Best Forevers: A Podcast for Kindred Spirits

As a relational communication teacher, Alysa is often asked by students what they should do if they believe their friend is in an abusive relationship. So, to build awareness during Domestic Violence Month, Alysa sits down with, Brooke, Director of Central Michigan University's Sexual Aggression Services, to learn more about domestic violence and what friends and loved ones may expect if someone t...

Alysa celebrates one year of Best Forevers by answering listener questions, playing messages from friends, and reflecting on the year!

Alysa celebrates one year of Best Forevers by interviewing passionate and influential friendship communication researcher, Dr. Bill Rawlins. The two chat about his research focusing on tensions in friendships, what he's learned in his extraordinary forty-year career dedicated to understanding friendship, and about the reach of friendships. Come to learn more about the largest scholarly influence o...

Alysa's best friend, Kate, returns to the podcast to celebrate one year of the podcast by talking about one of the things that we love the most and brought them closer: Lifetime movies! We chat about why we love Lifetime movies and then we dive into some of our favorites, Speak and No One Would Tell . The conversation that follows focuses on two friends breaking down the issues reflected in these...

"My greatest wish, apart from staying at Green Gables, is to have a bosom friend." L.M. Montgomery's beloved character, Anne Shirley, from the Anne of Green Gables books describes her dream and hope to have a friend in her life. For Alysa, these books and the1985 TV series of the same name imprinted the love for friendship and kindred spirits on her heart and provides the strong foundation for the...

Have you ever been in a joyful mood, but it completely changed by the emotions your friends were experiencing? Simply put, do you consider how your emotion impacts other people and how other's emotions impact you? Lance Bennett, from the University of Iowa, is back to chat with Alysa about his research on emotional contagion and how it relates to relationships, like friendships. The lively, yet ne...

Like in a video game, do you have the resources to LEVEL UP your friendship? Alysa's interview with friends, Ana and Elaura, from the PopPrismPower  podcast will make you want to do just that! In this episode, we talk about the development of their friendship through their favorite pop culture-y things that turned into their podcast and how the outcome for them no matter the challenge or task is a...

Get your pencils, calculators, textbooks, and…friends? Yes, it's back to school time and, for many young people, they'll be heading to college as first year students, returning students, or transfer students. However, loneliness and concern about making friends is a critical issue so Alysa chats with Ellen Wehrman, the Assistant Director of Central Michigan University's Sarah R. Opperman Leadershi...

In the third installment of the Best Forevers Book Club, Alysa makes Claire read another book from her childhood and, this time, it's all about clean scandal and lack of decorum! We discuss Ann M. Martin's best-selling series, The Babysitter's Club , with a dive into the first book, Kristy's Great Idea . Clubs may help bring friends together, but how do you power through and maintain friendships w...

Alysa chats with super cool linguists and fry friends, Carrie and Megan, from The Vocal Fries about their podcast focusing on linguistic discrimination and how they came to be friends. So, come listen to Alysa, who loves communication, geek out over linguistics chat, but, even more, come listen to this friendship based in linguistics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among other things. Truly, we can...

Happy International Friendship Day/Week/Month! Erin and Nicole, from Dude, That's F**ked Up podcast, talk about their super fun and gross podcast, and their amazing friendship.  Listen to Dude, That's F**ked Up! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dude-thats-f-d-up/id1212056192?mt=2   Share Your Friendship Stories with Alysa! Visit the podcast web page for topics = www.bestforeverspod.com/surveys...

Happy International Friendship Day/Week/Month! Rachel and Amber, from the Hallmarkies Podcast, talk about their friendship and podcast.  Listen to Hallmarks Podcast! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hallmarkies-podcast/id1296728288?mt=2   Share Your Friendship Stories with Alysa! Visit the podcast web page for topics = www.bestforeverspod.com/surveys Email Alysa = bestforeverspod@gmail.com   Fo...

Happy International Friendship Day/Week/Month! Logan and Zoe, from the Honestly?! A Podcast, give us a lowdown on their friendship including some fun friendship stories.  Listen to Honestly!? A Podcast! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/honestly-a-podcast/id1241566221?mt=2   Share Your Friendship Stories with Alysa! Visit the podcast web page for topics = www.bestforeverspod.com/surveys Email Al...

Happy International Friendship Day/Week/Month! Alysa chats with Sophie about her best friend, who just happens to be male, which introduces the idea of different gendered friendships. Let's celebrate them all!  Share Your Friendship Stories with Alysa! Visit the podcast web page for topics = www.bestforeverspod.com/surveys Email Alysa = bestforeverspod@gmail.com   Follow Best Forevers Pod! Faceboo...

Happy International Friendship Day/Week/Month! Alysa chats with podfriend, Georgie, from Nothing Rhymes with Murder about friendship circles decreasing as we getting older and putting time into the friendships that matter. Check out Georgie (and Kate) on Nothing Rhymes with Murder! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-rhymes-with-murder/id1250779617?mt=2   Share Your Friendship Stories with...

Happy International Friendship Day/Week/Month! Alysa chats with Alyson, who moved to Germany, about making new friends in a different culture and maintaining long distance friendships. Share Your Friendship Stories with Alysa! Visit the podcast web page for topics = www.bestforeverspod.com/surveys Email Alysa = bestforeverspod@gmail.com   Follow Best Forevers Pod! Facebook = https://www.facebook.c...

Happy International Friendship Day…Week…Month, Friends! Here at Best Forevers podcast we're stretching the day of celebration out as long as humanly possible! In this episode, Alysa chats with her podfriend, Heather, from New Zealand who hosts the Sunshine & Powercuts podcast. Heather has a lot of stories related to international friends and we reflect on how friends from around the world have an...

They're never just pets or just animals. They're our companions, confidantes, therapists, and our best friends. In this episode, Alysa, along with her parents, friends, and listeners, explores the idea that our furry friends are, in fact, friends. If you're a pet owner or hoping to become one soon, this episode will remind you of all the wonderful benefits animals provide us humans and why we simp...

Friends are so inspiring. They inspire you to be bold, to keep on keeping on, and to try new things. In this week's episode, Alysa is joined by her history-loving friend, Crystal, who inspired her to start covering historical friendships on Best Forevers! The first "friendship from the past" story centers on the infamous Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, and her ride or die friends, Princesse de...

What do you talk about in your close friendships? Everything and anything? Or, do you have hard boundaries? In this episode, Alysa describes her research focusing on sexual communication in college-aged friendships. She details how she come to study the topic, what she's learned so far including research conducted with the support of an Early Career Grant, the importance of studying this topic, an...

Have you ever introduced a friend to your best friend and they become friends too? In this episode, Alysa is joined by her friend, Sarah, and Sarah's best friend, Jen, and it's like friendship inception (or, maybe just network expansion)! As Jen points out, if you support your friends and their decisions, you are likely to think their friend choices are also pretty awesome! Before Alysa gets a cha...

Now that Alysa is 40 AF, she continues to explore age and friendship by chatting with her younger, wiser, and more magical friend, Ashleigh. They revisit their friendship origin story, confirm all the things they have in common, make future plans to knock items off their bucket lists, and discuss how age ain't nothing but a number. Come for a great chat among friends including an epic Golden Girls...

Alysa is excited for all the summer movies, so she's acquired a Movie Pass and interviewed friends, Sarah and Kelly, from the Bad Feminist Film Club podcast about their friendship, their favorite movies, and the role of the feminist lens in watching movies. Kelly and Sarah have an easy and fun friendship peppered with amazing Comic Con and movie stories and male and female celebrity crush lists. C...

Age ain't nothing, but a number, right? Alysa turns 40 and, in celebration, she begins exploring the ways in which age impacts the development and maintenance of friends. In this episode, Alysa chats with her older, wiser, and more efficient friend, Bia, about their friendship origin story, Bia's friendship experiences, and the role of age in friendship. They discover everyone needs friends of the...

Many of us are "friendish" with a lot of different people, but how many friends have seen you at your most vulnerable? In this episode, Alysa welcomes friends Isabelle and Kate who talk about their friendship, rooted in an online community and spans such experiences as trauma, illness, and military moves. Isabelle and Kate are candid, thoughtful, and clearly each other's "person" so come be witnes...