In this powerful talk, Stephanie Alexander, a lawyer for more than 30 years, shares her fight against the secret epidemic of loneliness and isolation in society. Through her experience handling an unforgettable case of opioid overprescription, she realized the importance of physical and emotional connections. At times both stark and uplifting, her talk delves into the alarming statistics of loneliness and its negative impact on mental and physical health. Stephanie shares her personal experiment in combating the loneliness now so prevalent in society by intentionally connecting with the new people she meets on a deeper level. Join her as we discover the transformative power of genuine human connection—even with strangers, and the role we can all play in creating a more compassionate and less lonely world (especially as an explosion in the use of artificial intelligence threatens to fray the strained ties of humanity even further).