Mandy Len Catron, an acclaimed author known for her compelling Modern Love essay, dives deep into the psychology of love. She discusses her journey testing the transformative power of 36 questions designed to foster intimacy. Catron challenges traditional love narratives, advocating for vulnerability and open communication. She addresses the complexities of relationships, from rekindling romance after challenges to redefining norms around love and self-reflection. Ultimately, she emphasizes kindness and genuine connections over mere longevity in relationships.
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insights INSIGHT
Love Stories and Reality
Love stories often present a narrow, idealized view of love, suggesting a single path to happiness.
This can be misleading, as love is complex and doesn't always fit neatly into narratives.
question_answer ANECDOTE
The 36 Questions Phenomenon
Mandy Len Catron's 36 questions article unexpectedly became a viral love story, despite her intentions.
This highlighted people's desire for simple narratives, even if they're not entirely accurate.
insights INSIGHT
Expanding Love's Possibilities
Societal norms often promote a "love marriage baby carriage" trajectory as the ideal.
Exploring diverse stories, including non-monogamous and queer relationships, broadens our understanding of love.
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In *What Love Is: And What It Could Be*, philosopher Carrie Jenkins offers a bold new theory on the nature of romantic love. She examines the cultural, social, and scientific interpretations of love, arguing that love is both a social construct and a physical manifestation. Motivated by her own polyamorous relationships, Jenkins discusses how parameters of love have changed to be more accepting of homosexual, interracial, and non-monogamous relationships. The book blends thorough research with personal experiences to present a readable and highly informative exploration of love in all its forms.
How to fall in love with anyone
A Memoir in Essays
Mandy Len Catron
This book is a collection of essays that delve into the complexities of love and relationships. It includes Catron's viral New York Times article 'To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This,' which describes her experience with a psychology experiment involving 36 questions to create intimacy between strangers. The book expands on this idea, examining the biological, psychological, and historical aspects of love, as well as Catron's personal experiences and those of her family. It critiques romantic myths and encourages readers to reassess their own understanding of love and relationships.
The new "I do"
Susan Pease Gadoua
Susan Pease Gadoua and Vicki Larson's "The New I Do" challenges traditional marriage norms, offering alternative models for modern relationships. The book explores various relationship structures, including renewable contracts and live-apart-together marriages. It emphasizes open communication and conscious coupling, encouraging couples to define their relationships based on their individual needs and values. The authors advocate for removing societal shame from unconventional relationship choices, promoting self-awareness and honest dialogue. Ultimately, the book aims to empower couples to create fulfilling and lasting partnerships that align with their evolving lives.
Mandy Len Catron is known for her wildly popular Modern Love essay in the New York Times, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This." She popularized the 36 questions that are said to make people fall in love. Mandy’s essay inspired her book of the same name.
In the book, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This," Mandy deconstructs her own personal canon of love stories through a series of candid and vulnerable essays. She dives all the way back to 1944, when her grandparents first met in a coal mining town in Appalachia, to her own dating life as a professor in Vancouver, drawing insights from her research into the universal psychology, biology, history, and literature of love. And she tells the story of how she decided to test a psychology experiment that she’d read about — where the goal was to create intimacy between strangers using a list of thirty-six questions — and ended up in the surreal situation of having millions of people following her brand-new relationship.
Talks at Google 
