We asked you to call us with your stories of looking for love in the 21st century — and man, did you come through. We heard the whole range of human experience in your stories, but one theme rang out loud and clear: dating, and especially online dating, is a struggle.

The data backs this up. Despite the fact that meeting someone today doesn’t require much more than swiping on your phone, people who are looking for long-term relationships are lonelier than ever.

Why is it like this? How did love – this thing that’s supposed to be beautiful, magical, transformative – turn into a neverending slog? We went searching for answers, and we found them in surprising places. On today’s show: a time-hopping, philosophical journey into the origins of modern love.

Guests:

Andrea Wulf, historian and author of Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of The Self

Moira Weigel, assistant professor at Northeastern University and author of Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating

Veronica Hefner, associate professor and director of the graduate studies in communication at St. Mary’s College of California

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