Simple

Tsh's new show launches in January 2020. Listen to the trailer and know right away when the first episode drops.

Ending this chapter is bittersweet, because we have all LOVED what we’ve created here at Simple, and yet there’s so much goodness to come. This show has existed in some iteration since 2011 — a LONG time in podcast years. It’s changed a lot, as has the podcast landscape, but Tsh has loved every minute of creating it. So… thank you. Truly.

In this final episode, Tsh chats with her dear friend Katherine Willis Pershey about change, when to know it’s time to say goodbye to a good thing, and what to do to still enjoy that thing you know you’re gonna miss.

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Why not do what we’ve long loved here on this show? Tsh and Christine each share their current Good Lists, holiday-edition: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and an idea that’s both making their lives (and holidays) better right now.

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If you don’t yet know Shawn Smucker or his work, GET READY, because you should. He is one of my favorite modern writers, both as a human and as a creator of good work — our whole family loves his books. And like we do on this show every now and then, Shawn is sharing with us his Good List: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy that’s making his life just a little bit better. 

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Tsh has a rather big announcement to make. And well, she’d be honored if you took a few minutes to hit play and hear what’s up.

For more elaborate details, including a logo-rific walk down memory lane, head to the show notes here.

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It’s time once again for the holidays, so in this chat, Andrea shares some practical tips for staying sane during the holidays as an introvert — these ideas are great for both introverts and extraverts. And because Advent is coming soon, Tsh shares how her family celebrates it really, really simply (along with a fun announcement!). 

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Crystal and Tsh are in different stages of their respective marriages, so in this chat, Crystal talks about things she didn’t know about marriage when she was younger — the things MANY of us don’t realize until we live through it in our marriages. And since Tsh and her husband recently celebrated their 17th anniversary, she shares some of the practicals of what’s working for them right now, specifically in regards to communication and having more fun.

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Christine and her family host Kindred Dinners on their farm, where over a hundred people gather for a true farm-to-table feast with live music, locally-made beer, and beyond. She talks about what it’s like to put on an event like this in your own space. Then Tsh shares two seemingly opposite ideas: ignoring the noun and focusing on the verb, and embracing the noun in order to accomplish the verb. It has nothing to do with grammar.

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Nicole has a fantastic bookstagram account, and she particularly loves reading the Young Adult genre. So in this chat, she and Tsh talk about why so many adults like them love to read YA, along with lots of recommendations for dipping your toes into the YA waters as an adult reader. Tsh then shares a list of adult book recommendations for teens who love to read — books written for adults, but are appropriate enough, and potentially interesting enough, for teen readers.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.  

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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’.

This summer I took a whole month off my work and stepped away from all screens. (Spoiler: it was fantastic!) In this chat with Crystal, I get into both the professional and personal lessons I learned. Crystal is also self-employed (but in a different way), so she talks about the value of knowing yourself really well so you can focus on the right type of work for you. She’s learned a ton over the years what’s important to her, and thinks we can all benefit from thinking through this stuff.

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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’.

A few years ago, Tsh and her family spent a school year traveling around the world in one direction, living out of backpacks. It was life-changing for all five of them, and what travel taught Tsh about home that year is the theme of her travel memoir, At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe.

In this episode, Tsh shares the audiobook chapter from when they were in China, just beginning their adventure and everything, inside and out, was upside-down.

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’.

We’re wrapping up our summer series called My Good List, where Tsh has asked a few people to share four things in their life that are making everything sweeter: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy. 

In this episode, Tsh chats with Summer Rayne Oakes, a Brooklyn resident who has over 1,000 houseplants in her apartment. She’s written a recent book called How to Make a Plant Love You, and she even has a pet chicken in her apartment.

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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’.

We’re continuing our summer series called My Good List, where Tsh has asked a few people to share four things in their life that are making everything sweeter: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy. 

In this episode, Tsh chats with Cindy Wang Brandt, based on Taiwan, who runs the popular Facebook group Raising Children Unfundamentalist, and has a book and podcast both called Parenting Forward.

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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’.

We’re continuing our summer series called My Good List, where Tsh has asked a few people to share four things in their life that are making everything sweeter: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy. 

In this episode, Tsh chats with Alia Hagenbach, who writes about mental illness. She’s written a fabulous book that came out this year, and it’s one of Tsh’s favorites of the year so far.

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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’.

We’re continuing our summer series called My Good List, where Tsh has asked a few people to share four things in their life that are making everything sweeter: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy. 

In this episode, Tsh chats with Roe Cummings, who runs the beautiful Instagram account Brown Kids. She also teaches a class called The Jar Method, about how to store your veggies and produce so that it lasts weeks longer.

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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’.

We’re starting our summer series called My Good List, where Tsh has asked a few people to share four things in their life that are making everything sweeter: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy.

In this episode, Tsh chats with Anjuli Pascall, who runs the Instagram account The Moms We Love Club, which is dedicated to raising funds and praying for mothers enduring long-term hardships. She says she started this account because she wishes she could bring dinner or drive these women to appointments, but since she can’t, this account is the next best thing to being in the same town.

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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’.

In this summer-worthy episode, we’ve got for you a best-of travel Q&A, where you ask Stephanie and Tsh your burning travel questions, and they do our best to answer them: everything from long-term planning strategies to ideas for nearby weekend getaways. So, whether you’ve got some traveling on the horizon, or just want to be an armchair traveler from home right now, they’ve got you covered. 

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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’.

Episode number 200! Andrea just returned from an epic trip to Scotland, and as you're listening to this, Tsh is currently in London about to lead her second Literary London. So in this episode, she and Andrea nerd out on all things British. They're both unapologetic Anglophiles, so they get into why they love you guys across the pond. 

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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’.

There's value in roadtripping with little kids — even when it doesn't feel like it. Crystal talks about why she prioritizes it, how they camp and go to national parks, and when she knows to press the pause button and wait. Tsh shares about her recent girlfriend getaway, why it's good to get together with other adult friends (beyond a night out), and the practicals of putting together an overnighter with friends when the ultimate goal is to reconnect.

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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’.

Just in time for summer, Tsh and Christine talk about simple (but not always easy) ways to overcome negative body image issues.

Then, Tsh shares why and how she’s going on sabbatical for a month in July. In our productivity-obsessed world that’s a petri dish for all sorts of limiting beliefs about why sabbaticals are unnecessary or impossible, they talk about how Tsh has learned to overcome some of that thinking.

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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.’

The U.S. is a melting pot, so what does it look like to incorporate your ancestral heritage into your day-to-day family life? Tsh chats with Jacqui Skemp, who shares small, simple ways she weaves her culture — as a first-generation Mexican American — at home with her husband and small children. She also gives us a short-and-sweet good list update: four things currently making her life sweeter.

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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.’

In what ways have you changed since high school? If you're normal, you've changed in so many ways you've lost count. Tsh shares how (and about what) she's changed her mind regarding her values, worldview, and perspective in the 20+ years since she graduated. (Spoiler: It's good to change our minds. It means we're growing and willing to learn.)

Crystal then chats about the vital role of people like therapists, coaches of all sorts, counselors and other helping professionals, and the unmistakable importance of investing in their wisdom. Both she and Tsh have benefited from smart, trained, thoughtful humans, and believe every penny budgeted for ongoing help is vital in their maturity and growth.

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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’.

Friendships: in this chat Tsh and Katherine talk about why we need to take the time for them even when life is busy, plus little ways we can better cultivate them. (The Internet, for all its foibles, can also be a really beautiful breeding ground for cultivating some of our best friends!)

They also park a bit on the legacy of Rachel Held Evans, and how our collective mourning of our loss of her has shown us blatantly and beautifully how we really can know each other through the Internet.

Then, they get into the tiny little habits serve as anchors in our chaotic days — which is all the more reason we should hold tight to them.

And then in the third segment, Tsh talks with her friend Stephanie Langford, who is currently still in Guatemala, as they answer one more of your travel questions.

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What’s important about learning the names of things like flowers, trees, frogs — the stuff we usually drive by and don’t think about? Andrea’s loved nature since she was a kid, but she’s re-embraced this side of her as a city-dwelling adult. She gets into why paying attention to nature is important, and also shares practical tips for getting into this wherever we live.

And with a few weeks of the school year, I’m talking about what I’ve learned after a year of teaching high school English. I am still very much a beginner here and will continue to learn as I keep going.

For the third segment. I am joined by Hayley Stewart, where we get into the liturgical calendar and what’s in store for us in May.

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We’ve gotten into this episode’s topic off and on here, but Crystal’s a bit unique: while she doesn’t use social media for her own personal work, a huge part of her job is helping others use social media for their work. She knows what it’s like to use it both for connecting her real life with the Internet, and for helping business owners find their people online.

The Internet can become a downward spiral when it comes to things like mental health, relationships, societal structures, politics, and beyond. And yet it can also be a thing of beauty, helping us connect like never before in human history. It all has to do with mindset, motive, and purpose.

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Yep …Our relationships with food. Christine articulates what it means to feast, to embrace a season of coming around the table to share a meal and how that pairs really well when you also embrace more fasting in your life. This is especially great now that we’re in the season of Eastertide.

Tsh shares her own personal guidelines with eating, which sounds stoic and hardcore, but it’s not. It embraces a philosophy of feasting as well, and it’s been a mental game changer for her.

In the third segment, Tsh talks with Stephanie, who’s currently in Guatemala, as they answer another one of your travel questions.

Also: Tsh is closing up her class, The Essentials, for good! As in, it will no longer be open for enrollment ever again. So, if you’d like in, do it now — enrollment closes for the final time on Friday, May 3rd, 2019, so head here snag your spot.

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Tsh shares a little practice she's been doing the past few months to help her weekends go much smoother. To anyone around her, it probably looks like nothing — but to her brain, it’s been a game changer.

And Katherine’s not only a local pastor, but by golly this is Holy Week — so, we get into what this means when it comes to sitting in discomfort and letting ourselves feel all the things, instead of rushing from the weirdness of Palm Sunday into the colored Easter eggs of Easter. Even if you’re not a Christian, I think you'll resonate with this.

They also get in to what this means in light of this week’s heavy news of Notre Dame in Paris — what a symbol for Holy Week.

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What's the difference between a scarcity and an abundant mindset? It really comes down to gratitude as the ultimate antidote, whether it's fear, overwhelm, jealousy, or good old-fashioned FOMO.

What does it mean to be a hometown tourist? It’s also about mindset, discovering where you live with a spirit of curiosity.

Tsh and Christine get into both these things, including a few practicals on how to incorporate both of these in your daily life.

Then somewhat ironically, in the third segment Tsh chats with Stephanie Langford, answering your travel questions: this time, they’re talking about good spots in the U.S. for a weekend getaway.

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This is a regular series here on the show — and in this one, Tsh talks to her good friend, Emily P Freeman. She’s a fellow writer and podcaster, and she’s got a new book of the same name (it might be Tsh's favorite of hers yet).

Emily’s been on this show a few times; the last time was last summer after she & Tsh co-led Literary London and they debriefed about our experience. In this chat, Emily shares with us 4 things currently making everything a little bit better in her life.

In the episode's third segment, since it’s the start of a new month, as always Tsh talks with Haley Stewart about what’s in store for us in the liturgical calendar in April.

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Christine is a farmer: in this chat, she gets into what she’s learning about the value of slowing down, of learning to embrace our full plates (while eschewing “busyness”), and the beauty of “delightfully misplacing our phones.” And because Tsh recently wrote about what books she read in March, she gets into the why, how, and what of reading more classics — it doesn’t have to be pretentious or hard — it can actually be fun with the right mindset.

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There’s this idea that home ownership is the destination that crowns you officially a grown-up. In this chat, Andrea and Tsh agree this simply isn’t true. Andrea’s in her mid-30s and has rented an apartment with her husband for the past six years — and loves it. Tsh and her husband are two years into renovating a 1935 cottage, and she’s learned a lot, too.

In this chat, they talk about lessons learned from where they live: how to shake off a temporary mindset, how to make a less-than ideal house into a home, and practical tips for adding personality to wherever you live.

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Crystal's recently learned stuff about herself via something she’s never done before as an adult: decluttering her own closet. She and Tsh talk about discovering personal realizations when you do something as surprisingly vulnerable as weeding out your wardrobe. And to pair Tsh's own recently published Travel Philosophy, she shares what she's learned about herself from the act of travel — things she never realized were true, and little ways she's surprised herself on the road — if you’ve ever traveled (even on small trips), you’ll identify.

In the third segment, Tsh talks with listener Caroline Brookfield, a veterinarian: she shares what it’s like when the majority of your patients are dogs and cats.

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We’ve got another in our series called My Good List: a thing, a habit, a work of art, and a philosophy. (Don't worry, we're not nixing our new format! We're simply still doing MGLs every now and then...)

I’m talking to my friend Christie Purifoy, a former English professor turned writer and gardener. She’s got a new book out called Placemaker, and it’s all about what it means to actually lean in to your soul’s desire for beauty and the need to create, instead of stuffing or ignoring it — and why the cultivation of good and beautiful places isn’t a retreat from the “real world” - it’s a response to it.

Then in the third segment, Stephanie Langford and I answer another one of your travel questions.

(p.s. - Yes, there's a faint clicking sound in the background... we're aware, and we apologize.)

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What happens when you're hit with the truth that you're WAY busier than you thought you were? Katherine shares real-talk truth she gleaned after she wrote out a recent day-in-the-life recap — seeing her day broken down by the hour helped her realize a truth lots of us can relate to: she's busier than she wants to be.

Then Tsh shares what she's learned about why she's felt overwhelmed by reading more non-fiction recently: too many gurus. She shares four ways to keep these smart-but-distant people at arm’s length.

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Even if you’re not a writer — or even in a sort of work where you create — you’ll find wisdom and inspiration in Andrea's life lessons she's learned from writing. And because I wrote about podcasts I’m currently into, in this chat I’m talking about the beauty and necessity of silence — why we all need it more than ever in our information-overloaded culture, and how the science backs me up on this.

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Cultivating a healthy marriage sometimes looks different when kids are at different ages. Christine and her husband have kids under 8, so she shares how they find ways to date in the nooks and crannies of their life. Tsh and her husband have kids 8 and up, so she shares how they model their marriage at home, right in front of their kids.

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Crystal and Tsh get into Marie Kondo, a new book they're both excited to read, and something Crystal's been doing weekly with her husband (and then Kyle & Tsh started doing this right after this conversation). And then springboarding off her somewhat-vulnerable post she shared this week, Tsh talks about the beauty of good ol’ partial solutions.

To round things out in the third segment, Stephanie and Tsh once more tackle another one of your travel questions.

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Anxiety plagues a ton of people, and Andrea has been on quite a journey the past decade-plus learning how to live with it. In this episode, she shares a practice that helps her float through it (instead of fight or flight). Tsh talks about simple ways she incorporates more reading in her life, helping her inch through her TBR dust instead of watching it collect dust.

In the third segment (since it’s the start of a new month), Tsh talks with Haley as she learn from her about what’s on the liturgical calendar in February. Good stuff.

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What's it like to be a full-time pastor of a local church, then decide to also become a certified yoga instructor? In this chat, Katherine talks about the misconceptions she had about yoga before she began a few years ago, as well as what it’s like to find fun surprises you didn’t know you needed in unexpected places. 

Then Tsh expands on her Good List post she wrote this week — why she loves creating playlists (and considers it a form of art), a new-to-her veggie delivery service that’s hitting all the right buttons, and the beauty of making time for hobbies, even when you have no time.

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Growing older is a privilege denied to many people; it means we should celebrate the gift it is! In this episode, we’re talking about ways to celebrate birthday milestones in your life — Christine recently wrote a gorgeous essay about what it meant for her to turn 40 not too long ago.

Then Tsh shares thoughts on her current beauty and self-care routine, specifically focused on hair and skin. Because after turning 40, it's a gift to prioritize this sort of stuff.

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Crystal shares why she loved logging a play-by-play day-in-the-life of what’s otherwise a mundane day for her (except that right now, everything is different from her normal). Tsh also shares what she thinks works SO much better than big-huge annual goals, and how you can create a framework that works for you, too.

Plus, Tsh chats with a woman who turned her quirky talent into a full-on company!

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The start of a new year is a perfect time to talk about changes, and that’s the topic of my chat here with Stephanie Langford. You’ll hear the changes in the very format of this episode (it’s what you can expect for new episodes in 2019!). Plus, a fun new segment with Haley Stewart!

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Jo Ellis started a nonprofit crafting school in her small town, where she and others in the community use their different crafting skills like sewing, quilting, felting, and painting to make an impact in her small town.

She first saw overseas how teaching something like sewing could change the attitude, perspective, and even future of young women, so when she returned home, she wanted to impart that same idea in her community.

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Continuing our series called My Good List, this time, I’m talking with a new friend named Jacqui Skemp, a California transplant living in snowy Minnesota. She’s a mom to three little boys, and chatting with her is like sipping on a calming, warm drink — I just love her taste, her ideas, and her approach to life. I know you’ll enjoy her.

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Maghon Taylor has a knack for hand-lettering and wanted to create a way to use her talents entrepreneurially. So, she started a company that features her unique handwriting on everything, from mailboxes and hats, journals to wine glasses.

She also teaches online classes on how to turn your own handwriting into a unique hand-lettering style. Maghon loves what she does, and her enthusiasm is infectious.

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We’ve got another in our series! This time, it’s with my friend Stephanie Langford, who if you’ve listened to this podcast for a bit, you know her — she’s my fellow serial traveler and a dear friend to me.

(As a reminder, in these chats I’m asking friends to break down their Good Lists in 4 areas: a thing, a habit they’ve adopted, a work of art, and a philosophy.)

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Sonja Overhiser worked in the business world for 13 years before stepping out to run her food media business with her husband, Alex. When they became parents through adoption, they wanted to transition to a more flexible lifestyle.

They stepped away from their day jobs and dove into this world of food media full-time — a risky but ultimately fulfilling decision, because their cookbook released on their son's first birthday! Their main business is recipe development and brand ambassadorship for major national brands, and ultimately, they love working from home together about something they love: food.

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Remember our “What’s Saving My Life” series? We’re still doing them — but now we’re calling them “My Good List.” (Same concept, clearer name.)

In this episode, I’m chatting with Christine Bailey — remember her? She’s the farmer I spoke with in episode 140, where she shared her story about transitioning from city life to life on acreage raising vegetables and kids. I loved chatting with her so much, I asked her back to share with me four things, big or small, making everything better in her life.

I think you’ll like this one.

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What’s an Urban Forester, you say? It’s really cool: Georgia Seamans basically helps oversee the ecology of the nature in city parks — and in this case, it’s a fairly major park in New York City. Who would’ve guessed you could live in one of the biggest concrete jungles in the world and be a forester?

I really loved my chat with Georgia... it kinda made me want to put on my khakis and hiking boots and follow her around for a day.

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In Part 1, we kicked off the series with a broad brushstroke intro to the liturgical calendar, along with a quick back-story of our faith and where we are now. In Part 2, we got into Lent, Eastertide, Ordinary Time, and a few other things.

For this final part, we’re covering Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Candlemas, and a few Saints days (like St. Nicholas Day), all just in time for us starting a new liturgical year in just a few weeks. Because as you remember, the ‘new year’ on a liturgical calendar is the first day of Advent... This year, that's Sunday, December 2!

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Liz Bohannon is the founder of Sseko Designs, a company that designs and sells footwear, accessories, bags, and more — but it’s not just a basic retail model.

It’s a fashion brand based in Uganda, and Liz founded it as a way to generate income for high potential, talented young women in Uganda to continue on to university. And it's worked! Every woman who’s graduated from Sseko has gone on to pursue higher education and is on her way to making our world a more beautiful place.

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In this Part 2 of our series on the liturgical calendar, we get into the specifics of the calendar that don’t involve Advent, Christmas, or Epiphany (because we’re going to get into those in Part 3). In this one, we’re diving into Lent, Eastertide, Ordinary Time, and a few other things.

(In Part 1, we kicked off the series with a broad brushstroke intro to the liturgical calendar, along with a quick back-story of our faith and where we are now — so go listen to that if you haven’t.)

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A social media manager isn’t too unique a job these days, but Desiree Martinez takes a particular angle with her work: she focuses specifically on helping small businesses that might otherwise call themselves “boring,” and as a military spouse, she prioritizes hiring and helping out other military families who serve around the world.

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If there’s one topic I’ve been asked more about this year, it’s for us to do a big ol’ 101 on what the heck is the liturgical calendar, and how Haley and I recognize it in our lives.

Some of you know that a few years ago I was confirmed in the Anglican church after more than 3 decades in a purely evangelical, non-denominational framework, and Haley has been a Catholic for not quite a decade. So, neither of us grew up in a liturgical setting, but we're both now are immersed in that world (albeit in different ones from each other).

But both these expressions of Christianity follow what’s called the "liturgical calendar," so in this 3-part series, we’re gonna get into it — and how you can participate as big or as small as you want, no matter your faith tradition.

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As a Pilates instructor, Robin Long is also CEO and founder of The Balanced Life, an online place where you can take Pilates classes from home. She's also got a Sisterhood, a group for women in all stages of life who want easy access to community, accountability, and realistic health inspiration via the popular world of Pilates. She's an accidental entrepreneur who loves what she does... and she's also mom to 4 kids under age 5, so she knows what it's like to be short on time. But, she loves what she does and wouldn't change a thing.

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Awhile back I talked to Sarah Stewart Holland, so in case you missed it the first time, you're in for a treat... You might know her as one half of the podcast Pantsuit Politics, but I wanted to talk to her about another gig she does: Sarah is a city commissioner of her small Kentucky town, Paducah, where she spends a lot of her workday making decisions that make where she lives a better place.

She shares about the ins and outs of what it means to be a city commissioner in a small community. And she’s open and honest about the hurdles she jumped to become a young woman and mom who spins a lot of plates to use her passion for politics to serve her town.

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Karen Hoskin is a rum distiller: that’s pretty cool, right? But here's what’s especially interesting about Karen: She’s a woman in a field where's simply not a lot of women, she had no experience making rum (or any sort of liquor, really) when she began, and... a rum distiller in Colorado? That’s an unusual place for making rum.

But Karen’s never shied away from being a leader and starting new things — in fact, she’s also the founder and owner of Zoetica, a shop that specializes in zero-waste travel and food kits. So basically, it’s a shame that Karen just sits on the sidelines, you know?

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Almost a year ago now I chatted with Annie Jones, an independent bookshop owner — she owns The Bookshelf, in right in the heart of beautiful Thomasville, Georgia.

In our chat, Annie shares what it was like to start off as a bookshop owner with zero business background, and the things she had to learn on the sales floor about things like managing a team, and deciding what her community liked — and didn’t like — to read.

At the end of the day, Annie's focus is about how to keep the lights on doing something that she confesses is more work than she ever imagined, but wouldn’t trade for the world. I know you’ll love her.

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What’s a Start-Up Community Leader? Callie Murray works as the community manager for a group in Atlanta called Plywood People, a non-profit that supports social enterprises. Basically, they’re able to provide other social entrepreneurs, creatives and non-profit leaders with support and community as they launch and sustain. It’s sorta like a start-up to support start-ups with a social focus.

And Callie has personal experience starting her own social enterprise business, so she’s totally the right person to support these small business and nonprofit owners and help build their community.

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Jenni Burke is an unassuming literary agent, because she’s one of the nicest people in the world to talk to, but the woman can get things DONE when it comes to contracts, business negotiations, and representing her authors well.

I love her approach and philosophy of slow publishing, authors living well so they don’t burn out, and writing from a genuine place of having something to say instead of writing just to publish something.

Plus, spoiler alert: she’s actually my literary agent, and as both an author and a friend, I couldn’t love her more.

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What does Amy Hannon mean by “hospitality cheerleader”? You’ll probably be able to tell by the sound of her voice, honestly, but broken down, this means she owns a kitchen boutique shop called Euna Mae’s in northwest Arkansas.

She’s also written a cookbook called Love Welcome Serve, and she absolutely loves being around people. It’s the thing she loves most about her work, and her enthusiasm is contagious.

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A simple house habit we can all do today, good flowers on the cheap, a great new book, and wisdom beyond their years from young friends? My friend Myquillyn Smith says these little things are making everything better in her life right now.

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What’s an osteopath, right? I wondered the same thing before talking with Avni Trivedi — I’d heard of the term, I just wasn’t sure… Basically, picture a calm woman with a soothing voice in the heart of London, who invests in the health of other women, mind, body, and soul. That's Avni.

She says her approach brings together East and West, bridging the relationship between body and mind, and touch is core to everything she does: she uses skilled touch, careful adjustments and gentle movements to integrate different parts of your body. She’s also a doula and something called a zero-balancer. We’ll get into that.

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I'm wrapping up my series with Kendra on kitchen basics, and in this one, we're talking about essential tools. There's tons of links for you here, so let's get right to it.

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Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O’Dell are in business together, AND they’re good friends. They’ve taught middle and high school students at all levels, in both public and independent schools, and from inclusion to AP and IB classes. Now, they travel the country to work with teachers and students to provide inspiration, helping educators do the hard-and-transformative work of teaching writing. Allison and Rebekah believe in the power of choice, authenticity, and students’ voices in the reading and writing classroom.

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Continuing our deep-dive with co-host Kendra, right now we’re talking about kitchen basics. In part 1 (episode 149), we talked about mindset. In this one, we’re talking all about... the basics. Specifically, the classic go-to skills or recipes that we find useful.

As I've mentioned, Kendra knows her way around a kitchen and loves being there. But she’s also not here to boss you around and tell you to do things exactly how she does them. She’s not sharing the essential basic recipes you “should” know, she’s telling us to find OUR go-to, fail-proof recipes and to know them well.

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You might know Jessica Turner from her online work, running the successful website The Mom Creative, as well as writing a few books and teaching a course — but by day, she works full-time outside the home.

She loves working for Vanderbilt as an online strategist and content curator, and says it’s a great place to work. She loves sharing with the world the great work they’re doing in healthcare, and she’s personally also passionate about healthcare. We get into all this in our chat, so if you feel like you already know Jessica, think again — this is about the other side of her work, and how she juggles it with her work you might be more familiar with.

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We thought we’d welcome the fall with getting back to the basics — in this case, in the kitchen.

Kendra knows her way around a kitchen and loves being there. But she also loves helping us keep things really simple, so we don’t lose our minds when it comes to just feeding ourselves and our family. She’s got a knack for cooking basics, kitchen set-up, and planning our menus so we eat what we want, without last-minute panic runs to the store or hail-mary it to the drive-thru.

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Toni Wallace is an attorney running for judge in her county in the upcoming elections — Election Day is November 6, 2018, so at the time of this episode, that’s just a few months away.

She’s running for judge in Fort Bend County, Texas, but also identifies as, in her words, a small business owner, a wife, mom of three, lawyer, believer, Cheer Mom, Baseball Mom, Basketball Mom, Football Mom, Team Mom, and yep, a former judge. (We’ll get into that last bit.)

I loved talking to Toni — she made me both want to vote for her if I was living in her county and wish I was her neighbor so we could go on walks and grab coffee together. I know you’re gonna love her.

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A few weeks ago, Brooke McAlary asked me to share the mic with her at Book People, a local bookstore here in Austin. She was in town for a book tour for her book, Slow, and she asked if I’d join her on stage to talk about slow living: what it might mean; what it does and doesn’t look like.

So, here’s our live chat from just a few weeks ago, when Brooke and I talked with each other (and audience members) about our take on the topic. It was a lot of fun to see her in person again; it’d been years — she’s from Sydney, Australia. (If you’ve read my book, At Home in the World, it was her house we stayed at over Christmas, so it was from her parents where I learned the concept of the Westbrook Effect.)

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What’s a “diversity champion,” right? Well, Michelle Glauser started a community organization called Techtonica, out of a passion for seeing more diversity in the tech industry — it’s a 6-month tech apprenticeship program that partners with tech companies to provide free tech training, living stipends, and job placement to women in need.

They specifically focus on underserved, diverse populations with this opportunity to be involved in a long-term, tuition free, full-time program that prepares (and then places!) apprentices in the software engineering field, without having to worry about financial instability.

Michelle says since becoming an engineer in 2012, she’s been passionate about helping underrepresented people join, feel comfortable in, and stay in the software industry. If you know much about the tech world, you know that Michelle’s non-profit’s focus on women, low-income, and tuition-free training is a really big deal.

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A few weeks ago, I talked with Bethany Rydmark; she’s the one who started the PDX Food Swap in Portland. After we chatted, I also asked her about what’s saving her life right now.

This is a thing we do here on the pod every now and then; this idea is taken from Barbara Brown Taylor, a writer who, in her book, An Altar in the World, she talks about how easy it is to focus on the things that are making everything harder, and that instead, we need to remember to look around and notice: what are the little things that are making everything a bit better?

Bethany shares a few things she's loving right now.

I hope you enjoy this short chat, because down the road, we’ll be doing more of these — I might ask a favorite guest from our work episodes to come back on, or another friend or co-host you love hearing from — or even some of you lovely patrons!

After my chat with Bethany, I’m sharing a little something I’ve got available for you right now that’s only open right now, so hang on to the end for that. I think you’ll really like it.

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It’s the start of a new school year for most of us right now, so I figured: what better way to celebrate the amazing work our kids’ teachers do than share a conversation I’ve had with one?

Rissie Lundberg is a math teacher at an all-girls high school, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and she’s part of a mathematics department made up entirely of women — which is actually pretty rare, even in a girls’ school. She absolutely adores what she does, both getting her hands dirty in math, and inspiring girls to love it as much as she does.

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A bonus work-themed episode for the week! While we're busy getting ready for the fall season of the show around here, I thought I'd share one of my favorite earlier episodes of Women's Work, before we merged it into one lovely show here.

Tanorria Askew is a personal chef and through her business, Tanorria’s Table, people can hire her for both everyday meals and special occasions. Her cooking roots originate from the south, and Tanorria says she loves to put a modern spin on American Comfort Food — she recently placed 4th on Master Chef!

She’s passionate about good food, gathering people around the table to have good conversations, and enjoying life through it all. Her can-do attitude is contagious. Honestly... You can't not love Tanorria.

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Andrea Debbink is an editor at American Girl magazine, the beloved magazine you’ve probably seen in bookstores and is read by so many girls over the years. You might have read it when you were a young girl.

She creates a lot of the content their readers love, like recipes, crafts, stories, and beyond. In fact, she recently relaunched one of her favorite segments from the magazine from when she was a young reader herself: Featuring inspiring women from history, "Who's That Girl?" shows how ordinary girls became women who made their mark on the world.

Andrea also recently wrote her first book, Spark, specifically for American Girl readers!

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A few weeks ago I tried a new thing in my work: I led a group of 6 other women to London, exploring a tiny scratch of the literary soil there — the footsteps of Jane Austen, CS Lewis, Dickens, Shakespeare, Chesterton, and more.

It was the most gratifying and fulfilling thing I’ve done in my career in a long while. And I tried this whole beta-test of an experience with a dear friends, Emily P. Freeman, who co-led the group with me.

I led the travel logistics, spearheaded the vision of where we went and explored, and why — and Emily led the group dynamics, the conversations we had, helped us think through our next right thing in our work and life. I led the outer work of our time, and Emily led the inner work.

In this episode, Emily and I talk about what it was like for the two of us to lead Literary London for the first time.

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In this episode, I’m talking to Christine Bailey, a farmer. She and her husband run The Kindred Farm — a certified organic farm — and even though they’re relatively new to farming and it’s the hardest work they’ve ever done, she says she’s loving every minute of it. She’s learning a ton about the ins and outs of this ancient work that’s always changing in our modern world, along with how to cultivate community in what they do. She also hosts literal farm-to-table dinner parties on their land, called Kindred Dinners, and it’s one of her favorite things to do.

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As you know from last week’s episode, this show is now an amalgamation of my two podcasts, The Simple Show and Women’s Work. On Tuesdays, you’ll get a conversation with a creative woman who does interesting work, and on Thursdays, you’ll get a variety: chats with women about non-work stuff, book recommendations, Q&A sessions, lots of chats with people about what’s saving their life, and more deep-dives with my co-hosts.

If you’re not familiar with what we did over at Women’s Work, I think you'll enjoy this: I love to celebrate women who make our world a better place, and these chats are a way to do just that. I especially love talking to the ones we don’t always hear form: from artists and entrepreneurs, to scientists, journalists, engineers, coders, and beyond.

If you’re a longtime Simple Show listener, I think you’re gonna love these conversations.

Awhile ago, I talked to Bethany Rydmark about her work as a landscape architect. I loved our chat about what she does, but she casually mentioned something that I really wanted to know more about:

She started the PDX Food Swap in Portland, Oregon.

What's a food swap? Well, listen in and you'll see — and maybe you'll be inspired to start one of your own in your city, neighborhood, block, church, or simply among a group of friends.

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We’re wrapping up our summer series with Kendra, who’s here with me in London as I type this! Before we left, we chatted about what’s saving our life right now.

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We're keeping on with our summer series, What's Saving My Life. Up this time: it's Erin!

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Continuing our summer series, What’s Saving My Life, this time it's Haley's turn! Girlfriend is due with baby #4 in about two weeks, and is also dealing the delightful 100+ degree days of central Texas. Grace and peace to her.

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Because we're taking some time off from work this summer, we thought it'd be fun to give you a low-key, easy series for July: What's Saving My Life.

This is always a fan favorite, where I talk with each of my co-hosts about the little things that are making our lives just a bit happier and brighter right now.

First up? Stephanie, who's currently out and about, exploring Eastern Europe with her fam. Enjoy!

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Before we get going on our next deep-dive series (starting next week), I thought it'd be fun to give you a little sneak peek at what I'm doing behind the scenes right now in Patreon. It's called The WRLD at Home — where WRLD stands for Watch, Reed, Listen, and Do. 

I'm having a ton of fun creating this side project, so here's a preview behind the curtain at what I'm sharing with the patrons! (Each WRLD episode is short, so what you've got here is actually two episode drops, back-to-back.)

Enjoy!

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We’re wrapping up this series on making the most of our summer — even as adults — by me tapping into Kendra’s wheelhouse this time. In the last episode, I helped her prep for a family road trip. In this one? She’s helping me think through a dinner party. Because our house is still fixer-upper mode, but I don’t want that to stop us from having friends over. Kendra’s got a fun take on the basic idea of a “dinner” party… You’ll see what I mean.

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Keeping on in our series on making the most of our summer — beyond just making them fun for kids — for the next two episodes, Kendra and I each tap into our wheelhouses and help each other.

First up... I'm helping Kendra prep for her family's summer vacation. She admits they don't travel much, and well — we do quite a bit. So in this chat, you'll hear me walk her through the ins and outs of packing, roadtripping, and guesthouse life.

Most of all, we get into the most important key to successful family travel: mindset. Because if you go in thinking it'll be just like traveling with only adults, you'll be in for a surprise. But if you're willing to embrace the reality of travel with kids, you might find it's more fun than you imagined.

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Continuing our series on grown-upping the summer, this time Kendra and I talk about work. Because sure, it’s summer, but also, we’re adults with jobs and stuff.

As self-employed types, we talk about how we get work done with kids in the house — hers are a bit younger, so she shares juggling toddlers and young school-age kiddos, while my oldest is now 13 and I can attest: it makes allllll the difference now in my own work life.

Basically, what I’m saying to the working parents with tinies at home is: before you know it, it most likely will get easier. I’ve been exactly where you are and thought it’d never happen.

It’s still a challenge for me, though, so I share how expectations make or break me when it comes to getting work done in the summer. Plus, there’s a newer pressure I didn’t feel a few years ago when everyone was smaller:

I’ll blink, and kids will start leaving the house. So family-bonded summers actually feel more important than ever right now.

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Summertime isn’t just for kids or students! Kendra and I start a new series here on how we can make the most out of our own summers, even if we’ve got kids at home, or even if not much as changed in our working day-to-day.

In this first installment, we talk about bucket lists… in that’s fun to have our own. Sure, we make one with the kids, but who’s to say we can’t do our own? It all comes down to reasonable expectations — no remodeling the entire house or spontaneous 3,000 mile road trips here. 

Kick off the summer with us! This is a fun series.

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