Modern Love

How have you gotten through your worst breakups? Tinder? New hobbies? Cheap alcohol? Wallowing in Taylor Swift albums? William Jackson Harper ("The Good Place," "Midsommar") is back to read Mark McDevitt's piece about two breakup buddies. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://w...

What does luck mean to you? And how does that change depending on your circumstances? That's what Joyce Maynard writes about in this week's essay. It's read by two-time Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver ("Perpetual Grace, LTD"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/acti...

When you're dealing with a tragedy, it can feel like you would do anything for an ordinary day. But those ordinary days can come with their own complications. Ginnifer Goodwin ("The Twilight Zone") reads Monica Wesolowska's essay. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/act...

When we take stock of the people who matter most to us, there are the spouses, the family members, the best friends, the partners. And then there are the people who aren’t any of those things, but who change our lives anyway. Emily Raboteau's essay is about one of those people. It's read by Lake Bell ("Bless this Mess.") Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Sp...

Under normal circumstances, trying to find love can be challenging -- and stressful. And for Elizabeth Koster, the pressure was even more intense. Sarah Goldberg (HBO's "Barry") reads Elizabeth's essay. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=po...

Love thrives on good communication. It can take many forms -- but what happens when you suddenly lose what was once your primary means of communication? Pedro Pascal ("King Lear," "Game of Thrones") reads Jamison's essay. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/ac...

What happens when you know you want to marry someone, but you are also are falling in love with someone else? Is there a way for you to have everything? Sophie Lucido Johnson's essay is read by DeWanda Wise ("She's Gotta Have It"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/ac...

Interracial relationships come with their own complexities, and there are a lot of questions that come up. Questions like: How does your partner think about race? How do you talk about it? What works, and what doesn't? Kim McLarin writes about race and dating in her piece, which is read by Lorraine Toussaint ("The Village"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts an...

Anna Chlumsky ("Veep") reads Brooks Rinehart's essay, on 90 days that changed the entire course of one family's life. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app a...

When it comes to dating, Amy Cohen says this: "We all need to be reincarnated as an older Jewish man with an apartment on the Upper East Side.” Natasha Lyonne ("Russian Doll") reads Amy's essay about the difference between her 76-year-old father's dating life and her own. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favori...

How much can you give of yourself before it’s too much? And what do you do when you reach your limit? Nazanin Boniadi ("Hotel Mumbai") reads Tara Ebrahimi's essay. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrat...

Catherine O'Hara ("Schitt's Creek") reads Patricia Morrisroe's essay, about a piece of technology that complicates a marriage. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Ti...

Dementia can alter someone's personality and change how how they interact with the world. But sometimes, it can also lead to moments of profound connection. Jenny McPhee writes about one of those moments in her piece, which is read by Zoe Saldana. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes....

Therapists' offices are supposed to be places where you can be both vulnerable and safe. But what happens when your therapist crosses a line? That happened to Julianna Baggott -- and she writes about it an an essay that's read by Isabelle Huppert ("Greta"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here...

You know the phase. The one when you're going back and forth between your place and your partner's, and you have to bring all your stuff with you.  But when is it time to make a change? Deanna Clevesy's essay is read by Christina Hendricks ("Good Girls"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here ht...

Have you ever dated someone living in a studio apartment with a pet? If so, how did you handle the logistics around sex? Ryan Pfeffer writes about how he dealt with that situation in his essay, which was performed by William Jackson Harper ("The Good Place") in front of a live audience at the Huntington Avenue Theatre in Boston. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcast...

Last week, you heard an essay by Amy Krouse Rosenthal -- "You May Want to Marry my Husband." It was published just days before she died of ovarian cancer. Today, André Holland of "High Flying Bird" reads the essay her husband Jason wrote in response last summer, and we hear from Jason himself about how he's doing today. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcas...

Debra Winger reads the late Amy Krouse Rosenthal's essay about her fairytale love story, which was cut short by cancer. This is an encore presentation. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download...

We're celebrating the 91st Academy Awards by revisiting two of our favorite episodes featuring nominated actors. We'll hear pieces read by Rachel Weisz of "The Favourite," and Willem Dafoe, of "At Eternity's Gate." Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-...

It's easy to single out the biggest decisions in a life. But this week's essay by Ann Leary is about little choices, that you might not think about very much in the moment, that end up slowly changing everything. It's read by Connie Nielsen ("I Am the Night"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app he...

Nikolina Kulidzan was twelve years old when she fell in love for the first time. Not long after, the Bosnian War changed her life forever. Her essay is read by Joanna Kulig ("Cold War"). Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For m...

How do you talk to your children about loss? What secrets do you keep, and for how long? And when do you decide to tell them everything? Emily Listfield faces those questions in her essay, read by Carmen Ejogo ("True Detective.") Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/acti...

When you think back to sex ed class, it's not hard to come up with a couple of memories that might have scarred you for life. But actor Gillian Anderson reads an essay that shows it can be equally scarring for the parents. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio...

Happy Holidays from all of us at Modern Love! We will be back with brand new episodes in 2019, but today, we're bringing you a playlist of our favorite holiday episodes from the past two years.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For mor...

When people ask for advice, do they really want to hear what you have to say? Sometimes it's hardest to find a friend who can give just a simple, sympathetic ear. Actor Laura Dern takes us deep into a friendship that experienced a unique evolution. This is an encore presentation. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podc...