Setup
Today, there are more than 32 million people living alone—according to the latest census estimates, 32.7 million—and that’s about 28 percent of all American households. This is an enormous change since the middle of the 20th century and earlier. In 2009, the proportion of American women who were married dropped below fifty percent; and the median age of first marriages, which had remained between twenty and twenty-two years old for nearly a century (1890–1980), had risen dramatically to 27. Author and sociologist Eric Klinenberg (Going Solo) and journalist and author Rebecca Traister (All the Single Ladies) unpack the significance of uncoupling sex from marriage and its impact on contemporary American life, feminism, and power structures.
Explore More
Society
“We are not in a rush to pull people back into the workplace,” says Rob Falzon
NPR's Tamara Keith and Dan Glickman discuss what a Biden agenda might look like.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s family has called the city home for over 100 years.
Poet Claudia Rankine discusses the urgency of reimagining what it means to be American with Eric Liu.
Not by shying away from arguments but by embracing them. Arguments are our legacy and our shared history.
Two pro athletes talk about the perils of speaking up for justice in 2020, and what it would take to see progress and create measurable societal change.
The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims t...
The youngest member of the US Senate talks about championing a new brand of conservatism.
Leading on the Frontlines, a series from Aspen Ideas Now, features mayors and governors across the United States in candid discussions about how they're facing tough decisions...