Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship
Nina Badzin
Outreach Signals
Publishing Details
Contact & Outreach
About This Podcast
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship is a top 1% podcast about the friendship issues you probably think about but never say out loud.
Whether you've agonized over a text, wondered why you're always the one reaching out, or found yourself drifting away from an old friend—this show gets it and we're here to discuss it all. Note-- these are conversations, not classic interviews.
"Dear Nina" is hosted by longtime friendship advice columnist Nina Badzin, and every episode digs into the messy, meaningful, and sometimes maddening questions adults don't always feel safe asking. How do you make real friends as an adult? How do you handle a one-sided friendship? Should you salvage a friendship that's fading or let it be? How do you kindly turn down an acquaintance who wants to be closer, but you're just not feeling the same chemistry?
We talk about being the single friend in a coupled-up world, navigating friendship after divorce, the grief of losing a friend to illness or a falling out, and what it means to be included in a friend group but still not quite feel like you belong—whether that's happening to you or to your kid. And yes, we talk about what happens when your kids used to be good friends and now can't stand each other. (It's a whole thing.)
Nina has been writing about adult friendship for over a decade, and her advice has been featured in NPR, Real Simple Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, Time Magazine, The Skimm, and more. Each episode draws from real listener letters (hence "Dear Nina"), relatable dilemmas, and thoughtful guests.
Every episode leaves room for the fact that there are no perfect answers. There's only real talk here, a lot of warmth, and the reminder that if you're overthinking your friendships, you're probably just someone who cares deeply about the people in your life.
That's a good thing. Social connections MATTER! Let's talk about it.
ALL THE DEAR NINA LINKS + CONTACT INFO
📢 How to promote your service, business, or book on Dear Nina
🎈 Celebrate your friend on the show by dedicating a week of episodes!
📱 Subscribe to my newsletter “Conversations About Friendship” on Substack
❤️ Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, & the Dear Nina Facebook group
📪 Ask an anonymous friendship question
📪 email: [email protected]
🔎 Want to work with me on your podcast, your friendships, or need another link? **That’s probably here.**
Podcasting 2.0 Features
Social Media
Explore Statistics
Recent Episodes
S1E186 #186 - The Friend Who Copies You: Flattering or Frustrating? (Candace Ourisman)
We're unpacking a surprisingly charged friendship dilemma I answered for Real Simple magazine: How do you handle a longtime friend who copies everything you wear and do—outfits, home decor, and…
S1E185 #185 - When Career Success Strains Your Friendships (Dr. Kimberly Horn)
Today we're talking about a specific and underexplored friendship challenge: what happens to your social life as your career takes off. We get right to the heart of something many ambitious women…
S1E184 #184 - Socially Connected, Emotionally Unsettled: The Friendship Paradox in Your 20s (Dr. Jeffrey Hall)
Have you ever looked at your life and thought: I have friends. I’m doing things. I’m not isolated… so why do I still feel unsettled and maybe even lonely?This week’s guest is Dr. Jeffrey Hall (and…
S1E183 #183 - Are You Mad at Me? Friendship Anxiety and the Need for Validation (with Meg Josephson)
If you tend to assume someone’s upset with you when their tone shifts even slightly, when they don’t text back right away, or when you notice the smallest change in their availability, this episode…
S1E182 #182 - Three Phrases That Help When a Friend Is Experiencing Loss (with Shelby Forsythia)
Knowing how to show up for a friend in grief can feel overwhelming. We want to say the right thing, we don’t want to make it worse—and too often, that fear leads to silence. This episode is about…
S1E181 #181 - Exclusion and the Power to Build New Friendships (with Amy Weatherly)
This week’s episode is an expansion to last week’s conversation with Dr. Noelle Santorelli about relational aggression, belonging vs. inclusion, and “mean mom groups.” The focus this week shifts from…
S1E180 #180 - Mean Mom Culture, Relational Aggression, and Belonging vs. Inclusion (with Dr. Noelle Santorelli)
This week I have a conversation with clinical psychologist Dr. Noelle Santorelli about belonging vs. (forced) inclusion, "mean mom" culture, and relational aggression. And guess what? I recorded this…
S1E179 #179 - Your Newest Friendship Questions, Answered (with My Mom)
For the first episode of 2026, I have my mom, Kathy Sackheim, in the studio for her 6th appearance on the podcast to help me answer a stack of listener questions straight from the Dear Nina inbox.We…
S1E178 #178 - Top 5 Cities, Top 5 Episodes, and Friendship Takeaways from 2025 (with Rebekah Jacobs)
It’s the annual end-of-year wrap-up, and my assistant producer Rebekah Jacobs is back for a behind-the-scenes look at what landed with listeners in 2025 and why.The themes we keep coming back to on…
S1E177 #177 - The Myth of Instant College Friends (with Dr. Janice McCabe)
Finding Your People in College Takes Longer Than You Think. At some schools its even a structural problem. As students come home between semesters, some parents might be worried about kids who…
S1 Bonus Episode: Take Back Your Social Life (Nina on “SuperPsyched” with Dr. Adam Dorsay)
This week’s episode is a bonus! I’m sharing a conversation from when I was a guest on Dr. Adam Dorsay’s podcast, SuperPsyched. I don’t usually repost my own guest interviews, but I’m starting to…
S1E176 #176 - Divorce and the Impact on Your Friendships (with Hope Lutz Firsel)
I’m finally tackling a topic I’ve been wanting to cover for a long time: how divorce affects our friendships. Today's episode addresses both sides of this question--whether you’re the one going…
S1E175 #175 - Write a Letter to One Friend: December (the final!) Friendship Challenge
The final friendship challenge of the year is to write one friend a real letter. This was inspired by the novel I'm currently reading and loving--The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.Yes, it can be…
S1E174 #174 - The Neuroscience of Feeling Seen, Ignored, or Left Out in Friendships (with Dr. Ben Rein)
I'm thrilled to welcome Dr. Ben Rein, neuroscientist and author of Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection. We discuss what friendship does to your brain and why loneliness is…
S1E173 #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.…
S1E172 #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…
S1E171 #171 - Brighten a Friend’s Day with One Simple Gesture: November Friendship Challenge
This month’s friendship challenge is all about generosity, but not the kind that empties your wallet or the type that requires a special occasion like a birthday or holiday gift. Think thoughtfulness…
S1E170 #170 - The Friend Who Really Sees You (with Hannah Rosenberg)
"This made me think of you." Is there anything more delightful to hear from a friend? These are the words often written between friends when someone shares one of Hannah Rosenberg's (always viral!)…
S1E169 #169 - Hosting a Salon: The Friendship Upgrade from Book Clubs (with Linda-Marie Barrett)
Want a social gathering for making new friends or deepening friendships that’s not a book club, not mahjong, not a cooking club, not pickleball—just high-level, soul-filling conversation? Enter "the…
S168E1 #168 - From Surface to Substance: A Journalist’s Guide to Deeper Friendships (with Jonah Kaplan)
Ever feel like your friendships are trapped in the very general "how are you?" catch-up loop? Award-winning journalist Jonah Kaplan joins me to talk about moving from small talk to something more…
Frequently Asked Questions
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship has published 194 episodes since July 2021, covering topics in Education, Health & Fitness.
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 27m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship, including email and social media links.
Similar Podcasts
The School of Greatness
Lewis Howes
1,946 episodes
Aware and Aggravated
Aware and Aggravated
202 episodes
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
Esther Perel Global Media
143 episodes
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Mel Robbins
404 episodes
Making Space with Hoda Kotb
Hoda Kotb, TODAY
156 episodes
Dear Gabby
Gabby Bernstein
322 episodes