The Lonely Hour

Sex with Shakespeare author Jillian Keenan struggled with understanding her spanking fetish—and so did those around her.

Our host Julia Bainbridge attempts to answer why she's doing this podcast, and shares what's in store for season two.

For writer Charlotte Druckman, wearing a hood lets people know she’d like to be left alone.

Writer and activist Stephen Satterfield reads his Lonely Hour poem, called “Lonely Our.”

Writing professor Rachel Mennies considers the particular breed of loneliness found on Carnegie Mellon's campus.

Former New York Times 'Frugal Traveler' Matt Gross finds himself alone (in Istanbul) for the first time in years.

In the first of our five essay episodes, a pre-season two mini-series, Jamie Feldmar wonders if her lack of loneliness means something might be wrong with her.

Human closeness is fundamental to our mental well-being, but many people have hurdles to human closeness. Whether it’s anxiety, depression, or addiction, mental illness can be isolating.

Both substance abuse and sobriety can be isolating.

We idolize the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, but many of those entrepreneurs struggle through anxiety and loneliness on their way to the top — if they ever reach it.

The act of writing is a solitary one. We talk to three writers about their process, and about the loneliness of their profession.

Do people like — or are they even growing to prefer — dining alone?

Motherhood can be a lonely-making experience, whether it's because of postpartum depression, the pressure of guarding a human life, or the quest to get pregnant in the first place.

"Technology has distracted us from the age-old truths of what is most important — true friends whom we can be ourselves in front of, rather than our carefully scripted online persona.

In this episode, New York Times writer Alan Feuer expands on what he wrote about his 400-mile drive on Alaska’s Dalton Highway, which he calls one of America’s loneliest roads. I talk to Yahoo Travel editor at large Paula Froelich, a big fan of solo travel, as seen on her adventure travel web series A Broad Abroad, about “giving myself the gift of reflection” on the road. And I learn what single handing is from Randall Reeves, who plans to circumnavigate both the Americas and the Antarctic in a small sailboat starting in September 2017, passing through four separate oceans and nearing both poles in the process. Oh, and he’s doing it alone.