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Welcome to the Friendship IRL Podcast! I’m your host, Alex Alexander.

My friends will tell you I like to ask the hard questions. Before starting this podcast, they kept threatening to secretly record me for my insight on friendship. I don’t consider myself a friendship expert by any means – just a person who cares deeply about it.

My mom passed away when I was 13, and a lot of raising my younger brother and sister fell onto me. In high school and college, I really leaned into my friendships, which was my respite from this responsibility at home.

At the time, I had no idea what I was creating, but it became a support system unlike any other. Today I’m in my 30’s, and the close relationships I have with so many friends surprises people. Nobody has that kind of friendship as an adult, they say.

I’m not here to tell you how to be a friend or have a friend; what I’m here to do is ask questions so you can build the right support system, made up of all the people – friends, family, romantic partners, children – whatever that looks like for you.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How valuing and talking about friendship is counterculture – and why it shouldn’t be
• How, in small ways, you are already choosing what’s important to you through how you spend your time, resources, attention, etc.
• How to do, ask, and expect less in your friendships, because it doesn’t have to be hard
• How sometimes, all this friendship stuff can get uncomfortable – and why it’s okay
• About the book I wrote after my year of obsessing about friendships and community, which will be released in 2023!

Reflection Question:

Where does friendship stand on your hierarchy of importance?

Resources & Links

Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram! 

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!