Love Letters

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Love stories. Dating stories. Relationship stories. Stories about romance, marriage, partnership, sex, loss, and the human heart. Served with a side of advice. Hosted by Boston Globe advice columnist Meredith Goldstein.

5D AGO · BONUS

Elin Hilderbrand: Married to Nantucket

Meredith has always been a little afraid of Nantucket. Despite living a fast ferry ride away, she’s only been there twice. As far as Meredith is concerned, the people on Nantucket are fancy, the drama is high, and because it’s an island, it’s hard to escape. For best-selling author Elin Hiderbrand, though, Nantucket represents comfort … even when it’s stifling. Nantucket is where Elin found happiness after leaving New York. It’s what inspired her writing. It’s where she found community – and the best kinds of love. In a live conversation recorded in November, Meredith interviews Elin about Nantucket, what it means to fall in love with a place, and why Elin decided to stop writing about the island after decades of living there. They also talk about the power of books about women and love. Elin novels include “The Perfect Couple,” which became a Netflix show starring Nicole Kidman, and “The Five Star Weekend,” which is slated to be a series starring Jennifer Garner. This talk was part of “Globe Summit,” a two-day Boston Globe event that featured journalists speaking with experts in their fields. Remember, Love Letters is also an anonymous advice column. When you ask a relationship question, you help others wondering the same thing. Email your question to loveletters@boston.com. Sign up for Meredith’s newsletter at Boston.com/meredith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 min
12/30/2025

The Chimera

Elise, 17, appreciates that she’s growing up in a world that understands what it means to be nonbinary. She just wishes people had an easier time understanding fluidity. Because sometimes Elise feels like a boy, and other times she feels like a girl. Sometimes these changes shift with the seasons. In this episode, Elise explains how her fluidity affects her dating life – because some people who fall for her as a masculine person might be less interested if she becomes more feminine months later. She also reveals she might be a chimera – meaning, as she sees it, she might literally be two people in one. Elise and Meredith talk it through together. If you love Love Letters, give us all the stars. We love validation. We’re also an anonymous advice question; when you ask a relationship question, you help others wondering the same thing. Email your question to loveletters@boston.com Sign up for Meredith’s newsletter at Boston.com/meredith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

40 min
12/16/2025

Mi Amor

Nexan Asencio Corado was 20 when he left Guatemala and crossed into the U.S. illegally. He wound up settling in Massachusetts and built a life there. Within a decade, he was working in construction and framing. He fell in love with Christina Toledo and married her. They had two twin sons. In May, Nexan – who had started the process of seeking lawful permanent residency in the U.S. – was arrested by ICE agents and brought to a Federal Correctional Institution. From that moment, Nexan and Christina faced important choices about how to stay together, care for each other, and protect their family. In this episode, Boston Globe immigration reporter Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio tells the story of Nexan and Christina, using recordings from their life and phone calls, with their permission. We love feedback and questions at Love Letters – and with this episode, there’s a lot to talk about. After listening, please send your thoughts to loveletters@globe.com. You can always email us a voice memo. We’re also a relationship advice column. You can send your anonymous questions to loveletters@globe.com. To learn more about this story and Love Letters, in general, sign up for the Love Letters newsletter at Boston.com/Meredith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

36 min
12/02/2025

Model Behavior

Jenna is a part-time model. Sometimes her modeling jobs are unique – think wearing stilettos and popping balloons... or wearing lingerie while feeding ducks. Recently, she's been getting paid to play a damsel in distress. With cars. How does Jenna’s modeling work affect her dating life? It’s not easy. Some people act like they’re comfortable with her job at first - but then they turn out to be judgmental and jealous. In this episode, Jenna tells Meredith the story of how she got into this type of work and how much she's willing (or not) to give up for it. A universal lesson about compromise – and finding people who love us as we are. ___ Remember, Love Letters is an advice column, too! Send questions about human relationships (romantic, friendship, etc.) to loveletters@boston.com. Sign up for the Love Letters newsletter at Boston.com/Meredith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

36 min
11/18/2025

Great Situationships

Situationships. Are they all bad? Can you have a meaningful, hopeful, life-changing … situationship? In this episode, Meredith talks to Nicole, a woman who has come full circle on situationships after many years of resenting them. She’s wanted a permanent partner, but maybe situationships aren’t so bad in the meantime. Meredith also has a conversation with word expert Amanda Montell, of the podcasts “Sounds Like a Cult” and “Magical Overthinkers,” who explains how the word “situationship” has evolved, and why it’s one of the best slang portmanteaus around. ___ Love Letters is also an advice column. Send an anonymous relationship question to loveletters@boston.com. Sign up for the Love Letters newsletter at boston.com/meredith . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 min
11/04/2025

For The Love Of Sports

This time of year is a little unsexy and unromantic to Love Letters host Meredith Goldstein. Why? She doesn't like sports. In the fall, there are so many sports. Football, hockey, and basketball – not to mention that baseball can extend into early November. On this episode, Meredith tries to rally for sports and seeks out new, romantic entry points into fandom. She gets help from two funny experts. One is The Boston Globe’s own Christopher L. Gasper – Meredith’s former roommate – who explains how athletes are fascinating personalities, not unlike characters on television dramas. It’s a conversation that includes talk of “Vanderpump Rules,” how difficult it can be to date a sports writer, and the one sport Chris believes should have a series of romance novels. Meredith also talks to best-selling romance novelist Tessa Bailey, who writes steamy stories about baseball, golf, and hockey. Tessa explains why she's chosen to focus on athletes, how she appreciates fandom in real life, and how anyone – even Meredith – can fall in love with the game. ___ Do you have a story? Send questions about your relationships to loveletters@boston.com. Sign up for Meredith’s newsletter – with behind-the-scenes pics, giveaways, and other extras – at boston.com/meredith . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

40 min
10/28/2025

Akela Cooper on Horror and Love

Akela Cooper knows dating can be scary. Cooper, a screenwriter known for “M3GAN,” sits down with Meredith to talk about the horror of vulnerability – and opening yourself up to love. Enjoy this episode filled with pop culture references, advice, and thoughts about how sometimes it’s difficult to know whether you’re in a horror story … or just a bad romantic comedy. ___ Do you have a story? Send questions about your relationships to loveletters@boston.com. Sign up for Meredith’s newsletter – with behind-the-scenes pics, giveaways, and other extras – at boston.com/meredith . Episode art courtesy of Getty Images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 min
10/21/2025

It's Scary Out There

Rory Uphold was in a literal haunted house when she realized her date for the night... might be the real monster. Is she just a "final girl" in love? ___ Do you have a story? Send questions about your relationships to loveletters@boston.com. Sign up for Meredith’s newsletter – with behind-the-scenes pics, giveaways, and other extras – at boston.com/meredith . Episode art courtesy of AP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

33 min

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Meredith Goldstein

Host
Akela Cooper

Guest

4.5

out of 5

1,291 Ratings

Questions

12/22/2025

MagLoLex

These are things you didn’t report on about Nixon: is he getting any government handouts? Snap? Medical care? Did he vote in our elections? He jumped in front of the immigration line.
Brette

06/21/2025

panda0000006

I always enjoy when Brette is on. She’s so interesting and her voice instantly makes the story more interesting. Very much enjoy the podcast overall!!!
Wow - it’s not even true crime - but still SO GOOD.

09/19/2025

June._.Alice

I love everything about this show.
What happened?

07/24/2025

Elle Kris

I use to absolutely love this pod. Never missed an episode. But they’ve completely lost their way. The pod is far less captivating than it use to be, the stories featured are redundant, lack relatability, or are just simply not what originally drew me to this pod. As of late, I’ve completely stopped listening. I’ve tried tuning in and end up turning it off. The last two seasons were truly disappointing.

Love stories. Dating stories. Relationship stories. Stories about romance, marriage, partnership, sex, loss, and the human heart. Served with a side of advice. Hosted by Boston Globe advice columnist Meredith Goldstein.