The Opposite of Loneliness

Marina Keegan was a young writer whose promise felt limitless—until her life ended suddenly, just days after graduating from Yale. Her work, later collected in The Opposite of Loneliness, carries an unusual blend of youthfulness and clarity: a deep awareness that life is beautiful, fragile, and never guaranteed.

In these chapters, listeners are invited to hold two truths at once. The future matters, and planning can help—but the present is where life actually happens. Keegan’s voice encourages determination without burnout, optimism without denial, and ambition that stays connected to love, community, and the everyday moments we too easily postpone.

• Listeners who feel anxious about uncertainty and want a gentler way to think about the future without losing the present.
• Students, creatives, and early-career professionals who want encouragement to pursue meaningful work without automatically choosing the “safe” default path.
• Anyone grieving, reflecting on loss, or trying to live more awake to what is beautiful and brief.

Marina Keegan was a writer whose essays and poems expressed hope, urgency, and love for the world around her. She graduated from Yale in 2012 and had already built an impressive start, including internships with The Paris Review and The New Yorker, where a job awaited her. She died in a car crash four days after graduation. Her work was later collected and published as The Opposite of Loneliness, drawing attention to a voice many felt captured the spirit and longing of her generation.