We're Here to Help – Episode 202: The Friendship Game Casting Special: I Have a Connection

Podcast: We're Here to Help
Hosts: Steve Berg (guest-hosting), Rob ("Wobby")
Date: August 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode serves as a casting special for "The Friendship Game"—a new installment where Steve Berg and Rob interview six potential contestants who are seeking friendship. The hosts ask a series of quirky, revealing, and often hilarious compatibility questions to each caller. Ultimately, listeners are invited to vote for their favorite, helping decide who the show should set up for the next round of the Friendship Game.

The tone is friendly, warm, and full of banter, but also dives into questions of adult loneliness, making friends in new cities, and the sometimes offbeat qualities people look for (or tolerate!) in a new friend.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting Up the Friendship Game (01:48–10:22)

• Hosts Steve and Rob introduce the episode with energy, discussing the goal: interviewing six contestants for the Friendship Game, getting to know them deeply, and ultimately letting listeners vote.
• Hosts test their own questions on each other ("Are you a patron of the arts? Which concert did you last see?" "Weirdest hobby?" etc.), revealing tidbits about their own personalities—Steve loves paranormal conventions and ghost hunting; Rob is a dedicated concert-goer and plays recreational softball.
• Discussion of friendship qualities: Go-with-the-flow vs. set agenda, covering up for crimes, bailing friends out of jail—these set the tone for the types of questions asked throughout the episode.

Notable Quote

• Steve: "I've bailed multiple friends out of jail. I think that's pretty good... One time flew across the country and helped someone get into rehab, and then they escaped three days later..." (07:10)

2. Contestant Interviews

A. Sarah from Philadelphia (10:34–15:37)

• Music tastes: Descendants, Offspring, Alkaline Trio, Goldfinger, Real Big Fish (skate-punk themed).
• Hobbies: Adult learning to skateboard, curling (the ice sport), and learning American Sign Language.
• Personality: Looking for a skateboarding friend, open-minded, enjoys trying new things even if she fails ("my idea of adventure is trying something open minded and open hearted...").
• Memorable moment:
  • Sarah: "I was at the skate park the other day… that's why I actually put in for the show, is that I was looking for a friend to skateboard with." (12:29)

B. Andy from Holyoke, MA (16:08–22:22)

• Music tastes: Velvet Underground, Cardigans, Garbage, Savage Garden, Bush. (Curated for a character in a novel set in the '90s.)
• Hobbies: Walking in the woods looking for small things (frogs, mushrooms), reading "weird girl literary fiction".
• Friendship wish list: Wants a friend to share workplace gossip, walk together, and dogs/cats to pet.
• Memorable meal: "I’d make them a stew. I kind of miss the fall, so I make it." (21:35)
• Personality: Quirky, introspective, not a fan of calling the cops (“probably most of it. I kind of have a rule that I don’t call the cops for anything.” 20:22)

C. Miriam from Wheaton, IL (27:13–33:12)

• Hobbies: Attends improv and comedy shows, wins radio call-in contests (“I figured out how to win prizes really easily… I’ve probably won thousands of dollars of prizes.” 29:43)
• Friendship style: Eager to help (sometimes to a fault), likes giving unsolicited advice but is working on it.
• Views on crime: Not as "ride or die" as her husband, prefers to do the right thing over extreme loyalty.
• Vibe: Down-to-earth, cheerful, and practical.

D. Christina from Boston, 27 (33:27–39:20)

• Backstory: Recently relocated, struggling to make friends in Boston, finds the local social culture less chatty than the West Coast.
• Music tastes: Kaytranada, Kali Uchis, Bad Bunny, The Marías, Floor.
• Quirk: Compulsive pun and dad joke teller—“something takes over me, like I have no control… I hear a pun and I have to say it.” (36:32)
• Signature dish: "I would host lasagna nights back in Arizona, and now I need people to have lasagna nights with in Boston." (38:37)
• Personality: Open-minded, adventurous, self-aware.

E. Matea from Tucson, 25 (39:29–46:33)

• Unique trait: Only one friend (Rachel), wants more women in her circle (and half-jokingly wants to make Rachel jealous).
• Music: Morgan Wallen, Los Lonely Boys, Daniel Caesar, Arctic Monkeys, Miley Cyrus.
• Big reveal: She's a chef, obsessed with butchery (“I like breaking down animals… I like squeezing the blood out of the intestine, so that’s pretty fun.” 42:03)
• Signature dish: Short rib ravioli with mushroom cream sauce.
• Personality: Not go-with-the-flow ("I am the least go with the flow person that has ever existed. I love a set schedule. I am allergic to it." 44:45), but would cover up murder or even cannibalism for a friend—“I would go all the way for my one buddy I got.” (45:11)
• Wild card: Hilarious, honest, and slightly unsettling—in a good way.

F. Sydney from Model, CO, 37 (51:33–59:29)

• Location: True rural isolation; lives on a ranch 35 minutes from the nearest town.
• Small town anecdotes: Frequent sightings of shirtless men riding bikes with boomboxes.
• Paranormal beliefs: Faith-driven, but firmly believes in ghosts and Bigfoot. “My dad and I, whenever I’m home… we are religious in watching shows about Bigfoot because I am just waiting, waiting to see him.” (55:05)
• Fun question: Would choose John Travolta (over Madonna) for a cross-country road trip; prefers mozzarella sticks with buffalo ranch over a lifetime of free soft serve.
• Personality: Charming, self-aware, isolated but positive outlook, open about her gluten-free needs.
• Appeal: Earnest, in need of connection ("I live here in the middle of nowhere on my ranch and mainly talk to my dog and cows, so this is really nice." 59:09)

3. Judges’ Deliberation (50:02–63:45)

The hosts and producers (Steve, Rob, Jesse) discuss their favorites:

• Rob's pick: Matea—"The chef likes to drain blood. She seems like a wild card and would be fun to play this game." (59:54)
• Steve's pick: Sydney—"I really liked her. She knows who she is... my heart really is going to go with Sydney. She's isolated, talking to cows and dogs and who wants to find Bigfoot—that rings a lot of bells for me." (60:22)
• Jesse’s pick: Andy—"I think Andy kind of grew on me... you seem to really want a buddy." (50:17)

They agree that all contestants are interesting, genuine, and seem authentically invested in making a real friend, not just appearing on a popular podcast.

Notable Quotes

• Rob (on Matea): "But I'm in the spirit of making this show the most interesting, I would like to see that interaction with her interviewing four or five people." (60:22)
• Steve (on Sydney): "You need a friend, not just to have fun with, to go on an adventure with, to be concerned about things, to say, scared to look for Bigfoot... I think friendship is important." (62:48)
• Jesse: "Maybe the question... isn't who would we pick to play the friendship game? It's who would we apply to be friends with?" (62:04)

Notable and Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Matea's "connection":

  • “I have a connection. I have a connection.” (42:51/43:05)
    (On how she acquires animals to butcher—delivered with an ominous deadpan that delights the hosts.)

• Sydney on Bigfoot:

  • “My dad and I...are religious in watching shows about Bigfoot because I am just waiting, waiting to see him. It’s gonna happen one of these days.” (55:05)

• Sarah’s reason for applying:

  • "I was looking for a friend to skateboard with. Know anybody else personally?" (12:29)

• Andy on crime:

  • "Probably most of it. I kind of have a rule that I don't call the cops for anything." (20:22)

• Miriam’s unique hobby:

  • "I got to know, like, all these different radio shows, and I started, like, calling in to win prizes, and, like, I figured out how to win prizes really easily… I’ve probably won, like, thousands of dollars of prizes." (29:43)

• Hosts reflecting on the process:

  • Steve: "Let me just say everyone needs a cohort to walk through this life. Life is scary. Life is terrifying. Maybe now more so than it has been and to go through life alone is a sad thing. You need a friend..." (62:48)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 01:48 | Start of the Friendship Game casting setup | | 02:50 | Jesse suggests testing questions on each other | | 10:34 | Interview: Sarah (Philadelphia) | | 16:08 | Interview: Andy (Holyoke, MA) | | 27:13 | Interview: Miriam (Wheaton, IL) | | 33:27 | Interview: Christina (Boston) | | 39:29 | Interview: Matea (Tucson) | | 51:33 | Interview: Sydney (Model, CO) | | 50:02 | Producers and hosts deliberate and share preferences | | 62:04 | Reflections on the purpose of the experiment/friendship |

Closing Thoughts

The episode is equal parts light-hearted, heartfelt, and riotously funny. Contestants bring their honest (and often quirky) selves. The hosts are empathetic, joking, and deeply invested in the project of making adult friends, while also send up the sometimes outlandish social obstacles adult friendship can entail. The episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in modern friendships, vulnerability, and finding connection in unexpected places.

Vote for your favorite contestant using the link in the show notes!