connection

Host Jordan Klepper chats with rapper Killer Mike about his recent sweep at the 2024 Grammys for his album "Michael," how working on this project brought him closer to God, and his efforts to encourage activists to take action in their communities. Plus, writer and director Cord Jefferson joins Klepper to discuss the success of his film, "American Fiction," and the power of leaning into art that makes us uncomfortable. 

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Happy Birthday Miss Dolly! Jon Stewart sits with the famous country singer to discuss the making of her country album "Those Were the Days" and what it was like working alongside Queen Latifah for the movie "Joyful Noise." Plus, Trevor Noah sits with Dolly and author, James Peterson, to share their journey co-authoring their book "Run, Rose, Run," and the power of Dolly Parton's legacy across generations. 

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The holidays are one of the most social times of the year, filled with parties and family get-togethers. Many of us see friends and loved ones who we barely — or never — saw all year. Maybe we resolve to stay in better touch in the new year. But then somehow, once again, life gets in the way. 

This is not an accident. More and more people are living lives that feel lonelier and more socially isolated than they want them to be. And that’s largely because of social structures we’ve chosen — wittingly or unwittingly — to build for ourselves.

Sheila Liming is an associate professor of communications and creative media at Champlain College and the author of “Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time.” In the book, Liming investigates what she calls the “quiet catastrophe” brewing in our social lives: the devastating fact that we’ve grown much less likely to simply spend time together outside our partnerships, workplaces and family units. What would it look like to reconfigure our world to make social connection easier for all of us?

This conversation was recorded in April 2023. But we wanted to re-air it now, at a moment when many of us are spending more time in the company of people we like and love, and remembering how good that feels (at least some of the time). If you feel motivated to have a more social life next year, hopefully this episode provides a clearer sense of the structures that might be standing in the way, what it would look like to knock a couple down, and what you could build instead.

Mentioned:

“You’d Be Happier Living Closer to Friends. Why Don’t You?” by Anne Helen Petersen

“The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake” by David Brooks

Full Surrogacy Now by Sophie Lewis

Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag

Letters from Tove by Tove Jansson

Book Recommendations:

Black Paper by Teju Cole

On the Inconvenience of Other People by Lauren Berlant

The Hare by Melanie Finn

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Annie Galvin, with Jeff Geld, Rogé Karma and Kristin Lin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Mixing by Jeff Geld. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero and Kristina Samulewski.
 

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In 2019, Justin Harrison's mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But by the time she died, he had figured out how to keep a part of her alive...forever. This week, the strange and provocative story of a man who believes that grief is not inevitable — that we can, in a way, cheat death.

If you missed the earlier installments of our Healing 2.0 series, you can find them in this podcast feed, or on our website: Life After Loss, What We Gain from Pain, and Change Your Story, Change Your Life.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/sma. https://plus.acast.com/s/sma.

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Happy Fathers Day from the Trump sons! Eric reportedly channeled funds from a charity event for pediatric cancer into the Trump family business and on Unsolved Mysteries: MAGA Edition, Don Jr. may not know who his father is. Plus, Kristen Schaal compares the relative societal expectations between the dad bod and momshell trends sweeping the media and Hasan Minhaj opens up about the show’s early beginnings, fertility and fatherhood.

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Today’s show:

Replika Co-Founder and CEO Eugenia Kuyda breaks down her startup’s origin story and purpose (1:43), the relationships users have with its AI chatbot (10:21), the potential of AI therapists, Replika’s new chatbot Blush, and more! (35:10)

Follow Eugenia: https://twitter.com/ekuyda

Check Out Replika: https://replika.ai/

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Time stamps:

(0:00) Eugenia joins Jason

(1:43) Replika’s origin story

(8:54) Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist

(10:21) Replika’s purpose and their current user base

(16:21) Relationships within the app

(20:25) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups

(21:58) Creating happiness with AI

(26:26) Avoiding addiction

(29:25) Demographics within the AI field

(33:42) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://openphone.com/twist

(35:10) Crafting LLMs to envoke thought-provoking questions and AI therapy

(49:53) Replika's new AI chatbot, Blush

(1:01:05) The loneliness crisis and specific cases for using these AIs

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