What can a recovering hoarder learn from a decluttering expert? Find out as Finders and Keepers host Rachel Kramer Bussel gets tips from Avery Cundill, host of The Declutter Queen podcast. They discuss how Cundill went from being someone with her fair share of clutter to an avid declutterer, why Cundill prefers the term “collectors” to “hoarders,” why clearing out clutter is important, and how to get started decluttering (even if you’re overwhelmed). Cundill also shares her thoughts on how many books are really too many, what to do with clothes you love but haven’t worn in years, why digital clutter is also problematic (and what to do about it), and why Cundill’s recommends tackling one room at a time.

If you’ve struggled with clutter or simply feel like your stuff is owning you rather than the other way around, this episode will help you drill down on the questions to ask yourself before starting to purge your possessions.

Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine to read a transcript.

About our guest:

Avery Cundill is the creator and host of The Declutter Queen, a lifestyle brand and podcast focused on helping people simplify their homes, schedules, and digital lives. Through practical, judgment-free strategies and mindset work, she guides audiences to let go of what no longer serves them and create space for what matters most—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Her content blends real-life decluttering systems, habit change, and compassionate coaching to reduce overwhelm and build sustainable organization routines.

The Declutter Queen website

Instagram: @thedeclutterqueenpod

Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers

For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.

Are print magazines dead? Of course not! While many once-thriving magazines have shuttered or switch to digital only, a new crop of independent print magazines are filling valuable niches. We spoke with Laura LeBleu, editor of Geezer magazine, a new publication aimed at Generation X, to find out how she got the idea for Geezer, why analog is back, and what makes her generation love the feel of turning pages so much. Learn how LeBleu developed a love of magazines, which surprising magazine was her inspiration, the reality of what it takes to launch a print venture, and what she hopes readers take away from Geezer.

Special offer: Use code FINDERS15 for 15% off an annual subscription to Geezer. Available to the first 10 subscribers through June 30, 2026.

Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine to read a transcript.

About our guest:

Laura LeBleu’s life has always revolved around storytelling—either as an actor, a writer, or, now, as the founding editor of Geezer, a print magazine for Gen X. Bringing Geezer to life has easily been the most fulfilling creative achievement of her fifty-something years, and she’s thrilled to share this weird, soulful publication with fellow Gen Xers and the world.

Geezermagazine.com

Geezer Magazine on Substack

Laura LeBleu on Substack

Instagram: @geezermagazine

Instagram: @laura.lebleu

Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers

For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.

Moving is a process most people dread because it forces us to closely examine what we own and decide what really needs to be packed up, lugged around, then unpacked in a new home. Items we’d been content to let stockpile in a closet become another matter entirely when faced with storing them in boxes upon boxes.

In this episode, thriller author Rob Hart discusses how he went about downsizing twice within a few years after his divorce, and then upon remarriage, each time having to get real about what he took with him. As he says, he had to ask himself, “What do I care about carrying with me into this next phase of my life?”

Hart discusses the nuances of being a published author faced with a multiplying array of copies of his own books, including foreign editions. How do authors store the work that they’ve invested countless hours into? What do they do with all the extra copies they amass?

Hart is also an avid Lego enthusiast, dedicating days at a time to building items like a Lego typewriter, which he likes to display when he’s done, and shares this hobby with his daughter. What’s the draw of building Lego sets, and what’s Hart’s dream Lego purchase?

We also discuss Hart’s research process for his Assassins Anonymous series, whose latest title, Three Hitmen and a Baby, was released this week.

Click on “Transcript” on the top right to read an auto-generated transcript of this episode.

About our guest:

Rob Hart is the author of Three Hitmen and a Baby, The Medusa Protocol, Assassins Anonymous, The Paradox Hotel, The Warehouse, the Ash McKenna crime series, and is the co-author of Scott Free with James Patterson. He’s worked as a book publisher, a reporter, a political communications director, and a commissioner for the city of New York. Hart lives in Jersey City.

robwhart.com

Rob Hart on Substack

Instagram: @robwhart1

Three Hitmen and a Baby

Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers

For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.