# How to keep close friendships (w/ Aminatou Sow)

An episode of [How to Be a Better Human](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1544098624), 4 Aug 2025, 40 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/67572b3b2dd88df13220eb3b/e/68813926e0a86cc3ab6f9de2/media.mp3

“People are expected to have good friendships, but nobody talks about how they happen,” says journalist Aminatou Sow. Aminatou is also the host of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend and the author of the book Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close. She joins Chris to discuss the communication efforts necessary to maintain meaningful friendships, why she rejects Western society’s obsession with self-improvement, the insights she gained from reading obituaries and the act of grace in sharing bits of yourself with others. Follow Host: Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com) Guest: Aminatou Sow (Instagram: @aminatou) Links Crème de la Crème Substack Book: bigfriendship.com/ Podcast: callyourgirlfriend.com/ Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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