‘The Anti-Social Century’: America’s Epidemic of Solitude—and How to Fix It

Plain English with Derek Thompson

The Ringer

News Commentary, News

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My new feature for The Atlantic magazine is called "The Anti-Social Century." It's a long article that revolves around a simple point: Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. This surging solitude is changing our personalities, our politics, our culture, and our relationships. On this episode, University of Chicago psychologist Nick Epley joins the show to talk about why aloneness matters. We talk about his research on relationships and solitude, on why we need people in our lives, and why sometimes we disregard or misunderstand that need, and why "social fitness" is so critical to a good life. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Nick Epley Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up everybody? Chris Vernon here and welcome to a new season of the NBA and the mismatch.
0:06.6	And huge welcome as well to my new co-host, Dave Jacoby.
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1:16.1	Before we dive into today's episode,
1:18.3	a few announcements.
1:19.9	First, I want to remind folks
1:21.3	that plain English is having our first live show
	...

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