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The Home Front

Social Atrophy and the Fight to Reclaim Real Connection with Sarah Stein Lubrano, Part 2

The Home Front

Reed Galen

News, Government, Politics, News Commentary

5632 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Host ⁠Reed Galen⁠⁠ is joined by Sarah Stein Lubrano - writer, researcher, and author of Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st Century Minds for the second half of their conversation about why building real community is so challenging in the modern world. They discuss the rise of loneliness, the difference between weak ties and true friendships, and how social media has changed the way we connect and organize. They also explore what “social atrophy” means for Americans’ personal lives and politics, why genuine in-person relationships matter more than ever, dig into the science behind deep canvassing, and the hard truth that strong communities require consistent effort. Plus, what the loss of social infrastructure means for democracy and why anyone can play a part in rebuilding it. For more from Sarah Stein Lubrano, check out Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st Century Minds wherever books are sold, subscribe to My Subschtick, and follow her work with the Sense and Solidarity Initiative, The Future Narratives Lab, and the AHEAD app. For more from Reed Galen subscribe to⁠⁠ The Home Front⁠⁠, check out⁠⁠ Sez Us⁠⁠ for a new social media platform for sane people, and if you want to personally join the fight to save our nation’s democracy, visit⁠⁠ JoinTheUnion.us⁠⁠ and sign up today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I've rolled out uni because I want to live at home.

0:02.5

I've ruled out uni because I want to earn money.

0:05.7

I've ruled out uni because of my grades.

0:10.1

Study with the Open University and there's no need to rule out anything.

0:14.0

With our respected degrees, you can learn from home and work alongside study.

0:18.1

We're open to all.

0:19.6

Plus, you'll have the support of expert tutors. So rethink your

0:23.6

future with the degree you didn't think was possible. The Open University, the future is open.

0:30.0

Hey, everyone, it's Reed. In my conversation you're going to hear today, it is all about building

0:34.8

social infrastructure. And that is what we are doing at the union.

0:39.3

Please go to join the union.us right now. Go to join the union.us right now and sign up to get

0:46.1

involved in building this infrastructure with us. And now on with the show.

0:52.1

Welcome back to the home front. I'm your host your host reid galen today you're going to hear

0:57.0

part two of my conversation with sarah stine lubrano about her new book don't talk about politics

1:03.8

if you haven't listened to part one please go back and do so so i want to shift forward a little

1:09.9

bit in the idea of protest. And now we're

1:13.9

talking about infrastructure because you brought up something here that I interviewed a guy

1:19.6

named Gal Beckerman, writes for the Atlantic. He wrote a book, I think, two or three years

1:23.8

ago about how people had utilized basically online networks to organize.

1:30.3

But Sarah, the issue was, and he uses Tahrir Square, he uses the Arab Spring as well as an

1:35.0

example, which is Facebook at the time or TikTok, Twitter, whatever it is now, right, is the thing,

1:43.3

is an incredible way to get a group of

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