What if society exalted the love and commitment of friendship as highly as that of marriage and biological family? How would our lives change if close friends were more empowered to be our til-death-do-us-part significant others? Journalist Rhaina Cohen (NPR, Embedded) talks to Cristen about the friendship that shook up her own notions of BFFs; how platonic intimacy became sexually suspect and the legal barriers to nonmarital support systems. Highlights include: passionate but not sexual friend attraction, straight men besties, friend co-parenting, Byzantine brotherhoods, Thelma & Louise and the finale of HBO's Girls.

Rhaina's new book is The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center.

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