Great Company with Jamie Laing2 Sep 2025

ALAIN DE BOTTON: WHY MAKING FRIENDS AS AN ADULT FEELS IMPOSSIBLE (BUT ISN'T)

Alain de Botton came on the show one year ago and totally blew me away. We spoke about relationships with parents, partners, attachment styles and so much more. And now he’s back and we’re talking all about a relationships we often overlook but is potentially one of the most important in our lives: friendship.

Alain artfully dissects the issues we run into with deepening our friendships, why it’s so scary to vulnerable but how and why letting people in can lead us to a richer life.

We cover:

How to open up to having more meaningful friendships
Sexual anxiety in friendship particularly among men
How polyamory could be born from a lack of real friendship
Friendship break-ups and why they can be a good thing
Why people might be bad friends
How to argue well in relationships

As expected, my mind was well and truly blown again. This conversation reminded me we can all have richer relationships if we take down our guards and ask the questions we really want to be asked.

If you enjoyed the show, you can also follow us:

Instagram - www.instagram.com/greatcompanypodcast

TikTok - www.tiktok.com/@greatcompanypodcast

And if you've got thoughts, questions and comments, you can email us at greatcompany@jampotproductions.co.uk

If you'd like to get Alain's latest book, 'The Secrets of Successful Friendships', you can find it here: shop.theschooloflife.com/products/the-secrets-of-successful-friendships

You can also hear more about The School Of Life here: www.theschooloflife.com/signup/

And I’m also releasing a book, ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ which you can pre-order here: https://boysdontcry.co.uk/

THE CREDITS

Exec Producer: Jemima Rathbone

Producer: Helen Burke

Video: Jake Ji

Audio: Rafi Amsili

Social Media: Laura Coughlan & Anthony Barter

Great Company is an original podcast from JamPot

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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