I Don’t Want to be Your Friend Anymore Ep3

In this episode of The Second Look, we’re focusing on what happens when friendship collides with politics and personal values. How much can a friendship withstand before differences become divides? And is every falling out really about that one final disagreement—or is something deeper at play?

Using Simone de Beauvoir’s The Mandarins as a lens, we’ll compare how friendships were tested in post-war Paris to how today’s political and moral landscapes reshape our closest bonds. Along the way, we’ll bring in Aristotle and Montaigne’s reflections on friendship.

I also introduce two ways of thinking about why friendships end: The Final Straw—when a single event or disagreement tips the balance, and The Deeper Break—when slow, underlying shifts quietly erode connection long before anything is said out loud.

If you’ve ever wondered why some friendships survive difference while others don’t, this one’s for you.

Show Notes

Adams, Chris. 2022. “Charlie Cook on Partisanship, 2022, Media - National Press Foundation.” National Press Foundation. January 6, 2022. https://nationalpress.org/topic/charlie-cook-on-partisanship-2022-media/.

Beauvoir, Simone de. (1954) 2008. The Mandarins. London: The Folio Society.

Beauvoir, Simone de. (1947) 2018. The Ethics of Ambiguity. New York: Open Road Integrated Media.

Homans, Charles, and Alyce McFadden. 2022. “Today’s Politics Divide Parties, and Friends and Families, Too.” The New York Times, October 18, 2022, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/us/politics/political-division-friends-family.html.

O’Connor, Peg. 2024. “Do You End a Close Friendship because of Politics?” Psychology Today. 2024. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/philosophy-stirred-not-shaken/202411/do-you-end-a-close-friendship-because-of-politics.

Smith, Tovia. 2020. “‘Dude, I’m Done’: When Politics Tears Families and Friendships Apart.” NPR. October 27, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/27/928209548/dude-i-m-done-when-politics-tears-families-and-friendships-apart.