We keep hearing it from the former surgeon general, from mental health professionals, from books and social media posts.

Many Americans are extra lonely these days, and chronic loneliness is linked to all kinds of negative health outcomes.

It's weird that after aching for companionship during the lockdowns and shutdowns of the pandemic,

we haven't quite resumed our previous levels of social engagement.

But what is even weirder is that COVID didn't spark these changes.

The time we spend socializing has been

on the decline for decades. From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm Chris Boyd. There seems to be a

disconnect between our social media fed envy of anybody seemingly having more fun than we are

and our willingness to risk going out but not having the best time ever.

So more and more often, we choose the social safety of solitude, even as we long to feel more connected.

Derek Thompson is a staff writer at the Atlantic.

He explores this phenomenon and the ways it is reshaping our habits, our relationships, even our politics,

in an article titled The Anti-Social Century. Derek, welcome back to think.

It's great to be here. Thank you. By way of example, you write about this Mexican restaurant

near where you live in North Carolina. You went there last summer with your family, and initially

you thought maybe the place wasn't doing well?

That's right.

So we're there.

Me, my wife and my at the time, maybe 13-month-old daughter, are at this Mexican restaurant at maybe 5 p.m. in the afternoon.

It's completely empty.

But on the bar, there's a set of maybe 9, 10, 11 large brown paper bags of to-go food.

There's a sign at the front of the bar that says bar seating closed.

...