Download the transcript for this episode here.COMPETITION!We’re celebrating our 500,000th download this month - half a million! And so, with the help of our major sponsor, Zondervan, we are giving away a book pack of five of Zondervan’s newest titles. We’ll throw in a copy of my new book Bullies and Saints AND an Undeceptions T-Shirt.To WIN, all you have to do is leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (what used to be called iTunes), take a pic of the review and send it to us. Producer Kaley will pick the best-written review on October 25 (and I mean ‘best-written’ not necessarily most glowing). So be quick, you’ve got two weeks! LINKS
Meet our guests: 
Sam Allberry, author and pastor.
Ronald Sharp, author of Norton Book of Friendship



Read Sam Allberry's book Seven Myths about Singleness and find his other books here.
Here are the links to all the studies we referenced in this episode: 
Death of a close friend: Short and long-term impacts on physical, psychological and social well-being, PLoS ONE
Friendship enriches your life and improves your health: Mayo Clinic
The State of American Friendship, 2021 American Perspectives Survey


More on Plutarch.
Read the Tu Fu poem, To Wei Pa, A Retired Scholar, translated by Kenneth Rexroth

Learn more about the Book of Proverbs, and read it for yourself.

Read more about the debate over anti-semitism in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, in this article from the Smithsonian Magazine.

Read about David and Jonathan's close friendship from the book of 1 Samuel.

Read more about Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep from Ancient Egypt in this New York Times article.

Further Evidence that Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were Twins, Journal of Ancient Archaeology
Learn more about the friendship between King Richard I and King Philip II.

Here's The Guardian's article about whether Jesus was gay. 

Read Ronald Sharp's article, Mateship, Friendship and National Identity for the Australian Book Review.
Never seen Crocodile Dundee? It's probably about time...

Learn more about CS Lewis' 'four loves'.

Listen to previous episodes of Undeceptions with John and his best mate, Ben Shaw (who died in June 2021 after a battle with cancer).