podcast
Status: 07/15/2022 05:01 a.m
Loneliness affects more and more young and old people – and it can make you ill. What are other countries doing about it? The foreign podcast daily News looks for ideas and possible role models.
The feeling is known to many, but only a few dare, to talk about: loneliness. A young woman sums it up like this: “You’re kind of in a bubble. All of a sudden, the thoughts start pouring in on you. You can’t get out of it. I just start crying.”
The 28-year-old belongs to a generation that is better connected and available than any other generation. And yet many young people feel lonely – all over the world. What is being done to combat loneliness in Japan and Singapore, for example, is shown in the new episode of “Import of Ideas” – the foreign podcast of daily News.
Japan’s Participation Robot
In Japan, loneliness is considered one of the biggest health problems. In a café in the Ginza district of Tokyo, people can socialize again: with the help of robots.
Service robots are controlled via the Internet by pilots who are sometimes hundreds of kilometers away. They serve drinks from home and get into conversation with the guests.
In addition, there is a ministry against loneliness in Japan. Activities, ideas and projects are bundled here and low-threshold offers are made available for everyone who feels lonely.
A robot serves coffee at the Dawn cafe in Tokyo.
Image: picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PR
Singapore’s high-rise village
In Singapore, the issue of loneliness is also viewed from an urban planning perspective. The Kampung Admiralty is a high-rise designed like an old Malay village – only built upwards. In the residential building there are short distances, roof gardens and green areas as well as community and meeting rooms.
If you are looking for a connection, you will find it in the large food court. Kindergartens and pre-schools are right next to centers for the elderly. A vertical village that exemplifies modern urban planning.
In the foreign podcast idea import of daily News report the ARD correspondents Ulrich Mendgen and Lena Bodewein on the topic of loneliness in Japan and Singapore and present measures to counteract it. The question always arises: What can Germany learn from these ideas?
Search for ideas in the tagesschau podcast
For many questions that arise again and again in everyday life, there are guaranteed to be good ideas, possible role models and solutions somewhere in the world: How better to deal with sharply rising energy prices? What to do to eat healthier? Why do people in other countries sometimes live longer?
The foreign podcast daily News searches and finds them – together with the correspondents in the 30 foreign studios of the ARD. idea import wants to look beyond the proverbial box and provide fresh ideas for new input in political and social debates.
idea import has been published every second Friday since April 22, 2022. You can listen to the podcast anytime at home or on the go on your smartphone – every second Friday morning you will find a new episode on our website, in which ARD audio library and on numerous other podcast platforms.