Well, hi there, and welcome back. My name is Stephanie Safarian, and you're listening to Episode 570 of

Sustainable Minimalists. This is a listener-supported show about intentional and eco-friendly

minimalist living. And on today's show, we are taking a critical look at American life in our

quest to determine not only what's gone wrong, but also how we can course correct.

Now, most of us listening, I'm guessing you would agree that something's not quite right in the

United States at the moment. Politics aside, we're not even going there today. But there is,

for many of us, this pervasive feeling that something's not quite right.

We are unhappy, we are stressed out, we are isolated, and we are sad.

In our never satisfied quest for more stuff, more convenience, more wealth, more happiness, more prestige even,

we have lost a lot of those intangibles that

make life worth living. We've given up too much. Now, my guest today argues that there are

certain factors at play in the U.S. that keep us boxed in. My guest today is Steve Nygren.

In the 1990s, he and his wife, they purchased a 60-acre farm

for his family, including his young children, to retreat to on the weekends. They soon left Atlanta

for good and moved to the farm full-time. In 1996, they turned their horse barn on the property into a bed and breakfast.

And today, that bed and breakfast has become a vibrant and big community of people who want to

turn traditional American suburbia on its head. Steve, how are you? I'm good, looking forward

to the conversation.

Same.

I really enjoyed your book.

And what I loved about it in particular is it really outlines a lot of the ways in which we here in the United States could be living better.

But before we get to all of that, and that's a lot, please tell us who you are,

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