Two years ago, we started making Criminal Plus episodes — behind-the-scenes conversations featuring Phoebe and Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer. Today, we’re sharing some of those conversations with you — about everything from Phoebe’s jangly bracelets to the reason a judge ordered a man to watch Bambi.

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For the past 40 years, people have been sending Sally Winey their damaged stuffed animals, and she's been doing what she can to repair them. "That bear's been with them through everything.”

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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Terence McPherson and Shawnika Giger met at a party in Atlanta, and went on their first date a few weeks later. Things were going well, until they started to talk about money.

This episode is in collaboration with our friends at This Is Uncomfortable.

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

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Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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When The Guardian sends two strangers on a blind date, the last question they have to answer for the newspaper column is “Would you meet again?” We asked people how their dates went – and what happened next.

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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At The Guardian newspaper, there’s a person who has to find two complete strangers to send on a blind date every week. 

In our next episode, we hear about how things really went from the blind daters themselves. You can listen right now by signing up for Criminal Plus. 

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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About twenty years ago, D’yan Forest considered getting into stand-up comedy. “People told me, no, don’t go into comedy. Everybody is going to make fun of you. They’re gonna heckle you. You’re an old woman.” D’yan ignored them.

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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When his older brother died of cancer, Patrick Bringley quit his New York office job and got a new one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art—as a security guard. He stayed for 10 years.

Patrick Bringley's book is All the Beauty in the World.

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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On August 28th, 2000, Danny Stewart got on the subway to meet his boyfriend Pete Mercurio for dinner in New York City. As he was exiting the station, he noticed something on the ground. It looked like a baby doll wrapped in a shirt. And then he saw the doll's legs move.

Pete Mercurio's children's book is Our Subway Baby. His forthcoming memoir is called There: We Found Our Family In a New York City Subway Station.

This episode was first released in 2021.

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We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

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Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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When Cody Bryant suddenly stopped communicating with Haley Woloshen after weeks of hanging out, she assumed she was being ghosted. It was only later that she found out he’d forgotten about her entirely. 

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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The day Edgardo Griffith met Heidi Ross, he asked her if she’d like to come with him to look for frogs. He was looking for a particular kind – bright yellow, with black spots: the Panamanian golden frog. But by the time Edgardo and Heidi were engaged, the frogs had started to disappear.

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Want to listen to This is Love ad-free? Sign up for Criminal Plus – you’ll get to listen to This is Love, Criminal, and Phoebe Reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus, you’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal and other exclusive benefits. Learn more and sign up here.

We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.

Episode transcripts are posted on our website.

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