The “square sigma”-shaped “bars” in the text aren’t even the worst abomination I’ve seen being done for the sake of minimalism.

Minimalism is better seen as a reminder than as a principle. The principle should not be some framework you see in design books; it should be to service people well. And sometimes this means adding items that might not be necessary, but are still desirable.

By the way. The horizontal grid is not “chartjunk”. It is useful as a guide, so you don’t need to eyeball which bars are taller than which.