental attachment? (25:51) Detailed show notes: minimalists.com/podcast Support The Minimalists: minimalists.com/support