This is Love

When artist Wilfrid Wood was looking for new people to draw, he got an idea - and put a call out for models on Grindr. When Theo Adamson saw Wilfrid's profile, he says “it just caught me in the right moment as being up for trying something new.” Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: http...

There’s a strange book from 1934 called Cain’s Jawbone that's "not for the faint-hearted.” It’s part puzzle, part murder mystery. And it’s only been solved three times. You can find the book here. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Ph...

Dillon Helbig is 8 years old. He's been writing books since he was 5. One day, he decided he wanted to see his book on the shelf in a library. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. C...

Dessa spent the better part of two decades in love with the same person. They’d broken up and gotten back together over and over again. And even once they were broken up for good, she couldn’t give up hope that they still had a future. She says she felt kind of stuck. And so she started planning an experiment—part science project, part art project—to try to fall out of love. Say hello on Twitter,...

In 2015, Kate Bowler was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. She was 35. “The chronic nature of what I had really lent itself to people wanting to openly explain why I was suffering. Was it something I ate? Was it something I did spiritually? Like, who’s at fault here? You know, maybe everything doesn’t happen for a reason.” Today, she says, “One of the only things that really cuts through all the noi...

“On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree.” A story about people coming together, willing to try something. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our onli...

"I began to think: ‘Oh, my gosh. Everyone was against me dropping out of college, marrying a complete stranger, and moving to New York. Perhaps they may have been on to something.’” Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a My...

Tami is a sharpie, and Ed is her cap. After all these years, marriage has left an indelible mark. Listeners of this show know that from the very beginning, we’ve wanted to highlight unconventional stories of love. Oftentimes, not romantic love. What we have for you today is one of the strangest and funniest conversations we’ve heard in a long time. Everything is Alive is hosted and created by Ian...

"History was dependent upon people like me remembering." A conversation with Betty Reid Soskin, shortly before her 100th birthday. Betty Reid Soskin’s book is Sign My Name to Freedom. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a...

When Shigeru Yabu was a little boy he made a new friend in an unexpected place. “That bird walked up my arm all the way to my shoulder, and we looked at each other, eye to eye.” Shigeru Yabu’s book is Hello Maggie! Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also ma...

In October of 2006, a press conference was held at a hospital in Denver. During the press conference, a man asked if anyone watching could tell him who he was, or how he got there. Because he didn’t know. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Crimina...

On today's episode: Home recordings, people recording their friends, neighbors, and strangers — for a look at how we live, and who we are, by listening closely. Featuring a 5-year-old Sofia Coppola, and Patti Smith before she recorded her first album. Lost & Found Sound is the work of Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, also known as The Kitchen Sisters. No one makes radio like the Kitchen Sisters....

On August 28th, 2000, Danny Stewart got on the subway to meet his boyfriend Pete Mercurio for dinner in New York City. As he was exiting the station, he noticed something on the ground. It looked like a baby doll wrapped in a shirt. And then he saw the doll's legs move. Pete Mercurio's book is Our Subway Baby. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The...

One day in the spring of 1986, a woman in Hot Springs, Arkansas named Ruth Coker Burks was visiting a friend in the hospital. She noticed a door down the hall that had a red tarp over it, and the nurses were avoiding the room. So she decided to sneak in. Ruth Coker Burks’ book is All The Young Men. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice....

Our favorite story, for anyone who might be feeling a little lost. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.  Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Le...

In June of 2020, a 72-year-old man in the UK named Gerald Stratford posted a photograph of himself in his garden on Twitter. He wrote, “Just giving my onions their daily inspection, a crucial time now for veg.” The tweet, like many of Gerald Stratford’s tweets, went viral. Gerald told us he never expected so many people to like his tweets about his garden, but that he just tries to be nice and pol...

When Carlos Acosta was a kid, he wanted to be the next Michael Jackson. He spent all his time break-dancing in the streets of Havana. Until one day, when his father decided to put Carlos in a ballet class. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Crimin...

Early one morning in 1948, a phone call woke up the police chief in the small town of Clearwater, Florida. The caller said he’d seen something strange at the beach. Residents woke up that morning to find an odd set of footprints in the sand, and a rumor began circulating that Clearwater Beach had a sea monster. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, Th...

There’s an old story on Cape Cod about a woman named Maria Hallett who fell in love with a pirate. According to legend, when he died at sea, she became so heartbroken that she started walking along the cliffs in storms and cursing other ships. The story goes that she believed that if she had lost the person she loved to the sea, everyone else should too. She became known as “The Sea Witch of Billi...

Bernard Kinsey met Shirley Pooler in 1963, when they were both students at Florida A&M University, after a protest to integrate the movie theaters in Tallahassee. Years later, when their son Khalil was born, Bernard and Shirley made a plan — they wanted him to understand where he came from, and where his ancestors came from. So they decided to become detectives, uncovering the history of the B...

We're thrilled to announce that This is Love is coming back with our 5th season on October 14th! Tell a friend to subscribe today! Thank you for listening to our first four seasons, and we truly can't wait for you to hear what's ahead. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple....

Meet a woman who decided to devote her life to the wild birds of New York City, and a Los Angeles man who formed a once-in-a-lifetime friendship. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander...

In June of 2016, Dion Leonard attempted one of the toughest races in the world—155 miles through the Gobi Desert. At the start of day two, he looked down and saw a little brown dog chewing on his shoes. Dion and the little dog were about to embark on an adventure that would change both of their lives.  Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accompl...

The B-15 iceberg in Antarctica was the largest iceberg in recorded history. Explorer Jill Heinerth wanted to see what it looked like from the inside. She assembled a team of the most accomplished divers in the world, and they traveled for 12 days through the rough waters of the Southern Ocean. Attempting to dive into cracks in the iceberg, her life was in very real danger three times. And the thir...

When Drew Lanham was a child, he used to lie down in a field and play dead, just so he could get a glimpse of vultures flying over him. He made binoculars out of toilet paper rolls, and wings out of cardboard. He loved birds. But when he went to college, he says "I was trying to live up to the expectations of others who said, ‘you're a black kid who's good at math and science.’” So he studied engi...