Modern Love: episodes

60 recent episodes from the show's feed. Back to the show

1. Turns Out My Supermodel Boyfriend Was in a Cult

   Nov 11, 2026 · 48 min

   Donna Flagg didn’t expect to fall in love with a supermodel, but her connection with Hoyt Richards was undeniable. The two would talk to each other for hours, effortlessly, over dinner or lying in front of Donna’s fireplace, building a level of intimacy they describe as “a precious gem.” Then, one day four years into their relationship, Hoyt disappeared from Donna’s life. Donna questioned her own

2. Being a Sex Worker Made Me Trust Men More

   Nov 4, 2026 · 56 min

   When Paloma Karr took a job at Sheri’s Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada, she thought of men as paychecks. Back home in New York City, Karr had just gone through an intense breakup and was stuck with a rent payment she couldn’t afford. She explored “sugar baby” work and, almost on a whim, started applying to brothels in Nevada. Just a few weeks later, Karr was flying to Las Vegas, ready to make the

3. How Unthinkable Loss Led Me to the Top of Mount Everest

   Oct 28, 2026 · 42 min

   After tremendous loss and heartbreak, Jim Morrison didn’t feel he had anything left to lose. Then he went for a walk. Next, a hike. Soon, he was running. He found challenging himself in nature helped him work through his grief, and before long he was seeking out increasingly difficult feats. In 2025 he became the first person to successfully climb up the North Face of Mount Everest and then ski

4. On Our Third Date, I Asked for a Joint Bank Account (Encore)

   Oct 21, 2026 · 46 min

   Janene Lin loathed the moment when the dinner bill would hit the table. When her date would pay, she felt like her love was for sale. Splitting the bill felt like no one had anything at stake. Most of the time, she would pay the bill herself, but that left her feeling uncared-for. So Janene prepared a pitch: On her next date, her third with a man named Aodhán, she would ask to open a joint bank ac

5. Does My Son Like His Stepmother More Than Me?

   Oct 14, 2026 · 48 min

   One thing that comforted Denise Ryan after her divorce was that she and her ex-husband still talked every day. Even though they lived apart, they were still co-parenting their son, Alexander, and they were constantly jumping on the phone to tell each other what he was up to at their respective homes. The daily calls stopped, though, when Denise’s ex fell in love and started building a new family.

6. How Alan Cumming Escaped His Father and Became Himself

   Oct 7, 2026 · 47 min

   The actor Alan Cumming is not the man his father wanted him to be. Growing up, Cumming says, his father had specific ideas about how he should look and what he should do with his life, ideas he enforced with abusive violence. However, Cumming tried to stay true to himself: As a teenager, he hid clothes to change into after leaving the house, and he found joy in playing the piano and later at drama

7. I’m Black, Even if You Don’t See it

   Sep 30, 2026 · 55 min

   For most of her life, Kelly McWilliams has felt as though people aren’t seeing her clearly. Kelly is biracial, and she was raised to be proud of her identity: she grew up surrounded by African American culture and literature. But when she walks into a room, a lot of people perceive her as a white woman. And when she does tell people she’s Black, the situation can get uncomfortable, even scary, ver

8. I Left My Fiancé, My Church and My Shame

   Sep 23, 2026 · 35 min

   At the age of 25, the comedian Taylor Tomlinson was sure she had life and love figured out. She’d left behind a religious faith that felt too restrictive. She was engaged to a man she loved. She was also writing her first Netflix special. Tomlinson felt like her career and personal life were on track and that nothing could stop her. Then, suddenly, she surprised even herself by calling off the eng

9. I Was That Cliché Divorced Guy, and I Knew It

   Sep 16, 2026 · 51 min

   Joe Swanberg married the first person he ever seriously dated. When that marriage ended, his romantic life got complicated. Messy, even. He started dating younger women, ended up in an elaborate love triangle, and completely changed his mind about whether he wanted to marry and have children again. He openly describes it as a cliché midlife crisis. Swanberg is no stranger to messy relationships.

10. How to Feed Your Feelings After Divorce

    Sep 9, 2026 · 49 min

    Carla Lalli is well known as a chef and a cookbook author. But after many years in food media, working at places like Bon Appétit, she started to lose her personal connection to cooking. It wasn’t until her 24-year-long marriage ended and she had to start cooking for herself as a newly single person, that she re-engaged with why she loved to cook and what made her feel good. She details many of th

11. In 24 Hours, My Whole Life Changed

    Sep 2, 2026 · 38 min

    Blake Martin was in his car waiting to pick up pizza when a notification from his doctor hit his phone. As he read it, his stomach dropped and his mind started racing. It was the second life-changing piece of news he’d received within 24 hours, and it threw his entire idea of the future into question. Now, he had to pick up his pizza, head home and tell his wife. This week on the “Modern Love” po

12. Hosting an Orgy Is About More Than Just Sex

    Aug 26, 2026 · 38 min

    Jess Zakira Wise knew she wanted to experiment with group sex, but as she got into the scene she struggled to find a sex party where she felt comfortable. She kept finding spaces that were male-dominated and heteronormative, things she was trying to escape from. So, Jess started to organize her own parties. This week on “Modern Love,” Wise explains what makes a great sex party, and why it’s often

13. I Don’t Trust A.I. But I Told it Everything

    Aug 19, 2026 · 40 min

    The tech writer and podcaster Bridget Todd was sure she’d never get attached to A.I. chatbots. She was suspicious of the companies behind them, and when she saw articles popping up about people who said they loved their bots, she said she found their situations sad and potentially dangerous. Besides, Bridget didn’t have an empty hole in her life to fill. She had a supportive human partner. She had

14. Am I Too Anxious for Love?

    Aug 12, 2026 · 50 min

    Jenny Singer thought she had a lung fungus. That would explain the shortness of breath that she was experiencing. The doctor’s other explanation was anxiety, which seemed completely out of the question to her. But as time went on, Jenny found herself increasingly focused on her “breathing problem,” as she called it, in a way that made it nearly impossible to connect with anyone. Eventually, Singe

15. Where Did All My Male Friendships Go? (Encore)

    Aug 5, 2026 · 1h 2m

    Sam Graham-Felsen never imagined being lonely. Throughout his childhood and as a young man his life revolved around his friends. But when Sam got married and then had kids, going out with his friends almost felt like a luxury. After years of focusing on everything in his life except friendship, Sam began to realize he was missing something essential, and he decided to get his friends back. On thi

16. Is Polyamory Right for You?

    Jul 29, 2026 · 48 min

    Elisabeth “Eli” Sheff is a polyamory expert. When she first heard about polyamorous relationships, back in the early ’90s, hardly anyone was talking about this stuff. But Sheff became fascinated, and for the past 30 years, she’s been studying the lives of kids who grew up in polyamorous families. On this episode of “Modern Love,” Sheff tells the host Anna Martin about her personal and profession

17. My Disability Makes My Sex Life Even Hotter

    Jul 22, 2026 · 56 min

    At the age of 15, the filmmaker and actor Kyla Harris had an accident that forever changed what her body could do, and what it couldn’t. From then on, she needed someone with her 24 hours a day to help her with things like going to the bathroom, cooking and showering. Family members, friends, romantic partners and personal assistants have all played a role in Kyla’s care over the years. She’s ha

18. 'The Interview': Robby Hoffman Will Always Feel Poor, No Matter How Rich She Gets

    Jul 15, 2026 · 52 min

    The comedian and actor says class and the way she grew up inform everything about the way she lives now.

19. Ask Me About My Dead Son

    Jul 8, 2026 · 51 min

    In 2019, Susie Shaw’s 9-year-old son, William, died in a skiing accident. We talk about grief a lot on this show, but a parent grieving the death of a child is a loss so profound, words don’t feel adequate. It’s hard to know what to say to someone facing this kind of tragedy. Susie Shaw says: Ask me a question. Ask me about my dead son. On this episode of “Modern Love” Susie tells its host, Anna

20. Eddie Huang Drops the Tough Guy Act

    Jul 1, 2026 · 51 min

    When the chef, writer and filmmaker Eddie Huang joined the “Modern Love” podcast to discuss his new novel, “Come Undone,” our host Anna Martin asked him to start by reading a few lines from his 2017 guest essay for The New York Times. In it, Huang called out stereotypical portrayals of Asian men that have persisted in pop culture: “Every Asian American man knows what the dominant culture has to sa