The day has come—yippiehhh!
This is something I’ve been dreaming up for a long time: 🎙️ a podcast that speaks up and listens back.
Over the past months, I’ve surely gained a few grey hairs from the challenge of producing this solo, from wrestling with audio cables to bug-fixing the mysterious ways of distribution. The sound quality isn’t perfect (yet), but I’m committed to improving and investing more if it resonates—and if some of you are willing to support this journey, for example, joining a small but mighty group of paid subscribers here—thank you!
The Oneliness Podcast (Spotify | Apple) is a space for conversations with researchers, thinkers, policymakers, practitioners, artists, and tech experts, as well as each of us as individuals. Together, we’ll unpack the nuances of loneliness, connection, and relationships, and share stories that are at once personal and structural, social and political, mundane and spiritual. Each episode invites reflection, curiosity, and a more compassionate understanding of our loneliness—in oneliness.
🎧 Tune into the first episode!
In this very first episode, I share why I started The Oneliness Podcast and what you can expect from here. Plus, you’ll also hear community voices around the world: Nicole (Berlin), Padmaja (Bangalore), Tra My (Da Nang), Meredith (Melbourne), Mark (Reno), Yelena (Munich), and Michael (London)—who generously shared their reflections on loneliness and care.
🔗 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or on your favorite platform.
Coming up in this first season 🌟
A new episode will drop every two weeks, giving you time to listen, sit with the ideas, and reflect in between. I’ll be sharing them here on Substack, including additional resources and transcripts—starting next Wednesday!
To give you a little teaser of what’s ahead, check out some of the featured guests:
Parneet Pal — physician and educator on lifestyle and planetary health — on the biology of loneliness and what our bodies can teach us about connection.
Jon Alexander — author of Citizens and co-founder of the New Citizen Project — on reimagining democracy and civic life as an antidote to the weaponization of loneliness by modern authoritarianism.
Micaela Mantegna — lawyer, scholar, and digital rights activist — on AI, loneliness, and artificial intimacy: what happens when technology begins to fill our emotional gaps.
Dr. Luzia Heu — assistant professor at Utrecht University and host of Connected by Loneliness — on the myths and truths of cross-cultural loneliness and what collectivist vs. individualist societies can learn from each other.
Hannah Joy Graves — tarot reader, musician, and modern witch — on mysticism and real self-care, and how spiritual practices can meet loneliness with depth instead of distraction.
Eli Morimoto — researcher and writer — on the loneliness economy, from companion dolls to virtual boyfriends:
Dixon Chibanda — psychiatrist and founder of The Friendship Bench — on reimagining community care inspired by 14 grandmothers in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Liane Al Ghusain — artist, writer, and researcher — on motherhood, home, and the connection between Native Americans and Palestinian culture:
Laura Coll Planas — researcher at the RECETAS initiative — on how nature can guide us back to ourselves and to each other through a global intervention ranging from Barcelona to Helsinki, Marseille, Melbourne, Cuenca, and Prague.
Wakanyi Hoffman — storyteller and scholar of African Indigenous Knowledge — on the philosophy of Ubuntu and loneliness, and how AI comes into play in all of this.
Kim Dabbs — author and global leader on belonging — on work, leadership, and building cultures where we feel we truly belong, inside and outside of business.
- — social entrepreneur and director of The Awe Exchange — on awe, systems feeling, and the experiences that inspire collective action in the planetary emergency.
… and more!
🔗 Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and let me know how it resonates!
A special thank you to my paid subscribers here on Substack—you make this work possible, and I deeply appreciate you. 💛 And to everyone, thank you for being here and listening with us.
With love, as always,
Monika
