Julie Shain

DAD: Thank you all so much for coming. Like every year, we’re going to go around in a circle and read selections from the Haggadah. Everyone will get a turn and no one will be bored. MOM: Everyone fill up your glasses! Bill, wine? WACKY UNCLE: I don’t want to sing “Dayenu” too loudly again, threateningly emphasizing the ‘die’ part while glaring at my ex-wife, so I’ll stick with grape juice. DAD: Is everyone ready to read? SCAPEGOAT CHILD: Oh boy, I hope I get appointed ‘evil son’ again.

“The Inhabit Interview” is a podcast about positive habits, in service of our relationships. Each week, I’ll interview fascinating authors, comedians, actors, and thinkers to ask them questions like what are the habits that make their lives work? Which are the ones they wish they adopted earlier—and recommend broadly?

My friend Charlotte recently mentioned the word “acquaintances” and noted—in a joking, offhanded remark—that the word is surprisingly hard to spell. Acquaintances is hard to spell. It’s also somewhat hard to grasp. What is an acquaintance, exactly? Where does an acquaintance end and a friend begin? The person best poised to answer this question may be Robin Dunbar, a British anthropologist and psychologist who studied primates for over 20 years.