264: When You Just Want to be Alone: The History of Solitude in America

BackStory

History, Education

4.7 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2019

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We all have times when we want to be alone, but what is the history of solitude in America? How are experiments on dolphins connected with consciousness raising and isolation tanks? And what does Thoreau’s solitary experiment at Walden Pond have to teach us all in the digital age?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Major funding for backstory is provided by an anonymous donor, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.
0:11.0	From Virginia Humanities, this is backstory.
0:20.0	Welcome to backstory, the show that explains the history behind today's headlines. I'm Brian Ballot. I'm Ed Ayers.
0:27.0	And I'm Joanne Freeman.
0:58.0	How could I say no? But he never told me how long I'd actually be in the tank.
1:04.0	So how long am I floating for? Are you be floating for 90 minutes? 90 minutes? Is that like in base 10?
1:14.0	I don't think I can float for 90 minutes.
1:19.0	It actually goes by really fast. I had like three minutes in mind.
1:25.0	A lot of people who come out and who have that same apprehension that you do, they come out on the other end and they're very surprised as to how fast those bodies go.
1:36.0	How badly compromised on some side?
1:39.0	I'm like getting anxious just thinking about the notion of doing anything for 90 minutes.
1:46.0	45 minutes. I think that's very generous on my part. It sounds like you have a strong mind.
1:53.0	But no, how about you just get in and we'll get you out.
1:58.0	And you just stay in there.
2:01.0	So you're the boss.
2:08.0	What if I don't float? I don't float so well.
2:13.0	We floated anybody from 40 pounds to 590 pounds.
2:20.0	But wait.
2:22.0	Alright. And I just lie there and do nothing for 90 minutes.
2:28.0	Yes. Can I use my cell phone?
2:35.0	Yes. I'm ready.
2:37.0	Yeah.
	...

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