Dating While Gray™

Laura has a special treat for listeners: an introduction to a podcast she thinks you'll really enjoy. It's called Embodied. In this episode, host Anita Rao examines her own anxiety about how intimacy changes as the body ages. | Support these shows at wunc.org/give.

Parenting and dating are two words we may not be comfortable hearing in the same sentence, even if “little ones” are all grown up. Laura explores how gray daters are juggling personal needs and desires with parental obligations.

Research shows daters 50 and older are more likely than younger ones to say it’s very important that online dating profiles include race and political affiliation. Laura wonders if being too specific about race, religion or politics leads to overlooking some solid romantic options.

Laura's the first to admit: She'd rather talk with potential romantic partners about any topic other than money. But is she just delaying the inevitable by pushing off conversations about personal finances?

Since her divorce, Laura's happily lived alone with Jade, her Australian Shepherd mix. But she wonders what it might have been like to go through the pandemic sharing space with a housemate.

Laura is admittedly freaked out by dating apps. But she's also curious how other gray daters are connecting during the COVID pandemic. Does being high risk for the virus have to put a limit on love?

Laura Stassi is back for a second season of conversations about romance and relationships after age 50! This time around, the podcast takes on how dating is affected by personal finances, adult kids and of course, finding companionship during the COVID crisis.

Laura talks with writer Sophy Burnham, who offers romance insights based on her decades of personal experience. Then Laura gets relationship advice from Leora Hoffman, an attorney-turned- matchmaker who built her business while finding a partner for herself. Listeners phone in with their own advice about love before Laura speaks with marriage and family therapist Katherine Woodward Thomas. Her books "Calling In The One" and "Conscious Uncoupling" help people make romantic connections, or lovingly end them.

Laura talks with Rev. Joani Peacock, who made a personal discovery around the time her marriage ended. She's confident in herself — but that doesn't mean it's easier to date. Then Laura sits down with Giselle, who found acceptance only after letting go of a long-held secret. Finally, while we're all social distancing, Laura checks in with Ann, who's found a creative way to be her true self and keep the spark alive in a long-distance romance.