The Power of Strangers
The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World
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The Power of Strangers
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Todd Ross
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By:
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Joe Keohane
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
An interrogation of why we don't talk to strangers, what happens when we do and why it affects everything from the rise and fall of nations to personal health and wellbeing, in the tradition of Susan Cain's Quiet and Rutger Bregman's Humankind.
When was the last time you spoke to a stranger?
In our cities, we stand in silent buses and tube carriages, barely acknowledging one another. Online, we retreat into silos and carefully curate who we interact with. But while we often fear strangers, or blame them for the ills of society, history and science show us that they are actually our solution. Throughout human history, our attitude to the stranger has determined the fate and wellbeing of both nations and individuals. A raft of new science confirms that the more we open ourselves up to encounters with those we don't know, the healthier we are.
In The Power of Strangers, with the help of sociologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, theologians, philosophers, political scientists and historians, Joe Keohane learns how we're wired to sometimes fear, distrust and even hate strangers and discovers what happens to us when we indulge those biases. At the same time, he digs into a growing body of cutting-edge research on the surprising social and psychological benefits that come from talking to strangers; how even passing interactions can enhance empathy, happiness and cognitive development, ease loneliness and isolation and root us in the world, deepening our sense of belonging.
Warm, erudite and profound, this deeply researched book will make you reconsider how you perceive and approach strangers: paradoxically, strangers can help us become more fully ourselves.
©2021 Joe Keohane (P)2021 Penguin AudioCritic reviews
"In a thrilling, immersive journey across time and continents, Keohane upends everything we thought we knew about the people we don't know." (Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling)
"Joe Keohane has changed my life. The very thought of talking to strangers has always given me mild nausea and stress sweats. But after reading this book, I've been converted. Joe has inspired me to push through the awkwardness and reap the benefits: A more open and curious mind, less loneliness and depression. This book is an important tool in rescuing our tribal, smartphone-obsessed world. If you see me on the street, please say hi so we can discuss it." (AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically)
"Rare is the book that delivers on the promise of a big answer to an even bigger question, but Joe Keohane's The Power of Strangers does just that. This lively, searching work makes the case that welcoming "others" isn't just the bedrock of civilization, it's the surest path to the best of what life has to offer." (Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies)
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