From W. H.Y.Y. in Philadelphia, I'm Tanya Mosley with Fresh Air Weekend.

Today, how Lewis Armstrong became the first black pop star and provided the foundation of improvisation for other musicians.

You can name a million great vocalists and a million great instrumentalist,

and Armstrong's the only person who totally changed the way people sang,

and he totally changed the way people soloed and played music on their instruments.

We talk with Ricky Ricardy, author of Stomp Off, Let's Go,

The Early Years of Louis Armstrong.

And we also hear from writer Derek Thompson.

He's done a deep dive into our nation's loneliness epidemic

and how our phones have become a barrier to real human connection.

His recent article in the Atlantic is called The Anti-Social Century.

Also, critic at large John Powers reviews the Brazilian film, I'm Still Here.

That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.

Whatever your job is, wherever you're from. NPR is a resource for all Americans.

Our mission is to create a more informed public. We do that by providing free access to

independent, rigorous journalism that's accountable to the public. You. Federal funding for public

media provides critical support of this work. Learn more about how to safeguard it at

protectmypublicmedia.org. There's been a lot of attention on loneliness lately.

16% of Americans report feeling lonely all or most of the time. The former surgeon general even

declared a loneliness epidemic. On It's Been a Minute, we're launching a new series called

All the Lonely People, diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives

and how our culture shapes it. That's on the It's Been a Minute podcast on NPR.

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