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

Plain English with Derek Thompson

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 PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.


Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Nick Epley

Producer: Devon Baroldi

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More description

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 PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.


Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Nick Epley

Producer: Devon Baroldi

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2025-01-10 70 min
Listen elsewhere

Available Results

Generated results are saved to your library for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Transcript

No transcript is available for this episode yet.
Sign in to generate a transcript for review.
Sign in

Chapters

No chapters available.