Breakups, Revisited (from the Embodied podcast)

S9E10: Dating While Public: Let’s be honest: There’s a lot of trashy reality television out there. Some shows seem actively manipulative. But Netflix’s "Love on the Spectrum," which follows the dating journeys of young people on the autism spectrum, feels different. Meredith sits down with one of the show’s stars, James B. Jones, to talk about what the show gets right, and how it feels to look for love in such a public way. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. You can also send relationship questions to Meredith and sign up for Love Letters updates by texting 617-744-7007. by Love Letters

26 min listen

S9E9: I'm Like a Bird: As an animal researcher, Meghan Martin made groundbreaking discoveries about how giant female pandas choose their mates. She realized that they wouldn’t shack up with just any old male. They wanted a choice. The same held true, she would learn, with rabbits, birds, and other species. The question for Meghan was this: Could she apply those lessons to the human world—to her own world? Plus, we visit a Rhode Island animal shelter that raised money by letting people pay to have cats defecate on the names of exes. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. You can also send relationship questions to Meredith and sign up for Love Letters updates by texting 617-744-7007. by Love Letters

31 min listen

S9E8: Esther Perel (Makes Me Attractive): Are more people considering polyamory these days? Has the pandemic permanently changed the ways we relate to each other? And can Esther Perel take some credit for Meredith's dating success? Meredith sits down with the psychotherapist, relationship expert, and all-around empathetic person to get into these questions and more. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. You can also send relationship questions to Meredith and sign up for Love Letters updates by texting 617-744-7007. by Love Letters

21 min listen

S9E7: Winning It All: In Part Two of our series on pro athletes and their spouses, we talk to Shannon Allen, the wife of former NBA superstar Ray Allen, about a bittersweet moment in their lives. by Love Letters

34 min listen

S9E6: Here's to the Home Team: What does it feel like to be the partner of a pro athlete? Where do you find support to handle the public pressure, the instability, the constant threat of being traded? Today, we bring you a two-part series on elite athletes, their spouses, and the people who help them. by Love Letters

32 min listen

S9E5: Maura Healey's Soundtrack: Ever since Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey was a kid, music has played a major role in her life. “Eye of the Tiger” got her pumped for basketball games. She caught sets from Joan Baez and Melissa Etheridge working as a cocktail waitress. When she came out in her early 20s, she found solace in the Indigo Girls. These days, the governor uses music to center herself, especially at hard moments. She and her partner, Joanna Lydgate, sit down with Meredith to talk about how music helps them in their lives and in their relationship. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. You can also send relationship questions to Meredith and sign up for Love Letters updates by texting 617-744-7007. by Love Letters

31 min listen

Love & Sports with Dan Shaughnessy: Meredith’s advice column turns 15 this year. 15! So she’s feeling a little nostalgic. In this episode, Meredith sits down with longtime Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy to trade notes on the thousands of columns each has written over the years. They also compare grief in love to grief in sports, reflect on why sports reporters have always been big fans of Love Letters, and discuss the couple of the moment: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

24 min listen

S9E4: Avengers, Assemble!: When it came time for Sophia to leave a difficult relationship, she knew she couldn’t do it alone. So she assembled a first-rate team, made up of friends, acquaintances, family members, and therapists. Having all of them behind her not only set Sophia free; it gave her back her future. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

37 min listen

S9E3: The Puppetmaster: Michael and Alessandra were both single, bored, and lonely when they got together in mid-2020. It was the height of the pandemic; everyone craved companionship. But in time, Michael and Alessandra discovered that they were better as good friends. And what do good friends do? They help you find true love. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

28 min listen

Going Deep with Krista Tippett, from Kelly Corrigan Wonders: A bonus episode via the podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Kelly sits down with Krista Tippett, the longtime host and spiritual guide of On Being, which began as a radio program and is now a podcast. At a moment when everything is broken open, when institutions are received with less reverence and more skepticism, Kelly and Krista consider: Where should we point our minds and hearts? What practices serve us best? Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

52 min listen

S9E2: The Parent Trap: When Nimish left Nepal for college in the United States, he expected some serious challenges, like adjusting to a new culture and studying in a new language. Finding love was not top-of-mind. But as he got older and started to date more, Nimish’s romantic life became his biggest source of anxiety. Because with each budding relationship came an all-consuming question: How do I explain this to my parents? Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

33 min listen

S9E1: Find Your People: A few years ago, while at summer camp in North Carolina, Ray was wrestling with some of life’s biggest questions. Identity, love, growing up, a first kiss — Ray had a lot on their mind, and no one to confide in. Until they met Maria, a counselor clad in sandals and tie-dye who would become Ray’s mentor, guide, life coach, and cheerleader, all wrapped into one. In this first episode of the new season, a portrait of two people and their lasting, beautiful bond. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

37 min listen

Check Out Murder in Boston: 1989 Boston. The crack epidemic is raging, the murder rate soaring, and white flight has taken hold. Charles Stuart and his pregnant wife, Carol, are carjacked, drawn deep into a dangerous “inner city” neighborhood, and allegedly shot by a Black man. All of Boston – and the nation – is gripped by the hunt for the suspect. What follows will reveal truths about the city... and ourselves. Presented by The Boston Globe and HBO Documentary Films, Murder in Boston: The Untold Story of the Charles and Carol Stuart Shooting is hosted by Adrian Walker who, along with a team of Pulitzer-winning investigative reporters, unveils explosive new findings and change the narrative of a story long cemented in the city’s lore. The HBO Documentary Series Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is available to stream on Max. by Love Letters

3 min listen

Season 9 Trailer: Thanks for the Help: Almost every love story has a supporting cast — friends, relatives, therapists, and others who play a key role in what happens. In Season 9 of Love Letters, we pay tribute to those important figures in the background. You’ll hear all kinds of stories about help and guidance people received in their romantic lives, from an ex who became the perfect wingperson, to the communities that support the spouses of pro athletes, to the best queer mentor anyone could ask for. Season 9 launches Jan. 23. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

2 min listen

Sidebar: Dear Internet, You're Wrong About The Cheesecake Factory: It’s Meredith against the world in this bonus episode as she attempts to prove why a viral list of places women will supposedly never go on a first date is wrong, and why The Cheesecake Factory – that’s right, The Cheesecake Factory – is a totally acceptable date spot. To pull this off, she takes her producer, Jesse, to one of her most beloved spots for a platonic work-date. They discuss everything from Meredith’s devotion to the chain restaurant, to the horoscopian powers of The Cheesecake Factory’s menu, to Shaquille O’Neal and Barbie. All classic first-date stuff. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

21 min listen

Sidebar: Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson: Meredith sits down with her sister, Brette, to tackle two family-themed letters from the Love Letters column. First, a woman feels some tension with her future sister-in-law. Second, a writer discovers that her boyfriend and her mother had a one-night-stand in the past. Should the woman confront her mom? Does the mom even remember this guy? How are they going to make it through the holidays? Send your own letter to loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

20 min listen

Bonus: Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds Are Here for Laughs: Meredith sits down with comedians Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds, co-hosts of the popular new podcast “We’re Here to Help.” Gareth and Jake — who played Nick Miller on the hit show "New Girl" — are longtime friends who bonded doing improv together. Their podcast is a lot like them: fun, silly, sometimes accidentally poignant. Meredith, Jake, and Gareth compare their approaches to advice-giving and dish on baldness, horses, and trashy TV. Warning: This episode is very fun. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

35 min listen

We Found Love, Part 3: ‘I Was Expecting a Pen Pal’: For the final episode in our series “We Found Love,” we explore the psychology behind prison relationships, a proposed law in Massachusetts that would eliminate life sentences without parole, and the story of an incarcerated man who’s wrestling with the pressures of a young relationship. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

34 min listen

We Found Love, Part 2: This Call Is Not Private: Venus and Cornelius have been together for more than six years and engaged for five. They dream of seeing the world together, buying a house, and making their union official. But whether any of those things will ever happen is unclear, because Cornelius is serving a life sentence for murder without the possibility of parole. In Episode Two of the three-part series “We Found Love,” Boston Globe criminal justice reporter Ivy Scott brings us an intimate portrait of a committed, loving relationship that exists largely on the phone. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

34 min listen

We Found Love, Part 1: I Met My Husband in Prison: The first chapter of “We Found Love,” a three-part miniseries exploring how romantic love and partnership run up against – and sometimes transcend – the criminal justice system. Through the stories of three couples, at all different stages in their relationships, Boston Globe reporter Ivy Scott dives deep into what it takes to find love in a hopeless place. In today’s episode, she tells the story of Sharlene, a successful working mother with a secret, and Blake, a Southern gentleman serving time for second-degree murder. Their first encounter, in the visiting room of a Massachusetts state prison, would change the course of their lives. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

37 min listen

Bonus: Susanna Fogel on Her New Movie, 'Cat Person': Meredith sits down with director Susanna Fogel to discuss Susanna’s new movie, "Cat Person," based on the buzzy 2017 short story by Kristen Roupenian in The New Yorker. They discuss Susanna’s decision to cast Nicholas Braun and Emilia Jones as romantic leads; the role that friends play in sussing out potential partners; and why "Cat Person," the story, stirred so much contentious debate — Susanna calls it a "weird Rorschach test for people's own [stuff]." Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

34 min listen

Send us your stories about help: On the next season of Love Letters, we’ll be featuring stories about the important role help and guidance from others plays in our relationship choices and love lives, from therapy and professional interventions to advice and assistance from friends, family members, and confidantes. If you have a story about a time someone helped you in your romantic life — or maybe a story about how you gave assistance to someone else — we’d love to hear from you. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

2 min listen

Sidebar: Closing the Books on Money, with Shirley Leung: Shirley Leung, a business columnist who hosts Say More — a new podcast from Boston Globe Opinion — sits down with Meredith for a few final reflections on love and money, the theme of Season 8 of Love Letters. Also, listeners weigh in with their takes on the season. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. Find Say More wherever you listen to podcasts, or at globe.com/saymore. by Love Letters

21 min listen

Meredith Does Mindfulness: Meredith makes a guest appearance on the podcast Meditative Story, a show that tells human stories but with meditation prompts. Vampires, naming squirrels, the death of her mother — it all comes out. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

38 min listen

Sidebar: A Break in the Monogamy: Meredith visits her sister, Brette, on the West Coast, where Brette is recuperating from knee surgery. Together they tackle a letter from a writer who, after a series of serious relationships, wants a year of just being single. But what if that means missing out on a connection of a lifetime? Send your own letter to loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

12 min listen

S8E8: Two's Company: Erica Spates and Sam Littenberg-Weisberg have been professional television writing partners for 13 years. Together, they’ve co-written dozens of TV episodes, pitched and run their own Netflix series, and even won a couple Emmys. They are also married, which means they understand both the emotional highs of working with your partner and the financial lows – like the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike that's put both of their careers on ice. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

37 min listen

A Visit with Dear Prudence: Meredith talks to Jenée Desmond-Harris, Slate’s Dear Prudence advice columnist and podcast host, about weddings, commitment, and whether it’s kosher to grow an ugly mustache right before you get married. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

41 min listen

S8E7: You Had Me at Prenup: It’s easy to understand why prenuptial agreements get a bad rap. We think of that rich guy, selfishly protecting his assets just in case wife No. 3 doesn’t work out. But it turns out that’s a pretty narrow view. There are plenty of people whose marriages have been made stronger by prenups. For Anne and Nick, it wasn’t a hedge against their marriage falling apart. It was an important gesture of trust. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

28 min listen

S8E6: I Need a Toaster: As a food and travel influencer, Anela Malik’s social media feeds used to be full of inviting dishes and beautiful vistas. Then, in the spring of 2023, her posts took a turn: Anela announced tearfully to her many followers that she was getting divorced. It was an emotional hit but also a financial one. Anela was suddenly forced to make a major investment in a whole new life. And yet … it wasn’t all bad. Email us at loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

31 min listen

Sidebar: Is Gen Z moving in too fast?: Meredith is joined by two of her favorite Boston Globe colleagues, business reporters Diti Kohli and Dana Gerber, to chat about two things that have long bothered her: the way lease cycles influence relationships, and the financial gap between coupled people and single people. Plus, they discuss a pair of letters, including one from a single person who is worried their married friends are growing distant. Email your dating and relationship questions to loveletters@boston.com. by Love Letters

28 min listen

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Breakups, Revisited (from the Embodied podcast)

Breakups, Revisited (from the Embodied podcast)

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