This is Love
Love is more than you think. From the creators of Criminal. New episodes twice a month. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
November 19, 2025 • 34 mins
In 1971, for his mother’s birthday, Alvin Ailey gave her a ballet. The dance was grueling – sometimes the women who did it bled. “I remember very well seeing my mother on her knees scrubbing these white folks’ rooms and halls. That image is in my ballet ‘Cry.’”
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November 5, 2025 • 41 mins
“He stole my watch. He stole my jewelry. I stopped wearing jewelry – just to see what else he would steal.” In 2004, Ava Do met a professional pickpocket at a bachelorette party in Las Vegas. And they fell in love.
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October 22, 2025 • 31 mins
A visitor to the islands of the Pacific Northwest once described seeing “a forest of totem poles.” But by the time Robert Davidson was born, there wasn't a single one left standing in his village.
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October 8, 2025 • 35 mins
People in India have been flying kites for hundreds of years – using them to predict the weather, carry love letters, and compete in the air. But they share the sky and a name with hundreds of thousands of scavenging birds: black kites.
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September 24, 2025 • 34 mins
In 1964, a landlord in Washington, DC, noticed that his tenant hadn’t paid rent and went to look for him. The tenant wasn’t in the building – but he’d left behind something strange – something that he’d been working on for 14 years.
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September 10, 2025 • 37 mins
In October of 2006, a press conference was held at a hospital in Denver. During the press conference, a man asked if anyone watching could tell him who he was, or how he got there. Because he didn’t know.
This episode was originally released in 2021.
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August 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Never check a bag, always bring a journal, and consider duct tape: a conversation with Rick Steves.
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August 6, 2025 • 55 mins
In 1966, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey had been married for three years. They’d bought a house in the suburbs in the middle of England, and had jobs at the tax office and a printing press. “They're living a respectable day-to-day suburban existence — which is kind of driving them both crazy. And one rainy evening, Maralyn just says, ‘You know what? Why don't we sell this house and build a boat and go?’”
Sophie Elmhirst's book is A Ma...
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July 16, 2025 • 42 mins
When writer Rachel Carson built a house on Maine’s Southport Island, her new neighbor, Dorothy Freeman, sent her a note to welcome her. Rachel wrote back. And when the summer was over, they kept writing to each other.
Lida Maxwell’s book is Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love.
Martha Freeman's book is Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952-1964
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July 2, 2025 • 43 mins
An episode all about hot dogs and the people who love them.
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June 18, 2025 • 38 mins
In 1910, a group of British men set off on an expedition – they wanted to be the first people to reach the South Pole. Over a hundred years later, in the journals and letters that survived, a writer discovered a love story.
For more, check out Allegra Rosenberg’s article, “From Antarctica with Love.”
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June 4, 2025 • 32 mins
In 1963, Jeanne and Alan Abel traveled to Washington, DC to picket in front of the White House. They said they were part of a campaign that wanted to put clothes on animals — including the first lady’s horse.
Jenny Abel and her husband, Jeff Hockett, made a documentary about her parents called Abel Raises Cain.
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May 30, 2025 • 24 mins
Two years ago, we started making Criminal Plus episodes — behind-the-scenes conversations featuring Phoebe and Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer. Today, we’re sharing some of those conversations with you — about everything from Phoebe’s jangly bracelets to the reason a judge ordered a man to watch Bambi.
And we’re also sharing a promo code if you’d like to support our work and join our membership program. Use the code “JOINUS” fo...
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May 21, 2025 • 32 mins
For the past 40 years, people have been sending Sally Winey their damaged stuffed animals, and she's been doing what she can to repair them. "That bear's been with them through everything.”
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May 7, 2025 • 42 mins
Terence McPherson and Shawnika Giger met at a party in Atlanta, and went on their first date a few weeks later. Things were going well, until they started to talk about money.
This episode is in collaboration with our friends at This Is Uncomfortable.
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April 23, 2025 • 36 mins
When The Guardian sends two strangers on a blind date, the last question they have to answer for the newspaper column is “Would you meet again?” We asked people how their dates went – and what happened next.
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April 9, 2025 • 41 mins
At The Guardian newspaper, there’s a person who has to find two complete strangers to send on a blind date every week.
In our next episode, we hear about how things really went from the blind daters themselves. You can listen right now by signing up for Criminal Plus.
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March 19, 2025 • 43 mins
About twenty years ago, D’yan Forest considered getting into stand-up comedy. “People told me, no, don’t go into comedy. Everybody is going to make fun of you. They’re gonna heckle you. You’re an old woman.” D’yan ignored them.
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March 5, 2025 • 31 mins
When his older brother died of cancer, Patrick Bringley quit his New York office job and got a new one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art—as a security guard. He stayed for 10 years.
Patrick Bringley's book is All the Beauty in the World.
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February 19, 2025 • 41 mins
On August 28th, 2000, Danny Stewart got on the subway to meet his boyfriend Pete Mercurio for dinner in New York City. As he was exiting the station, he noticed something on the ground. It looked like a baby doll wrapped in a shirt. And then he saw the doll's legs move.
Pete Mercurio's children's book is Our Subway Baby. His forthcoming memoir is called There: We Found Our Family In a New York City Subway Station.
This episode was ...
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