Friend breakups hit different. They’re messy, heartbreaking, and rarely come with closure. In today’s episode, we’re breaking down five of the most common types of friendship breakups, why they happen, and how to survive them without losing your mind (or your faith in humanity). If you’ve ever mourned a friendship like it was a death, this one’s for you.

EPISODE OUTLINE:

00:00 Intro 

03:21 1. The Mutual Drift

04:18 Aristotle’s utility, pleasure and virtue friendships

06:46 Dunbar’s number: how many friendships can we maintain at once?

08:25 Carl Jung & making friends while wearing a mask

09:40 Mollenhorst’s social pruning study

10:06 Getting through a mutual drift

11:51 Break - with a surprise! 

15:23 2. The One-Sided Slow Fade

17:00 How to get through it on the receiving end 

19:09 What if you’re the one who’s fading away from a friend? 

21:22 3. The Formal Breakup 

23:38 How to break up with a friend ethically

24:47 Getting through a friend breaking up with you 

25:34 4. The Blow Up 

26:42 Sartre & conflict as a mirror of the self  

27:44 Getting through a friendship blowing up 

28:21 Hegel & conflict as an engine for growth

29:26 5. The Sudden Ghost 

30:23 Getting through being ghosted by a friend

32:06 Lightning round recap 

32:39 The peak-end rule 

34:02 Journaling prompts for processing a friendship breakup 

34:33 Poem: To Strangers I Used to Know

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