"The minister of loneliness" | Sarah Kay

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: TED Talks Daily
Episode: "The minister of loneliness" | Sarah Kay
Date: November 28, 2025
Host: Elise Hu
Guest/Speaker: Sarah Kay

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Episode Overview

This episode features poet Sarah Kay performing her spoken word piece, "The Minister of Loneliness," at TED 2025. Through imaginative and poignant storytelling, Kay explores themes of loneliness, connection, and collective care, inspired by Japan’s real-life appointment of a Minister of Loneliness. The episode prompts listeners to reflect on the roles we play in supporting each other and how societies might creatively address loneliness.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Context: Japan’s Minister of Loneliness

• The piece opens with a striking statistic:

  "In the country of Japan, in the month of October 2020, more people died by suicide than had died from COVID 19 in all of 2020 up to that point." (Sarah Kay, 03:20)

• Japan responds by instituting a Minister of Loneliness—a real governmental position meant to address this national crisis.

2. Reimagining Connection

• The Minister abolishes email, replacing digital communication with playful, tangible alternatives:

  "He is installing tin cans on every windowsill with a piece of string to someone else's window... Each person, of course, does not need a lot of people to speak to just the one." (Sarah Kay, 03:48)

• Emphasis on the buddy system and human accountability:

  "Every day is a field trip to the Adulthood Museum and we don't go home until everyone has been accounted for." (Sarah Kay, 04:04)

3. Nationwide Game of Genuine Encounter

• People find their assigned buddy through a creative process:

  "You sing the song that has always stuck in your head. Describe the movie you can't get through without crying, the hardest you've ever laughed... and the only person who can spot you is the one you are assigned." (Sarah Kay, 04:17)

4. Social Innovations

• The social fabric is rewoven in playful, communal ways:

  "All of Japan is a ball of string now... Sometimes you go to talk into the can on your windowsill and a knot in the string accidentally gives you someone else's conversation..." (Sarah Kay, 04:36)

• Eavesdropping is normalized, making loneliness and connection shared experiences.

5. Intergenerational and Community Integration

• Structural changes to enhance everyday companionship:

  "The Minister of Loneliness has moved all kindergartens to the ground floor of Elderly Assisted Living Centers. There are daily story hours, animal shelters across the street." (Sarah Kay, 05:01)

6. Valuing Abundance and Care

• Adjustments to cultural traditions underscore inclusivity:

  "The Minister of Loneliness has not abolished Valentine's Day, but has instituted a nationwide bring enough for the class regulation and nobody goes home empty handed." (Sarah Kay, 05:18)

7. Widespread Mental Health Support and Creativity

• Policies for collective well-being:

  "The Minister of Loneliness has prescribed therapy for everyone. Daily walks through the many gardens, opportunities for meditation by a brook in the rain..." (Sarah Kay, 05:29)

• Artistic engagement is prioritized—musicians, actors, and poets regularly reach out to all via the tin can radio lines.

8. Unexpected Moments of Connection

• Sometimes, boundaries blur between roles:

  "Sometimes when you are expecting a visit from a grief counselor, the dance partner food delivery arrives instead. Sometimes they are the same person." (Sarah Kay, 06:02)

9. Personal and Universal Longing

• The minister, while orchestrating national closeness, experiences his own tender vulnerabilities:

  "He has a crush on a middle school teacher across town and everyone eavesdrops to hear the way he stumbles when she answers... Everyone forgets about dying because they can't wait to find out what happens next." (Sarah Kay, 06:32)

10. Reflection on the Unknown and Hope

• The piece closes on a note of curiosity and gentle longing:

  "He likes wondering... when the window sills are quiet late at night... Awake, he does like to wonder." (Sarah Kay, 07:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On essential connection:
  "Each person, of course, does not need a lot of people to speak to just the one. But the one must be reliable, must be available when needed."
  — Sarah Kay (03:52)

• On creative communal systems:
  "All of Japan is a ball of string now. The economy has ground to a halt, productivity is entirely impossible."
  — Sarah Kay (04:36)

• On empathy and abundance:
  "Nobody goes home empty handed."
  — Sarah Kay (05:23)

• On collective participation:
  "Everyone forgets about dying because they can't wait to find out what happens next."
  — Sarah Kay (06:44)

• On intimacy and hope:
  "He does not know what she is thinking... But he likes wondering when nobody is paying attention, when the window sills are quiet late at night."
  — Sarah Kay (07:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:20] – Introduction of Japan’s Minister of Loneliness and abolishing email
• [04:04] – Field trip to the Adulthood Museum and buddy system explained
• [04:17] – Nationwide 'Guess Who' game for finding buddies
• [05:01] – Integrating kindergartens and elderly centers
• [05:29] – Universal therapy, art, and garden walks prescribed
• [06:32] – Minister's personal vulnerability and collective curiosity
• [07:44] – Final note: the minister’s quiet wonderings late at night

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Tone and Language

Sarah Kay’s delivery is gentle, whimsical, and imaginative, blending humor with earnestness. Her vivid metaphors and playful yet urgent suggestions challenge listeners to rethink how loneliness can be collectively addressed, making the performance both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant.

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Summary

Sarah Kay’s "The Minister of Loneliness" invites listeners into a world where empathy, creativity, and communal care supplant isolation. Through poetic invention, she models how societies might reengineer systems to combat loneliness, highlighting both the challenges and tenderness inherent in human connection. The episode is a call to notice, value, and nurture the threads that bind us.

Transcript

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[Sarah Kay (Poet)]

In the country of Japan, in the month of October 2020, more people died by suicide than had died from COVID 19 in all of 2020 up to that point. In response, the Japanese government instituted a new position of a Minister of Loneliness. The Minister of Loneliness has abolished email. He is installing tin cans on every windowsill with a piece of string to someone else's window. Not several, just one. Each person, of course, does not need a lot of people to speak to just the one. But the one must be reliable, must be available when needed. We are employing a buddy system now. Every day is a field trip to the Adulthood Museum and we don't go home until everyone has been accounted for. The way you find your buddy is a nationwide game of of Guess who where you sing the song that has always stuck in your head. Describe the movie you can't get through without crying the hardest you've ever laughed, the outfit you wish you could pull off, and the only person who can spot you is the one you are assigned. All of Japan is a ball of string now. The economy has ground to a halt, productivity is entirely impossible. Sometimes you go to talk into the can on your windowsill and a knot in the string accidentally gives you someone else's conversation, the fading fabric of someone else's loneliness evaporating into the air between buildings. You are allowed to eavesdrop, but so is everyone else. The Minister of Loneliness has moved all kindergartens to the ground floor of Elderly Assisted Living Centers. There are daily story hours, animal shelters across the street. The Minister of Loneliness has not abolished Valentine's Day, but has instituted a nationwide bring enough for the class regulation and nobody goes home empty handed. The Minister of Loneliness has prescribed therapy for everyone. Daily walks through the many gardens, opportunities for meditation by a brook in the rain, under falling blossoms or along a snowy riverbank, depending on the season. He has commissioned musicians and actors and poets to create concerts and radio plays and poetry readings to be pumped across the knotted tin can radio lines. Every evening when you order dinner for one, the person who delivers it arrives with an appropriate ability and comfort level. Dance instruction, video and two hours to speak despair. Grieving is encouraged and art making is rampant but because of the knots. Sometimes when you are expecting a visit from a grief counselor, the dance partner food delivery arrives instead. Sometimes they are the same person. The Minister of Loneliness isn't tired. He is the most popular man in the country. He has a crush on a middle school teacher across town and everyone eavesdrops to hear the way he stumbles when she answers. Everyone is on the ed of their seats. Everyone forgets about dying because they can't wait to find out what happens next. Everyone has opinions. The minister has to start a hotline where people can call in to tell him their thoughts. The tin cans rattle non stop. The minister is grateful for the advice but is nervous his crush will hear the commotion. He is nervous. She prefers quiet, but he does not know for sure yet. He does not know what she is thinking, does not know how she spends her Saturdays or how she prefers her tea, or whether she likes to walk in the rain. But he likes wondering when nobody is paying attention, when the window sills are quiet late at night. Awake, he does like to wonder.

[LinkedIn Sponsor / Host Elise Hu]

That was Sarah kay speaking at TED 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact checked by the TED Research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little and Thom. This episode was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balaurazo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

[Capital One Sponsor]

This episode is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi agentic AI. They already deployed one. It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping using self reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks. It doesn't just help buyers find a car they love, it helps schedule a test drive, get pre approved for financing and estimate trade in value. Advanced, intuitive and deployed. That's how they stack. That's technology at Capital One.

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