Romance

AI chatbots garner millions of daily users, filling a variety of roles from customer support to text generator. But what about their romantic potential?

When human romance isn't working out, can an AI chatbot successfully take its place? Anita hears varied perspectives on that question. She meets a journalist who got dumped by her AI crush and talks with a woman whose AI companion turned her life around. Plus, psychologist Melissa McCool, the clinical product consultant for AI tech company Luka, takes Anita behind the scenes of making AI companions.

Anita's idea of relaxation often involves a good book. She's begun exploring the vast world of romance novels and was surprised to learn how much more diverse the genre has become since the days when Fabio was the only inspiration for sexy book covers. Three neurodivergent authors tell her about writing the characters they longed for as readers and making space for new takes on the "happy ending."

Whether a diagnosis comes in the midst of a relationship or before the first date, terminal illness can affect how love and support show up in romantic relationships.

Anita knows there's no way she can prepare herself or her loved ones for the ways a terminal illness can alter their lives. But meeting people with incurable conditions, and their loved ones, helps her understand what is possible when time suddenly becomes limited. A couple navigating a terminal ALS diagnosis share their story and how their definition of intimacy has evolved. Plus, a woman in her 20s talks about building a dating profile and keeping her sense of humor when her life expectancy is unknown.

Laura's the first to admit: She'd rather talk with potential romantic partners about any topic other than money. But is she just delaying the inevitable…

Romance novels made up almost a quarter of the U.S. fiction market in 2016, second only to general fiction. Some people may think of the genre solely as…

Romance novels made up almost a quarter of the U.S. fiction market in 2016, second only to general fiction. Some people may think of the genre solely as…

Twenty years ago openly-gay North Carolina filmmaker Tim Kirkman produced a narrative documentary in the style of an open-letter to former Sen. Jesse…

Twenty years ago openly-gay North Carolina filmmaker Tim Kirkman produced a narrative documentary in the style of an open-letter to former Sen. Jesse…