Remembering Dr. Ruth: The Joy of Connections

Join a group of the late Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s closest friends, collaborators, and family on her pioneering work as a world-renowned sex therapist and her enduring wisdom on the simple joy of human connection.

When US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm that loneliness “represents an urgent public health concern” — exacerbated by social media overuse, the residual effects of the pandemic, and the lack of meaningful relationships — Dr. Ruth made it her mission to help us break free from the bonds of hopelessness and isolation. In her recently published and final book, The Joy of Connections — written with the help of New York Times contributor and author Allison Gilbert and Dr. Ruth’s longtime “Minister of Communications” Pierre Lehu — the iconic therapist offers an urgent guide to combating loneliness, based on her remarkable life and the wisdom garnered from decades as America’s preeminent sex therapist.

In a special conversation with Gilbert, Lehu, Dr. Ruth’s daughter Miriam Westheimer, and her longtime friend Annette Insdorf, hear Ruth Westheimer’s remarkable story — how she escaped Nazi-occupied Germany as young girl, her path-breaking work, how she destigmatized conversation about sexuality and contraception for a new generation, her reflections on human connection, and her legacy (especially on the eve of World Holocaust Remembrance Day).