What Even IS Love? (Neuroscience, Crushes, Parenting, Dogs, and Men Who Treat Women Like Trophies)

Is love a miracle… or just your brain doing chemistry in a lab coat? Michelle, a neuroscientist and her spiritual sister Kimberly spiral (lovingly) through what we call “love” when one word has to cover crushes, friends, community, dogs, kids, spouses, and that weird attachment to objects you’d save in a fire. Are crushes practice-love or just desire? Why does adult dating feel like job interviews? Could boundaries—not vibes—be the real divider between love categories?

Then they go straight to the taboo stuff: can parental love erode, what happens when kids go no contact with parents, and why loving your children “equally” doesn’t mean loving them the same.

Finally, romantic love gets dragged: possession-love, transactional marriages, emotional cheating, the Manosphere flavor of “what do you do for me,” and why some soul-sucking relationships deserve their own category—anti-love.