Rebecca Falkoff--author of Possessed: A Cultural History of Hoarding, assistant professor of Italian studies at NYU, and stand-up comedian--unpacks the methods and madness behind hoarding with Eve and Julie. They discuss how her family experiences inspired her academic book on hoarding; how her fear of becoming a hoarder herself complicates her writing process; how we can differentiate hoarding from collecting; and why hoarding is both a way of disavowing mortality and a mortal threat to the hoarder. Rebecca also weighs in on this hot-button question: Are billionaires and misers just economic hoarders in a capitalist society?
Possessed: A Cultural History of Hoarding
"Exhaustively researched and brimming with new ideas, Possessed offers a richly detailed account of the last two centuries of hoarding and hoarding-adjacent practices in Western culture."-Raymond Malewitz, Oregon State University, author of The Practice of Misuse
Go Deeper
Possessed: A Cultural History of Hoarding, by Rebecca Falkoff
Collyer’s Mansion, Collyer Brothers (Homer and Langley Collyer)
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things, by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee
Possessed (documentary), by Martin Hampton
1000 Books to Read Before You Die, by James Mustich
Ep. 5 - “What Are We Supposed to Read Now?” ft. James Mustich