Who Are You Around Your Friends? | Friendship, Identity & Male Loneliness

Friends don’t just influence what we do, they can shape who we feel like we’re allowed to be. In this episode, we explore the relationship between friendship and identity: the roles we learn to play in our social circles, what happens when we outgrow those roles, and why some friendships evolve with us while others don’t. We also explore emotional intimacy in male friendships. Why do so many men have people to watch the game, grab drinks, or joke around with, but struggle to find friends they can actually be vulnerable with? And what happens when your romantic partner becomes the only person carrying those emotional needs? Along the way, we reflect on our very different experiences with friendship growing up, the identities our friends helped reinforce, what it takes to maintain connection as our lives change, and how men’s groups can create space for a kind of vulnerability that’s often missing elsewhere.