Shows / Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship
“Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship” is for anyone who wants to make sense of the gray areas of adult friendship: changed closeness, uneven effort, group dynamics, hurt feelings, and what to say and do next. As Nina always says, "Friendship issues are ageless and timeless." You can listen and relate to these topics no matter your age or your stage of life.
And Dear Nina is a top 1% podcast so people of all ages are listening!
Whether you've agonized over a text, wondered why…
Episodes
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#42 - Which Friendships Do You Enjoy the Most and Why?
Taking time to identify the friendships that are going well in your life and WHY is a worthwhile activity. It's my January challenge for listeners, readers…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#41 - Are We Work Friends, Real Friends, or Am I Her Customer? (with Lisa Harris)
I spoke to narrative coach, Lisa Harris, about the sometimes-fuzzy lines between "work friends" and "real friends" and also the line people…
Dear Nina: Conversations About FriendshipBonus: Jealousy of Tennis Friends, my Pom Pom Girl Regrets, and Time Travel
I think this is the first time I've publicly discussed the bizarre memory of waiting up long into the night to see if I made the Pom Pom squad at Highland Park…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#40 - Giving Thoughtful Gifts to Friends
Episode #40: After discussing the topic of great gift ideas for friends in my Facebook group--Dear Nina: The Group--I heard such thoughtful examples that I…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#39 - Do One New Thing Every Day to Make Friends with Pam Lamp
Everyone tells me their city is the hardest city for making new friends. It's a common problem! I spoke to Pam Lamp who has a fun and helpful story about…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#38 - Are You Expecting Friends to Show Up the Way You Do? (Diana Spechler)
I spoke to author Diana Spechler about a piece she wrote in her Substack called “How to Make Friends.” It was a refreshing take on making friends when moving…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#37 - The Benefits of Couple Friends (with my husband)
There are lots of benefits to having couple friends. My husband joined me as we reflected on why we have made such a big effort to maintain couple friendships…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#36 - Widowhood and the Importance of Friendship (with my mom)
My mom, Kathy Sackheim, joined me to discuss widowhood and friendship, as well as friendships while my dad was in the later years of Parkinson's Disease. I'm…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#35 - When You're Putting More Effort Into a Friendship (Anna Goldfarb)
Journalist, Anna Goldfarb, joins me to discuss managing a lopsided friendship— that feeling you’re putting more into the friendship than your friend is, and…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#34 - Reconnecting With an Ex-Friend (encore with Rebecca Kotok)
It is possible to reconnect with an ex-friend and forget the issues that caused the breakup? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But forgiveness is a necessary…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#33 - When You Want to Be Closer Friends Than They Do (Ruchi Koval)
When the desire for friendship is not equal, things can get very tricky. My guest, the wise Ruchi Koval, is here to help. We talked about the reality of hurt…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#32 - Conflict Can Strengthen a Friendship with Dr. Marisa Franco
Dr. Marisa G. Franco, author of Platonic, and I talk about how expressing anger can strengthen a friendship. Dr. Franco also gives tips for how conflict…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#31 - Friends From Different Backgrounds (Race, Religion, and more) with Julie Burton and Stephanie Pierce
Today we’re talking about being friends with people who come from a different background whether that's race, class, or religion. There have been a ton of…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#30 - Why You Can Feel Lonely Even When You Have Close Friends (Mary Laura Philpott)
Author, Mary Laura Philpott, joins me to discuss feeling loneliness and worry despite having close friends. Mary Laura Philpott is the nationally bestselling…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#29 - When You Outgrow a Friendship—or Your Friend Stops Rooting for You (Chaz Sandifer)
Chaz Sandifer joins me to discuss the reality of outgrowing friendships and friends who disappear in the good times but show up in bad times. "Over the…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#28 - Grieving the Death of a Friend with Zibby Owens
The one and only Zibby Owens joins me to talk about her memoir, Bookends, and her experiences grieving the death of three close friends. In her new book…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#27 - Teen Friend Groups and Friends Who Drift Away with Taryn Kessel
We're tackling four friendship dilemmas from listeners in under 30 minutes. This time the topics circle around (mild) covid issues in friendships, the role of…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#26 - Making New Friends After 50 with Pop Culture Preservation Society
You want to make new friends, but worry it’s too late? Too hard? Too intimidating? You don’t know where to start? I believe it's never too late to make new…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#25 - How to Make Group Chats With Friends Less Frustrating (Kat Vellos)
Love them or hate them, you're probably in a group chat once in a while or even very regularly. Author, Kat Vellos, and I are navigating the world of group…
Dear Nina: Conversations About FriendshipBonus: Analyzing Steel Magnolias With The Untitled Gen-X Podcast
Did you love the movie Steel Magnolias in the 80s/early 90s? I did, but rewatching it recently brought up some thoughts I never would have had as a kid when I…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#24 - Boundaries Without Damaging Your Friendships (with my husband!)
How to gracefully maintain boundaries and stop giving away too much information without damaging your friendships. This episode with my husband, Bryan, is a…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#23 - When Kids' Issues Are Too Private to Discuss With Friends with Rebecca Prenevost
I answered an anonymous listener's question about how to still feel close to friends when you can no longer discuss issues that once might have bonded you like…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#22 - Host Friends (and Potential Friends) for Meals With Less Stress with Debra Arbit
Fast forward a friendship by hosting friends for a meal! I'm taking on two topics today, with one topic logically leading to the other. #1. How to go from…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#21 - The Friends Who Are Like Family with Rachel Levy Lesser
I loved my conversation with Pennsylvania-based author Rachel Levy Lesser, and I REALLY enjoyed Rachel's memoir, Life’s Accessories. In the episode, we…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#20 - Why We Click With Some Friends and Not Others
I'm fascinated by what makes people click. Within minutes we often know whether we want to pursue a friendship with someone, or not. Is that fair? Maybe not…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#19 - Novels and Memoirs About Friendship with Rebekah Jacobs
Books about friendship! Today's episode combines two of my favorite topics—friendship and books--specifically, novels and memoirs about friendship for adults…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#18 - Friendship Advice for Four Tricky Situations (Taryn Kessel)
Scaling back, reaching out, overlooking flaws, and accepting boundaries. Taryn and I answered four listeners' questions about friendship in about 30 minutes…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#17 - Friendship and Sobriety with Jen Veralle
Episode #17: An important discussion about sobriety in friendship, from addiction to all levels of sober living and how friendships transition and sometimes…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#16 - Stop Focusing on the Popular Group
This whole idea of "the in crowd" or "the popular crowd" comes up in questions I’ve received for many years. As a generality, I’m calling the…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#15 - The Art of Small Talk and Body Language When Making New Friends with Ali Wenzke
Making small talk is an essential step of making friends. There's no avoiding it. All relationships, casual or deep, start with those first moments of small…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#14 - How Regular Plans Help Build Closer Friendships (Jessica Smock)
The most essential point in this episode is about creating opportunities to see the same people on a regular basis. It takes a lot of repeated time together to…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#13 - Get Out of Your Comfort Zone to Make New Friends with Michelle Platt
Making new friends as an adult is difficult whether it’s because you moved to a new city, you’re in a new stage of life, or you’re lonely and could use more…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#12 - Helping a Friend In Crisis and Asking For Help with Alissa Butterfass
How can we help a friend who’s in crisis because of illness or grief? And how can we ask for help rather than waiting for friends to know exactly what to do? A…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#11 - Lessons From Male Friendships with Dave Dluger
My brother-in-law, Dave Dluger, and I were talking after recording an episode, we got into a conversation about how male friendships seem to involve less drama…
Dear Nina: Conversations About FriendshipMini-Episode: Friends Make Mistakes
Last week in episode #10 with author Jessica Speer who wrote BFF or NRF, we talked briefly about her nine friendship truths. We mainly focused on truth #9—…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#10 - My Kid Isn't Interested In Pursuing This Friendship with Jessica Speer
It's not easy to say no to a friendship. And it's just as hard to help our kids do the same. How do you handle it when you’re not interested in pursuing a…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#9 - Friends Will Hang Out Without You with Taryn Kessel
Accepting that friends will hang out without you is a key to happier adult friendships. My best friend Taryn Kessel and I discuss that truth. We also talked…
Dear Nina: Conversations About FriendshipMini-Episode: A Positive View on Friends Asking Personal Questions
A mini-ep to understand why friends ask personal or even intrusive questions, which came up in episode 8 with my mom: “How to handle friends’ questions you…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#8 - When Friends Ask Questions You Don't Want to Answer (with my mom!)
The role of privacy in close friendships, the line between intimacy and privacy, the lines between white lies/ withholding information, and the right to keep…
Dear Nina: Conversations About FriendshipMini-Episode: The Friendship Apology Prayer We All Need
Sometimes we're waiting for apologies from friends and sometimes we owe apologies. Inspired by the Al Chet prayer we say in synagogue on Yom Kippur, I’m…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#7 - True Forgiveness After a Difficult Friendship Breakup with Rebecca Kotok
Episode #7: Friendship breakups and repairing a broken friendship. One of my best friends, who was once an ex-friend, and I discussed whether it’s possible to…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#6 - When to Unfriend, Mute, Hide, Unfollow, or Block Friends on Social Media
Unfollowing a friend on social media is not always the answer. This quick episode will help you decide between unfollowing, muting, hiding, unfriending, or…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#5 - The Friend Who Ignores Your Social Media Posts with Rudri Patel
How much engagement can expect friends to have on your social media posts? Have you ever had a friend who presses "like" and comments on all of your…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#4 - Are You Oversharing With New Friends? (Christie Tate)
Christie Tate, author of Group: How One Therapist And A Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, joined me to answer an anonymous question about mental health and…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#3 - The Friend Who Never Initiates Contact with Pam Moore
Are you the friend who calls or texts first and reaches out for plans, or do you let your friends reach out first? In this episode my guest, Pam Moore, and I…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#1 - The Friend Who Will Only Text (with my mom!)
If you have a friend who will only text, do you accept that fact if you’re more of a phone talker? What if you're the one who prefers to text, but your good…
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#2 - The Friend Whose Kid Is Being Mean To Your Kid with Taryn Kessel
Episode #2: How do you manage adult friendships when the kids are fighting or are no longer friends. Can adult friendships survive after the kids’ friendships…
Dear Nina: Conversations About FriendshipWelcome to Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship
Dear Nina, Conversations About Friendship is a podcast for people who love discussing the ups and downs of friendship. I'm Nina Badzin, a writer who has been…