Love Hate Relationship

Love: John Mayer Alex takes his Love segment to proffer a defense of his admiration for guitarist, songwriter, and occasionally problematic figure, John Mayer. He discusses the eras of Mayer's career (complete with clips), his controversies over the years , and why it's cool if you don't like him, or if you do. Andy is reasonably horrified at the phrase "David Duke cock," but...

This month's Relationship question opens with Julia Cotton ( Hellraiser ) realizing that she, in fact, had an affair with her dead sister's husband . Andy is appropriately appalled at this being a thing that needed to be realized while Alex gets to the uncomfortable brass tacks of honesty and the consequences that follow it. The next question comes from Farrah Abraham ( 16 and Pregnant , T...

Love: The Venture Bros. Andy takes this episode's Love segment to discuss one of the most iconic Adult Swim shows, The Venture Bros . He talks its evolution from Hardy Boys/Johnny Quest parody to something unique unto itself (all while being irreverent and hilarious and so, so nerdy), while Alex sees how many Marvel, glam rock, and Hanna Barbera references he can point out in under 40 minutes....

For this month's Relationship questions, we begin with Elizabeth Solley ( The Fog ) inquiring about why a dude she was dating only really started liking her Facebook posts after they split up because he was so distant all of the time . Both Alex and Andy have thoughts on the value of emotional distance, especially after very short relationships, and further questions are asked about why so muc...

Love: Squatting Alex talks about his favorite of the Fundamental Movement Patterns, the Squat. He discusses its essentialness, not just as an exercise but as a means to live. Andy meanwhile learns about the Get-Up Test, and everyone has questions about their mortality. Hate: Comic Book Royalties Andy takes the Hate to discuss the abysmal conditions of the current comic book royalties system, discu...

In an attempt to close out 2023 with something joyful, exuberant, new, and filled with a smattering of mostly Love (and a little Hate), LHR is proud to present what may become our new annual tradition, a holiday Tierlist. For our first outing, we're heading back to an old favorite Triple Love Topic , the James Bond franchise. Instead if just rehashing our old conversation, however, we are issu...

This month's all-questions episode opens with Penelope Alvarez ( One Day at a Time ) asking if she's wrong to be upset when her partner locked their kid out of the house after he came home drunk . Both Andy and Alex are unequivocally supportive of the anger, remind everyone that underage drinking shouldn't be a death sentence, and if it were, at least one host of the show would be a li...

Love: Visual Encyclopedias Andy and Alex return after an annoyingly long hiatus with an episode actually recorded some months ago (apologies for the Diane Feinstein reference), and Andy kicks it off with a discussion of Visual Encyclopedias. He discusses DK Publishing, who were responsible for some of the favorites, Alex spends a long time talking about Star Wars vehicles and weaponry, and the Sch...

For our latest all-question extravaganza, we begin with Nick Young ( Crazy Rich Asians ), wondering if he was wrong to lie to his girlfriend about how rich he was while they were dating . Alex is surprisingly empathetic to the difficulties of dating when there might be other factors affecting perception, and Andy calls out how weird it is that rich people buy their partners gifts as "rewards....

Love: Electric Guitar Alex finally uses his Love to dive into a bit of the obvious, and talk about his favorite instrument, the Electric Guitar. He goes into the history, both large-scale and personal, and shares just so many thoughts and feels and photos (see below). Andy eggs him on, of course, but also forgets the title to "Johnny B. Goode." The "Frying Pan" lap steel guitar...

For our new two-pronged format, LHR now brings a full episode of relationship questions for the second half of the month. We begin with Kevin and Vicky ( American Pie ), and the question of if it's weird for him to be looking up instructions on how to do foreplay while right in the moment . Andy emphasizes the importance of communication and context-setting while Alex wonders if Kevin plays fo...

After a short break, we're back with a slightly altered format! Short version (despite an in-no-way-shorter episode), we're taking our first episode each month to focus on JUST a Love and Hate, and our second to JUST answer multiple Relationship questions. Will it work? Maybe! Will our listeners despise it? Not a clue! But let us know. Love: Board Games Andy uses his Love to talk up his lo...

To commemorate Love Hate Relationship's 100th episode, Alex and Andy have eschewed the traditional format for something totally different: the Love Vs. Hate Special. One topic, two sides of it, and no real winner to speak of, except hopefully the beautiful audience that's stuck with us for 100 total episodes. Our topic is 2003's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Gore Verbinski directed, John...

Love: Weightlifting Alex finally lines up and makes an attempt at talking about his favorite sport, Weightlifting. He says a little on its history, a lot on the misconceptions around it, and soft-pitches it as a spectator sport. Andy, meanwhile, finds the drama in the stories, and there is minimal snickering at the word "Snatch." Hate: AI Art Andy uses the Hate segment to talk about new horizons i...

Love: Kevin Conroy For this episode, Andy takes some time to remember the late voice actor, and definitive Batman, Kevin Conroy. He talks about Conroy's acting bona fides, his importance to 90's kids, and his late-in-life decision to come out as a gay man. Alex meanwhile talks about his sobriety, and the best 9/11 story that ever there was. Hate: Gerrymandering Alex takes the Hate segment to discu...

Love: Ubiquitous D.A.W.'s Alex gets weird and niche this episode as he discusses his Love and appreciation of ubiquitous Digital Audio Workstations. He gives an explanation and a history of the technology, the impact that it had (for better and worse) in changing music and media, and why it's so cool that everyone with an Apple device has access to it. Andy, meanwhile, gets way too many drop notes...

Love: Slashers For this episode, Andy talks about one of his favorite genres in all of film, the Slasher. Alex maybe gives him a good way to look at the "What is the first Slasher?" question, they talk their favorites, past and present, and somehow, Halloween only gets mentioned a couple of times. Hate: The US Constitution Alex takes his Hate period to talk out everything wrong with the US Constit...

For the latest Triple Love Special , Alex and Andy dive into the arguably GOAT of adult animation, The Simpsons . They start off with a rundown of the show's origins, before Alex dives into an explanation of what he considers the three eras of the show. Highlights include discussions of how the first season is just...not that great, some ridiculous nerd-talk about individual writers, and why "The...

Love: Whiskey For this episode, Alex dives into his favorite of the liquor-type liquids, whiskey. He talks about the history, types, and jams in why he hates on the Canadian variants, Andy tells stories of Fireball, asks about why so damn many are named after random dudes, and everyone agrees that Grey Goose is an incredible grift. Hate: The HBO Max Merger Andy comes back to one of the show's pet...

Love: Theme Restaurants Andy gets wonderfully nostalgic this episode as he takes his Love segment to talk about Theme Restaurants. He discusses his own definitions (shorthand: Casa Bonita is a "yes," Red Lobster is a "no"), his personal connection to some weird and interesting examples, and even tells the story of almost crashing a Star Trek wedding. Alex, meanwhile, talks way too much about the H...

Love: Andy Wallace As Alex is wont to do, he takes his Love time to sing the praises of a behind-the-scenes shaper of awesome stuff, record producer/engineer/mixer extraordinaire, Andy Wallace . He dives into his moderately straightforward career path, from mixing for early Hip-Hop greats to basically every heavy band worth its salt through today, and what makes his approach standard. Andy is forc...

Love: Tim Sale Andy starts off this episode talking about the late and ludicrously magnificent comic artist, Tim Sale. He dives into Sale's lengthy-yet-relatively small body of work, including classic works for Marvel and DC (alongside longtime collaborator Jeph Loeb), and even artwork for the show Heroes . Alex, meanwhile, rants about how good The Long Halloween is and drags everyone into verbal...

Love: The Great British Bake-Off For Alex's Love this episode, he dives into the nicest reality TV competition show in history, The Great British Bake-Off . He discusses its format, it's over-a-decade-long run, and the value of emotionally investing in people's cakes with no cash or interpersonal drama to cheapen it. Andy gives some comparisons to some more shall-we-say American types of shows, an...

Love: The Arizona Coyotes Andy gets his schadenfreude on and spends his Love segment dunking on what he argues is the most sad-sack sports franchise in history, the Arizona Coyotes. He dives into their tremendous losing record, the hilarity of their presence in a desert state, and how they even marred Wayne Gretzky's legacy for the brief period he coached them. Alex, meanwhile, learns how much mon...

Love: The Rock Four-Piece Alex gets a little esoteric this episode and makes a Love out of talking about the classic two guitars, vocals, bass, drums, rock four piece set-up (think Beatles, Metallica, and Coheed and Cambria ). He lists sonic reasons, both technical and vibe-based, for the superiority of this arrangement, while Andy gets to show him up with his oddly unique knowledge of Al Jardine....