Nina Badzin
@dearninafriendship.bsky.social
400 followers 100 following 60 posts
Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship—Top 1% charted podcast | Writing about friendship since 2014 | Quoted in WSJ, WashPost, Guardian, TIME, etc. https://linktr.ee/ninabadzin 📍Minneapolis
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Apologies given with intention are acts of love. Apologies accepted well are acts of grace. Asking for an apology when you feel one is owed is an act of trust. (And maybe the hardest of all.) thank you, @marjorieingall.bsky.social @sorrywatch.bsky.social
dearnina.substack.com/p/good-apolo...
Good Apologies Will Save Your Friendships
To the friends who can endure hard conversations (and also forgive!)
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I got to interview the wise and wonderful @marjorieingall.bsky.social who knows everything there is to know about saying “I’m sorry,” accepting apologies, and soliciting one when necessary. This was such a good (and useful!) conversation.

ninabadzin.com/2025/09/29/1...
#166 - Friendship Repair: How to Say I'm Sorry, Accept Apologies, and Ask for One
Marjorie Ingall joins Dear Nina this week to discuss how to apologize to a friend and how to accept an apology.
ninabadzin.com
Inspired by the groundbreaking work of political scientist Robert Putnam (Bowling Alone), Join or Die, the film, explores the powerful link between social connection, the health of our democracy, and our mental and physical health on an individual level. ninabadzin.com/2025/06/10/j...
#150 - Join or Die: Pickleball, Potlucks, Democracy, and Your Health
We're discussing Join or Die, a film about why you should join a club and why the fate of America depends on it.
ninabadzin.com
Dear Nina,
What can I do if my spouse dislikes the time I spend away from the family? Time I spend investing in hobbies with old or new friends is generally resented, especially because my spouse has no friends in the area. I’m not sure what to do.
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"My spouse resents my friend time"
Balancing romantic relationships and friendships
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I had the pleasure of speaking to a writer I’ve long admired—Harlan Cohen, NYT bestselling author and expert on navigating life’s most vulnerable transitions. We focused on the Law of Rejection. dearnina.substack.com/p/this-frien...
This Friendship Truth Will Set You Free
Risk, Rejection, and Real Connection
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Not all friendship triangles are “bad.” I discussed the friendship lessons from season 3 of The White Lotus on Substack and in episode 141 of Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. dearnina.substack.com/p/white-lotu...
White Lotus: In Defense of Friendship Triangles
All friendship "shapes" require communication, benefit of the doubt, and more
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How do you break into a tight friendship circle? Short answer: You don’t. My longer answer is this month’s anonymous friendship question. dearnina.substack.com/p/how-do-i-b...
How Do I Break Into a Closed Friendship Circle?
(Or, at least not feel so bad about being left out all the time)
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Your neighborhood community might be the most overlooked place for social connection. However, it’s essential to understand the difference between community relationships and friendships. They are not the same! ninabadzin.com/2025/03/24/c...
#138 - The Neighborhood Village and How Community is Different From Friendship
Turning your neighborhood into a village and understanding how community and friendship are different. Author Seth D. Kaplan joins the show.
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There are local friends (perhaps 20-45 min away) and there are “HYPERLOCAL” friends. Think—your block, your building, around the corner. This month on Dear Nina we’re focusing on hyperlocal friendships—developing new ones and maintaining the ones you have. dearnina.substack.com/p/march-chal...
March Challenge: The Hyperlocal Friendship
Plus: The friends you make in fan communities!
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Reposted by Nina Badzin
Hot off the e-press, packed with no-fee *and* paying/funded #opportunities that are now or will soon be open for submissions, and already in subscribers' inboxes. You can also find this newsletter issue online at bit.ly/4aN9EiE. Please share with *your* #WritingCommunity!
Welcome to the 2025 Friendship Challenge, a monthly series here—and in the Dear Nina podcast—where I issue a “social wellness” challenge. Each challenge stands alone and every one of them WILL improve your friendships. Whenever you’re reading this, start today!
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February Friendship Challenge: Start a ritual or tradition with a friend
Think beyond "Friendsgiving" and "Galentine's Day"
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Perhaps you like a glass half-full reaction but your friend doesn’t. Learning how our friends like to be comforted is an important part of friendship. dearnina.substack.com/p/how-to-com...
How to Comfort Your Friends
And: Assuming the best of friends who don't know the "right" thing to say
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Recorded a “quick friendship tip” episode for this week in which I tell the story of the friend who told me she didn’t like how I comforted her. And I’m glad she did. (Though it did take some thick skin on my part.) podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
#129 - Do you know how your friends like to be comforted in hard times?
Podcast Episode · Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship · 01/16/2025 · 11m
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Let’s do it when the book comes out. Can’t wait!
Congrats! I expect you to visit me on Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. 😁
Dove into my Substack stats for Conversations About Friendship and saw that the only social media in the top 5 traffic sources was Facebook. Interesting. dearnina.substack.com/p/our-friend...
Our Friendship Year in Review
The most read, heard, shared, on Dear Nina. And where you live!
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