Episode 318: Netflix's "Love Is Blind" and the History of TV Dating Shows

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the popularity of the Netflix show "Love Is Blind."

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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• The second season of Love Is Blind is the latest in a long history of TV dating shows to capture the attention of the American public. Natalia recommended the podcast This Is Dating and referred to this Vox essay on and this New York Times piece about Love Is Blind. Niki referenced this New Yorker piece and Neil discussed this Washington Post article on dating shows as cultural ciphers. Neil also drew from this Vanity Fair piece about the history of queer representation on TV dating shows.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended Jenny Nordberg’s New York Times article, “Cissy Wallin and the Case that Killed #MeToo in Sweden.”
• Neil discussed Rachel Aviv’s New Yorker article, “The German Experiment that Placed Foster Children with Pedophiles.”
• Niki shared a new Secret Service report, “Hot Yoga Tallahassee: A Case Study of Misogynistic Extremism.”