In our first audio essay, Sheila Das reflects on the unique gains in conversing with old friends and how to keep making it better. Breaking with some of the current trends that push us to acquire social media "friends," find new friends or even AI companions, Sheila shows, through psychological studies and personal experience, a richness that infuses these conversations based on time, knowledge and intimacy. There lies the rub, if it really cannot be matched it can be undervalued.

Sheila recommends… Robin Dunbar's book (2021) Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships.