Adjunct Faculty Member Cheryl Graeff Explores Friendship Breakups in Podcast

Logo of "Friends I'm No Longer Friends With" podcast that shows broken heart.
Inspired by the shame of friendship breakups, Cheryl Graeff, an adjunct faculty member in Cinema and Television Arts as well as Interactive Arts and Media at Columbia, attempts to normalize the conversation around these painful experiences.

Have you ever broken up with a best friend? Or had a best friend break up with you because of a betrayal? Or had a best friend that just faded away? The podcast Friends I’m No Longer Friends With explores true stories about broken friendships to help affirm that we’re not alone in this scenario.

The creator and host of the podcast is Cheryl Graeff, an adjunct faculty member in Cinema and Television Arts and Interactive Arts and Media at  Columbia College Chicago.

“I’ve had four best friends throughout my life, all whom which I’m no longer friends with,” Graeff says. “The shame and pain of all these losses blended with the desire to honor and grow from these heartaches, and it is what inspired me to create the podcast. Plus, it’s time we normalize the conversation of friendship breakups.”

Friends I’m No Longer Friends With takes a deep dive into friendships lost, in which anonymous guests share their true stories of a close friendship, how it began, its evolution, the breakup, and how each interviewee moved through their loss. 

“The podcast is a place where we honor these significant connections involving personal wounds, the transformational process of moving beyond them, and wonder how these experiences may serve present lives,” Graeff says.

“It’s thrilling that women’s friendship and breakup stories are being explored in the media in shows such as in Issa Rae’s Insecure, Elana Ferrante’s book and series My Brilliant Friend on HBO, and Amy Schumer’s Hulu series Life & Beth,” says Graeff. “I feel there is much more to investigate about these experiences and the part that culture plays in them.”

Friends I’m No Longer Friends With, featured on SiriusXM as a Have You Heard podcast, can also be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and Stitcher. Listeners will be able to binge season 1 at the end of April 2022. 

If you or someone you know has a story of a broken friendship and would like to share it anonymously on the podcast, email: friendshipspodcast@gmail.com.

Recent News