#1608 Widespread Loneliness is a Solvable Social Problem - Urban Design, Architecture, Co-housing, and Community Action and Support Can Make Our Towns Better

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 2/7/2024

Loneliness is an epidemic that long-predates the COVID lockdowns that only made things worse but it's not primarily cultural or even technological in origin. The issue largely has to do with how our built environment is designed and then social and technological aspects compound the problem.

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Transcript

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Surgeon General discusses health risks of loneliness and steps to help connect with others - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 5-2-23

The U.S. Surgeon General declared a new public health epidemic in America, loneliness. A new report finds loneliness can have profound effects on mental health as well as heart disease, stroke and dementia.

Ch. 2: Our Loneliness Epidemic is Infrastructuralized - Studio Leonardo - Air Date 6-2-22

The infrastructure in the US is one of the main culprits for our loneliness. In this video, we deep-dive into why that is and how it has come to be this way. So, what can we do to fix this?

Ch. 3: Original Barcelona video - @The Happy Urbanist TikTok - Air Date 12-15-23

Ch. 4: How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer) | Grace Kim - TED - Air Date 8-7-17

Loneliness doesn't always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people around us -- and it's often the result of the homes we live in. She shares an age-old antidote to isolation

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MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

SHOW IMAGE:

Description: Photograph taken from behind a woman in a dark room who is leaning out an open window. She looks out at a brick apartment building across the way.

Credit: "Woman looking out the window" by Jon Eric Marababol, Wikimedia Commons | License: CC0 1.0 Universal

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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