Women’s friendships take a lot of work: hangouts, texts, emails, phone calls, and even gift-giving. Amanda Herbert says all those expectations about what it means to be a good girlfriend to your girlfriends, might have carried through from the 18th century, when no less than the British Empire depended on them. And: With the evolution of social media, communication styles have changed. Anand Rao is working with college students to develop best practices for the world of Facebook, Instagram, and anonymous platforms like Yik-Yak.

Later in the show: An online database of Grimm’s fairy tales reveals the evolution of these stories. Robert Godwin-Jones created the database and says the earlier versions were often violent and sexually suggestive. Plus: Pro-choice advocates often complain about the way abortion is talked about—or not talked about—in pop culture. Mary Thompson says that two kinds of books, mommy memoirs and mother-daughter memoirs, are tackling the tough topic of abortion in new ways.