ROCCO PRIOLETTI
Staff Writer
At 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater, physician, author and former Surgeon General of the United States Vivek Murthy will join Chautauquans in the penultimate morning lecture of the season. Continuing the weeklong exploration of “The Importance of Gathering: In Collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival,” Murthy’s recent work about the interconnectedness between social, mental and physical health frames his upcoming conversation.
Murthy served as both the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States, focusing on public health issues like mental health, loneliness and addiction. In 2020, Murthy released his New York Times bestselling book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. The book focuses on the effects that loneliness, human connection and social health have on both mental and physical health.
Before taking office as the surgeon general in 2014, Murthy did not consider loneliness to be a public health concern. However, the recurrent isolation he witnessed from varying ages, geographical locations and economic backgrounds — amplified further after the COVID-19 pandemic — signaled to him a nationwide epidemic of loneliness.
In the Office of the Surgeon General’s 2023 report “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community,” Murthy spoke on this concern in the opening letter from the surgeon general.
“Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling — it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death,” Murthy said in the report. “The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.”
Murthy spoke to The Guardian about the qualities of healthy interactions. On social media, respectful dialogues have subsided, and without any proper means for people to learn from one another, isolation and resentment have taken their place. While social media rewards attention-grabbing and often vitriolic expression, Murthy said he wants others to approach conversations with a willingness to learn.
“What we need instead is to focus on high-quality interactions, where we approach engagement with one another with a fundamental sense of respect,” Murthy said to The Guardian. “We need to recognize that we may not have the same point of view as somebody else, we may not see the world in the same way or have the same life experiences, but every person is deserving of respect as a human being; that’s the one essential premise.”
The Together Project, led by Murthy and established in 2025, is a nonprofit project centered on building and promoting community in the U.S. as an essential aspect of human wellness. Through this initiative, Murthy launched “Staying Human,” a Substack newsletter and podcast exploring human wellness through connection.
The decline of community-based living is partnered with the rise of technology, such as artificial intelligence supplementing human interaction, Murthy said in an interview with WBUR in May 2026. Murthy proposed to “re-anchor in human connection.” While this may include large-scale systematic developments, he explained the day-to-day measures to incite change.
“So, taking five minutes a day to reach out to someone you care about; ensuring that you do one thing to help someone each day; creating tech-free zones in your day …,” Murthy said to WBUR. “… But you’re focused on something else, whether that’s talking to a human being, reading a book. Just spending time in solitude, reflecting, can be very powerful in a world where we’re constantly engaged with the digital environment around us.”
