Like many families, our family has a social media chat group that we use to share news, arrange family gatherings, and post photos both cute and embarrassing. This past week the chat became momentarily heavier, as various family members discussed the apparent escalation of youth crime in our area. In the midst of my rumination, Issue #295 of Nick Cave's Red Hand Files landed in my inbox and I read this: Loneliness is the breakdown of the overarching structure of things, a feeling of separateness or exclusion from the sum and substance of the world. I was reminded of an article I wrote during the COVID years under the heading The Deep Loneliness of Humanity, and I wondered: could it be that loneliness is a factor in the inappropriate 'acting out' of young people? And not just young people: could it be that the deep loneliness of humanity is at the heart of many of the aberrant behaviours, addictions and anti-social attitudes of (at least) western cultures? That's the question I explore in this podcast.