Love Letters

Can boy bands fans save the world? Maybe. They can certainly save each other. In this episode, we meet Theresa Crockett, of California, who needed a kidney and found hope – and a lifeline – through her love of New Kids on the Block. This is a feel-good story about love between strangers (both of whom are “Blockheads”). It’s also about supportive spouses, family members, and a guy named Donnie Wahlberg.

Read more about their story here: ⁠https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/15/magazine/new-kids-nkotb-fans-kidney-transplant/ ⁠

This “All Kinds of Love” series is supported by UC Berkeley's ⁠Greater Good Science Center⁠, as part of its "Spreading Love Through the Media" initiative, supported by the ⁠John Templeton Foundation⁠.

And learn more about kidney donation here:

⁠⁠https://www.uclahealth.org/programs/core-kidney⁠⁠

Our “Friends with Benefits” members get an extended cut of this episode – and one extra episode a month! And no ads! Join the group here. We appreciate your support.

Also, Love Letters is an advice column; send your anonymous questions about relationships to [email protected] or through this anonymous form. When you ask a question, you help others feel less alone.

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LOVELETTERS at checkout.

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Meredith has wondered: why do so many people despise their in-laws? Specifically … their mother-in-laws?
To explore the topic, Meredith welcomes Janice Page, who tells a story about her mother-in-law,  Yu Ying.
Janice explains how she and her mother-in-law became close, despite not speaking the same language, and how they stayed connected over decades. Meredith and Janice discuss how to see extended family, and what relatives of partners can teach us about ourselves.

Want extra new episodes? Join our Friends With Benefits club by visiting ⁠globe.com/loveletters/friendswithbenefits⁠.

You’ll get an ad-free experience, an extra episode a month, and a Love Letters journal (if you join for a year). And you'll even be able to hear an extended cut of this episode.

Thank you for supporting our show. We want to support you right back.

Remember, Love Letters is also an advice column. Ask Meredith a question about your relationship life by emailing ⁠[email protected]⁠.

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Margo Howard, daughter of advice columnist Ann Landers and noted advice columnist in her own right, died recently at the age of 86.
Meredith had the pleasure of knowing Margo for years in Boston. Occasionally they lunched at fancy restaurants and talked about the advice column business.
Sometimes they gossiped.
Sometimes Margo gave Meredith advice about her love life.
Today we're sharing an episode from Season 1 that features Margo – with some new thoughts from Meredith about what she learned from Margo about moving on.
Remember, Love Letters is an advice column. Send your questions about all kinds of relationships to [email protected] or visiting our anonymous submission page.
You can join our special Friends With Benefits club – for extra episodes, an ad-free experience, and bonus content – by clicking here.

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Want extra new episodes? Join our Friends With Benefits club by visiting globe.com/loveletters/friendswithbenefits.

You’ll get an ad-free experience, an extra episode a month, and a Love Letters journal (if you join for a year). And you'll even be able to hear an extended cut of this episode.

Thank you for supporting our show. We want to support you right back.

In today’s episode we learn it’s never too late to grow, make change, and get single to live your best life.

Meet Chrissy, who is 79 and getting a divorce. She explains why this is happening after decades of marriage, and why this new path is essential now.

Chrissy also shows us her blooming garden, which is a lovely metaphor for what’s to come.

Click here to read the transcript.

Remember, Love Letters is also an advice column. Ask Meredith a question about your relationship life by emailing [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First: please join our Love Letters “Friends With Benefits” group. You’ll get extra episodes, swag, and an ad-free experience. For more info, visit globe.com/loveletters/friendswithbenefits.

Today Meredith revisits an episode from the vault that features her high school boyfriend. She offers some new perspective – and fun updates.

Meredith wanted to take a closer look at this story because of 18-year-old Lyla, our most recent guest, who explained her own high school breakup.

In this one, there are lessons, laughs … and some new perspective.

Enjoy revisiting former loves, and remember, Love Letters is also an advice column. Send your questions about relationships to [email protected].

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Join our Friends With Benefits club for an ad-free experience, a monthly bonus episode, and more.

For details, visit Globe.com/loveletters/friendswithbenefits.

In this episode, we meet Lyla, a recent high school graduate who tells a story about being dumped by a college-bound senior when she was a junior.

It was a devastating breakup. It was also messy.
A year later, it’s also a bit funny.

The truth is, it’s hard to know when to end a high school relationship. It’s confusing, emotional, complicated – and there’s so much changing all at once.

A year after this breakup, Lyla – now a college-bound 18-year-old herself – shares this story, with lessons about how to manage a relationship that’s probably temporary, and how to be kind when you’re letting go.

Remember, we’re also an advice column. Send your questions about relationships to [email protected]. When you share your quandaries, you help others dealing with the same thing.

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Hey everybody, it's Meredith. I'm here with a big announcement. We are starting a club. We are calling it Friends with Benefits. We're doing this for two reasons.

One is for connection. Two is for bonus episodes and perks.

If you join our FWB club, you’ll get an ad-free experience and an extra episode a month.

If you sign up for a year, you get that ad-free experience and extra episode at an 18 percent discount. You’ll also get Love Letters swag in the form of a pretty journal for your thoughts and feelings.

You can sign up to join by clicking that link wherever you get podcasts, or visit globe.com/loveletters/friendswithbenefits

There is no pressure to join! Truly, we’re so grateful you show up for Love Letters. This podcast will continue to be free, available wherever you listen.

But if you want extras, we’re here for that too. We’re so grateful for your support.

Thanks for being here and spending time with us. We love telling you stories about love in all forms. It means so much that you’re here.

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She directed and co-stars in “The Invite,” a film about two couples who have a fairly monumental, impromptu dinner.

It’s a comedy that turns into a drama … and then back to a comedy. It also stars Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton.

Meredith saw “The Invite” and thought, "Oh, this should be part of a Love Letters Film Festival, if we ever had one."

Today Meredith is joined by Olivia for a discussion about many things, including: why we like to see couples be awkward, Gen Z and technology, polyamory in Massachusetts, the meaning of marriage in 2026, how to stay optimistic about love, and, most importantly, their experiences with psychotherapist and podcast Esther Perel. Meredith and Olivia both have personal connections to Perel, who served as an adviser on the film.

Enjoy a lively conversation about love and the stories we tell about it.
Also, an event reminder! You can also sign up to attend Meredith’s free June 30th phone booth event – a 6 p.m. celebration of the Tell-A-Booth (featured on the pod) – by visiting bpl.org.

Remember, Love Letters is also an advice column. Feel free to tell us your anonymous questions about your relationship life my emailing [email protected].

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