Friends just, they assume more importance because, you know, they become part of your aging plan,

who are you going to spend your free time with, who's going to be there for you when you are old.

You know, life becomes harder. It's harder. In midlife, I think you're staring at a hallway

of partially locked doors. There are still some

open doors. And the great thing is that you can have, you can make friends at any point. That is one of

the like few areas where options remain open. You can acquire new friends. You know, you might not be

able to career pivot. You may not be able to have a kid. You know, you might not be able to career pivot.

You may not be able to have a kid, you know, there are a limited number of spouses you can have,

but you can keep having friends.

So, I mean, that's the one area of optimism in life in a funny way at this stage.

Welcome to the Unpeakable podcast. I'm your host, Megan Down. My guest is journalist and

author Jennifer Sr. Jennifer has been a columnist and a book critic for the New York Times,

and her 2014 book about modern parenting, all joy and no fun, spent eight weeks on the New York Times, and her 2014 book about modern parenting,

All Joy and No Fun, spent eight weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

She is now a staff writer for The Atlantic Magazine,

where she's published a number of memorable long feature articles,

including a recent one that struck a particular chord with readers.

The article was about friendship, specifically the complexities of friendship in adulthood,

and how things like professional envy and perceived slights over personal decisions

can result in devastating impasses.

I brought her in to talk about this article

and to also examine why it resonated with so many people.

...