First Love Mixtape: Side B (Encore)

In last week’s episode, the Modern Love team shared the songs that taught us about love when we were young. But in this week’s episode, we hear from you, our listeners, about the songs that helped shape your ideas about love.

We heard from present-day teens streaming their anthems on repeat, and we heard from listeners who have been with their partners for over 50 years. There were stories of jazz and rap; adrenaline rushes and loneliness; and many hard-won lessons in matters of the heart. (“Don’t let your friends choose your boyfriends,” Amy from St. Louis said.) We share a compilation of some of your songs and stories in the first half of our episode.

And we finish our episode with an essay about the end of love. After more than 50 years of marriage, Tina Welling decided that she wanted a divorce — a decision that turned out to be liberating.

Thank you to all of the listeners who sent us their teenage anthems. We’ve compiled them into one glorious Spotify playlist.

[You can listen to this episode above, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.]

Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay to The New York Times.

Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.

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