U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been warning Americans that loneliness is a public health crisis. One in two Americans say they’re lonely, and the impact on wellbeing can be as damaging as smoking or obesity. It’s correlated with cardiovascular disease, depression, dementia and premature death. Why do so many of us feel lonely and how can we connect with each other again?

Our guests are Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University who was the lead scientific editor on the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness, and Eric Klinenberg, professor of sociology at New York University and author of Palaces for the People and Going Solo.