6 of the best podcasts about love and relationships

As Valentine’s Day rolls around again, it’s as good a time as any to get into a new podcast that focuses on the messy, weird, beautiful, thorny and endlessly fascinating world of love and relationships.

Podcasters have been all over it for ages, going all the way back to the very beginning of the boom. It’s easy to see why too.

The intimacy that podcasts can build between hosts and listeners makes it an ideal place for guests and emailers to open up and show vulnerable parts of themselves, and for listeners to eavesdrop on other people’s lives.

At the very least, someone sharing a mortifying story about the first time they met their partner’s parents will never, ever not be funny. Here are some of the best sex and relationships pods to hitch yourself to.

Savage Lovecast

Everyone’s welcome on columnist Dan Savage’s forthright sex and relationships show, which has been dispensing judgement-free advice for the best part of 750 episodes now. Savage’s dictum is always that he only goes in hard on bad decisions rather than whatever particular quirk he’s been asked to dissect. It’s not for the delicate, but it’ll certainly open your eyes to quite how varied and joyous the rich tapestry of sexuality and relationship dynamics really is. Listen now >>

The Receipts

Tolani Shoneye, Audrey Indome and Milena Sanchez started up The Receipts back in 2016, on seeing a now hilariously misinformed tweet from 3 Shots of Tequila’s Tazer Black which suggested their pod wouldn’t work with three women hosting. Six years later, The Receipts is massive, and while the hosts are happy to dive into pretty much any topic at all their ‘Your Receipts’ episodes, which often tackle listeners’ relationship dilemmas, are frequently standouts. Listen now >>

Unexpected Fluids

It may be defunct now, but if you’re after some grossout fun, look no further. This one’s all about sharing sex stories where something goes hideously, hilariously wrong. That includes the deeply misbegotten sex tips listeners have tried out, the perils of getting tech involved in the bedroom, and Dr Alex George’s reminiscences of treating erotically acquired injuries in A&E. Probably not one to stick on if you’re in the office. Listen now >>

How to Build a Happy Life: ‘How to Know You’re Lonely’

Of course, the first issue in any relationship is working out whether you actually want one or not. The Atlantic’s podcast touches on most of the very biggest questions there are – finding joy, dealing with pain, making your work mean something – and its study of the growing epidemic of loneliness in the West is also a look at the fundamentals of making relationships meaningful. It’s not just a lecture either: there are exercises to complete to turn your new knowledge into a habit you get into every day too. Listen now >>

The Log Books

After three series, this sparkling, moving, sensitive exploration of the anxieties and joys of Britain’s LGBTQ communities from the 1970s to 2003 has come to an end. Tash Walker and Adam Zmith’s dive into the logs of Gay Switchboard (now Switchboard) has been a leader in showing how podcasts can turn raw sources into affecting social history which gives voice to marginalised groups. Listen now >>

Modern Love

What with having already been adapted into a TV programme and three books, it was perhaps inevitable that the New York Times’ long-running relationships column, Modern Love, would jump to podcasting too. The format isn’t revolutionary – stories from the huge archive of stories of real, ordinary love are read, authors are interviewed, and that’s roughly it – but it’s so well put together and the trove of material so strong that it’s pretty undeniable. The relationships it details are rarely plain sailing, but it’s proof that love is a persistent, mysterious and wonderful thing. Listen now >>