Bon Ami

...And we're back! Join Allison for this very special very long episode of Bon Ami, all about queer friendships, queering friendships, and more. 

Why such a long break? Because life happens.

Why such a long episode? Because you deserve it. #sorrynotsorry

Allison talks to friend and filmmaker/artist/educator Amanda Madden, a group of powerhouse friends who are the epitome of friendship goals, and two awesome creators, Danny Haloossim, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified psychotherapist and co-host of Therapists Talk TV, and his friend Jarred, co-founder of Grimy Ghost and video editor at Racer Trash radical video editing collective. 

Resources:

If you're experiencing loneliness, a loss of emotional support network or general feelings of depression or anxiety, please reach out. Pleaselive.org and 4help.org are resource libraries with tons of national and local hotlines you can call, and crisistextline.org provides 24/7 support via text message. Many thanks to the thousands of volunteers across the country that care enough to do this work.

Quoted in the pod:

Mia Birdsong, "The queering of friendship: Rethinking platonic relationships, guided by LGBTQ models," June 2020

What's a Best Friend? Why does it feel like I'm supposed to have one? What does it mean if I don't?

This ep. is all about interrogating the concept of Best Friends. Allison and two of her “best friends” - photographer Mitch Maher and poet TJ McLemore - get personal, talk semantics, and define the relationship. She then chats with Saba Harouni Lurie, a licensed marriage and family therapist and board certified art therapist, owner and founder of Take Root Therapy, and host of Therapists Talk TV. Finally, she interviews two besties who really have no better way of expressing what they are to each other.

Resources:

If you're experiencing loneliness, a loss of emotional support network or general feelings of depression or anxiety, please reach out. Pleaselive.org and 4help.org are resource libraries with tons of national and local hotlines you can call, and crisistextline.org provides 24/7 support via text message. Many thanks to the thousands of volunteers across the country that care enough to do this work.

Quoted in the pod:

Stand By Me, directed by Rob Reiner

Poorna Bell, "Our Expectations Of Millennial Friendships Don’t Prepare Us For The Reality," Refinery29, December 19, 2019

I’m sick of Zoom! I feel like I have no friends! I just want to hug someone! What if by the time this is over, all my friends are gone? 

Let's talk about it. Allison interviews Dr. Jasara Hogan, a medical researcher and relationship expert and then introduces a few of her friends whose group dynamic was saved by Slack. Next she chats with the hilarious Jennifer Kelly of the Socially Awkward Social Distancing podcast, and rounds it out with a few awesome members of the online community called The Jane Club.

Resources:

If you're experiencing loneliness, a loss of emotional support network or general feelings of depression or anxiety, please reach out. Pleaselive.org and 4help.org are resource libraries with tons of national and local hotlines you can call, and crisistextline.org provides 24/7 support via text message. Many thanks to the thousands of volunteers across the country that care enough to do this work.

Articles mentioned in the pod:

Julie Beck, "How Friendships Change in Adulthood," The Atlantic, October 22, 2015

Dr. Fay Bound Alberti, "Rethinking 'Community' During a Pandemic," April 29, 2020