Modern Love

Blake Martin was in his car waiting to pick up pizza when a notification from his doctor hit his phone. As he read it, his stomach dropped and his mind started racing. It was the second life-changing piece of news he’d received within 24 hours, and it threw his entire idea of the future into question. Now, he had to pick up his pizza, head home and tell his wife.

This week on the “Modern Love” podcast, Martin explains what he learned about the future of his family and his health, and how he and his wife began to navigate their new reality.

Read Blake Martin's “Modern Love” essay here.

Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay.

Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Jess Zakira Wise knew she wanted to experiment with group sex, but as she got into the scene she struggled to find a sex party where she felt comfortable. She kept finding spaces that were male-dominated and heteronormative, things she was trying to escape from. So, Jess started to organize her own parties.

This week on “Modern Love,” Wise explains what makes a great sex party, and why it’s often more about communication, curiosity and respect for one’s own desires than anything else.

Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay. 

Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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The tech writer and podcaster Bridget Todd was sure she’d never get attached to A.I. chatbots. She was suspicious of the companies behind them, and when she saw articles popping up about people who said they loved their bots, she said she found their situations sad and potentially dangerous. Besides, Bridget didn’t have an empty hole in her life to fill. She had a supportive human partner. She had friends and a tight knit family.

But then Bridget’s life started to unravel. After the death of her parents, she was flooded with fear, grief and a kind of isolation she was not prepared for. That’s when she started telling A.I. what she couldn’t tell the people in her life. Its responses filled a void. In this episode of “Modern Love,” Bridget tells its host, Anna Martin, what happened when the boundary between human and digital companion got fuzzy, and what life looks like for her on the other side. 

Bridget’s audio book, “Love at First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy,” is out now.

Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay. 

Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jenny Singer thought she had a lung fungus. That would explain the shortness of breath that she was experiencing. The doctor’s other explanation was anxiety, which seemed completely out of the question to her. But as time went on, Jenny found herself increasingly focused on her “breathing problem,” as she called it, in a way that made it nearly impossible to connect with anyone.

Eventually, Singer realized she didn’t have a lung fungus. She admitted to herself that she felt anxious and concluded that she wasn’t cut out for the kind of romantic connection she desired. Then, she met someone she absolutely did not want a romantic connection with, and hanging out with him felt great. Suddenly, she no longer felt anxious. It was exactly what she needed.

This week on the “Modern Love” podcast, Singer explains how anxiety interfered in her love life, and what it took to find the kind of relationship she always wanted.

Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay. 

Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sam Graham-Felsen never imagined being lonely. Throughout his childhood and as a young man his life revolved around his friends. But when Sam got married and then had kids, going out with his friends almost felt like a luxury. After years of focusing on everything in his life except friendship, Sam began to realize he was missing something essential, and he decided to get his friends back.

On this episode of “Modern Love,” Mr. Graham-Felsen describes how he went from being a boy with a wealth of deep friendships to finding himself feeling lonely as an adult, and what he did to bring friendship back into his life.

Read his essay “Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone?” in The New York Times Magazine.

Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay to The New York Times.

Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.

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 at nytimes.com/app.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.