http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/01162004


Will Meetup Rebuild America?

There is a national crisis happening right now in America. It’s not the economy, or the war, or mad cow disease. It’s picnics. According to Harvard professor Robert Putnam, America is facing a national picnic crisis. Putnam says that in 1975 the average American went on five picnics. Today, the average American only goes on two. He also says that social isolation may be as big of a risk factor for death as smoking—it may even be bigger.

Can websites like Meetup.com help solve this problem? Can they get Howard Dean elected president?