Making Friends Podcast

"You're a clown, get over it!" Uncle Stepdad walked us through his clowning journey, telling us about his clown found family, battling imposter syndrome and insecurity, and how clowning can be a way to hold a mirror up to society. We also chat about how finding your clown can be a reflection of your truest, most unguarded self. Uncle Stepdad has become a wonderful irl friend for us through this po...

Mother Lucy Goose sits down with Jake and Nick to tell them all about her clowning journey and how it helped her reconnect with herself and laugh again after a bad time in her life. She also discussed the online versus in-person clown communities, advice for people looking to get into clowning, the differences between clown styles, and how to use clowning to fight back against oppression and conne...

Now that we've laid the foundation for what the clown community is and some of the benefits it can provide its members, we wanted to talk with some actual clowns and get their perspective! Jake and Maisy sit down with Cait the Clown: professional children's clown, emotional support clown, and possibly the nicest person on the internet. We discuss the clowning journey, how she built her local commu...

Making Friends is all about friendship and communities, and we've talked a lot about friendship, so let's get into the communities. For our very first community spotlight episode, we dug into the history of clowns and how clowns come together to help each other and the world as a whole. Clowns are silly, but don't fall into the trap of not taking them seriously - clowns can teach us a lot about ho...

Y'all ever have such a good gossip sesh with your friends that you run the gamut of laughing so hard you cry to talking about your deepest traumas? That's what this interview feels like. Jake and Maisy sit down with their friend Erin Harris to talk about things like childhood bullying, how to build a healthy marriage, and raising a boy to be a good person in this perilous modern world. All the whi...

It's our tenth episode, and we're celebrating it with possibly the most influential book on American masculinity in pop culture: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Jake, Maisy, and Jordan sit down to discuss the unique time period of the 90s, Fight Club, the book and its movie adaptation, and how they have influenced masculinity, politics, and the current state of affairs. This one's a real chunky epi...

We're back again this week with part two of our Double Date episode with Nick, Kim, Jake, & Maisy! This time we're talking all about relationship dynamics and how we create and maintain our healthy romantic relationships. We discuss conflict resolution, love languages, and date night plans. Hope you enjoy! TW: Mental health, relationship struggles Music: Call Me Baby (Instrumental Version) - J...

We have a very special episode for you this week! If you're curious about your hosts, you're in luck, because Maisy and Jake are sitting down with Nick and his wife, Kim, for a group interview where we discuss making friends (of course), growing up, forming relationships, and how we got to where we are now. We had a lot of fun working on this one, so hopefully you enjoy listening to it just as muc...

For this week's interview, Jake and Nick sit down with one of Jake's closest friends, Jordan Kent. They dig deep into Jordan's childhood, his perspectives on masculinity throughout his life, and the loss of his father and how it affects his ability to form and maintain relationships to this day. It's a deep one this week, folks, so lock in! TW: Loss of a parent, child abuse, cancer Music: Friends...

In this episode of the Annotated Book Club, Jake and Maisy are joined by Jordan Kent to discuss the classic drug-fueled trip, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. The gang talks about drugs, violence, misogyny, racism, and the American dream. Is it a red flag book? Let's get into it. TW: Drug use, alcohol, sexual assault, violence, kidnapping and abduction, child sexual abuse, and...

Get ready for a throwback! It’s our original Making Friends recording - Jake and Nick sit down with mutual friend, Michael Colter, who, it turns out, is a major connection between many of their college friends. They discuss mankeeping, how to share feelings, and balancing time with your friends and your partner. We hope you enjoy this vault episode. Music: Friends (Instrumental) - Whodini Clips: M...

Jake and Maisy sit down with Maisy's childhood best friend and maybe the only person in the world to have two great parents, Crystal Knight. They talk about her friendships, her relationships with her parents and brothers, what it's been like raising her own children, and her work as a pediatric Occupational Therapist. This one's cozy af, so grab your snacks and tuck in. TW: Death of a parent, gri...

Welcome to the first episode of the Annotated Book Club. We're starting by taking a look at some of the books that women consider to be red flags for men - read them, analyze them, and discuss the pros and cons. Should these books really be considered red flags? Let's talk about it. For this inaugural episode, Jake and Maisy discuss American Psycho and Mr. Sigma Face himself, Patrick Bateman. TW:...

Welcome to the Making Friends podcast, where we'll be talking about friendship, feelings, gender, and building community. If you're curious about what to expect from us, here's a short trailer introducing the hosts and explaining the podcast. Music: Friends (Instrumental) - Whodini Clips: May 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications The Thing (1982) Ms. Rache...

Jake and Nick sit down with another childhood friend, David Thompson, to talk about how their friendship has evolved over time, and how David is learning to deal with his trauma, form new connections in adulthood, and use those tools to break the generational trauma and be a good dad to his kids. TW: Child abuse, mental health, stalking, relationship conflicts Music: Friends (Instrumental) - Whodi...

Jake and Nick sit down with their childhood friend Jeff Sermons Jr. to talk about the history of their friendship. They discuss Jeff's struggles with mental health, how he forms connections, and how he's learned to manage his emotions into adulthood. Plus, they get into masculinity and how it's totally not about physical strength... probably. TW: mental health, self-harm, death of a loved one, rac...