Hello and welcome to the 538 Politics Podcast.

I'm Gaelin Druk.

A couple months ago on this podcast, I had a conversation about the rising levels of

loneliness in the U.S. and its impact on politics with the director of the Harvard study of

adult development.

The data suggested that not only is loneliness tied to health and well-being, but also political

behavior and propensity for extremism.

So I was part of a bit when I saw a survey published last week by Gallup suggesting that loneliness

in the U.S. has subsided from its pandemic highs.

The number of Americans who said they were quote, lonely most of the day yesterday was at

17% down from a pandemic high of 25%.

If you're the type to think about polling question design and after all you are listening

to this podcast, you might be thinking, hmm, it's an interesting framing of that question.

Well, it's part of Gallup's national health and well-being index, which has been asking

Americans about their career, social, financial, community, and physical well-being on a rolling

basis since 2008.

We actually talked about this survey for a good or bad use of polling segment back in July

2021 when a record high number of Americans reported that they were thriving.

Well, I want to learn more about the survey and how Americans are doing.

So I asked the director of the survey to join the podcast and here with me now is Dan

Witters, welcome.

Thank you, Galen.

...