Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Estranged: How Strained Female Friendships are Ended or Mended, joins me to explore the emotional landscape of female friendships—why they matter so much, and what happens when they start to fall apart.
We talk about the subtle signs of strain, the unspoken expectations women often carry in friendships, and how life transitions—from motherhood to midlife reinventions—can reshape who we connect with and how.
Susan shares insights from her research and interviews with women across the country, including what it takes to repair a broken friendship—and how to know when it’s healthier to let go.
Whether you’re grieving a friendship, hoping to mend one, or learning how to create new ones in this season of life, this conversation will help you reflect with more compassion and clarity.
Susan Shapiro Barash has written over a dozen non-fiction books including Tripping the Prom Queen, Toxic Friends and You’re Grounded Forever, but First Let’s Go Shopping. For more than twenty years she taught gender studies and Marymount Manhattan College and has guest taught creative nonfiction at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Her fiction is published under her pen name, Susannah Marren.
She has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Elle, Marie Claire, and has appeared on national television including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC. Barash has been a guest on national radio including NPR and Sirius Radio. Speaking appearances include Credit Suisse, Bayer Diagnostics, UBS, United Way, Kravis Center and the Society of the Four Arts. Several of her titles have been optioned by Lifetime and HBO.www.susanshapirobarash.com
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