Tanya Mosley

The restaurant's bar counter had become, as he puts it, a silent depot for people to grab food to eat at home in solitude. In February's issue of The Atlantic, Thompson writes about the phenomenon he calls the antisocial century. More people are choosing isolation over hanging out with others, and we can't blame it all on COVID-19. This trend started before the pandemic.

The problem is that humans by nature are social beings, and the consequences of isolation are stark. Our personalities are changing, as well as our politics and and our relationship to reality. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said, Derek Thompson, is a writer for The Atlantic and the author of the Work in Progress newsletter.

The problem is that humans by nature are social beings, and the consequences of isolation are stark. Our personalities are changing, as well as our politics and and our relationship to reality. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said, Derek Thompson, is a writer for The Atlantic and the author of the Work in Progress newsletter.

The problem is that humans by nature are social beings, and the consequences of isolation are stark. Our personalities are changing, as well as our politics and and our relationship to reality. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said, Derek Thompson, is a writer for The Atlantic and the author of the Work in Progress newsletter.

He's also the author of the books Hitmakers and On Work, Money, Meaning, Identity, and the host of the podcast Plain English. His new book, Abundance, co-authored with Ezra Klein, comes out in March. Derek Thompson, welcome to Fresh Air, and I'm excited to talk with you again.

He's also the author of the books Hitmakers and On Work, Money, Meaning, Identity, and the host of the podcast Plain English. His new book, Abundance, co-authored with Ezra Klein, comes out in March. Derek Thompson, welcome to Fresh Air, and I'm excited to talk with you again.

He's also the author of the books Hitmakers and On Work, Money, Meaning, Identity, and the host of the podcast Plain English. His new book, Abundance, co-authored with Ezra Klein, comes out in March. Derek Thompson, welcome to Fresh Air, and I'm excited to talk with you again.

Okay, Derek, I think a lot of us would assume that what you saw today when you were out to dinner with your family, is just a holdover of the pandemic. But you actually trace this isolation even further back. What did you find?

Okay, Derek, I think a lot of us would assume that what you saw today when you were out to dinner with your family, is just a holdover of the pandemic. But you actually trace this isolation even further back. What did you find?

Okay, Derek, I think a lot of us would assume that what you saw today when you were out to dinner with your family, is just a holdover of the pandemic. But you actually trace this isolation even further back. What did you find?

Okay, Derek, when I hear you say this goes back 60 years, I'm just thinking the consequences then must be more profound than we realize. And technology is at the heart of it.

Okay, Derek, when I hear you say this goes back 60 years, I'm just thinking the consequences then must be more profound than we realize. And technology is at the heart of it.

Okay, Derek, when I hear you say this goes back 60 years, I'm just thinking the consequences then must be more profound than we realize. And technology is at the heart of it.

Your article makes a distinction between solitude and loneliness. And this was probably, for me, the most profound part of your piece because we actually are under this assumption that all of this me time, I think a lot of us, I should say, not everyone, but that this me time is good for us.

Your article makes a distinction between solitude and loneliness. And this was probably, for me, the most profound part of your piece because we actually are under this assumption that all of this me time, I think a lot of us, I should say, not everyone, but that this me time is good for us.

Your article makes a distinction between solitude and loneliness. And this was probably, for me, the most profound part of your piece because we actually are under this assumption that all of this me time, I think a lot of us, I should say, not everyone, but that this me time is good for us.

It's like a form of self-care because it's like as if the world is so overstimulating that we need all of this time alone.

It's like a form of self-care because it's like as if the world is so overstimulating that we need all of this time alone.

It's like a form of self-care because it's like as if the world is so overstimulating that we need all of this time alone.

That sociologist that you talked to that told you like loneliness is a healthy response and that it is the thing that pushes us off the couch out into the world. That kind of makes it sound like our phones might actually be blocking us from feeling that natural instinct. But yet people feel like they're being very social by being on their phones and being on social media sites and stuff.