NPR's Pod Club: Handpicked recommendations from the folks who live for this stuff

LAUREN GONZALEZ
SENIOR PODCAST EVANGELISTA

I’m big on rituals for every holiday, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. In college, I walked around campus handing out red roses to my friends. Every year in my mid-twenties, I watched Casablanca in the theaters with my sister. After turning thirty, I read bell hook’s All About Love, and have committed every February to a similarly-themed read.

My latest tradition: sending you this playlist. I feel like I’m back in middle school, only now I’m passing out pods instead of candy and cards.

Scroll below for more recs. Whatever you’re looking for this V-Day, I hope you find a pod that warms your heart.

🫶 Lauren

P.S. Do you have any special traditions lined up for this weekend? Write to us at podclub@npr.org.

💏 If you’re looking for a Hallmark-worthy romance…

Tune into Wild Card for your pick of meet-cutes and grand gestures. Highlights include: writer Suleika Jaouad on getting married the day before her bone-marrow transplant, actor Nick Offerman on making the first move and actor Jamie Lee Curtis on what aging taught her about love.

Also cue up: Code Switch’s episode on dating while Black in the 1930s. And on Talk of Iowa, residents from a local senior community share the memories behind their favorite love songs.

💔 Or if you need a break from sappy love stories…

Broken-hearted? Then you may be entitled to compensation. Tune into Planet Money’s explainer on the heart-balm tort, a type of lawsuit reserved for economic entanglements of the heart. Revenge is a dish best served in court.

Also cue up: this spicy episode from It’s Been a Minute, which explores why more single women are giving up on dating and saying ‘NO’ to the dress.

👀 If you have a crush…

Then ask them out, why don’t ya!! Life Kit host Marielle Segarra chats with a confidence coach on how to bring more gumption to your love life. Learn how to approach a cute stranger with ease (and respect!) and how to pump yourself up to make the first move.

Also cue up: this episode of All Songs Considered featuring songs that’ll help you channel your inner John Cusack from Say Anything.

🥰 If you’re celebrating love in all of its forms…

Then break out the tissues for Essential Salt from Maine Public Radio. Learn about Portland’s Valentine bandit, an anonymous citizen who covered the city in paper-shaped hearts for over four decades. It’s a local tale with twists and turns — and a universal message of community.

Also cue up: last year’s College Podcast Challenge winner, which focuses on a sixty-year old man from New Hampshire who’s built his love life around friends instead of romance.

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