>> NEXT, THE NEEDS FRIENDS?

THAT'S THE TITLE OF ANDREW McCARTHY'S NEW BOOK EXPLICIT HEARING --EXPLORING NOW LONELINESS IN AMERICA.

HE STARRED IN ICONIC FILMS SUCH AS PRETTY IN PINK, ONE OF MY FAVORITES AND THE COMING OF AGE MELODRAMA, ST.

ELMO'S FIRE.

HE IS TAKING A ROAD TRIP ACROSS 22 STATES TO RECONNECT WITH OLD FRIENDS AND HE TELLS HARI SREENIVASAN ABOUT WHAT YOU LEARNED ALONG THE WAY.

>> ANDREW, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

YOU HAVE A NEW BOOK OUT CALLED NEEDS FRIENDS, AN UNSCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF MALE FRIENDSHIPS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK, I SAY THIS STARTED WITH MAYBE A SNARKY QUESTION FROM YOUR OLDER SON WHO WAS BASICALLY ASKING YOU, YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY FRIENDS, DO YOU, DAD?

IT'S POWERFUL WHAT KIDS CAN DO TO US BUT WHAT DID THAT TRIGGER FOR YOU?

>> WE WERE SITTING AT THE KITCHEN TABLE.

HE WAS TELLING ME A STORY ABOUT ONE OF HIS FRIENDS THEN HE LOOKED UP AND SAID EXACTLY THAT.

YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS, DO YOU, THAT?

HE WAS SPEAKING TRUTH.

KEEPS US HUMBLE AND OR HUMILIATED.

I SAID, SAM, YOU KNOW, I HAVE FRIENDS.

I DON'T SEE THEM, BUT I KNOW THEY'RE THERE, AND THAT'S ENOUGH AND HE WENT OKAY.

BUT THE COME STAY WITH ME AND A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER, I SAID OUT LOUD TO THE EMPTY KITCHEN, IT'S NOT ENOUGH.

I NEED TO GO SEE MY FRIENDS AND LIKE MANY GUYS, WHO, WHEN I LEFT HOME AT 17 AND HAD THIS CORE GROUP OF GUYS THAT BECAME MY CHOSEN FAMILY, AND THEY LARGELY BECAME RESPONSIBLE FOR ME FOR BECOMING WHO I SPEAK HIM AND THROUGH LIFE AND JOBS AND FAMILIES, THEY SCATTERED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF THEM IN YEARS.

SOME OF THEM IN DECADES.

MY SON'S COMMENT MADE ME GO, I NEED TO SEE THESE DUDES.

>> SO THIS LAUNCHED WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE A 22 STATE 10,000 MILE ROAD TRIP THAT WAS KIND OF --WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FRIENDSHIPS?

DID I EVEN WANT THEM OR NEED THEM?

WHAT DID I GET FROM THEM ANYWAY?

BUT THAT I HAVE TO OFFER THEM?

HOW DID FRIENDSHIP AFFECT MY PLACE IN THE WORLD?

WHAT DID I VALUE?

WHAT DID IT MATTER?

THOSE ARE BIG QUESTIONS.

WHAT DID YOU FIND?

>> I SPENT $10,000 BECAUSE I HATE HIGHWAY DRIVING.

SO I JUST DROVE BACK ROADS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

IT WAS AN AMAZING THING TO REDISCOVER AMERICA LIKE THAT AGAIN.

ALSO, WHAT I FOUND REALLY INTERESTING AS I STARTED TALKING TO MEN AS I WENT.

I STARTED TALKING TO RANDOM MEN I WOULD APPROACH IN GAS STATIONS AND I STARTED TALKING TO THEM ABOUT THEIR FRIENDSHIPS.

ASIDE FROM CONNECTING TO MY FRIENDS, I STARTED TALKING TO MEN OF ALL WALKS OF LIFE SPREAD ALL SORTS OF GUYS, AND IT WAS AMAZING BECAUSE ALL OF THEM LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS INSANE WHEN I FIRST WALKED UP TO THEM AND SAID, WILL YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?

THEY KIND OF SAID HUH?

BUT NOT A SINGLE GUY REFUSED TO TALK TO ME.

INVARIABLY EVERY GUY SAID, I NEVER TALKED ABOUT THIS.

I NEVER TALK ABOUT THIS STUFF SO IT'S FASCINATING TO TALK ABOUT IT.

AMAZING CONVERSATIONS WITH MEN THAT WERE VERY OPEN TO MAIL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND I FOUND A LOT OF LONELINESS.

A LOT OF ISOLATION.

I FOUND A LOT OF DEEP CONNECTION AND FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN MEN, AND THEN, IT'S A TOPIC THAT WE DON'T DEAL WITH.

I GUESS THE BIGGEST THING I FOUND IS A TOPIC THAT WE JUST DON'T DEAL WITH VERY MUCH, TO OUR OWN DETRIMENT.

>> THE JUXTAPOSITION THROUGHOUT THE BOOK OF HOW MANY MEN AND WOMEN ALL KNOW THIS THAT WE DON'T DEAL WITH THIS WELL, THEY EVEN POINT OUT, MY WIFE, GIRLFRIEND.

SHE'S GOT GREAT FRIENDS.

SHE'S REALLY CONNECTED.

AND IT'S JUST, LIKE, WHAT'S THE GAP HERE?

WHY IS THERE THAT GAP WHERE WE CAN SEE HOW HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS ARE NURTURED AND FORMED AND HOW PEOPLE COMMUNICATE, WHAT WERE THE REASONS HE FOUND THAT PEOPLE, MEN, WEREN'T?

>> YEAH RIGHT, YOU SAY A LOT OF GUYS I SAID --MET SAID, MY WIFE IS MY BEST FRIEND BUT I'M NOT HERS.

I KNOW A LOT OF GUYS THAT THEIR WIVES SCHEDULE THEIR SOCIAL LIFE.

I THINK, GUYS, IT COMES DOWN TO --THEY ARE CLICHES BUT I THINK IT IS TRUE.

MEN HAVE A FEAR OF ADMITTING VULNERABILITY BECAUSE VULNERABILITY CAN BE MISCONSTRUED AS WEAKNESS.

ONE THING A MAN CAN'T BE IN OUR CULTURE IS WEAK.

MEN HAS EVOLVED IN POST-WORLD WAR II JOHN WAYNE ERA.

A MAN IN AMERICA IS SOMEONE WHO IS STOIC, HARD, PULL YOUR HAT DOWN.

CARRY YOUR OWN WATER.

GET IT DONE.

THAT'S NOT ALWAYS THE LADIES TO AMERICA.

BACK IN THE 19th CENTURY, ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND ANDREW SPEED WERE EXAMPLES OF THESE MEANT WRITING PREVIOUS AFFECTIONATE LETTERS TO EACH OTHER.

THE IDEA OF FRIENDSHIP IN AMERICA CHANGED IN MEN.

CHANGED SOMEWHERE IN THE LAST 100 YEARS TO A REALLY SORT OF NARROW FOCUS, AND I THINK TO OUR DETRIMENT BECAUSE I THINK IT IS ISOLATING.

>> YOU POINT OUT IN THE BOOK THAT IT WASN'T ALWAYS THIS WAY.

THERE WERE PERIODS EVEN AMERICAN HISTORY WERE SOME OF OUR LEADERS WERE EXPRESSING AFFECTION TOWARD OTHER MEN IN A NONSEXUAL WAY, OR YOU KNOW, THAT WE HAD THE CAPABILITY AND THE VOCABULARY TO SAY I LOVE YOU TO ANOTHER MAN, AND BE FINE WITH IT, AND SOCIETY WAS FINE WITH IT BUT REALLY, YOU ARE SAYING, AND IS POST-WORLD WAR IS.

MAYBE IT'S HOLLYWOOD OR WHATEVER IT IS GENERATED, WE HAVE FALLEN BACK ON THAT BECAUSE THAT'S THE NORM AND THAT'S HOW IT SHOULD BE.

>> VERY MUCH.

I MET TWO GUYS IN THEIR 70s IN OHIO --LOU AND BOBBY IN OHIO.

THEY WERE FORMER COPS.

I WANDERED UP TO THEM AND SAID LIKE I DID EVERYONE, CAN I CATCH UP WITH YOU GUYS?

THEY WANT, SIT DOWN.

IN A WAY, THEY HAVE BEEN FRIENDS SINCE THEY WERE 10, 12 YEARS OLD.

MORE THAN 60 YEARS THEY HAD BEEN FRIENDS, AND LOU SAID TO ME AT ONE POINT, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED SAYING I LOVE YOU TO EACH OTHER A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.

I TOLD MY WIFE AS I TELL MY KIDS, I LOVE THEM.

I DO MY BEST BUT I LOVE THEM.

YOU KNOW IT, WE HAVEN'T GRADUATED TO A GOOD NIGHT KISS YET, WHICH I THINK, WHAT YOU ALLUDED TO, I THINK THERE'S THIS FEAR DOES THIS INTIMACY AND THAT KIND OF THING BEING MISCONSTRUED WITH SEXUALITY AND I THINK IT JUST GETS IN ONLY SO MUCH.

>> ALL OF THAT LONGEVITY RESEARCH POINTS TO THE FACT HOW IMPORTANT SOCIAL CONNECTION IS.

AND THERE ARE GROUPS OF MEN WHO ARE GETTING TOGETHER WHETHER IT IS IN A FORMALIZED SETTING OR PRACTICING THIS THING THAT IS NOW BEING ADVOCATED, WHICH IS THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS AND FEEL USEFUL AND PURPOSEFUL IN SO MANY OF THE PLACES YOU DESCRIBED --THIS WAS NOT PART OF THEIR SCHEDULE.

PART OF THEIR RITUAL OF LIFE.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

ONE OF THE STATISTICS I TALK ABOUT IN LIFE IS HARVARD RECENTLY CONCLUDED AN 80 YEAR STUDY CONCLUDING THAT THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR A LONGER HEALTHIER HAPPIER LIFE IS CONNECTION TO COMMUNITY.

AND EVERYWHERE I WENT, I WOULD OFTEN HANG OUT --I COULD TO THESE SMALL TOWNS AND LOCAL DINERS IN THE MORNING, AND I GET BREAKFAST --THE MOST OPTIMISTIC MEAL OF THE DAY IN AMERICA.

AND YOU GO HANG OUT IN A DINER AND YOU PUT YOURSELF THERE FOR A A WHILE, YOU SEE THE WHOLE WORLD GO BY.

THERE WAS ONE PLACE IN ELKINS WEST VIRGINIA THAT I WENT.

THERE WAS A DINER.

IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM THERE WAS A TABLE WITH 8, 10 GUYS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIM AND IT WAS OLDER GUYS WITH THEIR MESH CAPS AND THEIR CARTER HART JACKETS AND THEY ARE JUST SITTING THERE AND ONE WOULD GET ANOTHER GUY WOULD COME TO HIS SPOT.

FASCINATING.

I ASKED THE PEOPLE AT THE NEXT TABLE.

IS THAT THE BRAIN TRUST OVER THERE?

AND THE LADY SAID TO ME, YEAH, WELL, THEY WOULD LIKE TO THINK SO.

AND THEN SHE DID EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE SPEAKING TO.

AT LEAST THEY'VE GOT EACH OTHER.

AND I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY IT.

THESE GUYS ARE GOING TO SEE EACH OTHER TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW.

THEY JUST HAVE A PLACE TO GO AND CONNECT WITH AND NOT FEEL SO ISOLATED AND I THINK THERE'S SO MUCH ISOLATION.

YOU KNOW, I ASKED PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY I MET ALONG THE WAY, YOU EVER FEEL LONELY?

AND YOUNG GUYS WERE QUICK TO GO, OH YEAH.

I'M LONELY A LOT, AND OLDER GUYS WOULD INVARIABLY SAY, NO, NO, NO, TOO BUSY, AND I KNOW, WHEN I ANSWER THAT SHARP, THERE'S SOMETHING I'M AFRAID OF OR I'M LYING.

I THINK THE ADMISSION OF LONELINESS IS TANTAMOUNT TO SOME PEOPLE PULL BACK ON THAT.

IT KEEPS US FURTHER ISOLATED.

I THINK IT'S PRETTY SIMPLE, AND YET, IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS SO PREVALENT AND SOMETHING WE HAVE FALLEN PREY TO.

>> THE INVERSE IS ALSO TRUE -- THAT LONELINESS IS SO BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH.

STATISTICS POINT OUT IT'S WORSE THAN SMOKING A PACK OF CIGARETTES A DAY.

THERE WAS A STUDY --2021, THE STATE OF AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP REPORT, ONLY 27% OF MEN SAID THEY HAD SIX OR MORE CLOSE FRIENDS AND 15% SAID THEY HAD NONE.

BUT NO CLOSE FRIENDS AT ALL.

THAT'S UP FROM 2% IN 1990.

WE ARE GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, FOR SURE.

AND YET, THERE'S ALSO 50% RISK INCREASE OF DEMENTIA FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE ISOLATED AND LONELY.

38% INCREASED CHANCE OF HEART DISEASE.

IT'S NOT JUST THAT LONELINESS IS SAD.

IT IS PHYSICALLY AFFECTING HER HEALTH.

IT'S EQUIVALENT TO 15 CIGARETTES PER DAY AND -- ALCOHOLIC DRINK PER DAY.

IT IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING BESIDES JUST FEELING SO BAD ABOUT IT.

>> OUR AUDIENCE MIGHT DEPENDING REMEMBER MOVIES THAT YOU ARE IN --PART OF THE RAT PACK IN THE 80s.

YOU HAD YOUR OWN STRUGGLES WITH SAME THAT YOU WEREN'T REALLY READY --IT WAS THRUST UPON YOU.

YOU WRITE ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU ACTIVELY WITHDREW AND IT MIGHT'VE CONTRIBUTED TO ALCOHOLISM IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF YOUR LIFE THAT WERE DIFFICULT.

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOURSELF -- AT THAT POINT IN YOUR LIFE ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY WOULD BE 40 YEARS FROM NOW?

>> YOU ALLUDED TO BEING IN THE BRAT PACK AND IT WAS A WONDROUS, EXCITING TIME BUT I DID FEEL OVERWHELMED AND I RETREATED VERY MUCH FROM THAT BECAUSE I'M A FAIRLY INTROVERTED PERSON IN CERTAIN WAYS SO I LATCHED ONTO MY PEEPS IN A STRONGER WAY I THINK I MIGHT NAVIGATE THROUGH THAT BETTER.

IT IS GOOD TO GET OUT OF OUR HEADS.

THERE'S A LOT OF NONSENSE THAT GOES ON UP THERE WHEN WE BLOW IT OFF.

WE NEED A FRIEND TO GO, WAIT A MINUTE, DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

I WAS ON THE TRIP AND MY WIFE SAID, HOW SYMMETRICALLY I RECONNECTED WITH MY BUDDY IN KENTUCKY.

HAS MATTHEW?

WHAT IS HE DOING?

OH, JUST STUPID STUFF.

THAT'S GOOD.

YOU NEED MORE STUPID STUFF.

YEAH, BUT YOU NEED TO DO THE STUPID STUFF SO YOU DON'T DO THE REALLY STUPID STUFF.

I REALLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT THAT MEANT, YOU KNOW.

I THINK WE JUST NEED TO SORT OF CONNECT.

WITH A MALE OR FEMALE.

ALL THE WOMEN SEEM TO BE MUCH BETTER AT IT IN MANY WAYS THAN MEN.

I THINK WE TEND TO BE --I HEARD A LINE AND I'VE STOLEN IT THAT WOMEN MAKE FRIENDS FACE-TO- FACE.

GUYS MAKE FRIENDS SHOULDER TO SHOULDER.

SOMETHING IN IT WITH GUYS.

I MET A BUNCH OF MEN FROM THE MILITARY ALONG THE WAY AND THEY ALL TALK ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A VERY BONDING EXPERIENCE FOR GUYS.

I THINK THAT'S REALLY TRUE THAT OFTEN WITH GUYS, WHEN YOU CAN BE ENGAGED IN AN ACTIVITY --I MET ONE GUY ALONG THE WAY SAID HE HAD A REAL HARD TIME TELLING HIS DAUGHTERS --TEENAGE DAUGHTER THAT HE LOVED HER BUT HE THOUGHT NOTHING OF JUMPING EIGHT HOURS BACK TO COLLEGE.

WE FEEL SAFE AND WE FIND OURSELVES IN ACTION.

>> THERE IS A PASSAGE YOU HAVE IN TEXAS WHERE HE TALKS ABOUT GETTING THE TRUCK, FRIENDS.

GUYS GET IN THE TRUCK AND DRIVE.

NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

MOST MEN ARE LIKE THAT.

WE VALUE LOYALTY A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT.

ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO HAVE MY BACK FOR ME?

YOU HAVE A QUOTE FROM AT THE CURIOUS.

IT'S NOT SO MUCH OUR FRIENDS HELP THAT HELPS US BUT THE CONFIDENT KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY WILL HELP US.

WE VALUE THAT SO MUCH THAT WE ARE LIKE A, WELL, THE SMALLEST --YOU KNOW, WE MINIMIZE THE ACTUAL MAINTENANCE OF THAT RELATIONSHIP AND THE WORDS THAT GO INTO IT.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS OF WHY MY RELATIONSHIPS SLIPPED AWAY.

I GO, I NEED HELP.

HE IS THERE, BUT THE ACTIVE MANAGING AND INVOLVEMENT IN FRIENDSHIP, IT IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT, TOO.

AS I DROVE ACROSS AMERICA AND MEETING ALL THESE GUYS, I FELT THIS EMOTIONAL SAFETY NET SPREAD OUT UNDERNEATH ME IN A WAY IN A WAY THAT I DIDN'T REALIZE I HAD BEEN MISSING ALL THESE YEARS.

I FEEL LIKE MANY GUYS FEEL THIS GREAT OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE IN LIFE, WHETHER IT COMES FROM THE CAVEMEN BRINGING A TIGER BACK INTO THE CAVE OR WHAT.

THIS NOTION IF WE NEED TO PROVIDE.

THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO.

AND A LOT OF OUR SELF-ESTEEM RISES OR FALLS TO THE DEGREE THAT WE ARE PROVIDING.

SHE'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

BUT I MENTIONED IT TO MY GUY FRIENDS --I SAID, DO YOU EVER FEEL THIS?

THEY GO, OH YEAH.

YEAH.

OF COURSE.

IT'S THE BIGGEST THING IN MY LIFE.

WE ARE NOT TIRING ABOUT IT ANY FURTHER PRODIGIOUS THAT IDENTIFICATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF THAT.

JUST AS MY KIDS SAY, IT HITS DIFFERENT.

SO I THINK WE NEED BOTH THOSE >> THROUGHOUT THE STORY, YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE GET IN THE TRUCK KINDS OF FRIENDS FOR YOUR FRIEND, SEBI, AND YOU GET TO HIS APARTMENT IN BALTIMORE, AND YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN YEARS.

DESCRIBE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

WHAT DID YOU NOT KNOW?

>> WELL, MY FRIEND SEBI HAD TERRIBLE BACK PAIN.

HE HAD TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE EIGHT HOURS BACK OPERATIONS AND IT JUST DIDN'T WORK, SO THIS WILDLY EXTROVERTED GUY HAD BECOME LARGELY A SHED AND BECAUSE HE WASN'T PHYSICALLY ABLE TO MANEUVER AND I WALKED IN, AND I, YOU KNOW, HE CANCELED ON ME A FEW TIMES, AND I WAS BEING MELODRAMATIC TO MYSELF, BUT I SAID, I DON'T WANT THE NEXT TIME I SEE --THE NEXT TIME I SEE MY FRIEND BE AT HIS FUNERAL.

I SHOWED UP AT HIS DOOR UNANNOUNCED AND HE OPENED THE DOOR AND WENT, DUDE?

THE WAY THAT GUYS DO.

THAT DUDE CONTAINED A LOT OF OMINOUS THINGS.

ANYWAY, HIS APARTMENT WAS CLUTTERED WITH ALL THESE AMAZON DELIVERY BOXES AND THINGS.

REALLY CLUTTERED.

ELSE, AND IN THAT INSTANCE I REALIZED, WHILE, HIS WORLD HAS BECOME REALLY SMALL.

I THOUGHT INSTANTLY THAT THESE DOES ALL THESE BOXES --I'M LIKE WHAT IS THIS?

IT WAS REALLY A ACT OF HOPE.

CLICKING BUY NOW, FOR ALL THESE THINGS, WHEN MY WIFE GETS BACK ON ITS FEET, I'M GOING TO NEED ALL THIS STUFF BUT HE HAD GOTTEN ISOLATED THROUGH THE COURSE OF LIFE, STUFF HAPPENS TO ALL OF US.

WE HAVE OUR MOMENTS, AND HE JUST NEEDED --AND I SHOWED UP.

THE THING I LEARNED THE MOST OF ANYTHING WAS JUST THAT CLICHES.

90% OF LIFE IS SHOWING UP.

JUST SHORT.

I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT ON THIS TRIP.

I'M NO EXPERT ON FRIENDSHIP.

I'M NO EXPERT ON ANY OF THIS STUFF.

ALL I KNOW IS I SHOWED UP.

I GOT IN THE CAR AND I DROVE TO SEE HIM.

THERE IS SOMETHING ARISTOTLE TALKS ABOUT.

THREE LEVELS OF FRIENDSHIP.

THE DEEPEST LEVEL, THE PERFECT FRIENDSHIP, IS TWO FRIENDS, YOU KNOW, TWO FRIENDS ARE IMPROVED BY THE RELATIONSHIP AND THEY ARE ABLE ALSO TO NAME THE EACH OTHER.

YOU DROVE ALL THIS WAY TO SEE ME?

I WAS LIKE, DUDE, YOU KNOW WHAT?

YOU PUT IT IN MY LIFE.

YOU MEAN A LOT TO ME, AND I NEED TO SEE.

BEING ABLE TO RECIPROCATE THAT.

WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER, WE PROBABLY NEVER WOULD HAVE SAID THAT TO TO THE.

BEING ABLE TO NAME THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RELATIONSHIP THAT I THINK WOMEN ARE GOOD AT THIS AND IT ALL THE TIME.

>> PART OF IT ALL IS ALSO INTERESTING.

YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU -- SOMETIMES IT'S THAT PEOPLE ARE EMBARRASSED TO BE SEEN NOT LIKE THEIR YOUNGER SELVES.

LIKE THEY DON'T HAVE THE CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY.

YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE FRIENDSHIP WAS FORMED IN YOUR TEENS, 20s, 30s --AND NOW YOU ARE 60 OR SOMETHING.

OH, GOSH, WE USED TO DO ALL THE STUFF.

I COULD DRINK HIM UNDER THE TABLE AND NOW LOOK AT ME.

>> I THINK THERE'S A CERTAIN SHAME THAT COMES WITH THE QUENCHING OF SOME OF THE POWER CHAIN IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT LIKES TO KEEP US ISOLATED AND SEPARATE.

HANGING OUT WITH MY FRIEND MATTHEW IN KENTUCKY, I MENTIONED EARLIER, HE STARTED TAKING A PILL.

HE STARTED --WHAT'S THAT FOR?

BECAUSE I HAD A HEART ATTACK.

DUDE, YOU HAD A HEART ATTACK?

HOW DID I KNOW YOU HAD A HEART ATTACK 13 YEARS AGO.

YOU KNOW, AND HE WAS HELPING ME WITH SOMETHING.

AND I LIKE THAT HIM AND SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT?

I'M KIND OF ASHAMED TO HAVE GOTTEN OLD AND FOR YOU TO SEE ME IN THIS WAY.

YOU KNOW, I WAS FEELING OLD AND HE JUST LOOKED AT ME LIKE -- WHATEVER.

YOU KNOW?

AND IT WAS NOTHING TO HIM.

THIS IS LIFE.

AND AGAIN --IN OUR OWN HEADS, IT'S A BIG DEAL BUT WHEN WE CONNECT WITH OTHERS, WE ARE HUMAN.

WHAT THE OTHER OPTION?

>> AUTHOR AND ACTOR, ANDREW McCARTHY, AUTHOR OF THE NEEDS FRIENDS.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

>> THANK YOU.