This is Love

The night sky is getting brighter almost everywhere in the world. We visit a place that is trying to stay dark. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery ad-free. Plus, behind-the-scenes bonus...

Folk singer Peggy Seeger and her partner, Irene Pyper-Scott, live on different continents. Peggy has written dozens of poems and songs for Irene, and one for the man she spent 33 years with before that – Ewan MacColl. “He loved me the way I loved Irene.” Ewan MacColl wrote the famous love song – “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” – about Peggy in 1957. Peggy Seeger’s book is First Time Ever: A...

McGillin’s Olde Ale House is the oldest bar in Philadelphia, and it also claims to be the most romantic place in the city. The Philadelphia Inquirer says: “McGillin’s has matchmaking magic.” Special thanks to Andrew Stelzer.  Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Cr...

Curtis was one of the first nationally-syndicated comic strips with a mostly-Black cast of characters. Ray Billingsley has been drawing it for newspapers every day for the past 35 years. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love,...

When comic Maria Bamford made her OkCupid profile with the username Hogbook, she says Scott Marvel Cassidy was one of the only people who contacted her. His username was Lazer Eyes. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love, Crimi...

Kyo Maclear remembers when she took a DNA test, the kit came with a piece of paper with terms and conditions that read, “You may discover unanticipated facts about yourself or your family when using our services that you may not have the ability to change.” Kyo Maclear’s book is Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show an...

When Charlotte Cushman arrived in England, she was heartbroken. But she began looking for work as an actor. There was one part she really wanted: Romeo. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Myste...

In 2016, scientist Angus Davison got an email about a rare, left-coiling snail. He began a quest to find it a mate. This episode was first released in 2018. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a M...

If you visit Italy, you might come across a street, or a park, or a school, or even a chain of coffee shops named after a 7-year-old American named Nicholas Green. This is the reason why. We're on tour this month! We’re telling brand new stories, live on stage. You can even get meet and greet tickets to come and say hi before the show. Tickets are on sale now at thisiscriminal.com/live. We can’t w...

One day, as a student at the University of Florida, Kourtney LaPlant was reading the student newspaper. “And there was this little tiny ad in the paper about, hey, we’re looking for new mascots. And I was like, why not?” We're going back on tour this month! We’ll be telling brand new stories, live on stage. You can even get meet and greet tickets to come and say hi before the show. Tickets are on...

When Valorie Lee Schaefer was asked to write a book about puberty for kids, her first thought was, “Why me?” But as she got to work on it, she realized, “Every girl thinks that they're a freak of nature.”  A new, updated edition of The Care and Keeping of You is out now.  We're going back on tour in February! We’ll be telling brand new stories, live on stage. You can even get meet and greet ticket...

When twin rovers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars twenty years ago, they were only supposed to last 90 Martian days. But years passed, they were still alive, and engineers kept taking care of them. “I remember telling myself, ‘Please don’t die, Opportunity. Please don’t die.’” We're going back on tour in February! We’ll be telling brand new stories, live on stage. You can even get meet...

An experiment in living together, forever. This episode was originally released in 2018. We're going back on tour in February! We’ll be telling brand new stories, live on stage. You can even get meet and greet tickets to come and say hi before the show. Tickets are on sale now at thisiscriminal.com/live. We can’t wait to see you there! Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show...

In 2015, Brad Ryan called up his 85-year-old grandmother to see if she wanted to join him on a road trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “She just said, ‘What time are you picking me up?’” Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This...

Growing up, Ashton Edwards spent hours watching videos of famous ballerinas. Ashton loved the ballet “Swan Lake” – especially the role of the Swan Queen. But they noticed that only female dancers danced that role, and got to dance on pointe.  One day, years later, they decided to put on a pair of pointe shoes anyway. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Ap...

In its early days, the magazine Mademoiselle positioned itself as “the magazine for smart young women.” It published work by Truman Capote, Albert Camus, and Flannery O’Connor. Each summer, the magazine selected 20 women from colleges around the country to come to New York and work as guest editors. For housing, they were put up in a women-only hotel at East 63rd and Lexington Avenue: The Barbizon...

After Jean Westcott's first "Jeopardy!" audition, she waited 18 months to find out if she'd be on the show. She didn't get called, so she auditioned again. And again. She kept auditioning for over 20 years. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’l...

Here's a little preview of what we’re making over on Criminal Plus! We’re having a lot of fun making these bonus episodes. In each one, Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer and I take your questions and talk about what’s happening behind the scenes – and anything else that comes up. Recently we’ve talked about the only time I’ve ever stopped an interview, unusual gift ideas, Lauren’s love of sheet c...

Jules Hirsh had his first bar mitzvah when he was 13 years old, in 1946. Seventy years later, he celebrated a second one, at 83 - and then his wife, Julianne, decided to have a second bat mitzvah too. “It's a marker of, well, here I am. I've lived this long and so I'm here before you, saying that.” Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https...

We’re coming up on 10 years of our other show, Criminal. In the past decade, we've loved taking the show all over the country - including the time I ate a bad oyster in San Francisco and almost didn't make it on stage. It means a lot to us, to be together with you in person - so we're excited to be doing it again soon. This February, we'll be coming to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Paul...

“It's all about finding the place that makes you happy, finding the life that makes you happy, and not worrying that other people make different choices.” Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mys...

In the Really Terrible Orchestra of the Triangle, it's perfectly good to sound bad. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5 Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery ad-free. Plus, behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and ot...

We go searching for wolves in Yellowstone National Park, and learn about the dramatic and surprisingly relatable relationship between a powerful young wolf and the small, elderly wolf who had raised him. This month, we're bringing you two of our favorite episodes – two stories about the same family of wolves in Yellowstone. One is a love story. And one is a crime story. For the crime story, check...

A preview of what we’re making over on Criminal Plus! Hear me and Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer taking your questions, telling stories, and talking with other producers and special guests. We’re having a lot of fun making these bonus episodes. When you sign up for Criminal Plus, you’ll also get ad-free listening on all of the shows we make, access to an exclusive merch store, and more. If you...

For a long time, beekeepers have told bees their news. They’ve told their bees about weddings, and when people they know have died. It’s said that if they don’t, the bees will leave their hives, or stop making honey, or die. Sometimes, like after Queen Elizabeth II died, beekeepers draped hives in black ribbon. Sometimes they’d shift their hives slightly to the right. “This movement would signal t...