Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship

Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship is THE podcast for nuanced advice about managing the ups and downs of friendship. As seen in NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Time Magazine, and elsewhere, listeners appreciate Nina's practical take on friendship issues.

Are you the friend who ALWAYS reaches out first? Or is your friend more invested in the friendship than you are? How do you take a casual friendship to the next level? What if your friend's kid is being terrible to your kid? These questions come up no matter your age and background. Friendship is tricky, even for grownups.

Since 2014, Nina Badzin has been fostering discussions about the nitty gritty of adult friendships with sensitivity and practicality in her friendship advice column. Friendship is an endless, timeless, fascinating topic, and the more anonymous letters Nina receives, the more she learns about being a better friend and having better friends.

Nina loves hearing from readers and listeners. Her work on friendship is meant to be a conversation, and she hopes you will share your thoughts with her and with each other.

ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO

📢 How to promote your service, business, or book on Dear Nina

📱 Subscribe to my newsletter “Conversations About Friendship” on Substack

❤️ Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, & the Dear Nina Facebook group

📪 Ask an anonymous friendship question

🔎 Want to work with me on your podcast, your friendships, or need another link? That’s probably here.

Last refreshed: July 14th, 2025 at 11:23 PM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

#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 about how to balance the desire for smaller, intimate friend gatherings with the desire to never leave anyone out. If you've ever been excluded, you know how terrible it feels. But as we get older, we need to figure out how to be gracious about "letting" friends hang out without us, especially if we are also the types who value outings with ...

Oct 04, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 9

Mini-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 don’t want to answer." In that episode, my mom and I talked about strategies for avoiding giving away information, but we didn’t try to understand where intrusive/personal/intimate questions come from in the first place. Today's episode is a more positive view to consider. Let's connect! ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO 📢 This week’s f...

Sep 27, 2021•5 min

#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 some things to yourself. My guest is my mom, the queen of the artful dodge. We discuss how to manage these sometimes invasive (even when well-intentioned) conversations without hurting feelings or making things awkward. It’s not easy! ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO 📢 This week’s fabulous sponsor + how to purchase ad space on Dear N...

Sep 20, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Mini-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 offering a version related only to friendship. And like we do for Yom Kippur, I’m using “we” not “I” because I’d like to think I’m not alone in my friendship transgressions. I know not everyone reading this follows the Jewish calendar, but it’s always a good time for a fresh start. ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO 📢 This week’s fabulous s...

Sep 14, 2021•5 min

#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 truly forgive a friend who hurt you and whether you can restart a friendship that ended. We did it and we think others can, too. Forgiving someone doesn’t always mean staying friends or becoming friends again. I’m merely asking listeners to be open to the possibility. The main part of today’s episode will focus on the very close friend, Re...

Sep 06, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7

#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 blocking. A friend's posts are bugging you on social media? Unfriending is not always the answer. ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO 📢 This week’s fabulous sponsor + how to purchase ad space on Dear Nina 📱 Subscribe to my newsletter “Conversations About Friendship” on Substack ❤️ Instagram , TikTok , YouTube , the Dear Nina Facebook gro...

Aug 30, 2021•6 min•Season 1Ep. 6

#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 mutual friends’ posts but ignores yours? You’d like to rise above it all, but you can’t help feeling hurt? Or, are you the person who scrolls through friends' posts, but can't bring yourself to "like" them? My guest, Rudri Patel, and I give advice to a letter writer who is frustrated by her close friend's social media shunning. And remember to stick...

Aug 22, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 5

#4 - Revealing Too Much Too Soon With New Friends with 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 how much to reveal to a new friend. Christie and I discussed if you have what some might consider "extra baggage," whether this is something you should tell a new friend right away. If not, when is the right time to share personal details that might scare away a new friend if told too soon? ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO 📢 This wee...

Aug 09, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 4

#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 answer a letter from someone who is tired of making all the effort to get in touch or instigate plans. And as it turns out, some of the most popular internet searches leading to my website is the phrase, "My friend never initiates contact," "My friend never texts first," "My friend never makes plans first," "Why do I always have to initiate...

Jul 27, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 3

#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 friend insists on phone chats? Can a friendship last when the modes of communication are not agreed upon? My guest today is my mom, Kathy Sackheim, whose wise words I've quoted in my column for many years. ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO 📢 This week’s fabulous sponsor + how to purchase ad space on Dear Nina 📱 Subscribe to my newslet...

Jul 26, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1

#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 have ended? Even after your close friend's kid/tween/teen was nasty to your kid? We say yes, but it can be an artful dance of not getting on somebody else's emotional roller coaster. And don’t forget to listen to the end of the show for the Better Friendship Goal of the week. FIND THE SHOW NOTES HERE Let's connect over all things friendshi...

Jul 26, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Welcome 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 writing about friendship since 2014, when two editors of a friendship focused website offered me an advice column. I'm not a therapist. I'm not a social worker. I'm someone with a passion for friendship who offers a practical and compassionate take to anyone who asks for my advice. I will never be snarky about it, but I will be direct. You...

Jul 14, 2021•3 min

← Prev

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android