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What if the key to a more connected life isn't deeper conversations with the people closest to you, but a little more chitchat with the people you barely know? Dr. Gillian Sandstrom is an associate professor in the psychology of kindness at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses on the benefits of minimal social interactions with weak ties and strangers, and on the barriers that stop us from connecting with each other. She is also the author of the latest book, Once Upon a Stranger: The Science of How Small Talk Can Add Up to a Big Life. Dr. Miriam sits down with Dr. Gillian to take small talk far more seriously than its name suggests. Defining small talk is no small feat, and Gillian explains why even she does not love the term. They get into her small talk origin story (a hot dog stand, a cupcake on the subway, and a dad who cannot stop talking to strangers), why we are taught "don't talk to strangers" and what that costs us, and why strangers can sometimes be better confidants than the people we are closest to. You will learn why our fears about awkward silences are often bigger than the silences themselves, how to reframe rejection, and what introverts can do to cope before and during conversations. Plus, Dr. Miriam's shares a tiny habit called "social savoring," that makes everyday moments of connection count. This one is for anyone who needs a reminder that every friend you’ve ever had was once a stranger. Pull up a chair, Office Ours are in session. -- Follow your new friend: @drgilliansandstrom Check out Dr. Gillian's book, Once Upon a Stranger: The Science of How “Small” Talk Can Add Up To a Big Life: https://gilliansandstrom.com/ Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when your best friend's life looks nothing like yours, and you spend a decade quietly admiring (and a little bit envying) each other? Meet Today's Peas: Brendan Chamberlain Simon is the guy who, by day, operates the Mars Rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. By night, he makes space-inspired music under the artist name Proud Father. Nick Perloff Giles is an indie pop artist known as Wingtip, with over 1 million streams, who is now working to reshape the future of jobs, small businesses, and transportation across LA. He also hosts the Fast Forward podcast. Together, they are living proof that you can have more than one identity and find meaning and connection through all of them. Brendan and Nick met 13 years ago at a mutual friend's birthday party in New York, where one tall tale made an instant impression. They share the story of how that night turned into a friendship, a DJ duo called Teen Dad, and eventually roommates in LA. They get into what it means to be inspired by a friend (and a little bit competitive), the "inversion" that happens when each of you envies the other's path, and what they learned from watching the grass turn out to be about as green on both sides. Dr. Miriam breaks down why men often connect side by side while women connect face to face, and why we all benefit from both shared activities and meaningful conversation. Plus, what it was like to move out of the home they shared and grow into independent adults, how curiosity keeps them close, and why fulfillment is a plant that constantly needs watering. Pull up a chair. This one is for every friendship that has had to grow up, move out, and keep going. Follow your new friends: @proudfathermusic @wingtipmusic -- Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the friendship questions you'd never dare ask your group chat are the ones everyone is secretly wondering about? For our very first Two Peas Q&A, Dr. Miriam is answering your questions, sent in over Instagram, email, voice messages, her Friendly Advice newsletter, and conversations at events. Whether she's talking to college students, CEOs, or healthcare leaders, the same questions keep coming up. They feel deeply personal, but they're surprisingly universal: different lives, different jobs, different ages, same friendship questions. Is there a right time to have a hard conversation with a friend? What do you do when a friendship feels stuck in a rut? How do you handle feeling left out? And what's the best way to introduce two friends you just know would hit it off? Dr. Miriam gets into all of it. Plus, a rapid-fire Snap Pea round to get to know our lovely host a little better. This one is for anyone who has a friendship question they've been too nervous to ask out loud. Pull up a chair, Office Ours are in session. -- Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it take to stay best friends for twenty years, across three coasts, and a loss neither of you saw coming? Meet Today's Peas: Rory O'Malley is a Tony-nominated Broadway actor known for The Book of Mormon and Hamilton, and for co-founding the marriage equality nonprofit Broadway Impact. Jenny Kanelos co-founded Broadway Impact alongside Rory and the late Gavin Creel, mobilizing thousands of artists around marriage equality, before becoming a nurse at UCLA. Rory and Jenny met twenty years ago working on Happy Days: The Musical at the Falcon Theatre, and knew almost instantly they were meant to be friends. They talk with Dr. Miriam about the vulnerable year that cemented their bond (Rory getting sober and moving cross-country, Jenny losing the grandmother who raised her), the codependency that came with leaning on each other so hard early on, and the boundaries it took to become two whole people who still choose each other. They open up about building Broadway Impact with Gavin Creel during the fight for marriage equality, about losing Gavin to cancer and what his friendship taught them both, and about how Jenny's pivot from theater to nursing changed the way Rory sees his career, his marriage and his son. It's a conversation about twenty years of showing up, on opposite coasts and through the hardest days, for the person who still gets under your skin like nobody else can. Pull up a chair. This one is for the friend who becomes family. -- Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if connection didn't have to be something you reinvent from scratch every single time? Gretchen Rubin has made a career out of asking one big question: what makes us happy? She's the bestselling author of The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, The Four Tendencies, Life in Five Senses, and most recently, Secrets of Adulthood, with millions of copies sold in over 30 languages. She hosts the podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, co-hosts the advice podcast Since You Asked, and co-founded the award-winning Happier app. In today's Office Ours, Dr. Miriam and Gretchen dig into the science of habits and why joining or starting a group might be the most important connection habit you can build. Gretchen explains why relationships sit right alongside sleep and exercise as the foundation of a happy life, and why friendship was never meant to feel easy or natural, just worth it. They talk about how a group takes the endless planning out of seeing people, why repetition and shared interests (the more niche, the better) help acquaintances become real friends, and how to break out of the cycle of avoidance and into the cycle of approach. Plus, Gretchen shares the idea of the "exit ramp," which is deciding ahead of time how you'll know something isn't for you, so you can give a new group a real try without feeling stuck in it forever.  This one is for anyone ready to stop treating connection like a one-off and start treating it like a habit. Pull up a chair, Office Ours are in session. -- Follow your new friend: @gretchenrubin Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if that embarrassing thing you did as a teenager turned out to be exactly what brought your oldest friendships back to life? Meet Today's Peas: Jessica, Ayden, Janet, and Mary have been friends since they were kids, and even forming their own girl band as teenagers called X-Cetra. Ayden, now a professional actor, directed the group's reunion documentary, Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story, which just won Best Documentary Feature at SXSW. Jessica, Janet, and Mary reunite alongside her on screen and on this episode, all four picking back up a story, and a friendship, they started as kids. In the late '90s, these four friends spent their afternoons making homemade movies and dance numbers before deciding to write and record their own music together. But right before high school, they buried the tapes and the band, and the friendship slowly faded. In 2020, one of them Googled the old band on a whim and found their teenage recordings being reviewed on an underground music forum. A record deal followed, along with the surreal opportunity to reunite the band in their 30s and make a documentary about the whole reunion.  Dr. Miriam sits down with all four to talk about what it actually took to revive their friendship after twenty years. They discuss the discomfort of getting honest about the guilt and drifting they never talked about as kids, the way nostalgia can be either a hiding place or a foundation to build from, and how returning to something purely creative and playful, with zero stakes attached, reconnected them to themselves as much as to each other. Pull up a chair. This one is for anyone who needs the reminder that it's never too late to get the band back together.  -- Follow your new friends: @x_cetra Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the friendship you needed most as a kid never showed up, so you built it for millions of others instead? Jaymes Black is the CEO of The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people. Jaymes spent childhood and adolescence without a friend group who truly understood, including being outed in high school and ultimately deciding to leave. Today, Jaymes leads the organization built to make sure other LGBTQ+ young people don't have to live that same story. Dr. Miriam and Jaymes talk about what happens when you build the friendship you needed instead of waiting for it to show up: a crisis line that saves lives every day, and TrevorSpace, where hundreds of thousands of young people are finding their first queer friends online. They get into the research that changes how you think about showing up for someone, like the fact that one affirming adult can lower a young person's risk of a suicide attempt by 40%. It's the kind of conversation that ends with Jaymes's own words to any young person who feels alone: you're not in the wrong story, you're just not yet in the right room. This one is for the one affirming adult who has no idea how much they matter. Pull up a chair, Office Ours are in session. -- Follow your new friend: @thejaymesblack Learn more about the Trevor Project: @trevorproject Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does real friendship look like beyond the highlight reel? Before they were two of the most recognizable faces in early YouTube pop culture coverage, Joslyn was a host at ClevverTV and Lily was her unpaid intern, commuting hours from Thousand Oaks and working restaurant shifts on the side just to be in the room. What started as an intern-and-boss dynamic dissolved almost immediately into something else entirely, and today Joslyn and Lily join Dr. Miriam to unpack how a working relationship became one of the steadiest friendships either of them has. They talk about being opposite-energy friends (dog vs. cat energy) who somehow share every value that matters. They get honest about an industry that loves to pit women against each other, and why neither of them has ever once felt like they were competing with the other. Joslyn shares the heartfelt moment that changed their friendship, they talk candidly about the years Lily spent working through chronic pain and stepping back from public life, and what it took for the friendship to hold steady through it, even after the company that brought them together shut down overnight. Dr. Miriam ties it back to her own framework for connection and reminds everyone that real friendship is supposed to be a little inconvenient. But just ask Joslyn and Lily, and they'll tell you the drive is never the hard part. Pull up a chair. This one is for the friend who's already clapping before you finish the sentence. -- Follow your new friends: @joslyndavis & @lily_marston Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is it just me, or does making new friends as an adult feel so much harder than it used to? In this solo Office Ours, Dr. Miriam breaks down why the friendships that used to happen by accident stop happening once real life gets in the way. She walks through the three real reasons adult friendship gets harder (vanishing structure, the mere exposure effect, and follow through fatigue), then busts the beliefs quietly keeping people stuck, including the myth that real friendship should feel effortless. You will also hear about the liking gap, the discomfort scale, and the one thing Miriam is adding to her own to do list this week. This one is for anyone who assumes everyone else already has enough friends. Pull up a chair. Office Ours are in session. -- Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com  --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the same instant spark you feel falling in love could happen with a friend? Meet Today's Peas: Constance Zimmer is an actress known for iconic, sharp-edged roles in Entourage, UnREAL, House of Cards, and Love Story. Heidi Clements is a television producer, writer, social media force, and pro-aging influencer. Constance and Heidi's friendship started, of all places, in a business meeting. Heidi had written a pitch for a show, Sony sent it to Constance, and the two were on a Zoom call two days later that turned into a lifelong friendship. In this episode, they talk with Dr. Miriam about that instant, love-at-first-sight-style recognition that can happen between friends just as much as romantic partners ("friendship chemistry") and how it showed up for them despite a ten-year age gap and a pandemic that kept them apart in person. They get into what it's really like turning 50 and 60 in the same "bracket" of life, how an inspiring encounter at a farmers market sparked their podcast (Talk Fifty To Me) and why they've both found it easier, not harder, to make real friends in midlife once they stopped performing and started showing up as themselves. Pull up a chair. This one's for anyone who's found their person in the least likely place.  -- Follow your new friends: @welcometoheidi & @constancezimmer Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the busiest thing about your friendships isn't your calendar, but the story you're telling yourself? Dr. Jessica B. Stern is a licensed clinical psychologist, a faculty member at NYU Langone Health, and the host of Doctor Radio on SiriusXM. She's also the founder of Three Lemons, a firm that helps people and organizations reduce burnout and build more sustainable ways of working. Dr. Miriam sits down with her real-life friend and colleague, Dr. Jessica Stern, to dig into why "I'm so busy" has become our default answer to everyone, including the friends who matter most. Together they unpack why busyness got glamorized into a badge of honor, how "I'm so busy" can quietly double as an excuse (sometimes without us even realizing it), and why friendships start to feel like just another item on the to-do list. They also get into why friendships naturally diverge as we age (people marry, have kids, chase promotions, or buy houses) and why that doesn't have to mean the friendship is over, just changing shape. Dr. Jessica leaves us with concrete tools like getting specific instead of defaulting to "busy," "stacking" connection onto things already on your calendar, and getting honest about the stories we tell ourselves about what someone else's busyness really means. This one is for anyone who's ever answered "how are you?" with "so busy" and meant something else entirely. Pull up a chair. Permission to not be busy, granted. -- Follow your new friend: @drjessicabstern Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it mean to care deeply for someone else without losing yourself in the process? Meet Today's Peas: You'll recognize Lise Smith and Nicci Smith from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum, but behind the cameras, they've built a remarkable friendship of their own. What started with raising their sons, Connor and Tanner, together grew into Talk To Me Sis, the podcast where honesty, humor, and sisterhood take center stage. Dr. Miriam sits down with Lise and Nicci to talk about the unexpected friendships that form through caregiving, the power (and the pitfalls) of online communities, and why supporting the people who show up for everyone else matters just as much as the caregiving itself. They get honest about redefining who they are outside of motherhood, and about watching their sons grow in ways they never expected (Connor testifying in front of the Georgia state legislature, Tanner building an independent life three hours from home.) Their message to anyone listening: The Connors and Tanners of the world are closer than you think. Go find them! Pull up a chair. This one's for the person who's always showing up for everyone else. -- Follow your new friends: @connorsmom_lise & @nicci_smith6 Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When was the last time you had a moment? Not a vacation, not even an afternoon off, just a moment to breathe before you react, to notice what you're feeling before it spills onto the people you love most. Dr. Cassidy Freitas is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the author of Mom Needs a Moment, and the host and creator of the Holding Space podcast. She's also a mom of three, a bird enthusiast, an avid fanfic reader, and (as Dr. Miriam will tell you) her personal go-to curator of memes and reels. Dr. Miriam sits down with her friend and colleague Dr. Cassidy Freitas for this bimonthly Office Ours deep dive on why we all need a moment, and what happens when we don't take one. They get into the nervous system science behind why we snap at the people we love most, and why "getting louder" or "shutting down" often trace back to habits we built as kids just to stay connected to the people who kept us safe. Dr. Cassidy walks through her go-to in-the-moment tool for catching yourself mid-reaction (a literal hand on the chest and a "hold on, hold on"), and why repair always matters more than never messing up in the first place. They also talk through the quieter warning signs that you've become disconnected from yourself, how perfectionism can be anxiety wearing a nicer outfit, and why protecting five minutes of margin in your day isn't selfish, it's what makes showing up for everyone else possible. This one is for anyone who's ever snapped at somebody they love and then wondered why, for anyone whose favorite three minutes of the day happen alone in the driveway, and for anyone waiting for life to slow down before they finally take a moment. Pull up a chair, this hour is for you. -- Follow your new friend: @drcassidy Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when the friendship that got you through growing up on a hit TV show has to survive real life once the cameras stop rolling? That's the story of Eden Sher and Brock Ciarlelli... Eden and Brock met as teenagers on the set of The Middle, playing Sue Heck and Brad Bottig for nine seasons before it became something more than a job. These days, Eden's debut comedy special, I Was On a Sitcom, is streaming, and you've probably seen Brock in Bros or Netflix's Glamorous. But nearly two decades later, they're still each other's person. Dr. Miriam sits down with two people who've spent almost twenty years proving that brutal honesty is its own love language. Eden and Brock talk about the moment vulnerability first cracked the professional wall between them, why being each other's "safety net" carried them through the identity whiplash of growing up on a hit show, and the strange, tiny "Venn diagram" of people who've seen them as both their characters and themselves. They also get into the time Brock talked Eden down mid-meltdown over a font on her comedy special poster ("It's fine. No one cares."), and why, for them, humor is its own form of vulnerability. Pull up a chair. This one will make you grateful for the friend who tells you the truth about your font choices. -- Follow your new friends: @eden_sher & @brockciarlelli Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.   Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the letter that saved your closest relationship started with "I hate you"? Meet today's Peas: Tembi Locke is a New York Times bestselling author whose memoir From Scratch inspired the popular Netflix series. Attica Locke is an acclaimed novelist (Black Water Rising, Heaven, My Home, Guide Me Home) who also helped bring her sister's memoir to the screen as showrunner on From Scratch. They're sisters first, storytellers second, and two of the most honest friends Dr. Miriam has had on the show yet. Attica and Tembi grew up sharing bedspreads and a childhood bedroom, then drifted into separate worlds: different schools, different friend groups, years where "friendship" wasn't really the word for what they had. What brought them back wasn't a conversation. It was a letter Attica wrote in her early twenties and slid under her sister's door: raw and unfiltered, and nothing like anything either of them had said out loud before. Dr. Miriam sits down with Attica and Tembi to unpack what it actually takes to rebuild a relationship you didn't choose: the individual work of unlearning thirty-year-old dynamics, the grief that resurfaced when Tembi lost her husband, and how they've become each other's first readers and closest creative collaborators, with Attica now producing the adaptation of her own novel Bluebird, Bluebird, in the role Tembi once held. Pull up a chair. This one is for anyone who's ever wanted to reach out to a sibling, or an old friend, and wasn't sure it was worth the risk of rejection. --   Follow your new friends: @tembilocke & @atticalocke   Your friendship questions deserve answers. Reach out at [email protected], on social media or, pick up the phone and call or text with your friendship story or questions at 615-PODLINE (That's 615-763-5463).  Stay in touch with us:  @thetwopeasonapod @miriamkirmayer www.miriamkirmayer.com  --  Two Peas on a Pod is hosted by Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Executive produced by Zoe Travis, Matthew Hoffman, Katya Kaminsky, and Dr. Miriam Kirmayer. Produced and edited by Podcast Nation (Producers: Madison Brit and Alesha Pannier, Audio Engineer: Miles Carter). Original music by Sarah Walk. Created by Zoe Travis and Matthew Hoffman. Two Peas on a Pod is recorded in Montreal and Los Angeles. Cover photo by Katya Kaminsky.     Today's show contains information that is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This program is not a substitute for psychological or medical advice. Please seek out your own support and research as needed. Take care, friends.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.