The Love Drive with Shaun Galanos

A listener asks whether to move back to somewhere familiar or take a leap somewhere new. Shaun uses the question to explore something bigger: how do you make peace with a life you can't predict? In this episode: finding community after a move, the "third space" concept, why it took two years to find his people in Montreal, what Flagstaff taught him, and why every choice — city, relat...

Jess Janz is a writer, community facilitator, and the founder of Dinner With Strangers - a project that has brought over a thousand people together for a meal with one rule: no one talks about what they do for work. Her book, The Table Where We Meet, is out July 14th. We set out to talk about platonic love and ended up somewhere more personal - about what it actually means to bid for connection wi...

This week's episode is a tender one. I recorded this on Father's Day — three years after losing my dad — and I'm reading my Substack essay Living with a Broken Heart and riffing on what it means to keep showing up, keep feeling, and keep choosing love even when it costs you. I also make a correction from EP17, share a few quotes that have been sitting with me, and offer some practical...

I've been thinking a lot about why so many men end up looking for belonging in all the wrong places. This conversation starts with the manosphere, but it quickly becomes something much bigger. Laura Ramadei and I talk about why so many boys and men are starving for connection, why "fix yourself" advice so often misses the point, and how loneliness can make almost anyone vulnerable to...

What is love? It's a question I've never seriously stopped to answer — and one that's surprisingly hard to get at. In this solo episode, I share reflections from Love Camp, a retreat I hosted for 25 people, where only one participant raised their hand when asked if they had positive loving role models growing up. I explore what love actually looks like in practice — not the grand gestu...

There is life after betrayal. It might not feel like it right now, but there is. My guest today is Lauren LaRusso, a licensed therapist and the author of Beyond Infidelity, a book she wrote after living through betrayal herself. Then she discovered the infidelity, and everything split into a before and an after. We talk about why infidelity is a trauma, not just a relationship issue, how being gas...

What if the sex is awkward, but the connection is actually really good? This week, I’m answering a listener question about dating someone new after years of being mostly single - someone kind, compatible, emotionally available… and a little nervous in bed. Fun! Humbling! Slightly confusing! I get into whether sexual compatibility has to be there from the start, how to tell the difference between s...

Most adults in the world carry the virus that causes herpes. Most of them don't know it. And the shame around it is doing more damage than the virus. This week I sit down with Debbie Barish, DNP, MS, WHNP-BC — a board-certified women's health nurse practitioner with 32 years in sexual and reproductive health — for a no-shame, no-bullshit conversation about herpes (both HSV-1 and HSV-2). We get int...

Someone recently told me I wasn't too complicated to love and it inspired me to explore the ways in which we keep ourselves small rather than dare to show up for love.  This one's a pep talk about the lie we tell ourselves: that we have to lose the weight, get the job, finalize the divorce, heal more, become our "best self" before we deserve to be loved. The goalpost always moves. The waiting isn’...

This week, Shaun sits down with comedian, actor, writer, and host of That’s a Gay Ass Podcast , Eric Williams, for a conversation that’s hilarious, horny, and a surprisingly tender masterclass on queerness, straight male loneliness, flirting, consent, emotional intelligence, and what the straights can learn from the gays. Eric and Shaun talk about Dan Savage, Grindr, gay panic, open relationships,...

This week, Shaun comes to you solo from Seoul, South Korea, for an episode that’s part travel diary, part dating debrief, and part emotional field note from the road. After a muted-mic false start, a pastry reset, and some solo wandering, Shaun reflects on the strange clarity that can come when you’re alone in a new city. From there, he answers listener questions about sex, desire, independence, r...

This week, Shaun sits down with his good friend, somatic therapist and sex & relationship coach Laura Griffiths, for a conversation that's part confessional and part masterclass on masculinity, grief, and the kind of intimacy most men are too scared to reach for. Laura calls Shaun out on the charm he wears like armor, names his "performative" first-date energy that kept them from...

In this solo episode, Shaun shares the story of Roger, his blind dog, and what loving him through loss taught him about trust, grief, and letting go. What begins as a response to a listener’s question about a dog losing its sight turns into a deeper reflection on resilience, adaptation, and how often we project our fear onto the ones we love. He also checks in from Thailand, reflects on nicotine w...

In this episode, Shaun is joined by Bay Area sex therapist Claire Perelman, aka Sex Clarified, for a candid and useful conversation about sex, desire, shame, and the stuff people are usually too awkward to say out loud. They get into monogamy, sexual compatibility, communication, squirting, pegging, orgasm pressure, porn habits, toys, libido differences, and the shame so many people still carry ar...

In this solo check-in, Shaun begins with a simple question that lands deeper than expected: how is your heart? From there, Shaun moves through a mix of life update, therapy reflection, sex question detour, and a deeper check-in on what it means to feel like you’re doing enough with your life. He talks about quitting nicotine, feeling more touched by life again, and replacing one habit with an alar...

Therapy Jeff joins Shaun for a conversation about men, therapy, emotional depth, and why so many relationships struggle when people cannot say what is actually going on inside them. They talk about the myth that men are “simple,” why emotional shutdown creates distance, and why gym, status, and success are not substitutes for real emotional growth. They also get into Jeff’s critique of Scott Gallo...

In this solo episode, Shaun shares a personal confession that kicks off a real conversation about coping, cravings, and the oddly human ways we try to take the edge off. He also gets into self-soothing, emotional patterns, and what it means to actually give yourself what you need instead of just grabbing the nearest distraction. There’s also listener Q&A on sex, flirting, and gym crush energy,...

Jennie Young, creator of the Burned Haystack dating method, joins Shaun to talk about how to stop wasting time on the wrong people and date with way more intention. They get into dating app red flags, boundary testing, bad first dates, manosphere code words, and why filtering harder might actually lead you to the right person faster. Jennie also reviews Shaun’s dating profile live and shares what...

In this solo episode, Shaun shares what life has looked like over the last several months and why this season has felt especially hard. He talks about grief, heartbreak, instability, and what it has been like to live without a fixed home while still trying to keep moving forward. In this episode, Shaun opens up about the death of his father, losing his dog Roger, a romance that stirred up old woun...

Dan Savage is officially the first guest of The Love Drive relaunch and it's the perfect way to kick off the relaunch. Dan is a legend in the world of sex, love, and relationships. He is the host of the Savage Lovecast, the writer of the long-running Savage Love advice column, and someone whose work has shaped how many of us think and talk about sex. In this episode, Shaun shares the story of doub...

I’m both very excited and a tad nervous about relaunching my old podcast, The Love Drive. Excited because I love having conversations about sex, love, and relationships with other experts, thought leaders, and everyday people. Hosting a podcast is great fun, by the way. And I still have so much to learn about the subject. And, nervous because a lot has happened over the past few years, and my conf...

The Love Drive podcast is back: a funny, no-nonsense podcast about sex, love, dating, and modern relationships - for hopeful romantics, love cynics, and everyone in between. Hosted by love coach Shaun Galanos. In this episode: • How this all started: A San Francisco taxi and real conversations about love. Check those out here. • What to expect: Raw, radically honest talks with guest experts, every...

This is a final apology episode for ghosting you all, where you can find me, and a sneak peek of the first episode of my new project, Voicemails to Dad, where, you guessed it, I leave voicemails to my recently deceased father.  You can find my writing on substack here: https://shaungalanos.substack.com/ You can find the Voicemail to Dad podcast here: https://shaungalanos.substack.com/podcast Again...

Hey friend. Thanks for being here.  Here are the links I promised: Getting Your Needs Met Course: http://www.gettingyourneedsmet.com Trusting Love 2023 Retreat: http://www.trustinglove2023.com In Bloom Love And Relationship Summit In-person tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/in-bloom-a-love-and-relationships-summit-presented-by-real-love-ready-tickets-434006423897?aff=ShaunGalanos Virtual ticket...

Nora McInerny is an award-winning podcast host of ‘ Terrible, Thanks For Asking ,’ speaker, and author of several books, including her new book “ Bad Vibes Only .”  Shaun and Nora discuss vulnerability porn, their relationship with social media, and how they feel about posting everything online. What you'll learn (or why you should care): Toxic positivity and “good vibes only” mentality How to lov...