What loneliness feels like around the world

A person sits alone on a bench. A new project called Dear Loneliness collects letters, artwork, and social media posts about how people are experiencing loneliness around the world.

A person sits alone on a bench. A new project called Dear Loneliness collects letters, artwork, and social media posts about how people are experiencing loneliness around the world. Photo credit: Melk Hagelslag/CC 2.0, via Pixabay

Even before the pandemic, three in five Americans were lonely. That’s according to a survey that Cigna released in January. To get a sense of what these people were feeling, three students began collecting letters, artwork, and social media posts all about loneliness. They’ve gathered 35,000 messages since March, when COVID-19 struck. Their project is called Dear Loneliness. 

From this Episode:

Credits

Host:

Madeleine Brand

Producers:

Sarah Sweeney, Michell Eloy, Amy Ta, Rosalie Atkinson, Brian Hardzinski, Angie Perrin, Nihar Patel