Psychologist Marisa Franco is an expert on friendship and talks with Maya about research-backed strategies to make new friends, deepen our existing relationships, and navigate friend breakups. This conversation was one of our most popular ones and so we’ve decided to revisit it during a time when it’s been hard to feel connected to others. We’ll be back in March with new episodes! 
For more on Marisa's work, check out her book, “<a href="https://drmarisagfranco.com/about/platonic-the-book/">Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends</a>."
Sign up for Maya's new newsletter here <a href="https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ" data-stringify-link="https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ</a> and follow her on instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar/?hl=en">@DrMayaShankar</a>.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Psychologist Marisa Franco is an expert on friendship and talks with Maya about research-backed strategies to make new friends, deepen our existing relationships, and navigate friend breakups. This conversation was one of our most popular ones and so we’ve decided to revisit it during a time when it’s been hard to feel connected to others. We’ll be back in March with new episodes! For more on Marisa's work, check out her book, “Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends." Sign up for Maya's new newsletter here https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ and follow her on instagram @DrMayaShankar. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Psychologist Marisa Franco is an expert on friendship and talks with Maya about research-backed strategies to make new friends, deepen our existing relationships, and navigate friend breakups. This conversation was one of our most popular ones and so we’ve decided to revisit it during a time when it’s been hard to feel connected to others. We’ll be back in March with new episodes!&nbsp;
For more on Marisa's work, check out her book, “<a href="https://drmarisagfranco.com/about/platonic-the-book/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends</a>."
Sign up for Maya's new newsletter here&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ</a>&nbsp;and follow her on instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer">@DrMayaShankar</a>.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="noopener noreferrer">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Best of: The Science of Making—and Keeping—Friends

You can follow the show at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar/?hl=en">@DrMayaShankar</a> on Instagram.
Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year 2021 Editor's Note: Maya Shankar blends compassionate storytelling with the science of human behavior to help us understand who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Maya is no stranger to change. “My whole childhood revolved around the violin, but that changed in a moment when I injured my hand playing a single note,” says Shankar, who was studying under Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School at the time. “I was forced to try and figure out who I was, and who I could be, without the violin." Maya soon discovered a new path in the field of cognitive science, where she earned her PhD as a Rhodes Scholar studying how and why we change. Her insights into human behavior ultimately led her to create A Slight Change of Plans—Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year in 2021. You’ll hear intimate conversations with people like Tiffany Haddish, Kacey Musgraves, and Riz Ahmed, as well as real-life inspirations, like John Elder Robison, who undergoes experimental brain stimulation to deepen his emotional intelligence, Daryl Davis, a Black jazz musician who inspires hundreds of KKK members to leave the Klan, and Shankar herself, who had her own “slight change of plans” earlier this year. The show also explores the science of change with experts like Adam Grant and Angela Duckworth. "What I love most about this show is that the content is evergreen," says Shankar. "You can listen to episodes in any order and at any time."

Society & Culture

You can follow the show at @DrMayaShankar on Instagram. Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year 2021 Editor's Note: Maya Shankar blends compassionate storytelling with the science of human behavior to help us understand who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Maya is no stranger to change. “My whole childhood revolved around the violin, but that changed in a moment when I injured my hand playing a single note,” says Shankar, who was studying under Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School at the time. “I was forced to try and figure out who I was, and who I could be, without the violin." Maya soon discovered a new path in the field of cognitive science, where she earned her PhD as a Rhodes Scholar studying how and why we change. Her insights into human behavior ultimately led her to create A Slight Change of Plans—Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year in 2021. You’ll hear intimate conversations with people like Tiffany Haddish, Kacey Musgraves, and Riz Ahmed, as well as real-life inspirations, like John Elder Robison, who undergoes experimental brain stimulation to deepen his emotional intelligence, Daryl Davis, a Black jazz musician who inspires hundreds of KKK members to leave the Klan, and Shankar herself, who had her own “slight change of plans” earlier this year. The show also explores the science of change with experts like Adam Grant and Angela Duckworth. "What I love most about this show is that the content is evergreen," says Shankar. "You can listen to episodes in any order and at any time."

You can follow the show at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer">@DrMayaShankar</a>&nbsp;on Instagram.
Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year 2021 Editor's Note: Maya Shankar blends compassionate storytelling with the science of human behavior to help us understand who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Maya is no stranger to change. “My whole childhood revolved around the violin, but that changed in a moment when I injured my hand playing a single note,” says Shankar, who was studying under Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School at the time. “I was forced to try and figure out who I was, and who I could be, without the violin." Maya soon discovered a new path in the field of cognitive science, where she earned her PhD as a Rhodes Scholar studying how and why we change. Her insights into human behavior ultimately led her to create A Slight Change of Plans—Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year in 2021. You’ll hear intimate conversations with people like Tiffany Haddish, Kacey Musgraves, and Riz Ahmed, as well as real-life inspirations, like John Elder Robison, who undergoes experimental brain stimulation to deepen his emotional intelligence, Daryl Davis, a Black jazz musician who inspires hundreds of KKK members to leave the Klan, and Shankar herself, who had her own “slight change of plans” earlier this year. The show also explores the science of change with experts like Adam Grant and Angela Duckworth. "What I love most about this show is that the content is evergreen," says Shankar. "You can listen to episodes in any order and at any time."

Share Best of: The Science of Making—and Keeping—Friends

Sign up to save your podcasts

Best of: The Science of Making—and Keeping—Friends

Best of: The Science of Making—and Keeping—Friends

More shows like A Slight Change of Plans

On Being with Krista Tippett

Good Life Project

Hidden Brain

Untangle

10% Happier with Dan Harris

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel

The Science of Happiness

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

Worklife with Adam Grant

Meditative Story

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

ReThinking

We Can Do Hard Things

Dare to Lead with Brené Brown