On Friendship with Alain de Botton

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Our guest this week is Alain de Botton. Alain is a London based writer and psychotherapist. His first book, Essays in Love was published when he was 23 years old and went on to sell two million copies. His books emphasise philosophy's relevance to everyday life. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).

He’s written 15 books under his name and many more under The School of Life imprint, which have become bestsellers in 30 countries. He is not just a writer, but also an organizer of ideas and institutions.

He founded The School Of Life in 2008, which is dedicated to help people lead more emotionally intelligent lives – through classes, books, games, therapy, films, articles, their app, and their podcast. Their website says, everything they do supports self-knowledge, better relationships, and brings calm to modern life.

His public profile emphasises his desire to bridge intellectual ideas into a lived experience.

We talk about:

• 2 and a half friends is plenty
• A more rigorous approach to friendship
• Different types of friends - from the teasing to the mirco
• Platonic sleepovers
• One way friends
• Enemies of friendship
• The bravery of being weird
• Good substitutes for friends

Let’s make friends!

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