The journalist and educator Petti Fong discusses her recent book Alone Together: A Curious Exploration of Loneliness (Orca Books, 2024), with Joseph Planta.
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Alone Together: A Curious Exploration of Loneliness by Petti Fong (Orca Books, 2024).
Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Alone Together |
Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.
Petti Fong joins me now. Last year, she published a book for young readers, Alone Together: A Curious Exploration of Loneliness. It’s a great book for any reader, of any age, because it provides an overview of how pervasive loneliness is in our society, as well as solutions to combat it. And naming it for younger readers is important, because it’s something we’ve all felt thanks to the pandemic, or even living in big cities, yet it’s not something that’s talked about. A lot of literature for younger readers likes to scare them into thinking being alone isn’t normal or dangerous even. Getting away from that, framing it in the modern context, is considerably useful. I’ll ask Peg about the book, and about the podcast that inspired it. The show of the same name looked at superheroes, as well as real-life heroes in the Civil Rights Movement that are all instructive as to how to deal with loneliness. And the goal is that yes, we can be alone, yet we can be alone together. Petti Fong is a journalist, educator, and author. She is the Vancouver correspondent for The Economist. She was a staff reporter at the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the CBC. She teaches journalism, ethics and business communications at Kwantlen University, Langara College, and the University of British Columbia. This book is published by Orca Books. We spoke last Friday. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Petti Fong; Ms. Fong, good morning.
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