In this episode, science journalist Lydia Denworth and I do a deep dive into friendship, including the evolutionary, biological, and psychological benefits. Lydia Denworth is a science journalist and author of Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond. She is a contributing editor for Scientific American and writes the Brain Waves blog for Psychology Today. Her work has also appeared in The Atlantic, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and many other publications. In this episode, we discuss: ·      Her interesting and personal journey into becoming a science writer. ·      The evolutionary advantage of living in groups and being able to create bonds. ·      The scientific definitions of friendship and how long it takes to develop true friendship. ·      Whether or not you can outgrow friends. ·      The impact social media has had on friendship. ·      The physical benefits of friendship and the evolutionary biology reason behind them. ·      The intersection of genetics and our environment, including our social environment. ·      Our implicit in-group out-group bias and the importance of empathy. ·      And why we choose the friends we do. You can find and follow Lydia here: LydiaDenworth.com Twitter: @LydiaDenworth Instagram: @lydicadenworth Facebook: @ScienceWriterLydia Buy her book - Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond SHOP CLEAN products with DISCOUNTS in my SHOP! Please SUBSCRIBE, SHARE, RATE, and REVIEW the podcast! Follow the podcast on Instagram @TheBetterYouPodcast or Facebook @TheBetterYouPodcast. And you can email the podcast at [email protected] Follow me on all the socials: Instagram @kaciemain_writes, Facebook @kaciemain.write, or Twitter @kaciemain_write. Find my book – I Gave Up Men for Lent, the story of a jaded, hopelessly romantic, health-conscious party girl’s search for meaning – on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible. And for everything else you want to know about me, visit my website at www.kaciemain.com     Some links are Affiliate links.