Loneliness with David Robson

About this episode

Annalisa Barbieri discusses the impact of loneliness on health with science writer David Robson.

In this episode I’m in conversation with David Robson. David is an award winning science writer and author of three books, one of which  The Laws of Connection , we really delve into here. David graduated from Cambridge university with a maths degree, has worked as features editor at the New Scientist, was a senior journalist at BBC Future and his work has appeared in various newspapers and journals such as The Guardian and The Atlantic. Loneliness isn’t just a psychological or mental state, it can and does affect our physical state: it’s as bad for our health as smoking. Loneliness can increase the risk of early mortality by a whopping 26%, in part because of the stress associated with feeling lonely. Of course, being alone doesn’t have to equate with feeling lonely and that’s an important distinction to make but studies show that at some point or other, pretty much half of us will report feeling lonely at some time or other with 7% *of the population feeling loneliness pretty much all the time. If you'd like to listen to this episode, past or future ones, ad free then consider becoming a Substacker: https://pocketannalisa.substack.com/ . From £5 a month or £50 (2025 rates)…

People in this episode

Host: Annalisa Barbieri

Guest: David Robson

Topics covered

• loneliness
• health
• psychology
• social connection
• well-being

Keywords

• loneliness
• health risks
• social isolation
• psychological state
• early mortality

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New Scientist, BBC Future, The Guardian, The Atlantic

Books & works: The Laws of Connection

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