Whitney Pennington-Rogers

Who do we gather with?

Who supports us?

Who do we choose and who chooses us?

And for some of us, those answers might feel wonderfully clear, but for others, there might be a tenderness around this or a sense that your answers aren't quite what tradition tells you they should be.

And that's why our guest today feels especially essential right now.

She's a journalist and author of The Other Significant Others.

And last year, she delivered a TED Talk that pushed us to expand who we count as our people.

and to recognize the deep, sustaining connections that don't always fit neatly onto holiday cards or family trees, but can shape our lives in very profound ways.

I'm so grateful she's here to help us reflect on belonging, connection, and relationships that can carry us into this season and well beyond it.

Please give a welcome to Raina Cohen.

Well, I think just maybe to kick things off, your talk, the talk that you delivered on the TED stage is sort of a distillation of the big idea from your book, the other significant others that

essentially argues for a more expansive approach to friendship and the role it can play for all of us.

And to pull a quote from the book, you say, if we don't limit friendship, it can be central to our lives.

So for those of us who aren't familiar as a primer, I think for our conversation, what do you mean by this?

How are we limiting friendship and how could we think about it more fully?

And you mentioned just now that you have sort of a personal connection to this.

Can you tell us a little bit more about why you wrote the book and then ultimately gave the talk?

And I think it's really important to note that this isn't an argument against romantic relationships.

You're not suggesting that you have either or, right?

how you can think about friendship as sort of a primary, maybe even foundational relationship.