What does it mean to be alone? Is aloneness, as Thoreau said, necessary to live deliberately? Or is it perhaps a curse of modern life made worse by mass media and cultural fragmentation? In this episode, American Studies scholar Ina Bergmann talks about the cultures of solitude in past and present.

Tweeting at @mindpoppodcast. On Facebook at facebook.com/mindpoppodcast. Subscribe to the show in iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.

Music credit: Glasstress by Max Casacci and Daniele Mana/ spoken word audio added to the original

Photo: Tate Modern, London, England, October 2017.