Life
Valentine's Day tends to elicit strong responses from people: you either love it or you really can't stand it. This isn't surprising, either. Between the corny and pun-filled greeting cards, and that one coworker who still feels the need to hand out individual Valentines to everyone in the office, the romance-focused day can often feel a bit like overkill. But it's also possible that you're just not celebrating right. This year, you might consider listening to podcasts that will make you love Valentine's Day — or at least make it bearable.
There are countless podcasts about sex, love, romance, hookups, and everything in between, all of which are available at your fingertips. Even better than their accessibility is their price point, or lack thereof. That means you can celebrate Valentine's Day any way you want to (by hearing stories about hookups gone awry, for example, or melting from the warmth of real-life love stories) without spending a single dime.
Valentine's Day is often depicted as a holiday that you can only enjoy if you're in a certain type of relationship, or a certain type of person. But really, you can celebrate it any way you want to — and these nine podcasts might be the ticket to having the best Valentine's Day of your life.
1
Relationship Advice
Relationship Advice is a podcast that delivers on its title's promise. Hosts Chase and Sarah Kosterlitz interview relationship experts, therapists, and real-life couples to give you all the tools you didn't know you need to have more productive and fulfilling relationships. The podcast covers a wide range of topics, from infidelity to the ins and outs of establishing healthy boundaries in a relationship.
2
Modern Love: The Podcast
Modern Love: The Podcast was born out of the famous New York Times column of the same name, in which a single story about love is released each week.
The column was so successful that it was developed into this podcast, which focuses on one story per episode, and often follows up with the author of a given story to follow up on what's happened since the piece was published. The topics in Modern Love include stories of adoption, flirtations gone awry, and more.
3
Where Should We Begin?
World-famous relationship therapist Esther Perel is the host of Where Should We Begin?, a groundbreaking podcast in which Perel speaks with real-life couples in an actual therapy session. Though their names are usually withheld, the authenticity within the episodes allows you to watch a real couple work through some of their deepest issues in real time.
4
Savage Lovecast
Savage Lovecast is hosted by Dan Savage, an author and sex-advice columnist. The podcast is named after his sex-advice column, Savage Love, which has been running in newspapers across the country since 1991. Savage's website describes his style of advice as "graphic, pragmatic, and humorous." He covers topics beyond relationships as well, including LGBTQ rights, politics, and religion.
5
Dear Sugars
Dear Sugars is another successful example of a podcast inspired from a relationship column. It's hosted by Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond, who were also behind the anonymously-run and deeply popular Dear Sugar advice column, which ended in 2012.
The Dear Sugars approach to advice is by utilizing "radical empathy," per their site. If you can't get enough of that radical empathy, you could also treat yourself to a V-Day gift and buy Tiny Beautiful Things, a collection of some of the most popular Dear Sugar column responses.
6
Nancy
Nancy is a podcast hosted by Kathy Tu and Tobin Low which aims to chronicle "stories and conversations about the queer experience today," per its site. Fans of Modern Love will likely enjoy the storytelling format, in which Tu and Low (who are real-life best friends) explore a wide range of topics, from their thoughts on the return of The L-Word, to the issues around sex education in American schools.
7
My Dad Wrote A Porno
Sometimes you just need to laugh along with a soothing British voice. If that's the case, then My Dad Wrote a Porno is the Valentine's Day podcast for you. The good news is that the content matter of the podcast is every bit as fantastically absurd as the title: each episode, host Jamie Morton reads a chapter from an amateur erotica novel written by his father.
My Dad Wrote a Porno has been massively successful. The podcast often goes on tour, and even generated an HBO comedy special, too.
8
Sex With Emily
Sex With Emily is, as you might have guessed, a podcast about sex. It's hosted by Emily Morse, a sex and relationship expert. In each episode, she explores aspects of sex and relationships, often bringing other experts on board in the process. Episode topics range from tutorials on talking dirty, to a guide to mastering orgasms.
9
Foreplay Radio Couples & Sex Therapy
Foreplay Radio Couples & Sex Therapy is a podcast hosted by two therapy and relationship experts, Laurie Watson and George Fuller. The two hosts explore intimate topics like erectile dysfunction, sex drives, sexual inhibition, vulnerability, and more.
Maybe one or many of these podcasts will float your boat, or maybe they won't. Either way, what matters is that you choose to spend Valentine's Day the way you spend any other holiday: the way that you want to.
