On this show host Suzanne Phillips and guest Dr. Andrea Bonior will invite us to consider the best and the worst we have faced in our friendships. We will be talking about how to make friends as well as the problem of what to do when a friend goes from terrific to toxic. We will ask if we have different criteria for friends at different ages and for men and women friends. We will consider if singles have more friends than married folks and whether marriage destroys friendships. We will raise the issue of friends on social media and ask if Facebook Friends are as important as the friends we see in living color. We will invite our listeners to consider when and if they choose their spouse's friends and identify the most common Friend Blunders.

In this episode, Co-founders, Colum McCann and Lisa Consiglio introduce us to Narrative 4, a global organization headed up by some of the world's most renowned and influential authors, artists and community leaders who believe language and literature are essential tools for creating a better society. They will share the way in which Narrative 4 has built empathy and bridged tens of thousands around the world in classrooms and communities etc., with the key methodology of the story exchange. Particularly important given a landscape of national and international strife, is Colum and Lisa's description of this year's mission of "Empathy Into Action," a campaign that uses the story exchanges to break open historically intractable issues. They will describe their inaugural event "A Narrative for Gun Awareness" between gun advocates and those who have suffered loss and injury due to gun violence. Listen in and consider the possibilities for radical empathy fostered by Narrative 4.

We continue to hear of the benefits of mindfulness but many still wonder-What exactly is it? How can I best use it? In this episode, Dr Elisha Goldstein, author of many books on mindfulness including Uncovering Happiness,The Now Effect and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, will offer a mini-course on Mindfulness that teaches steps, rationale and technique. He will guide us to use breathing,catch the negative thinking, resist anxious problem solving and enhance resilience. You will understand why something that seems simple can be so powerful.