Sunday Pick: All the lonely people | from Corner Piece

Elise Hu (0:03)

Happy Sunday, Elise Hue here. Today, we're bringing you a Sunday pick where we share an episode of another podcast from TED, handpicked by us for you. I'm excited to tell you about TED's newest podcast, Corner Piece, a show that starts small on life's biggest questions. Co-hosts Taha, Melissa, and Sabrina are lifelong friends and full-time nerds. You might know from their YouTube channel, Answer in Progress. On each episode, they take an everyday worry like is romance dead? And launch a full investigation to figure out how much of the problem is modern life and how much is just part of being human. The first episode takes on a question a lot of us know too well. From group chats to video calls, technology should make connections easier than ever. So why is everyone so lonely? Sabrina sets out to investigate the loneliness epidemic sweeping the globe, including her own friends and co-hosts. She talks with Professor Fay Bound-Alberti, author of A Biography of Loneliness, to understand what loneliness actually is, where it comes from, and whether there's a cure. Along the way, Taha and Melissa challenge Sabrina to confront her own loneliness with a side quest that reveals just how hard connection can be.

You can find Corner Piece wherever you get your podcasts with new episodes every other Thursday. And you can learn about all of TED's podcasts at podcasts.ted.com.

That's coming up right after a short break.

Sabrina Cruz (1:44)

Are you guys lonely?

Taha (1:46)

This is a personal question actually.

Sabrina Cruz (1:49)

Wait, I shouldn't be laughing. What if the answer is yes? Hello, I'm Sabrina.

Taha (1:58)

I'm Taha.

Melissa (1:59)

And I'm Melissa.

Taha (2:00)

We're friends who have been making stuff on the internet together for the past five years.

Sabrina Cruz (2:04)

And this is Corner Piece.

Taha (2:06)

A show. Welcome to your ears. We're going to start small on life's biggest questions.

Melissa (2:11)

Like those day-to-day worries that we think belong just to us.

Sabrina Cruz (2:15)

But actually stretch across our culture, our time, and honestly, our humanity. In this episode, I want to understand why loneliness seems so rampant nowadays, when technology should make connection easier than ever.

I started by asking these two if they're lonely.

Taha (2:32)

I don't really think about it. But then when I think about it, sometimes I am lonely. But then I stop thinking about it and then I'm fine.

Sabrina Cruz (2:39)

Wow. I've never seen a bigger cry for therapy.

Taha (2:43)

A cry for therapy? I don't think therapists are going to be my friend.

Melissa (2:46)

Deflection.

Sabrina Cruz (2:48)

Melissa, are you lonely?

Melissa (2:49)

Yeah, I do feel lonely sometimes. But I'm also someone who really enjoys being alone. And so there's times when I'm alone where I'm totally okay. And then there's sometimes when I'm alone and I'm like, I want companionship or something.

Taha (3:02)

I never think about this question. It's too big of a concept.

Sabrina Cruz (3:06)

You know what? That's fair. I think that's kind of the reason why I'm asking you guys. Because I keep hearing about this whole loneliness epidemic. It's supposedly really big.

It's ruining everybody's lives.

And I don't know if I experience loneliness. Like, that's really...

Taha (3:19)

Based. So cool.

Melissa (3:21)

That's why she's like, I'm going to be flexing. Never had a lonely thought in my life.

Sabrina Cruz (3:24)

I literally don't mean to flex like this. But I think that the question I'm asking is like, what is causing this loneliness?

Taha (3:31)

If you're forcing me to think about this, I think there's a bunch of reasons for why it's hard to connect with people. You can be interacting with 100 people every single day and still be completely lonely if you feel like you were never understood. In a way, you can be understood by yourself and be totally happy being in solitude.

Melissa (3:51)

Yeah. Sometimes when you're by yourself, you can feel like light and warm and happy.

You can also feel the opposite when you're around people. I'm trying to grasp for what the feeling of loneliness is, but it just feels like cold and heavy.

Taha (4:06)

I think that's pretty accurate actually. It feels like an emptiness in your chest that no one sees you. And no one would notice if you disappeared.

Sabrina Cruz (4:16)

Do both of you feel this way?

Melissa (4:19)

I do sometimes feel like that, but then sometimes I don't. Like, it's something that doesn't just like come and go randomly, but I think that's a normal part of the human experience, to sometimes feel not okay.

Sabrina Cruz (4:32)