Three Podcasts That Explore What Valentine’s Day Should Be All About

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It’s the week before Valentine’s Day and everywhere you look on your news and social media feeds, you are inundated with red and pink and hearts galore! But here are three podcasts that delve a bit deeper: What about kisses that go wrong? What about a love story from 60 years ago? What about a breakup? These three podcasts are rich experiences that take Valentine’s Day and love to a whole new level. And, bonus: you will learn French as you listen!

As a reminder, here is what the headphones next to the titles mean: one headphone, like this: ?  is for shorter and more tractable French and up to three headphones like this:  ?  ? ?  for longer and more complex. New: I now make sure to include both English- and French-speaking podcasts. You’ll identify them with the following flags:  ?? for French and ??for English.

Paris sur la Bouche, Podcastories ?? ??

What it’s about

This is a podcast about personal stories told from where a (French) kiss happened in Parisian street. Episodes are fairly short, ranging from 5 to 15 minute-long. It’s sweet, but not really cheesy. Recordings are captured directly on the spot, where the kiss happened. I recommended listening to this with headphones on so that you can appreciate all the subtlety of the amazing sound design. This podcast will show you French kisses are not all purely romantic–some are more nuanced and compliqué.

What I like about this show

Everything! This concept is brilliant. For a year, the host collected pictures of people kissing each other all over the world and invited them to tell him their story on a website back in 2015. The project was Ici, sur la bouche. The project evolved into a podcast of 20 short episodes that take us across Paris and to the people in the photos who share the story behind their kiss. There is even a map to follow the episodes across the city of Lights.

An episode not to miss

Honestly, I recommend you listen to them all. I’ll suggest “ep. 12, Cours Saint-Emilion, 75012 Paris” which explains the story of a kiss which goes against all the clichés you may have about French people and romance. 

Phoenix, Marine Baousson & Bérengère Krief ? ??

What it’s about

Picture this: Valentine’s day is around the corner. Flowers, heart shaped chocolates, candles everywhere you look.Your friends, colleagues, neighbors are planning the perfect date. But you are going through a breakup. Tough, right? Now, imagine your best friends created a podcast where they share concrete guidance on how best to navigate this difficult time. And these best friends are 2 amazing comedians that will make you laugh really hard despite everything that is going on? Well, that’s Phoenix. The podcast that will make you rise from your ashes.

What I like about this show

I mean, what’s not to like here? It’s short and (very) funny–although it does provide its fair share of empathy from breakup experts. There are 24 episodes that you should listen to in order if you can. 

An episode not to miss

You just got dumped? Start with this episode (episode 4) as it explains the methodology followed by Bérengère and Marine on how “best” to navigate this time.

De l’Amour, Cécile F ? ? ? ??

What it’s about

De l’Amour is a podcast where Cécile F invites people she loves to tell their love stories. Sounds cheesy? But it is so much more. It’s raw, exciting, frightening even at times. In this podcast, the host dissects that feeling that is love and digs pretty deep into what we could all use more of: love in all shape and form. 

What I like about it

First things first, I love to love. I have so many passions and this podcast helps fill my love reservoirs. What I particularly like in De L’Amour, it’s the multi-generational approach to talking about love. From GenZ to my great-grand-parents, and from millennials to retirees, I find this truly fascinating. 

An episode not to miss

I am a big fan of older people’s stories and perspectives. My favorite episode is this one, featuring Lucette (or Lulu), who lived a 60-year long love story and nowadays lives alone with her cats. I added three headphones for complexity only because this is the testimonial of an older lady who speaks well but can be a little harder to understand at times.

 

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