The case for spending more time with your friends | Rhaina Cohen
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 11.9K Ratings
🗓️ 20 December 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a time when loneliness is becoming a public health crisis, author Rhaina Cohen says friendships aren't just nice to have — they’re essential to your health and happiness. She challenges the assumption that biological and romantic relationships matter most, exploring how close platonic bonds (when given real intention and commitment) can profoundly strengthen your life. (This conversation, hosted by TED's Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. |
| 0:12.1 | I'm your host, Elise Hugh. As the holiday season continues around the world, many of us find ourselves |
| 0:17.5 | thinking about family and loved ones. And yet, the most meaningful relationships |
| 0:22.3 | in our lives aren't biological or romantic. In this eye-opening conversation, journalist and author |
| 0:29.1 | Raina Cohen sits down with Ted's Whitney Pennington Rogers to explore why close platonic bonds |
| 0:34.7 | chosen family, as some call it, deserve intention, commitment, even public recognition. |
| 0:40.3 | And she illuminates the path to deep and lasting friendships in today's world. For a lot of us, this is a moment when questions of family come into sharper focus. |
| 1:00.3 | Who do we gather with? |
| 1:01.5 | Who supports us? |
| 1:02.5 | Who do we choose and who chooses us? |
| 1:05.1 | And for some of us, those answers might feel wonderfully clear, but for others, there might be a tenderness around this |
| 1:11.6 | or a sense that your answers aren't quite |
| 1:14.3 | what tradition tells you they should be. |
| 1:16.9 | And that's why our guests today feel especially essential right now. |
| 1:20.2 | She's a journalist and author of the other significant others. |
| 1:23.7 | And last year, she delivered a TED talk that pushed us |
| 1:26.0 | to expand who we count as our people |
| 1:28.8 | and to recognize the deep sustaining connections that don't always fit neatly onto holiday cards or family trees, |
| 1:35.1 | but can shape our lives in very profound ways. |
| 1:38.3 | I'm so grateful she's here to help us reflect on belonging, connection, and relationships that can carry us into this season and |
| 1:44.8 | well beyond it. Please give a welcome to Raina Cohen. |
| 1:48.6 | What a nice intro. Thanks, Whitney. |
... |
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