A psychologist explains how altruism can fuel hoarding and what to do about it

🏚️ Eco-guilt, family ties, and the psychology of hoarding

Why letting go is a lot more emotional than it looks.

We all have a touch of hoarder in us. It’s that box of wires in the garage just waiting to charge a first-generation iPod Shuffle or the bursting envelope of Junior’s elementary school art that should have been in the blue bin years ago. But then there’s capital H Hoarding. The kind that warrants its own TV show. it’s more than just a mess, it’s a misunderstood mental health issue.

In this story by licensed clinical psychologist Mary Dozier, we learn that true hoarding isn’t just driven by the distress at discarding an item. Like the path to hell, the path to hoarding is lined with good intentions; loyalty to a gift from grandma, guilt about wasting something useful, or even a sense of duty to the environment.

And because we don’t want to just hoard the good advice, we’ve gathered some practical tips you can use to make decluttering a little easier, for yourself or someone you love.

🐯 Science has crowned this the most motivational song ever

You’ve already guessed what it is, but now we know why.

🎶BUM… BUM bum BUM… BUM bum bumm… 🎶 Dr. Jacob Jolij’s wanted to find the most motivational song in the world, and one song rose to the challenge of its rivals. Of all the songs considered, there’s one last known survivor, stalking its prey in the night.

As motivational anthems go, Eye of the Tiger is the cream of the crop. I haven’t even seen Rocky III, but even I can belt out every word.

In Dr. Jolij’s research, no other song was as effective at boosting effort in fatigued test subjects. The driving 109BPM and repetitive drums drove dopamine release, creating a feel-good feedback loop. Erik Barnes breaks it down like a training montage; trivia, a dash of dopamine science, and the skinny on what other song almost made the cut.

Vote now, I’ll drop the results in tomorrow’s issue.

And what did we learn?

On Friday, we shared the GOOD news that scientists might actually save the honeybees. Then we asked: if the bees didn’t make it, which crop would still survive?

45.3% of you nailed it: corn.

Turns out, of the four crops listed, it’s the only one that’s wind-pollinated. Here’s how the class did.

• Almonds (11.8%)

• Coffee (36.6%)

• Corn (45.3%)

• Apples (6.2%)

Despite my best efforts, I have yet to stump you. But don’t get too comfortable. One of these days, I’ll get you and you won’t even see it coming.

🟪 He thought the story he’d be telling was how Prince borrowed his guitar, he was wrong

Loan the famous rocker your guitar, what could go wrong?

When The Artist Formerly And Then Eventually Known Again As Prince asks to borrow your 1961 Epiphone Crestwood for a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, you say yes. If you’re "Captain" Kirk Douglas of the show’s house band, The Roots, you probably say “Hell yes!”

Imagine Douglas’ horror when Prince, caught up in a killer rendition of 1979’s “Bambi,” trashed the guitar. Afterward, Prince didn’t seem interested in making things right, leaving Douglas with both a broken guitar and a broken heart.

As reported in this story by our house music guru Ryan Reed, what started as a catastrophe slowly, over the course of the next few years, became "one of the greatest guitar stories ever told."

💬 From the group text…

I’m a law-abiding citizen... but if I passed this on the road, you’d have to physically restrain me from pulling a Fast & Furious-style heist. And no, it’s not just the two cars you see in the thumbnail, it’s wilder. The shipping company was so busy wondering if they could, they didn’t stop to ask if they should.