Shows
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#173 - What Makes a Friendship Last: Lessons from 40 Years (with Sunny & Jenn)The Real Work Behind Lifelong FriendshipThis week I’m joined by two women who accidentally went viral on social media, but they've been doing the real work of close friendship for over four decades. I'm a BIG fan and begged them to let me examine their friendship on the show. Meet Jenn Sherman (who you might know from Peloton) and Pam “Sunny” Sunshine who are the best friends behind the popular @sunnyandjenn accounts on TikTok and Instagram.Jenn and Pam's story is fun (truly wild TikTok origin included), but the real gold is how they’ve...
2025-11-1743 min
Love FactuallyBonus Episode: Beaches (1988) with Nina Badzin and Rebekah JacobsDo opposites attract? When is intimacy scary? Can offering forgiveness inadvertently escalate conflict? In this special crossover episode of the Dear Nina: Conversations about Friends podcast, Paul and Eli chat with Nina Badzin and Rebekah Jacobs about Beaches, the Bette Midler musical showcase about lifelong friendships.
2025-11-1749 min
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#172 - What “Beaches” Gets Right About Friendship (with Professors Paul Eastwick & Eli Finkel)You've arrived at the best academic nerd-out ever on the movie Beaches. Find out why CC Bloom and Hillary Whitney's instant friendship chemistry, breakups and makeups, and tear-jerker ending still wrecks us (in the best way). Is there something we can still learn in 2025 about making, keeping, and losing friends from this late 80s film? Absolutely. And professors of psychology agree!My assistant producer, Rebekah Jacobs, and I were thrilled to dissect Beaches and its timeless lessons on friendship with psychology professors Paul Eastwick of UC Davis and Eli Finkel of Northwestern University. Paul and Eli are...
2025-11-1048 min
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship# 160 - From the Cafeteria to the Mahj Table: Friend Group Challenges from Teens to Midlife and Beyond (LIVE!)My dream for "Dear Nina" has always been to make people feel less alone in the messy parts of friendship. Episode #160 was our first-ever LIVE show with 120 people in the room—and wow, you could feel the energy, see the heads nodding, and appreciate the camaraderie of an audience who has experienced the highs and lows of friend groups.Friend groups are complicated. They can be the source of safety, belonging, and joy. But they can also be a source of exclusion, hurt, and longing. With my assistant producer and friend, Rebekah Jacobs, we dug into the me...
2025-08-1858 min
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#154 - Discretion vs. Gossip: How to Handle a Friend Who Overshares Your News (Letter Spotlight with Rebekah Jacobs)Ever feel that low-level hum of annoyance when a friend casually drops your (good or bad) personal news into the conversation? I have my fantastic "Dear Nina" assistant producer, Rebekah Jacobs, with me this week to crack open a listener's anonymous letter about DISCRETION.Discretion is that gray zone between gossip and harmless chatter. Rebekah and I discuss how much we can expect friends to know intuitively what stays private and what's OK to share.We're not talking about friends who gossip incessantly about you or reveal a big secret. That's easier to answer! Keep...
2025-07-0728 min
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#141 - The White Lotus Friendship Trio: Lessons for Your Real-Life Friendships: Rebekah JacobsIt's a very special episode of Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship dedicated to the much-discussed and debated friendship triangle in White Lotus Season 3 created by Mike White.The friendship trio of Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie has captivated TV viewers for the last two months. Similarly, Rebekah Jacobs (Dear Nina's assistant producer) and I have been texting and talking between episodes. Now that the season finale has aired, we shared all the lessons we think Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie imparted on the world. Even their mistakes gave us plenty of friendship advice to ponder.
2025-04-0840 min
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#136 - Your Three to Five Closest Friends (Letter Spotlight) with Rebekah JacobsWhat if you have lots of friends, but nobody feels like your special confidante or the person who would have your back no matter what? The newest letter spotlight episode comes from a listener who signed off as "Too Many Fish in the Sea." She feels lucky to have cultivated a wide community and plenty of friends, but she doesn't feel like she has super close friends.Joining me to answer the letter is my assistant producer, Rebekah Jacobs. Rebekah has been working with me for a while, but I wanted to get her on the mic...
2025-03-1027 min
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship#19 - Novels and Memoirs About Friendship with Rebekah JacobsBooks about friendship! Today's episode combines two of my favorite topics—friendship and books--specifically, novels and memoirs about friendship for adults. Thank you to my guest, Rebekah Jacobs, who came up with all the book categories and was the perfect well-read guest to join me in this discussion. It was like the best giant book club meeting ever.You can find the show notes with the BOOK LISTS here.ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO📢 This week’s fabulous sponsor + how to purchase ad space on Dear Nin...
2022-03-1035 min