Welcome to Conversations About Friendship by “Dear Nina”

Hello new readers (and potential new readers!),

Wait? Is “Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship” a newsletter? Or a podcast?

It’s both! And they’re both by me, Nina Badzin, a writer who accepted an assignment in 2014 to write about friendship and never stopped. Then I launched the podcast in the summer of 2021 and the moved my longtime newsletter to Substack the next summer.

What can I say, when you live in Minnesota, summer is a fruitful time.

Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship—the newsletter and the podcast— helps you with your friendships. Are you the friend who ALWAYS reaches out first? How do you upgrade a casual friendship? What if you're not into a certain friend anymore? Friendship is tricky, even for grownups. BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED!

You’d think after TEN YEARS I’d have nothing new to say about friendship, but you’d be wrong. “Dear Nina” has been referenced in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, Woman's Day Magazine, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and elsewhere, and I absolutely love writing this newsletter and connecting with people who may never even hear a minute of the podcast. We’re having conversations about friendship in ALL the formats because friendships are essential and it’s my belief that many people are making their friendships harder than necessary.

In this newsletter, which I abbreviated to “Conversations About Friendship,” I discuss thoughts on friendship I don’t share anywhere else. Most posts are free, but every five weeks or so I feature anonymous letters that never make it on air because they’re too long and juicy for the audio format.

JOIN ME FOR THE 2025 FRIENDSHIP CHALLENGE to be a better friend and have better friends. It’s all free and just takes a tiny bit of courage each month.

What do you get if you’re a paying subscriber!

Frustrated with some of your friends? You’re not alone! The anonymous letters are a perk for paying subscribers. You probably have a similar question. Upgrade any time.

AND— paying subscribers can join quarterly zoom hangouts with me and with other paying subscribers who are all deeply interested in discussing friendships.

For subscriber-only content and opportunities to hangout on the Zoom, upgrade any time!