Claire Cohen: Journalist, Author and Commentator

Introduction

Claire Cohen is a British freelance journse work focuses on women’s lives, friendship, relationships, health and parenthood. She is best known for writing BFF?: The Truth About Female Friendship and for hosting The Telegraph’s Imposters podcast.

This profile covers the UK journalist and author Claire Cohen, rather than other people who share the same name. As of August 2026, Cohen describes herself as a freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster. She also says she writes a parenting column for The Times and contributes to national newspapers and magazines.

Her work often examines the gap between social expectations and real experience. Friendship, self-doubt and motherhood are different subjects, but Cohen approaches them in a similar way: by asking whether familiar cultural ideas actually match people’s lives.

Quick Facts

• Profession: British freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster.
• Known for: Journalism about women’s lives, friendship, relationships, health and parenting.
• Book: BFF?: The Truth About Female Friendship.
• Publication: Digital and audio editions appeared in 2022; Penguin lists the paperback edition from 2023.
• Podcast work: Host of Imposters and BFF? with Claire Cohen.
• Recognition: Penguin says Cohen was named Women’s Editor of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors.
• Current work: In 2026, she continues to write for national publications, The Times and her Substack newsletter.

Who Is Claire Cohen?

Claire Cohen is an award-winning British journalist and author who has spent much of her career covering issues affecting women. Penguin lists previous work for publications including The Telegraph, Grazia and the Evening Standard, while The Guardian also maintains an author page for her journalism.

Cohen previously worked as a women’s editor at a national newspaper. That is part of her professional history rather than her current title. Her own biography now describes her as a British freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster, making “former women’s editor” the more accurate description today.

Her publisher credits her with being named Women’s Editor of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors for her journalism and campaigning. It also notes her work as a media commentator and identifies BFF? as her first book.

The subjects she covers are broad, but there is a clear pattern. Cohen writes about friendship, health, relationships, interviews and the pressures surrounding women’s lives. More recently, parenthood has become a regular part of her work.

A useful example is friendship. Rather than treating one lifelong “best friend” as the ideal everyone should achieve, Cohen has questioned whether that model reflects the way adult relationships actually develop. The same interest in expectation versus reality appears in her work on career confidence and motherhood.

Claire Cohen’s Journalism and Career

Cohen’s career has moved across newspapers, magazines, podcasts and independent publishing.

Her current Substack biography says she writes for national papers and magazines about friendship, health, relationships and interviews. She also describes women’s lives as a central thread running through much of her work.

From newspaper editor to independent writer

Cohen now publishes Tell Me About It with Claire Cohen on Substack, giving her a direct channel to readers outside traditional newspaper commissioning. The newsletter covers women’s lives, social pressures and personal observations.

It remained active in 2026. A July 2026 post, for example, discussed “cool girl” culture through everyday choices and social expectations. That recent activity provides stronger evidence of her current work than older publisher biographies alone.

Parenting has also become a more visible subject. Cohen says she writes a parenting column for The Times every other Friday and describes it as an account of becoming a new parent in real time.

A Times piece published in late 2025 reflected on the first year of motherhood and the moment her child calling her “Mama” changed how she understood the role. The article made room for both affection and the tiring, repetitive parts of parenting.

BFF?: The Truth About Female Friendship

Cohen’s best-known book is BFF?: The Truth About Female Friendship. Penguin lists the ebook and audio editions from 2022 and the paperback edition from April 2023.

The book examines a relationship that can carry enormous emotional importance while having fewer clear rules than romantic relationships: friendship.

Its questions include why some friendships last while others end, how people deal with difficult friendships, how many close friends someone actually needs, and whether the idea of one perfect “best friend” creates unnecessary pressure.

Penguin describes BFF? as an examination of modern friendship, why people need it, how friendships survive and why they are often taken for granted. The book combines Cohen’s own perspective with interviews and contributions from other women. Publisher material refers to figures including Jane Garvey, Jilly Cooper and Jess Phillips.

Why the book is useful

The book does not offer a formula for becoming more popular. Its more practical idea is that friendship does not have to follow one model to be meaningful.

A person may have one friend they speak to daily, another they see a few times a year and a separate group connected to work or parenthood. Those relationships do not automatically become less valuable because none fits a perfect “BFF” template.

That is especially relevant in adulthood, when jobs, relationships, children or relocation can reshape friendships. Cohen also addresses friendship break-ups, which often receive less social recognition than romantic break-ups.

The BFF? podcast

The book was accompanied by BFF? with Claire Cohen. Acast describes it as a companion podcast exploring adult friendship, friendship gaps, work friendships, break-ups and community.

Guests included Liz Pryor, Isy Suttie, Emma Barnett and Daisy Buchanan. Episodes moved from the broad idea of female friendship into practical subjects such as ending a friendship, keeping school friends, handling unlikely friendships and balancing professional and personal relationships at work.

Imposters and Recurring Themes in Claire Cohen’s Work

Before BFF?, Cohen hosted Imposters for The Telegraph. Apple Podcasts describes the series as a show in which she spoke with successful women about imposter syndrome — the feeling of being a fraud, not belonging or eventually being exposed as less capable than others believe.

Guests included Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Trinny Woodall and June Sarpong. In Chopra Jonas’s episode, the discussion included moving from an established career in Indian cinema into Hollywood and having to prove herself in a different market. Sarpong’s episode examined how self-doubt can persist even when someone appears confident publicly.

Apple lists the Imposters feed as running from 2021 to 2023, so it is better described as previous podcast work rather than an active weekly show.

Across Cohen’s book, podcasts and journalism, three themes recur.

First is expectation versus reality. Her friendship work questions the idea that everyone needs one perfect best friend. Imposters challenged the assumption that successful people naturally feel secure. Her parenting writing allows motherhood to be rewarding and exhausting at the same time.

Second is taking everyday female experience seriously, from friendship difficulties and health concerns to self-doubt and parenting frustrations.

Third is conversation rather than prescription. Cohen tends to explore experience rather than insist that one answer fits everyone.

What Is Claire Cohen Doing Now?

As of August 2026, the clearest current information comes from Cohen herself.

Her Substack biography describes her as a freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster. She says she continues to write for national newspapers and magazines and contributes a parenting column to The Times. Her newsletter was also publishing new posts in June and July 2026.

Her current professional profile is therefore broader than the older description of “women’s editor.” It combines freelance journalism, columns, independent newsletter publishing, authorship and occasional audio work.

Her published journalism, book, podcasts and current biography provide the clearest verified picture of her career.

Trusted Resources

Claire Cohen’s Substack biography is the strongest source for her current professional status, subjects and Times parenting column.

Penguin provides authoritative information about BFF?, its publication history and Cohen’s established author biography.

Acast and Apple Podcasts verify her work on BFF? with Claire Cohen and Imposters, including episode topics and guests.

The Guardian and The Times provide independent evidence of her journalism and more recent parenting work.

Conclusion

Claire Cohen is a British journalist and author whose career has developed from newspaper editing into freelance journalism, books, podcasts, columns and independent publishing.

She is best known for BFF?: The Truth About Female Friendship, but friendship is only one part of her work. Her journalism also explores relationships, women’s health, confidence, social expectations and parenthood.

Readers interested in her current work should look beyond older biographies that describe her simply as a women’s editor. As of 2026, Cohen identifies as a freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster and continues to publish through national media and her own newsletter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Claire Cohen?

Claire Cohen is a British freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster. She previously worked as a women’s editor and is known for writing about women’s lives, friendship, relationships, health and parenting.

What book did Claire Cohen write?

She wrote BFF?: The Truth About Female Friendship, a book about modern female friendship, changing relationships, friendship break-ups and the pressure to have one perfect best friend.

When was BFF? published?

Penguin lists digital and audio editions from 2022 and the paperback edition from 20 April 2023.

Did Claire Cohen host Imposters?

Yes. Cohen hosted The Telegraph’s Imposters podcast, interviewing successful women about self-doubt and imposter syndrome. Apple Podcasts lists its feed as active from 2021 to 2023.

Is Claire Cohen still a women’s editor?

Her current biography does not describe her as a serving women’s editor. She identifies herself as a freelance journalist, author and occasional podcaster and refers to her women’s editor role as part of her previous career.

What does Claire Cohen write about now?

As of 2026, Cohen says she writes for national publications about friendship, health, relationships and interviews. She also writes a parenting column for The Times and publishes her Substack newsletter.

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