When you told people you were writing a book about friendship, what were some of the responses

you got?

I, you know, often people would like not quite remember what the book was about and then

they would say, like I had a boss at one point right in an email that I to other people that I was

writing a book about the power of female friendship and I was like, no, well it's not

all about women and also like that framing the power of female friendship. It's just like

This is Radio Atlantic I'm Hannah Rosen and that was Rina Cohen who wrote a book called The Other Significant Others.

You know I'm trying to write a book that is a piece of narrative reporting that is cultural criticism that has a lot of research in it and that kind of

framing just seemed a little bit like you know powder pink and like a how-to book which

was not what I was doing.

Rayna's book answers an immense question that no one really bothers to ask.

What even is a friend?

Friends are so central and important in our lives,

and yet unlike our romantic relationships,

we have no rituals for when they begin or end.

So in her book,

Reyna looks at the deepest of platonic friendships.

I think of them as extreme friends.

And by the way, this is not friends with benefits.

This is a no sex equation.

But these are friends who follow each other's lead for the most major of life decisions.

So some of the things these friends have done together are by homes together, move states together, go on very long vacations together, raise kids together.

...