Epicurean Simplicity | Stephanie Mills
From OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance by Population Balance
January 13, 2026 · 56 min
About this episode
Stephanie Mills discusses her journey from fearing overpopulation to advocating for bioregional living and Epicurean simplicity.
Shaped by fears of overpopulation and ecological collapse, Stephanie Mills was launched into prominence with her 1969 college commencement vow not to have children. A long-time bioregionalist, Mills reflects on decades of questioning growth and cultivating a rooted relationship with the living world, and explains why bioregional living will become a necessity as global industrial civilization continues to unravel. She finds solace in and advocates for an Epicurean simplicity - choosing the simple pleasures of community, place, and nature. Highlights include: How the conversation around overpopulation has shifted over time and why today's birth-rate panic and pronatalist politics are a retrograde distraction from the deeper failures of growth-based economics; How exposure to bioregionalist ideas and people and a deep desire to reconnect with land led Stephanie from urban San Francisco to rural Michigan in the 1980s; Why our sense of awe and meaning arose within wild and biodiverse habitat and what we lose when nature is reduced to resources that feed the technosphere; Why ecological restoration and bioregionalism are fundamentally community endeavors, grounded in cooperation…
People in this episode
Guest: Stephanie Mills
Topics covered
- overpopulation
- bioregionalism
- ecological collapse
- community
- Epicurean simplicity
- growth-based economics
Keywords
- overpopulation
- bioregionalism
- ecological collapse
- community
- Epicurean simplicity
- growth-based economics
- natural history
- watershed
- foodshed
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Population Balance
Places: San Francisco, Michigan
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