Pushkin.
It's a heinous act and we're all victims.
It's a terrible menace to society, one that's eroded our trust and made our futures less bright.
Given the shadow it casts on so many aspects of our daily lives,
you'd think there'd be a federal task force assigned to investigate the threat,
kicking indoors to stop the ongoing assault.
Sadly, that's not happening.
But one dogged detective has been on the case for decades.
Political scientist Robert Putnam thinks social capital is the glue that holds a happy society together.
But the bonds of trust and friendship he knew growing up in the clubs,
leagues, and unions of the 1950s have died.
There were other suspects on the scene, too.
Television had begun keeping us at home rather than out in the world mixing with our neighbors.
And these days,
our tablets and smartphones have lulled us into believing we can get all the social interaction we need online.
Robert grew up when TV was a rarity, and iPads were the stuff of science fiction.
Back then, in Port Clinton, Ohio, residents hung out in person all the time.
It was a tiny town, the richest person in my class.
lived three or four blocks with a poor skin in my class." In the last episode,
we explored Robert's research on the importance of so-called third places.