logo
episode-header-image
May 2025
38m 12s

How to be a better friend (w/ Rhaina Coh...

TED
About this episode

What would it look like if we took friendship as seriously as we take romance? Rhaina Cohen, author of the book The Other Significant Others: Reimagine Life with Friendship at the Center, talks to Chris about the value of platonic relationships. They get into everything from offloading expectations from a romantic partner onto a friend can help improve relationships to how to cope with the loss of a friend to what to do when politics divide friendships. If you want to develop your friendships, Rhaina has tons of practical tips and advice.


Follow

Host: Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com)

Guest: Rhaina Cohen (Instagram: @rhainacohen | LinkedIn: @rhainacohen | Website: rhainacohen.com/


Links

Bookshop.org: The Other Significant Others


Subscribe to TED 

Instagram: @ted

YouTube: @TED

TikTok: @tedtoks

LinkedIn: @ted-conferences

Website: ted.com

Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts


For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Nov 17
How to find belonging (w/ Hanif Abdurraqib)
<p>Where do you belong and what does community mean to you? These are the central questions Chris asks poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib while visiting Hanif’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Hanif is a poet and essayist of many notable works such as <em>They Can’t Kill Us Un ... Show More
32m 52s
Nov 10
Why you need to learn how to fight in a relationship (w/ Dr. Julie and John Gottman)
“All couples fight. In fact, how they fight in the first three minutes predicts with 96% accuracy not only how the rest of the conversation will go, but how the rest of the relationship will go six years down the road,” says relationship expert Dr. Julie Gottman. Dr. Julie and Jo ... Show More
35m 40s
Nov 3
How to break bad habits (w/ Edith Zimmerman)
Edith Zimmerman is a sketchbook cartoonist and writer of the Substack newsletter, Drawing Links. In this episode, she joins Chris to talk about honesty and self-discovery. From sharing her artwork to discussing her sobriety journey to falling in love with running, Edith and Chris ... Show More
39m 32s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2025
Sunday Pick: How to be a better friend (w/ Rhaina Cohen) | How to Be a Better Human
<p>What would it look like if we took friendship as seriously as we take romance? Rhaina Cohen, author of the book The Other Significant Others: Reimagine Life with Friendship at the Center, talks to Chris about the value of platonic relationships. They get into everything from o ... Show More
39m 36s
May 2024
Rhaina Cohen: Center Friendship and Thrive
You know a magical connection when you feel it—that undeniable magnetism that pulls you together for a fit that's as much like home as it is an adventure. We see these sorts of connections in romcoms all the time, but they're not just relegated to the romcom realm. Magical connec ... Show More
44m 53s
Mar 2024
"The Other Significant Others" by Rhaina Cohen
Why do we assume romantic relationships are more important than friendships? Rhaina Cohen, award-winning producer and editor for NPR's Embedded, has a surprising pro-friendship answer in today's episode. Rhaina's new book is "The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Fr ... Show More
12m 31s
Jan 2025
Is My Friendship Over? A Friendship Coach Weighs In
Friendship breakups. Knowing when to hold on—and when to let go. JVN sits down with friendship coach Danielle Bayard Jackson to unpack the complexities of platonic relationships and why they can be just as emotionally charged as romantic ones. They dive into the signs that a frie ... Show More
49m 16s
Oct 2024
Friendship
Even with endless social scripts around romance, we hardly know what it means to be a good friend. In episode 114 of Overthink, Ellie and David reflect on the highs and lows of friendship, from their own bond to Montaigne’s intimate connection to Étienne de La Boétie. From Aristo ... Show More
59m 57s
Feb 2024
How To Let Go of a Friendship
Our series about friendship ends with a look at, well, how friendships end. Alice and Grace connected when their kids started dating. They became fast friends whose family lives were intertwined—in a good way. They even joked that they might end up raising grandchildren together. ... Show More
31m 17s
Mar 2025
More Happier: Friendship Roundtable: How to Make, Keep & Deepen Friendships
First in a new discussion series on happiness: Friendship Roundtable. Joining me is a longtime friend, Laurie Santos, and a new friend, Reshma Saujani. We talk about how our friendships have changed over time, how to handle conflict, and how to make new friends in adulthood. Yale ... Show More
37m 2s
Aug 15
the ULTIMATE guide to friendships | advice I WISH I knew earlier to build lasting friendships
friendships are harder than relationships sometimes… and no one talks about it. this is the ✨ULTIMATE ✨guide to friendships — the advice i wish i knew earlier to build real, aligned, and lasting connections. we’re diving into red flags, green flags, setting boundaries, and why so ... Show More
28m 3s
Jan 2025
S3 EP2 | Why Some Friendships Naturally Fade | The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins | The Messy Podcast
Welcome to Season 3, Episode 2 of The Messy Podcast! In this episode, we explore the natural evolution of adult friendships and how The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins provides valuable insights into why some friendships fade over time. As we transition into adulthood, friendships ... Show More
17m 16s