Forget fear of public speaking. A lot of people now shy away completely from speaking to anyone in public. But if we learn to do this it’s enriching, for ourselves and society ...

As children, most of us were raised to not talk to strangers. The rule is meant to keep us safe, but carrying the idea into adulthood can cause us to miss out on enriching conversations. A new study ...

In a suspicious world, many of us are reluctant to interact with strangers. But talking to people we've never met before, even in passing interactions, can make us wiser and happier. Like many people ...

Research shows we dread talking to strangers but we’re much happier when we actually do. These tools can help. Layoffs, tariffs, AI disruption, polarization, looming climate disaster. There are plenty ...

Part of me has always wanted to be the kind of person who breaks the ice with a fellow airplane passenger or engages in easy banter while in line at the grocery store. When I witness that kind ...

This post was written in collaboration with Victoria E. Gillison, MSSP. When I lived in New York City and felt lonely, I’d look around and see tables of friends and wonder how they found their people.

There are numerous apps, such as Omegle, that you can use to do video chat and video calls with random people as an alternative. These apps provide the same core functionality as Omegle and allow you ...

SANTIAGO, Chile — As darkness fell on a festival that had filled the streets all day, the party shifted indoors, to the tiny restaurants and bars around the hilly park called Cerro Santa Lucía.

The prospect of striking up conversations with random strangers in coffee shops, or bars, or on the bus started to feel daunting. Eventually, I just stopped doing it. Article continues below this ad ...

Think back to the last time you took public transportation. What were most people doing? If it’s anything like the planes, trains, buses and subways I ride (or used to ride pre-pandemic), people ...

Depending on your natural level of extraversion, you may view chit-chat with strangers more like a mild form of torture than a mood booster (as an introvert, I hear you). But the research is clear: ...