Katherine created a mom’s group in her small town, where everyone’s welcome, they provide fabulous childcare, and it’s all about building relationships, not a program. In this chat, she shares the nuts and bolts of how to start something similar wherever you live. And Tsh shares what she’s learned from gathering people for events — for things like week-long adventures in London, and in weekend retreats in her small town, like she’s doing for the first time ever the weekend this episode drops. In all this, there’s a thread: IRL relationships > pixels.

Related Posts:

• IRL Friends by Tsh
• Creating Community From Scratch by Katherine

Links From This Episode:

• Katherine on Twitter
• Katherine’s website
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• Work of the People
• Literary London
• The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker
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• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

 

Caroline Starr Rose has written six children's books, and her most recent one just came out. Like we do on the show every now and then, she shares with Tsh her Good List: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy that’s making her life just a little bit sweeter. They also talk about her new book, which is completely up 4th grade Tsh’s alley — she was a big fan of the historic figure Caroline writes about.

Related Posts:

• My Good List by Tsh

Links From This Episode:

• Caroline's website
• Caroline on Twitter & Instagram
• A Race Around the World, by Caroline Starr Rose
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• Snapchat
• Atomic Habits, by James Clear
• The Four Tendencies, by Gretchen Rubin
• Daily Goal Tracker
• In the Woods, by Tana French (audiobook)
• I See You, by Clare Mackintosh
• I Let You Go, by Clare Mackintosh
• The Value of Fairness: The Story of Nellie Bly, by Ann Donegan Johnson
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• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, Tsh's weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

Sometimes topics are timeless. We're re-sharing an episode from a little over a year ago, when Tsh and her friend Erin Loechner did a four-part deep-dive about knowing the news — this feels pretty relevant right now since so many of us are bombarded with so much constantly-changing news. Since this series focused on the broad idea of how to stay engaged without losing your mind or your soul, this collection of ideas feels oh-so timely right now.

To keep listening to the rest of the series after you’re done here, head to the links below.

Links From This Episode:

• Erin’s blog, Design for Mankind
• OtherGoose.com
• Erin on Instagram and  Twitter
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter
• Ep. 211: Knowing the News (2/3)
• Ep. 212: Knowing the News (3/3)
• Why the News Makes Us Dumb
• NPR
• Journalism Ethics and Standards on Wikipedia
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• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

There's benefits to reading different genres of books, even (especially?) when you don't naturally gravitate to one. In this chat, Tsh talks to Christine about what we can learn from genres like sci-fi, historical non-fiction, mysteries, and more. And since Christine is a farmer, it's the busy season for her right now — she shares with Tsh how she's learning to flip the script on busyness this fall, embracing the season's fullness without succumbing to the pressures of fall frenzy.

Related Posts:

• What I Read in September by Tsh
• How To Nourish Your Body and Soul This Fall by Christine

Links From This Episode:

• Christine on Instagram
• Christine’s blog
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• Forbes article on busyness
• Evernote app
• Todoist app
• Finish 2020 Calendar
• Family Plan Calendar
• 10 tips for hosting overnight guests
• Make a gratitude list
• Ep. 188: Analog Living + Reading Classics
• The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Crucible, by Arthur Miller
• Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
• Louise Penny Inspector Gamache series
• Father Brown mysteries by G. K. Chesterton
• Agatha Christie books
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King
• Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
• Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch
• The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Everything Happens For a Reason, by
• Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor E. Frankl
• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
• A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn
• America: The Last Best Hope, by William Bennett
• The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
• Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
• The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
• Atomic Habits, by James Clear
• Profit First, by Mike Michalowicz
• Burnout, by Emily Nagoski & Amelia Nagoski
• Company of One, by Paul Jarvis
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• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
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• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
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There are places in our lives that end up staying with us long after we leave them. In this chat, Katherine talks with Tsh about nostalgia — why we have it about certain places, how to embrace it instead of shake it off, and how to use it so we're more at home in the present.

Tsh then talks with Katherine about why she loves that her family has been renovating their fixer-upper entirely themselves, even with all its challenges. It’s easy to forget the benefits when she's staring at all the work they still need to do, but when she remembers their why, it makes all the difference.

Related Posts:

• 5 Reasons I Love Living in a Small House by Tsh
• I Love This Place: Kent, Ohio by Katherine

Links From This Episode:

• Katherine on Twitter
• Katherine’s website
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• Ep. 64: A Year Off the Internet
• To Double Down on Being Human by Tsh
• Life in the "During" Phase of a Fixer-Upper by Tsh
• Become a patron and help make this show happen
• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

You can find new episodes of Simple, completely ad-free, on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com/wondery and use promo code ‘WONDERY’.

A little over a year ago, Tsh and Haley Stewart had a four-part deep-dive conversation on the idea of social self-care for the greater good; the simple idea that being healthy means we’re better citizens, members of our community, neighbors, and family members. In this episode, we’re re-sharing the first part of their conversation, one of the most downloaded episodes of this show.

Links From This Episode:

• The rest of the series: episodes 122, 123, & 124
• Haley's blog, Carrots for Michaelmas
• Haley on Instagram and Twitter
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter
• Home Fires
• My thoughts on making friends & partial solutions
• Can We Be Friends? by Rebecca Frech
• Fountains of Carrots, episode 79 with Rebecca Frech
• The Dunbar number
• Become a patron and help make this show happen
• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

You can find new episodes of Simple, completely ad-free, on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com/wondery and use promo code ‘WONDERY’.

Crystal talks about why it’s so important to make time for whatever it is you love — without the added burden of doing it so that you’re a better mom, or wife, or neighbor, or human, or even because the final result is something you can use. Do something just because you love it.

Tsh then shares how she uses the ideas of deep work and shallow work, time-blocking her calendar, and tapping into her peak energy levels to get more done in less time — so I can make time for play, as Crystal says.

Related Posts:

• My Top 20 Work Tools by Tsh
• In Praise of Making Things No One Will Ever See by Crystal

Links From This Episode:

• Crystal on Instagram
• Crystal’s website
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• 3 Ways to Calculate Your Peak Energy Time of Day
• A Beginner's Guide to Parkinson's Law
• Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule
• Easily Distracted? Try this: the pomodoro method
• Deep Work, by Cal Newport
• When, by Daniel Pink
• Become a patron and help make this show happen
• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

You can find new episodes of Simple, completely ad-free, only on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com/wondery and use promo code ‘WONDERY’.

It seems like it’d be easier to connect with neighbors living in her previous urban neighborhood over the farm where Christine now lives and works, but she’s found the opposite is true. In this chat, she shares little ways their family has made their farm open to neighbors and friends, and how we can do the same in our homes, whether we’re in the suburbs, a small town, or a major metropolis. 

Then Tsh shares three daily rituals that have been a life raft for her the past few weeks — they’re simple but significant — because life has been nuts and unexpected. These three things have helped her feel like she’s getting a passing grade at Adulting 101, even when lives throws curveballs.

Related Posts:

• My Daily Bookends by Tsh
• Finding Community In An Unexpected Place by Christine

Links From This Episode:

• Christine on Instagram
• Christine’s blog
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• Ep. 209: Tech + Family + Creativity
• Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist
• Ep. 78: Summer Hospitality & Entertaining
• Summer evenings playlist
• How I Use My Bullet Journal by Tsh
• Bullet Journal
• Become a patron and help make this show happen
• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

It’s back to school season, but what about those of us who are no longer students? Katherine shares 3 things to help us keep learning more about history, ecology, and contemporary poetry. And Tsh turned 42 this week, so she shares 5 things she's learned about life lately, little shifts in thinking that have made her life better.

Related Posts:

• My Good List: Birthday Edition by Tsh
• A Fall Reading List for the Lifelong Learner by Katherine

Links From This Episode:

• Katherine on Twitter
• Katherine’s website
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• 1619 Project
• 1619 Project printable
• 1619 Project curriculum
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Good Bones by Maggie Smith
• "Good Bones" poem by Maggie Smith
• Sorry For Your Troubles by Pádraig Ó Tauma
• On Being with Krista Tippett: Belonging Creates and Undoes Us
• Become a patron and help make this show happen
• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

You can find new episodes of Simple, completely ad-free, on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com/wondery and use promo code ‘WONDERY’.

Springboarding off her deep-dive this week into the 11 books Tsh read on her month-long sabbatical, in this episode she chats with Andrea about how to keep technology in its proper place at home, and the different steps her family is taking to keep away screen addiction and prioritize healthy relationships. This idea comes from one of her favorite reads, The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch. 

Andrea talks about something similar — she’s recently realized that her smartphone used to be a portal for her creativity, but now it’s become a block. She chats with Tsh about why she thinks that is, what she plans to do about it, and the article written five years ago that changed her perspective on screens.  

Related Posts:

• What I Read in July (On My Sabbatical) by Tsh
• The Question That's Saving My Creativity by Andrea

Links From This Episode:

• Andrea on Instagram
• Andrea’s website
• Tsh on Twitter & Instagram
• The Tech Wise Family by Andy Crouch
• unGlue
• Google WiFi system
• 5 Benefits to to My Month-Long Screen Break by Tsh
• "Reboot or Die Trying" by David Roberts
• Ep. 94: Attention Spans
• "Here's Why Instagram Is Going To Hide Your Likes"
• "The Perils of 'Sharenting'"
• Become a patron and help make this show happen
• Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly email
• Kindly leave a review
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here
• Download the transcript for this episode

You can find new episodes of Simple, completely ad-free, only on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com/wondery and use promo code ‘WONDERY’.