A lively and inspiring look at what happens when we talk to strangers, and how it affects everything from our health and well-being to the rise and fall of nations in the tradition of Susan Cain’s Quiet and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens

“Keohane makes the case that welcoming ‘others’ isn’t just the bedrock of civilization, it’s the surest path to the best of what life has to offer.”—Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Homeland Elegies

In our cities, we stand silent in buses and subways, in our own worlds, even as we share in the one around us. Online, we retreat into ideological silos with algorithms designed to serve us familiar ideas and like-minded users. And in our politics, we are consumed by a fear of people we've cast as our foes. But what if strangers—so often blamed for our most pressing political, social, and personal problems—are actually the solution to them? With the help of an eclectic cast of scientists, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, theologians, and philosophers, Joe Keohane sets out on a journey to discover why we don’t talk to strangers, and what happens when we do. 

The Power of Strangers, Keohane digs into a growing body of cutting-edge research on the surprising social and psychological benefits that come from talking to strangers, from the neurobiology of group dynamics to the misguided origins of 'stranger danger,' and the role mass religion played in hopsitality culture. Keohane travels the world in search of the people and societies that have learned to connect with strangers to learn how it's done, gathering practical tips from experts on how to talk to strangers, and trying them out in the wild to awkward, entertaining, and frequently poignant effect.

Warm, witty, and utterly profound, The Power of Strangers will inspire readers to see everything—from major geopolitical shifts to trips to the corner store—in an entirely new light, showing them that talking to strangers isn’t just a way to live; it’s a way to survive.