Friends Like Us: Stories About Friendship, Community & Belonging

This episode of Friends Like Us explores the complex, often unspoken emotion of feeling left behind when a close friend experiences rapid success while you feel stuck. Host Kora Cherry dissects the 'quiet sting' of watching a best friend thrive—whether through a promotion, marriage, or creative breakthrough—while your own life feels like it is standing still in quicksand. This is not about jealousy; it is a specific typ...

This episode of Friends Like Us, hosted by Kora Cherry, addresses the painful and often unspoken experience of outgrowing friends who resent your personal growth. It is designed for individuals navigating the complex emotional landscape of changing friendships, particularly those who feel guilt or confusion when their joy is met with silence, envy, or subtle criticism from people they once considered close. The narrative explores w...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the profound loneliness that accompanies modern remote work, specifically addressing the phenomenon known as 'Zoom fatigue' and the emotional void left by digital-only interactions. This episode is essential listening for remote workers, distributed team members, and anyone who feels isolated despite being constantly connected to colleagues via video conferencing tools. ...

This episode of 'Friends Like Us' offers a compassionate, raw exploration of the emotional complexity involved in re-entering social circles and friend groups after experiencing pregnancy loss. Host Kora Cherry guides listeners through the heavy silence and isolation that often accompanies the return to friends who are pregnant or raising young children, validating the grief, guilt, and jealousy that can feel like unwelcome intrude...

This episode of Friends Like Us explores the profound exhaustion and emotional toll of supporting a friend through a severe mental health crisis, such as depression or breakdown. Host Kora Cherry addresses the phenomenon of 'compassion fatigue' and 'secondary trauma,' explaining how caregivers often absorb their friend's pain to the point of losing their own sense of self. This guide is essential for anyone who has ever felt they w...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the quiet, often overlooked grief of drifting apart from a close friend or roommate. Unlike a friendship that ends with a dramatic fight or betrayal, fading friendships leave you mourning someone who is still alive and well. This episode is for anyone who has looked at an old friend’s social media feed and felt a pang of exclusion, wondering where the connection we...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the complex emotional landscape that emerges when personal values shift toward minimalism while close friends remain attached to accumulation. This conversation is essential for anyone who has experienced the sudden loneliness or resentment that arises from differing lifestyles, particularly when one partner in a friendship embraces intentional living while the other fin...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the complex emotional landscape of discovering a friend's hidden truth. This deep dive into friendship dynamics addresses the specific anxiety and confusion that arise when a close companion reveals a secret they have kept to protect themselves or the relationship. The conversation is designed for anyone who has ever felt betrayed by omission, struggled with trust issues...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the complex intersection of minimalism and friendship, specifically addressing the emotional burden that arises when a friend’s decluttering efforts spill over into your personal space. This story is for anyone who has ever felt guilty for setting boundaries with a loved one, or who has struggled to navigate shifting values within their social circle. The episode d...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the painful and confusing experience of navigating unapologetic behavior in friendships. This guide is essential for anyone who has ever tried to address a hurt caused by a friend, only to be met with silence, deflection, or gaslighting. When a friend refuses to say sorry, it often triggers deep self-doubt and a sense of isolation, making you question your own reality an...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the complex emotional landscape of leaving rural hometowns for urban life, offering a compassionate guide to bridging the gap between rural roots and city drift. This narrative is crafted for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider in their own community, whether you are a recent college graduate navigating the fast-paced anonymity of a big city or someone returning ho...

This episode of Friends Like Us explores the profound and often unsettling experience of changing your name mid-life, examining the psychological shift from a fixed identity to a fluid sense of self. Host Kora Cherry invites listeners who are navigating major life transitions—such as divorce, career pivots, coming out after decades, or simply shedding an old nickname—to understand that identity is not a solid rock but a...

In this deeply personal and vulnerable episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the complex, often unspoken emotion of jealousy within close friendships. The story begins with a raw moment on her bathroom floor after receiving news of her best friend Maya’s career promotion, triggering a realization that their life paths are diverging. This episode is essential listening for anyone who has ever felt small, left b...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the quiet erosion of trust in friendships caused by broken financial promises. This guide addresses the heavy silence that falls when a friend repeatedly says 'I'll pay you back next week' but fails to follow through. It is designed for listeners who struggle with setting boundaries around money, feeling resentful over unpaid debts, or fearing they are being perceived as...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the painful but liberating process of letting go of the idealized versions of our friends to truly love the real people in our lives. Many of us spend years mourning a friendship that never existed, grieving a fantasy character we constructed in our minds rather than engaging with the messy, imperfect human sitting across from us. This episode is for anyone who has felt ...

In this deeply personal and resonant episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the profound emotional landscape of changing your identity mid-life. The story begins with a relatable moment of disorientation in a grocery store aisle, where the name on a cereal box no longer matches the narrator's internal sense of self. This episode is for anyone who has experienced a major life transition—whether through a career ...

This episode of Friends Like Us explores the complex and often painful experience of being the 'third wheel' in a friend's new romantic relationship. Host Kora Cherry addresses the specific emotional landscape of this situation: the hollow ache of feeling like background noise, the grief of losing one-on-one intimacy, and the fear of abandonment that arises when a friendship dynamic shifts. This content is designed for anyone who h...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the profound emotional landscape of being an expat who doesn't speak the language of home. This conversation is specifically designed for international movers, digital nomads, and anyone experiencing cultural displacement or the loneliness that accompanies living in a new country where social cues feel foreign. We dive deep into the specific kind of isolation that hits a...

In this episode of Friends Like Us, host Kora Cherry explores the exhausting cultural expectation of constant digital availability and how it erodes genuine friendship. Many of us treat our attention like an open bar, assuming that loving someone means being instantly accessible at all hours. This mindset often leads to burnout, resentment, and shallow interactions where we become service providers rather than authentic friends. Th...