From the archives: 'Love People, Use Things'

Shocking fact: The average American home has more than 300,000 items in it. And that was before the pandemic, when many of us used Amazon as retail therapy.

While Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus certainly understand the impulse, they encourage a different path. When they were kids growing up in poverty in Ohio, they equated stuff with success. But as they got older and were able to acquire more, they discovered that material goods didn’t grow their happiness.

That’s when The Minimalists was born. Both Millburn and Nicodemus embarked on a journey to get rid of clutter. To their surprise, they found that decluttering their space led to a decluttering of their minds — and that gave them the mental and emotional space to reorder their relationships.

Since that time, they’ve launched a website, a podcast, two Netflix documentaries (“Minimalism” and “Less is Now”) and now a book that details their passion for finding more in less.

In July of 2021, they talked with host Kerri Miller about their written blueprint, “Love People, Use Things.” Use it to whet your appetite for this Friday’s show with novelist Jakob Guanzon, whose book also touches on lessons gleaned from poverty amidst abundance.

Guests:

• Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are lifelong friends, authors and speakers. Together, they are The Minimalists. Their new book is “Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works.”

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or RSS.

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.