When We Become Strangers: How Loneliness Leaks into Our Lives, and What We Can Do about It

After decades of affluence, we’re busy renovating our homes, buffing and botoxing our bodies and losing ourselves in passive entertainment and shopping, as depression and anxiety soar. And with the arrival of Netflix and Uber Eats, there’s less and less incentive to leave home. Could our constant need for connection be messing with our brains? Is this why we’re losing our ability to strike up a conversation with anyone we don’t know? And given that so many of our kids lack one-on-one attention and regular touch, are we raising this new generation to be profoundly lonely?

Right now, many of our relationships at home and at work, as well as in our communities, are struggling. What, then, are the best ways back to belonging, and what might a more engaged community look like?