There is a particular pleasure in listening to other people give relationship advice. This is why I keep podcasts “Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel” and “Dear Shandy,” — shout out to our brilliant friends Sharleen Joynt and Andy Levine! — in my regular listening rotation, and can’t get enough of reading Heather Havrilesky’s Ask Polly and Alexandra Hayes Robinson’s Hello Hayes columns.

It’s delicious to hear people discuss sticky, subjective situations — ones that so many of us find ourselves in and out of throughout our lives.

A few months back, when Claire had just started maternity leave, I asked our Instagram audience what sort of things they’d be interested in hearing me discuss with guest hosts, and a bunch of people expressed interest in a conversation about love, sex and dating in your 30s. Since we’re deep into “Golden Bachelor” and “Bachelor In Paradise” over on Love To See It, I was itching to podcast about something other than reality TV.

And I couldn’t think of a better person to have this conversation with than Kate Hutchison, my friend of more than a decade — we’ve seen each other through YEARS of bad dating and then some good dating — who is also the author of the Cusk Brooklyn newsletter here on Substack. We talked about the joys of being single, the difference between dating in your 20s and 30s, what it looks like to ponder your desire for marriage and kids, and more.

As always, take any “advice” we give here as coming from our own lived experiences, not as prescriptive in any way. Hope you enjoy! Xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription