The Archive
Everything we have published
179 articles · page 3 of 6
October 20254
Life Changes
The Difference Between Being In Touch and Being Known
Messaging keeps relationships alive between meetings, but it cannot do the job of the meeting itself. What the research says online contact actually replaces, and what it doesn't.
Digital Life
Why Talking to Your Neighbours Predicts So Much
A single AARP finding about neighbours and loneliness is more useful than it first looks. Here's what it actually shows, and one small habit worth building from it.
Tools & Apps
Does the Dog Park Actually Work as a Place to Meet People
A look at the dog park as informal social infrastructure — why the structure works better than most third places, and the specific habits that turn it into actual friendship rather than small talk about breeds.
Work & Remote Life
The Text You're Not Sending Because It Feels Like an Imposition
Why asking a coworker or old colleague to hang out feels like a burden you're placing on them, and the specific, low-stakes way to do it anyway.
September 20254
Life Changes
The Week Before the Evenings Get Dark Is the Week to Act
Late September is when summer's easy, low-effort socialising quietly stops. Here's how to build something recurring before the dark months make it harder.
Making Friends
The Words That Get You Past the Awkward Part
Specific things to say for the moments that stall a new friendship before it starts — the invite, the follow-up, and the goodbye that could become a plan.
Work & Remote Life
The Real Barrier Isn't Motivation, It's the Week
AARP's new report on midlife loneliness points to something practical: most people don't lack the desire to connect, they lack a slot in the week that can hold it.
Work & Remote Life
The Loneliness Gap Between Remote and Office Workers Is Smaller Than You'd Think
Gallup's global workplace data puts remote workers at 25% lonely and onsite workers at 16%. The nine-point gap is real, but it's not the whole story, and it points to a fix that has nothing to do with commuting.
August 20254
Places to Go
Why Wanting Company Doesn't Get You Out the Door
Most people who feel lonely already want to see other people. The research suggests the blockage isn't desire — it's that the places which used to hold contact without an invitation have thinned out, and arranging things yourself is the exact part anxiety attacks.
The Science
Keeping a Friendship Alive Once the Structure Is Gone
When the school pickup, the office floor, or the shared team disappears, a friendship has to be held up by two people instead of by a schedule. Here's what actually keeps it running.
Family & Parents
The Weekday Evening Is the Hardest Slot to Be Social In
For parents, the window between work ending and bedtime is the one stretch of the day with no spare minutes in it. Here's why that specific slot is the problem, and what fits inside it anyway.
Tools & Apps
Rebuilding Friendships After a Relationship Ends
A breakup doesn't just end one relationship. It often quietly halves a social life. Here's what actually rebuilds it, and which apps are built for that job.
July 20254
Making Friends
Why a Shared Activity Beats a Shared Conversation
Talking to strangers is hard because it puts all the pressure on words. Doing something alongside them takes the pressure off, and it's a better route to a second meeting.
Making Friends
Being Alone and Being Lonely Are Not the Same Problem
The WHO's new report on social connection separates loneliness from social isolation. That distinction is the most useful thing in it, because the two problems need different fixes.
Digital Life
Which Apps Actually Help When You Don't Know Anyone in Town
A look at Meetup, Timeleft, and Buffet for someone who has just moved and has no local network at all — what each one actually does, and what it can't.
Life Changes
What Meeting Apps Actually Do Once You've Moved Somewhere New
A look at three apps built to get strangers into a room together — Buffet, Timeleft, and Meetup — and what each one is actually good and bad at for someone starting over somewhere new.
June 20251
Life Changes
The People You Already Know Are the Fastest Way Out of Lonely
New survey data shows most Americans are still lonely despite more ways to connect than ever. The overlooked fix isn't meeting new people — it's reopening contact with people you already had.
May 20257
Places to Go
How Many Times Do You Have to Show Up Before You Know It's Not Working
Repetition beats a single good conversation, but not every group rewards repetition. Here's how to tell the difference before you've burned six months on the wrong room.
The Science
When Being Social Costs Money You Don't Have
A lot of advice about making friends assumes a $15 cocktail is a rounding error. It isn't for everyone. Here's how to build a social life around what things actually cost.
Family & Parents
The Person Who Always Sends the Invite
If you're the one who organises every gathering, that's not a personality quirk. It's a job that used to belong to institutions, and research on social networks explains why it feels so precarious.
Family & Parents
New Baby, No Friends: Rebuilding a Social Life After Becoming a Parent
Having a baby doesn't just add a person to your household. It quietly deletes the routines that used to produce your social life. Here's what to build in their place.
Tools & Apps
When Your Schedule Isn't Yours to Give
For shift workers, new parents, and carers, the standard friendship advice assumes a free evening that doesn't exist. Here's what to look for instead.
Work & Remote Life
The Three Hours Between Logging Off and Going to Bed
For people working from home, the loneliest stretch of the day isn't the empty inbox at 2pm. It's the gap between closing the laptop and going to sleep, with nothing scheduled in between.
The Science
The 'Quality Over Quantity' Rule Isn't Wrong, Just Incomplete
The advice to focus on a few close friends rather than a big social circle leaves out the layer of casual, repeated contact that actually predicts whether someone feels lonely.
April 20256
Tools & Apps
What Works When You Can't Commit to Tuesdays
Most advice about making friends assumes you control your own evenings. For shift workers, carers, new parents and anyone on call, that assumption breaks. Here is what still works, and which apps survive an unpredictable rota.
Digital Life
When a Friendship Loses Its Structure
Friendships that once ran on school, jobs, or a shared street often survive on nothing at all once that structure disappears. Here's what actually replaces it.
Making Friends
The Spring Reset: What Actually Works Once the Evenings Get Light Again
Longer evenings and open patios make April the easiest month to restart a social life. A look at which apps and routes actually turn that window into regular contact.
Family & Parents
Why the Activity Matters More Than the Conversation
For parents especially, trying to make small talk with strangers rarely works. The research suggests doing something alongside people is a better route to friendship than talking to them.
Digital Life
The Gap Between Wanting to Go and Actually Going
Most people who feel lonely say they want more contact. Fewer act on it. Here's what the research says about that gap, and one small change that closes it.
Life Changes
Which Social Apps Actually Give You a Standing Slot
After a move, a breakup, or a new baby, the thing you lost was probably a recurring weekly hour with the same people. Here is how the main tools — Meetup, Timeleft, Buffet, and the non-app routes — hold up against that one test.