Why it’s hard to make new friends as adults

When was the last time you made a friend? Added someone to your social circle that you were excited to hang out with, could confide in, who cares about your wellbeing?  Keeping up with our old friends during the pandemic has been hard enough – distance and stress have tested our closest relationships – but making new friends may be even harder. This hour, we’ll look at friendships: why they matter, the challenges of forming them in adulthood, and how to nurture the ones we have.

Guests

Marisa Franco, author of the forthcoming book Platonic: The Surprising New Science of How to Make and Keep Friends as Adults and professor at the University of Maryland. @marisafranco

Jonathan Bowman, professor of communication studies at University of San Diego.

Katharine Smyth, a writer, she wrote the recent Atlantic article Why Making friends in midlife is so hard and is the the author of All the Lives We Ever Lived: Seeking Solace in Virginia Woolf.@katharinesmyth1