Love Across the Divide, Part 1

Laura chats with Julie Krafchick and Yue Xu, co-hosts of the Dateable podcast and authors of “How To Be Dateable: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Person and Falling in Love”; and It’s Just Lunch and 33,000 Dates founder Andrea McGinty, author of “2nd Acts: Winning Strategies for Dating Over 50.”

Is artificial intelligence in your dating toolkit? After avoiding the topic, Laura explores. She talks with Igor Khalatian, tech entrepreneur and founder of Iris Dating, and gray dater Emmay, who’s using ChatGPT to help her craft flirtatious messages with potential matches.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, Dating While Gray continues its year-round mission of offering insights and advice on love, sex, and relationships for people of a certain age. On this episode, Laura checks in with two gray daters who previously shared their compelling true stories. Has Betty’s whirlwind, pandemic-born romance stood the test of time? Evelyn and her partner are enjoying living side by side in a duplex But did the courts give it the official Live Apart Together kiss of approval? 

Laura talks with psychotherapist Ken Page about older romance and bridging political differences in kinder and gentler ways. Plus, listeners weigh in on labels like feminist and woke. Bonus content: We hear from Jeanne Safer, author of “I Love You, But I Hate Your Politics.”  

If romantic relationships are built on shared values, does that mean two people need to be aligned politically to have a deep connection and strong bond? In Part 1 of the Dating While Gray/APM broadcast special, Laura talks with older Americans navigating red-blue romance … some more successfully than others.

Looking for a soul salve? Here it is: Four stories of romance seeking and finding, shared by show listeners. They include Anthony, who won’t let heartbreak interfere with progress; and Peter, who describes his “good enough” union in the most positive of ways.

Laura shares “A Beloved Nursing Home,” which kicks off Season 2 of tTo See Each Other. Show host George Goehl travels to Lincoln County, Wisconsin, to get to know a colorful group of people who are fighting for the future of the last remaining public nursing home in the community.

It’s the dating situation no one dares think about … until it happens to them. Laura discusses ambiguous loss and next steps with Mike, whose wife has been diagnosed with a terminal brain disease, and marriage and family therapist Linda Hershman.

Is there ever a right time to end a romantic relationship – especially when there’s a lot of history involved? Chris and other listeners share their struggles, plus Laura chats with marriage and family therapist Linda Hershman about discernment counseling.

Dating sites and apps can be a huge time suck and overwhelmingly, users report feeling burned out. Should we trust our gut and make quick swiping decisions? Or does being more thoughtful about the process lead to love success? Laura talks strategies and outcomes with relationship coaches and online soldiers.