Download the transcript for this episode here.

COMPETITION!
We’re celebrating our 500,000th download this month - half a million! And so, with the help of our major sponsor, Zondervan, we are giving away a book pack of five of Zondervan’s newest titles. We’ll throw in a copy of my new book Bullies and Saints AND an Undeceptions T-Shirt.

To WIN, all you have to do is leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (what used to be called iTunes), take a pic of the review and send it to us. Producer Kaley will pick the best-written review on October 25 (and I mean ‘best-written’ not necessarily most glowing). So be quick, you’ve got two weeks! 

LINKS

• Meet our guests: 
  • Sam Allberry, author and pastor.
  • Ronald Sharp, author of Norton Book of Friendship
• Read Sam Allberry's book Seven Myths about Singleness and find his other books here.
• Here are the links to all the studies we referenced in this episode: 
  • • • Death of a close friend: Short and long-term impacts on physical, psychological and social well-being, PLoS ONE
      • Friendship enriches your life and improves your health: Mayo Clinic
      • The State of American Friendship, 2021 American Perspectives Survey
• More on Plutarch.
• Read the Tu Fu poem, To Wei Pa, A Retired Scholar, translated by Kenneth Rexroth
• Learn more about the Book of Proverbs, and read it for yourself.
• Read more about the debate over anti-semitism in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, in this article from the Smithsonian Magazine.
• Read about David and Jonathan's close friendship from the book of 1 Samuel.
• Read more about Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep from Ancient Egypt in this New York Times article.
• Further Evidence that Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were Twins, Journal of Ancient Archaeology
• Learn more about the friendship between King Richard I and King Philip II.
• Here's The Guardian's article about whether Jesus was gay. 
• Read Ronald Sharp's article, Mateship, Friendship and National Identity for the Australian Book Review.
• Never seen Crocodile Dundee? It's probably about time...
• Learn more about CS Lewis' 'four loves'.
• Listen to previous episodes of Undeceptions with John and his best mate, Ben Shaw (who died in June 2021 after a battle with cancer).