“It’s a bright spot on the Moon. And we would like to call it Carroll.”
Pay phones are mostly relics of another era. But one recently appeared outside a coffee shop at Boston University — and it isn’t there for emergencies.
Pick it up and you’ll be automatically connected, for free, to a senior housing facility in Reno, Nevada. One phone reads “call a boomer.” The other reads “call a zoomer.” Neither caller knows who will answer.
The installation is the work of Matter Neuroscience, a biotech startup that placed the paired phones as a social experiment designed to connect younger and older generations through live phone conversations. The phones were installed during the first week of March and are expected to remain in place until at least April 9.
The Premise Is Simple — and a Little Nerve-Racking
The phone at Boston University sits outside a campus coffee shop. Its partner is inside Sierra Manor, a senior housing facility in Reno. When a user picks up either phone, it automatically connects to the other line. No coins needed. No dialing.
But for younger users, there’s an unexpected barrier: the sheer novelty of talking to a stranger with no script.
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“It was a little nerve-racking,” Boston University sophomore Sadie Cohen told USA TODAY. “You don’t know if someone’s going to be online immediately, so that impromptu conversation’s kind of scary, but it was good scary.”
Cohen also noted the phone itself was unfamiliar territory: “I don’t even know if I’ve seen an actual pay phone around, ever,” Cohen says.
What They Actually Talk About
Matter Neuroscience recorded conversations between participants, which included discussions about weather, college experiences and where callers are from. But the exchanges often went deeper than small talk.
“There’s definitely an exchange of advice being sought out,” Calla Kessler, a social strategist at Matter Neuroscience, told USA TODAY. “The younger people want to know what the older people think about life, if they have any words of wisdom.”
Kessler described the project as an intentional effort to bridge two groups that don’t typically interact. She told the outlet:
“They’re two demographics that often are at odds as far as perspectives and just outlooks on the world, and you might not think that they have a lot in common,” Kessler said. “Being able to connect them and encourage conversation might introduce some positivity in both of their lives, some friendship that’s much needed and a wisdom exchange.”
It’s Tackling a Real Health Crisis
The project aims to connect Gen Z and older adults, two groups identified as experiencing high levels of loneliness. Research cited in the report notes that roughly half of adults experienced loneliness even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public health crisis, with risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
“We live in isolated times, and we need each other. Humans need one another on a molecular level; we’re very social beings at heart,” Kessler told the outlet.
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Cohen sees the problem up close on campus: “Loneliness, I definitely see that around,” Cohen continued. “Our society has moved a lot away from in-person social interaction, between the same generation, and then especially across generations.”
This Isn’t the First time It’s Worked
The experiment builds on a previous project by Matter Neuroscience that connected callers in San Francisco and Abilene, Texas, through a “party line” format to encourage conversations across political differences. That project resulted in more than 350 conversations and 400 voicemails.
Matter Neuroscience said it will continue posting highlights from the conversations on its social media platforms while the installation remains active.
