559 | Social Contagion

Joshua Fields Millburn and T.K. Coleman sit down with Luke Burgis, author and mimetic desire expert, to explore the hidden identities lurking inside our possessions. They dig into why the lightest physical objects often carry the heaviest emotional load, the psychological trap of holding onto things 'just in case,' and how much of what we keep is anchored to past or possible future selves. A listener tip near the end reframes letting go of something deeply sentimental as releasing an outdated version of who we were, not the memory itself. Throughout, Burgis connects the dots between social contagion, mimetic desire, and the real reason it’s so hard to declutter.