Experts have declared a loneliness epidemic in the U.S. But how did we get here? Did the pandemic make things worse? What can we as a society do about it?

For today’s show, Wednesday host Carousel Bayrd does a deep dive on the mental and physical health effects of social isolation in youth, adults, and seniors and where we go from here. Our guests are Michal Engelman from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Demography and Ecology and Matt Pantell and Mark Van Ryzin from the Foundation for Social Connection.

Michal Engelman is associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, training director at the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA), and the Director of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.

Matt Pantell is assistant professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He also works in a clinical setting as a hospitalist and urgent care physician.

Mark Van Ryzin is research associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Oregon, where he researches the impact of relationships on youth development, including family functioning, teacher-student relationships, and peer relations.

Cover photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

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