In an interview with Dr. Karl Pillemer, the Hazel E. Reed Professor in Cornell University’s Department of Human Development and the author of the recent book, Fault Lines, we discuss the many aspects of interdependence with a focus on why it is something that should never be neglected, especially as enter into our second half of life. We explore life expectancy and how relationships factor into this, why the fear of being burdensome is so common, and how American norms around families and support compare to other parts of the world. We also get to spend some time on the potent concept of longer shared lifetimes and how this underlines the work that Karl is doing.