(The Death of) Third Spaces

I think it’s worth examining the death of the third space as a reflection of general social regression — an ouroboros of detachment and isolation, one end feeding another. Are we more lonely because third spaces are dying or are third spaces dying because we are more lonely? We’ve seen a decline in the number of reported friendships people have over the last few decades and this was certainly exacerbated by the pandemic and the doom-and-gloom political climate since Trump’s first term. Is it a c...