This is Love

In June of 2020, a 72-year-old man in the UK named Gerald Stratford posted a photograph of himself in his garden on Twitter. He wrote, “Just giving my onions their daily inspection, a crucial time now for veg.” The tweet, like many of Gerald Stratford’s tweets, went viral. Gerald told us he never expected so many people to like his tweets about his garden, but that he just tries to be nice and polite and so far, people like it.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Carlos Acosta was a kid, he wanted to be the next Michael Jackson. He spent all his time break-dancing in the streets of Havana. Until one day, when his father decided to put Carlos in a ballet class.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early one morning in 1948, a phone call woke up the police chief in the small town of Clearwater, Florida. The caller said he’d seen something strange at the beach. Residents woke up that morning to find an odd set of footprints in the sand, and a rumor began circulating that Clearwater Beach had a sea monster.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s an old story on Cape Cod about a woman named Maria Hallett who fell in love with a pirate. According to legend, when he died at sea, she became so heartbroken that she started walking along the cliffs in storms and cursing other ships. The story goes that she believed that if she had lost the person she loved to the sea, everyone else should too. She became known as “The Sea Witch of Billingsgate,” and her story has haunted Cape Cod for the last 300 years.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bernard Kinsey met Shirley Pooler in 1963, when they were both students at Florida A&M University, after a protest to integrate the movie theaters in Tallahassee. Years later, when their son Khalil was born, Bernard and Shirley made a plan — they wanted him to understand where he came from, and where his ancestors came from. So they decided to become detectives, uncovering the history of the Black experience in America.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're thrilled to announce that This is Love is coming back with our 5th season on October 14th!Tell a friend to subscribe today! Thank you for listening to our first four seasons, and we truly can't wait for you to hear what's ahead.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet a woman who decided to devote her life to the wild birds of New York City, and a Los Angeles man who formed a once-in-a-lifetime friendship.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In June of 2016, Dion Leonard attempted one of the toughest races in the world—155 miles through the Gobi Desert. At the start of day two, he looked down and saw a little brown dog chewing on his shoes. Dion and the little dog were about to embark on an adventure that would change both of their lives. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The B-15 iceberg in Antarctica was the largest iceberg in recorded history. Explorer Jill Heinerth wanted to see what it looked like from the inside. She assembled a team of the most accomplished divers in the world, and they traveled for 12 days through the rough waters of the Southern Ocean. Attempting to dive into cracks in the iceberg, her life was in very real danger three times. And the third time, she would be saved by an animal so small, so transparent, that you can see its heart beating right through its skin. Jill Heinerth’s book is Into the Planet. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Drew Lanham was a child, he used to lie down in a field and play dead, just so he could get a glimpse of vultures flying over him. He made binoculars out of toilet paper rolls, and wings out of cardboard. He loved birds. But when he went to college, he says "I was trying to live up to the expectations of others who said, ‘you're a black kid who's good at math and science.’” So he studied engineering, and was miserable. And then, one day he heard the call of a Prairie Warbler.Drew Lanham’s book is The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature.Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2BmMZr5We also make Criminal and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices