Can our friendships evolve as we evolve?

It feels like it’s getting harder and harder to make new friends—and keep old ones—as our values shift and priorities change. In this era of political and cultural polarization, can we actually be friends if we disagree politically? What if we embody our values differently?

Where’s the line between judging someone for being different and honoring our own integrity? This episode is an invitation to wrestle with discomfort, stay with the complexity, and consider what it means to make room for all of our humanity.

Joined by writer and cultural worker Kai Cheng Thom, Michelle explores the grief, shame, and judgment that often accompany political misalignment between friends—and the haunting ways we sometimes punish each other when what we really crave is love.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever lost a friend in a season of political reckoning. It’s for those holding heartbreak, anger, and the question: Can we find our way back to each other, even when it feels impossible?