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Susan Shapiro Barash

Non Fiction, Personal Development, Relationships, Women's Issues

Oct 01: Susan Shapiro Barash on When to Mend or End Female Friendships

October 1, 2025

Estranged

Estranged with author Susan Shapiro Barash

Female friendships can be complicated. Despite all the talk of women supporting women, many don’t. Along with the good aspects of friendship, there are times when jealousy, competitiveness, gossip, and pettiness get in the way.

Renowned author and gender studies expert Susan Shapiro Barash joins us to with her most recent book, Estranged.

We ask questions such as how to know when we should try to mend a friendship versus end it? Do we tolerate more from galpals than platonic male friendships? Or even non-platonic male relationships? If so, why? How to approach difficult conversations. How to set healthy boundaries. And if you’ve ever experienced the hurt and confusion of being ghosted – seems cowardly, right? – why do people ghost?

Meet Susan Shapiro Barash

Susan Shapiro Barash has written over a dozen nonfiction books, including Tripping the Prom Queen, You’re Grounded Forever, But First Let’s Go Shopping and Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships. For more than 20 years she taught gender studies in the Writing Department at Marymount Manhattan College and has guest taught creative nonfiction at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. For her fiction, Between the Tides, A Palm Beach Wife, A Palm Beach Scandal, and Maribelle’s Shadow, she writes as Susannah Marren.

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Non Fiction, Personal Development, Relationships, Self-help, Women's Issues

Jun 04: Estranged with Susan Shapiro Barash

June 4, 2025

How Strained Female Friendships are Mended or Ended

Estranged with author Susan Shapiro Barash

Have you ever felt confused about a friend who ghosted you out of nowhere? Or struggled to set boundaries with a longtime BFF?

Today we tackle the topic of Female friendships — the good, the bad, the beautiful, and sometimes, the heartbreaking.

Joining us is renowned author, gender studies expert, and cultural commentator Susan Shapiro Barash, whose latest book Estranged peels back the layers on what really happens when women’s friendships fracture.

When should we work to mend a friendship versus end it? Do we tolerate more from galpals than their male counterparts? And if so, why? Why do people ghost? How to approach difficult conversations. And more.

Meet Susan Shapiro Barash

Susan Shapiro Barash has written over a dozen nonfiction books, including Tripping the Prom Queen, You’re Grounded Forever, But First Let’s Go Shopping and Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships. For more than 20 years she taught gender studies in the Writing Department at Marymount Manhattan College and has guest taught creative nonfiction at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. For her fiction, Between the Tides, A Palm Beach Wife, A Palm Beach Scandal, and Maribelle’s Shadow, she writes as Susannah Marren.

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