#1800 How Capitalism Created Loneliness and How To Joyfully Organize Our Way to Community
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2026
⏱️ 237 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 6/12/2026
Today we examine how America caused a loneliness epidemic by tearing down the places where people used to find each other, how big tech is offering AI as a lackluster substitute for connection, and how people are building the opposite of loneliness with block parties, labor unions, and community gardens.
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TOP TAKES
KP 1: How Capitalism Causes Loneliness Part 1 - Second Thought - Air Date 6-2-23
KP 2: Anthropic Discovers the Axis of Evil, and AIs Loneliness Economy - The AI Fix - Air Date 2-3-26
KP 4: What Do We Mean by Humane Tech Part 1 - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 6-4-26
KP 6: The Simple Habit for a Happier Social Life Nicholas Epley Part 1 - TEDTalks - Air Date 5-19-26
(00:49:32) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Why the Left Needs to Have More Fun to Build Real Power
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DEEPER DIVES
(00:59:32) SECTION A: THE LONELINESS WE LIVE IN
A1: Loneliness - Capitalism's Collateral Damage - Democracy At Work - Air Date 8-29-22
A2: How Capitalism Causes Loneliness Part 2 - Second Thought - Air Date 6-2-23
A3: Loneliness - Capitalism's Collateral Damage Part 2 - Democracy At Work - Air Date 8-29-22
(01:29:54) SECTION B: AI COMPANION MACHINE
B1: Can AI Companionship Cure Loneliness – or Deepen It Part 1 - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 2-27-26
B2: People Are Lonelier Than Ever. Enter AI. - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 5-30-25
B3: The Dark Side of AI Companions, and the 1930s LLM - The AI Fix - Air Date 5-5-26
B4: What Do We Mean by Humane Tech Part 2 - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 6-4-26
B5: Can AI Companionship Cure Loneliness – or Deepen It Part 2 - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 2-27-26
(02:18:26) SECTION C: REFRACTIONS AND REACH-OUTS
C1: Gladiators, Real Housewives and the Pull of Reality TV Part 1 - Throughline - Air Date 4-30-26
C3: Gladiators, Real Housewives and the Pull of Reality TV Part 2 - Throughline - Air Date 4-30-26
C5: The Simple Habit for a Happier Social Life Nicholas Epley Part 2 - TEDTalks - Air Date 5-19-26
(02:58:25) SECTION D: BUILDING IT BACK
D2: How People Are Combatting Loneliness with Community Connections - The Newsfeed - Air Date 5-22-26
D3: Solo How Do We Make the Left Fun Again - The Bardo Podcast - Air Date 3-10-26
D4: Being Human with Marshall Ganz Part 1 - Practical Wisdom for Leaders - Air Date 5-20-26
D6: Being Human with Marshall Ganz Part 2 - Practical Wisdom for Leaders - Air Date 5-20-26
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left podcast. Today we examine how America caused a loneliness epidemic by tearing down the places where people used to find each other, how big tech is offering AI as a lackluster substitute for connection, and how people are building the opposite of loneliness with block parties, |
| 0:22.2 | labor unions, and community gardens. |
| 0:24.6 | For those looking for a quick overview, the sources providing our top takes in about 50 |
| 0:28.3 | minutes today include Second Thought, the AI Fix, Revolutionary Left Radio, Your Undivided |
| 0:34.5 | Attention, and TED Talks. |
| 0:36.6 | Then in the additional deeper dives have of the show, there will be more in four sections. |
| 0:40.7 | Section A, the loneliness we live in. |
| 0:43.2 | Section B, inside the AI companion machine, section C, refractions and reachouts, and section D, building it back. |
| 0:51.5 | And now, onto the show. |
| 0:59.1 | Music building it back. And now, onto the show. Loneliness. If you've watched Bo Burnham's |
| 1:01.8 | inside, you've heard about it before. An experts say it's as bad as eating 15 |
| 1:06.2 | cigarettes a day. But what is loneliness really? And is it a problem? The answer to both of those questions |
| 1:12.5 | is yes. Because loneliness is a problem that has existed behind the shadows for too long. |
| 1:18.6 | And I came to realize this when I first began my tenure of Surgeon General and I traveled the country |
| 1:23.2 | and would talk to people who would tell me that they were lonely, but they wouldn't use that |
| 1:27.1 | word. They would say things like, you lonely, but they wouldn't use that word. |
| 1:32.2 | They would say things like, you know, I feel I have to carry all these burdens in my life by myself, |
| 1:36.8 | or I feel if I disappear tomorrow, nobody would care, or I feel invisible. Don't feel anything. |
| 1:38.0 | Right, and it turns out that millions of people struggle with loneliness. |
| 1:40.9 | When you dig into the data, what you find is that about one in two adults in America, it was reporting levels of loneliness, and these numbers are even greater among kids. But what |
| 1:50.5 | you also find is that loneliness has serious effects on our mental health and our physical health, |
| 1:55.8 | raising our risk for depression, anxiety, and suicide, but also increasing our risk of heart disease, stroke, |
... |
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