About Us
Writings
By Ian Corbin
July 1, 2024
Commonweal
An exploration of the burgeoning industry around combating American loneliness, catalyzed by a Surgeon General's report highlighting its public health impact. It critiques current solutions, such as community engagement and technological fixes, as inadequate in addressing the root causes deeply embedded in American culture and institutions.
By Ian Corbin / Sen. Chris Murphy
April 18, 2024
THEBULWARK
a critique of the Republican Party's stance on immigration, highlighting their obstruction of a comprehensive border bill as a strategic move to maintain chaos for political gain. The essay suggests that Americans feel abandoned and anxious due to a lack of societal support and a culture of individualism
By Ian Corbin
Winter 2023 - 2024
Notre Dame Magazine
There is a profound sense of instability and precarity permeating American society today. This feeling can be attributed to a combination of natural crises like the pandemic and societal issues such as mass shootings, political polarization, and economic inequality.
By Ian Corbin
Summer 2023
National Affairs
an essay exploring the epidemic of loneliness in contemporary America, highlighting its profound societal impacts and the complexities of its definition and causes. It argues that loneliness, far from being merely the absence of social interaction, is a deep-seated condition rooted in unmet needs for meaningful connection and shared world-building.
By Ian Corbin / Sen. Chris Murphy
May 20, 2023
The Daily Beast
American political dialogue is in a dire state, characterized by divisiveness and a sense of emptiness across both left and right. neoliberalism reduces societal goals to competition and material success, neglecting spiritual and communal values. The essay calls for a leftist renaissance rooted in spirituality, akin to the approaches of figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Chavez, and Robert F. Kennedy
By Ian Corbin
Nov 8th, 2020
New York Times
Too many stroke patients become isolated in the wake of stroke. This is terrible for their recoveries, and it seems to be motivated by a sense of shame at newfound weakness. The American tendency to hide our vulnerability is bad for us, and misunderstands the good roles of vulnerability and interdependence in the human story.
By Ian Corbin
April 17, 2020
Washington Post
In the months and years to come, Americans should reclaim the joys, advantages, burdens and pains of multigenerational living. The desire for things to return to normal is understandable, but this crisis has shined a light on just how dysfunctional American normality has become.
By Ian Corbin
January 5, 2020
American Interest
A wide-ranging essay exploring how Americans' attitudes towards our finite, mortal bodies contribute to the growing problem of social fragmentation / isolation.
By Ian Corbin
January 2, 2020
The Washington Examiner
The experience of solitude is a necessary precursor for community, creativity and leadership. It is also increasingly scarce in our screen-dominated world, especially for the economically disadvantaged. A new study shows that poor children spend an average of 8.5 hours a day looking at screens, 2 hours more than wealthy children.
Analog Anchors for the Online Adrift:
How Moleskine sells durability to ephemeral selves
By Ian Corbin
Summer 2019
The New Atlantis
" Perhaps the greatest social challenge of the coming decades will be the reinvigoration of widespread mind-sharing between actual, embodied, particular people. "
By Amar Dhand
June 25, 2019
Stat.com
" Getting to the hospital quickly is essential for treating heart attacks, strokes, and other medical emergencies. You might guess that spouses or family members would be best at reacting quickly. You’d be wrong. "
By Ian Corbin
February 10, 2019
Commonweal
Magazine
" Opioids allow you to slip away. It’s a drug for those who don’t want to play the game anymore, who feel disposed of and useless. Opioids also duplicate the natural chemicals our bodies produce in response to sex, friendship, holding our children, etc. They are a chemical community for the lonely and isolated. "