Welcome to the magical overthinkers podcast, a show for thought spiralers, exploring the subjects we can't stop overthinking about, from burnout to celebrity worship.

If you can connect to the idea that despite living in the so-called information

age, life only seems to be making less sense than you're in the right place. This podcast

is here to try and help make some sense of the senseless, to help us quiet the noise

in our minds for a little while, or maybe even hear a melody in it. I'm your

host, Amanda Montpell. Today, we're overthinking about adult friendship.

I can't lie to you listeners, I am feeling a little brain dead today. A little like a zombie.

I'm recording this episode. The day after the American presidential election, I could have pushed

this interview today. I decided not to, in part just because deadlines, life must go on.

But also, genuinely recording this podcast makes me feel soothed. A lot of the time,

the people that I get to interview for this podcast are so smart and generous and kind. And I really

feel like they kind of help me take the temperature down in my brain a little bit. But yeah, I am not bringing my most eloquent, poised self to this call today, to this call.

We're not on a call.

This is a podcast.

What is our relationship, podcaster to listener?

Are we friends?

No.

But there was a version of this podcast,

Magical Overthinkers, where I thought, you know, every single episode I'm going to bring my most vulnerable and authentic self and I'm going to be messy and I'm going to not make sense

a lot of the time. And, you know, I am sloppy and I don't make sense a lot of the time and you know I am I am sloppy

and I don't make sense a lot of the time I'm sure but I think I bring sort of a controlled persona

to these recordings and that's partially a defense mechanism against judgment from strangers

...