The holidays are an unusually social time, filled with parties and family get-togethers. But for most of the year, we feel isolated and unsatisfied with our social lives. Our society isn’t structured to support connection year-round. So it’s an apt time to re-air this episode — a conversation with the writer Sheila Liming about rediscovering the lost art of hanging out.Liming is an associate professor of professional writing at Champlain College and the author of “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717263/hanging-out-by-sheila-liming/">Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time</a>.” In the book, Liming investigates the troubling 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?I spoke to Liming in April 2023. But I find that this conversation provides a clearer sense of what’s gone wrong in our social lives — and how to make “hanging out” with others more fulfilling.Note: We're still gathering questions for an upcoming "Ask Me Anything" episode we'd like to record. If you have any questions for Ezra, please email ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com using the subject line "AMA."Mentioned:“<a href="https://annehelen.substack.com/p/youd-be-happier-living-closer-to">You’d Be Happier Living Closer to Friends. Why Don’t You?</a>” by Anne Helen Petersen“<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/the-nuclear-family-was-a-mistake/605536/">The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake</a>” by David Brooks<a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/711-full-surrogacy-now">Full Surrogacy Now</a> by Sophie Lewis<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312422196/regardingthepainofothers">Regarding the Pain of Others</a> by Susan Sontag<a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/letters-from-tove">Letters from Tove</a> by Tove JanssonBook Recommendations:<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo119247871.html">Black Paper</a> by Teju Cole<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/on-the-inconvenience-of-other-people">On the Inconvenience of Other People</a> by Lauren Berlant<a href="https://twodollarradio.com/products/hare">The Hare</a> by Melanie FinnThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcast">nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast</a>, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html">https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs</a>.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.
Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Podurama

Home

Trending

Personal

Your Podcasts

New Episodes

My Files

Favourite Episodes

Tags (Folders)

Recently Played

Bookmarks

Followed Playlists

Best Of: The ‘Quiet Catastrophe’ Brewing in Our Social Lives

The Ezra Klein Show

AI Chapters

AI Insights

Reviews