The loneliness epidemic
Culture Companion Vol. 5
Welcome to the Culture Companion Vol. 5. The Culture Companion is a curation building bridges between the ideas we encounter in film, literature, and the arts. Subscribe to get new posts straight to your inbox.
Loneliness is not just a feeling.
According to the World Health Organisation, social isolation is an urgent threat to global health, having even the same impact on mortality as smoking. So, while there is beauty in learning to welcome solitude into our lives, sometimes being alone is not always something to be romanticised.
In this loneliness epidemic, companionship in all its weird and wonderful forms becomes one of the most cherished gifts we have on this earth.
Robot Dreams
Robot Dreams is a charming portrait of a life that flits between loneliness, companionship, and the uncertainty that lies in between.
The animated movie follows Dog whose mind-numbing isolation compels him to purchase a DIY friend, Robot. After a summer filled with hot dogs, beaches, and roller skating, Dog does whatever it takes to save Robot from a paralysing malfunction.
Robot Dreams captures the nature of our evolving relationships and reminds us that the cure for loneliness doesn’t always lie in one companion.
A Friendship Revolution
Trevor Noah’s What Now? podcast strikes an entertaining balance between intellectual debate and comedy, featuring celebrity interviews, conspiracy theories, and thought experiments.
In the episode A Friendship Revolution, the hosts are joined by Rhaina Cohen whose book called The Other Significant Other argues against the expectation that romantic relationships should fulfil all our social needs.
Social norms have placed platonic relationships second to romantic ones. But in this podcast episode, the group envisage a society that embraces friendships as life partnerships.
God by Langston Hughes
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedI am God—
Without one friend,
Alone in my purity
World without end.
Below me young lovers
Tread the sweet ground—
But I am God—
I cannot come down.
Spring!
Life is love!
Love is life only!
Better to be human
Than God—and lonely.
If you’ve found value, joy, or comfort in The Kulturalist, consider clicking the button below to support my work. Your generosity keeps the words flowing. Thank you for being here!
If you missed the previous volume of the Culture Companion, you can read it here:
Kristen Harding
