Unprotected Ex

Apparently, Unprotected Ex is now a medical podcast because Quinn AND Katie both found themselves in the ER/urgent care this week. Two separate health scares, one very eventful week, and a reminder that sometimes your body just likes to humble you.

But the conversation takes a turn when Quinn starts unpacking something that's been on her mind: millennial women are in a position that previous generations of women have never really experienced. We can choose whether or not we want a partner rather than needing one to build a life. And while we're celebrating that independence, a lot of us still want to feel soft, feminine, and taken care of in a relationship. So how do we reconcile being perfectly capable of doing everything ourselves with wanting someone who makes us feel like we don't have to?

Turns out, being independent doesn't mean you don't want to be taken care of. And maybe the goal isn't to need a man OR to prove you don't need one. Maybe there's room for both.

🎃 HAPPY DATING HORROR STORY EPISODE! 👻 Consider this your annual reminder that being single might be scary, but some of the people out there are downright terrifying. We kick things off with a few of our own dating disasters before diving into your listener-submitted nightmares, and this year… you guys did NOT disappoint.

We’re talking love bombing, ghosting, stalkers (SO. MANY. STALKERS.), and a man who was so committed to an online friend group that he was apparently playing every single member himself. We revisit Catfish and its legacy as the OG dating horror story, question what on earth has happened to dating apps, and hear about someone who finally escaped the friendzone only to immediately wish they could get back in.

This year’s submissions are a reminder of how often women have to navigate dating with their safety in mind, from the first date to relationships that have lasted years.

So enjoy the chaos, learn from other people’s questionable decisions, trust your gut, and please be safe out there. Happy Halloween! 🖤

🎃 IT’S SPOOKY SEASON, which means we need your dating horror stories! For the past two Halloweens, we’ve read your most horrifying dating experiences on the pod, and we’re bringing the tradition back. Send us your dating disasters, red flags, and stories that make us question humanity so we can read them on an upcoming episode.

Meanwhile, Katie’s been living her best Under the Tuscan Sun life with her boyfriend in Italy, leaving Quinn alone with her thoughts, her dating roster, and absolutely no one to yap to. We finally close the chapter on Ricky (spoiler: Quinn got ghosted), recap a weekend visitor who promised to rock her world and delivered a slightly less life-altering experience, and announce some breaking news: Quinn has deleted the dating apps.

But underneath the ghosting, disappointing hookups, and dating-app fatigue, there’s a bigger question: what if dating feels like a waste of time because we’ve been looking for connection in all the wrong places? Quinn opens up about why she struggles to believe relationships can be as fulfilling as they look from the outside, while Katie shares what she’s learned from being in a healthy relationship that looks nothing like she expected.

Because sometimes, before you can get a different outcome, you have to get sick of your own shit. And maybe deleting Hinge is just the beginning.

We brought a man onto Unprotected Ex who actually takes accountability for his dating habits, encourages other men to do better, and will still be the first person to convince you to stay out way past your bedtime. Meet Tyler (@td13__), a lifestyle creator Quinn met through TikTok, who joins us to talk modern dating, toxic habits, chasing the dopamine of a fling, and why Quinn would rather meet you in person than hear a daily recap of your life over text. We are not pen pals. Make a plan.

We get into outgrowing past relationships, why the length of a relationship doesn’t always reflect its quality, and how dating while sharing your life on the internet gets complicated when the people you date suddenly realize they might become part of the content.

Tyler also shares how growing up fast shaped his views on sex, honesty, and masculinity — including why being a good man shouldn’t be considered an extraordinary accomplishment. We unpack the double standard around women embracing their sexuality, the identity shift that comes with leaving college sports behind, and whether social media is losing the connection that made it fun in the first place.

It’s a conversation about dating, growing up, being honest about what you want, and treating people better.

A quick heads-up: This is a virtual episode, so the audio may sound a little different from our usual setup.

This week, Quinn is in her feels (again!?). Things with Ricky have officially come to an end, and not exactly in the way she hoped. After a trip filled with promises of another date and excitement to see each other again, Ricky came home and promptly went radio silent. So naturally, we have to unpack what the hell happened.

We get into the uncomfortable truth that having feelings isn’t a bad thing, and healing doesn’t mean everything stops hurting. Sometimes you can make real progress, do everything differently, and still end up disappointed. That doesn’t mean you went backward.

Because maybe the person who loves never loses. Maybe making the effort is still worth it, even when it doesn’t work out. And maybe running into the same kind of hurt after you’ve healed doesn’t mean the wound never healed, it just means you’re having another human experience.

We have some exciting news… we’re taking Unprotected Ex to Austin! We’re heading to a Dear Media event where we’ll have the opportunity to pitch the podcast to the presidents of Dear Media, and honestly, it feels a little surreal. We take a walk down memory lane and reflect on how much this podcast, and we, have changed over the last two years. We’re proud of what we’ve built, excited about where we want to take it, and somehow feeling more confident than nervous heading into this next chapter.

We talk about outgrowing people, why history alone isn’t a reason to keep someone in your life, and how friendships, just like romantic relationships, should actually add something to your life. Letting go of a friendship can be painful, but sometimes making space for new people means making peace with the fact that certain relationships have simply run their course.

And maybe the biggest thing we’ve learned through all of it: outgrowing someone doesn’t mean the friendship wasn’t meaningful. It just means it might not belong in your next chapter.

Quinn’s dating life may be suspiciously quiet right now, but thankfully her friends are keeping the content coming. This week, we’re swapping our own dating updates for a few stories from the trenches including one Hinge match that took eight months to make it to a first date, a 4 a.m. condom scavenger hunt that ended exactly as successfully as you’d expect, and a Raya date that somehow turned into a cross-country trip, a Red Rocks concert, and an unexpected overnight therapy session.

We also get into what it actually means when a man calls you “intimidating,” why some men seem willing to say whatever they need to say to get what they want, and the ways we convince ourselves to overlook our own instincts when we’re lonely… or when the guy is really, really tall.

Plus, spooky season is officially approaching, which means it’s almost time for our favorite annual tradition: your dating horror stories. Send us the dates that haunt you, the red flags you should have seen coming, and the moments that still make you question your judgment. We’ll be reading them on our Halloween episode.

This week, we’re getting out of our comfort zones, literally and emotionally. Katie dragged Quinn to a hip hop dance class, which naturally turned into a conversation about trying new things, being bad at things, and remembering that you’re allowed to be a beginner.

AND Quinn finally has a dating update. She ended things with Sean (and apparently Katie saw it coming long before she did), and we get back into the Ricky situation, where Quinn is somehow still questioning whether he likes her despite the fact that he has literally said, “I like you.” We play our favorite game of best-case/worst-case scenario, unpack why it’s so hard to see a situation clearly when you’re the one living it, and discuss the difference between a connection that is obvious and one that leaves you constantly questioning where you stand.

And somewhere in all of this, we have a little epiphany about why we keep sharing the “crazy” thoughts on this podcast in the first place: because growth doesn’t mean you never have those thoughts again. Sometimes it just means you can talk about them without letting them run the show.

We have Babs in the studio this week! Podcast host, content creator, professional introspector, and most importantly… a single man willing to give us the male perspective on modern dating. We get into what Babs is contributing to the dating pool, including his tendency to get excited about potential, plan thoughtful dates, and accidentally give people the impression he’s more serious than he actually is. We also talk about the work he’s doing to become more communicative and honest about what he’s feeling while dating.

Babs shares the life experiences that forced him to grow, leaving a long-term relationship, getting laid off, and moving to a new city and reminds us that sometimes we need to stop trying to become a better version of ourselves long enough to appreciate who we’ve already become.

Plus, we get his take on dating multiple people, why dating should actually be fun, and the one question we obviously had to ask: who is Babs’ favorite Gossip Girl couple?

This week, Katie and Quinn are both a little deep in their own heads and could use a mind, body, and soul reset. Katie, however, had a much more wholesome weekend: she officially met the rest of her boyfriend’s extended family, seamlessly fit right in, and may have accidentally convinced herself that she now wants a full-blown wedding so she can party with her future in-laws. Naturally, we get into what it means to build a relationship with your partner’s family, and what happens when your experience with family looks a little different.

Then Quinn enters her “why not me, when is it my turn?” era, despite finding the sentiment absolutely embarrassing. We also briefly revisit Sean and get into why we actually support dating multiple people at once. Not to play games, but because different people can bring out completely different sides of you. Sometimes dating isn’t just about figuring out who you like… it’s about figuring out who you like being when you’re with them.