The Friendship Cure

We say friends are what make life worth living. But if that’s true, why are so many of us struggling to find and keep them these days? And what can we do to cultivate better friendships?

Episode 1 of the How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality podcast, hosted by PRX, titled "The Friendship Cure" was published on October 5, 2025 and runs 40 minutes.

October 5, 2025 ·40m · How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality

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Summary

We say friends are what make life worth living. But if that’s true, why are so many of us struggling to find and keep them these days? And what can we do to cultivate better friendships? Join us as we talk to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger about the importance of friendship to our health and happiness, and to philosopher Samuel Kimbriel about the keys to forming meaningful friendships and the helpful advice spiritual traditions offer. Along the way, we’ll also ask what it means to be a good friend… and what that means for society as a whole. Robert Waldinger is Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and co-author, with Marc Schulz, of The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Learn more about his work at his website, and about his practice as a Zen priest with the Henry David Thoreau Sangha here. Samuel Kimbriel is Founding Director of the Aspen Institute’s Philosophy & Society Initiative and author of the book Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation. He is also Editor-at-Large at Wisdom of Crowds.

Episode Description

We say friends are what make life worth living. But if that’s true, why are so many of us struggling to find and keep them these days? And what can we do to cultivate better friendships?

Join us as we talk to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger about the importance of friendship to our health and happiness, and to philosopher Samuel Kimbriel about the keys to forming meaningful friendships and the helpful advice spiritual traditions offer. Along the way, we’ll also ask what it means to be a good friend… and what that means for society as a whole.

Robert Waldinger is Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and co-author, with Marc Schulz, of The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Learn more about his work at his website, and about his practice as a Zen priest with the Henry David Thoreau Sangha here.

Samuel Kimbriel is Founding Director of the Aspen Institute’s Philosophy & Society Initiative and author of the book Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation. He is also Editor-at-Large at Wisdom of Crowds.