David French, conservative thinker, podcaster, and author of Divided We Fall, returns to the pod to talk about friendship, or the lack thereof, and why Americans are so goddamn lonely. David unpacks the link between loneliness and the rise of radical and authoritarian groups, and we ponder why Americans just don’t seem to prioritize friendship and connection (including in the built environment — bars that blare music, we’re looking at you). Stick to the end, and listen as we put our cross-partisan friendship to the test, throwing David some soft balls on topics as warm and fuzzzy as guns and abortion.

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On the agenda:

- Vanessa’s baaaaaccckk [0:00-4:54]

- The rise of factional friendship [4:55-14:16]

- Friendship infrastructure [14:17-32:33] 

- Accountability & social cohesion  [32:34-41:15] 

- Gendered approaches to intimacy [41:16-48:41] 

- The ways we wall ourselves off [48:42-53:11] 

- Polarizing topic: Abortion [53:12-1:19:11]

- Polarizing topic: Guns [1:19:12-1:27:49] 

- Friendships Lost [1:27:50-1:31:00]

- Blindspots [1:31:01-1:32:51]

Reading list:

* Divided We Fall (duh!)

* Bowling Alone (Robert Putnam)

* Alienated America (Timothy P. Carney)

* The Great Experiment (Yascha Mounk)

Fourth of July bonus:

Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday rumination, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com.