Meet Friend: a ‘Tamagotchi with a soul’, wearable AI companion that records your interactions and texts back
July 2024
An elderly woman comes to hospital every second day. It breaks my heart to send her home
Ranjana Srivastava
If frontline professionals began to remedy loneliness, who would tackle accidents, heart disease and asthma?
My home town: how London changed under Conservative rule
As Labour takes power for the first time in 14 years, the Southall-raised novelist Jacqueline Crooks reflects on a more isolated and expensive city
‘The cat has changed my life’: how Bootsy turned a street of strangers into a community
When Mike Hohnen moved into a new suburb he was looking for solitude. His tabby had other ideas
June 2024
Life at the heart of Japan’s lonely deaths epidemic: ‘I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried’
Loneliness can increase stroke risk by up to 56%, finds research
Fit for ever
The loneliness trap: it is said to be as bad as smoking. So will it shorten my lifespan?
Virtual living rooms, adult ‘after-school clubs’ and AI lovers: my search for a fix to modern loneliness
May 2024
Could AI help cure ‘downward spiral’ of human loneliness?
One computer scientist says we should embrace human-machine relationships, but other experts are more cautious
Some women are born to enjoy life as solitary bees
Letters: Readers respond to Tara Judah’s article about her difficulty in forming female friendships, and her happiness in her own company
Pass notes
Thinking about getting married? Would £550 sweeten the deal?
More weddings would help Britain tackle its epidemic of loneliness, according to the Centre for Social Justice. And nothing says ‘romance’ like the offer of a cash bonus
April 2024
‘You can make meaningful relationships’: how does friendship change in older age?
Alone in the natural world, I felt alive again
March 2024
To be old in Britain is to be reduced and derided. Bravo, then, to the grey-haired stars of ‘NanTok’
Max Wallis
My grandmother died last year and I miss her a lot. But now I’m finding solace in the TikTok accounts of other older people, says writer and poet Max Wallis
English midlifers are the loneliest in Europe – and I think I know why
Emma Beddington
I fully understand the problem as I rarely see my friends and no longer have workmates. But is there a solution?
We think loneliness is in our heads, but its source lies in the ruin of civil society
Kenan Malik
Why am I like this?
I like my own company. But do I spend too much time alone?
The alternatives
‘We’re totally pay as you can’: the UK restaurant prioritising people and planet
February 2024
Number of young Australians in psychological distress continues sharp rise
US widower and veteran fights grief and PTSD by offering home repairs – for free
