Bridget Everett Says A Best Friend Can Be Your Greatest Love (Encore)

Modern Love

The New York Times

Love, New York Times, Nytimes, Essay, Loss, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Redemption, Nyt

4.3 • 9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Stories of romantic love are everywhere, but the actor, singer and comedian Bridget Everett says that friendships deserve our attention, too. Onscreen and in everyday life. Last Fall, Everett appeared on Modern Love to talk about her HBO Original series “Somebody Somewhere,” which centers on a close friendship. Now she’s nominated for an Emmy Award for writing the show, along with Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen. In “Somebody Somewhere,” Everett stars as Sam, a woman struggling with grief and self-doubt after losing her sister. As Sam grows closer to her friend Joel — played by Jeff Hiller, an Outstanding Supporting Actor nominee — the future starts to look more bearable. In this episode of Modern Love, Everett tells Anna Martin why she’s looking for a friendship like the one Sam and Joel have on the show. She also reads a Modern Love essay called “When Your Greatest Romance Is a Friendship,” by Victor Lodato. Lodato was in his 40s when he fell into a platonic life partnership with an artist in her 80s, who lived across the street. In April 2024, Lodato published “Honey,” a novel inspired by Austin Brayfield, the friend he wrote about in his essay. How to submit a Modern Love Essay to The New York Times How to submit a Tiny Love Story

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's Anna. Last fall, Bridget Everett was in our studio to talk about her starring role in Somebody Somewhere.
0:08.5	In case you missed it, Somebody Somewhere is an HBO series set in Everett's real-life hometown of Manhattan, Kansas.
0:15.3	And at the center of the show, there is this loving, warm, hilarious, I think, deeply aspirational platonic friendship.
0:25.1	Somebody Somewhere was wrapping up its third and final season whenever it and I talked.
0:30.3	But now she's nominated for an Emmy for her work writing the show, alongside co-writers, Hannah-Boss, and Paul Therine.
0:37.5	Plus, the guy who plays her best friend on the show, Jeff Hiller, is dominated for
0:41.4	outstanding supporting actor.
0:43.7	Now that Everett's back in the spotlight for award season, I thought it'd be fun to share this
0:48.0	conversation with you one more time.
0:50.3	I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
0:54.6	Love Now and Lord. Did you fall in love much as I did. Love now and all.
0:56.2	Just tell I love love.
0:57.6	Love was stronger than anything.
1:00.0	I feel of love.
1:01.2	And I love you more than anything.
1:04.2	There's to love.
1:08.9	From the New York Times, I'm Anna Martin.
1:11.0	This is Modern Love.
1:12.8	In the HBO series, Somebody Somewhere, Bridget Everett plays a 40-something woman named Sam.
1:19.0	Sam has always loved to sing.
1:22.0	But over time, she's lost her self-confidence and given up on music.
1:26.6	After Sam becomes best friends with a sweet, supportive man named Joel, played by Jeff
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New York Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The New York Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.