‘Later Daters’ Is Netflix’s Low-Drama Answer To ‘Golden Bachelor’

Season 7 of “Love Island USA” has limped to a conclusion, and the final was just as underwhelming as the season. Of the final four couples, the longest-standing couple only got together after Casa Amor – and by the time the winner was announced, they had already broken up. With every solid connection from the season booted from the villa, all our final contenders felt either forced, brand-new, or both. Out of this barren season, the only light was the indomitable Amaya Papaya, who found a path to self love and romantic love at the eleventh hour. And hey, we’ll always have the friendships. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Juli 1h 59min

This season of “Love Island USA” is an unmitigated mess. Nearly every strong connection has been thrown out of the villa, one of our central couples was partially disappeared (with good reason) this week, and the vibes are, overall… unsettling. But from the wreckage of this season, can something beautiful still be salvaged? A friends-to-lovers story, perhaps? An inspiring pro basketball team? Or maybe one, beautiful, triumphant, Papaya-shaped, very clean New York City pigeon will outlast us all. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10 Juli 2h 14min

After two long years, we’re back in Paradise! But instead of the gritty, sandy, crustacean-filled beaches of Sayulita, we’re at a glossy resort in Costa Rica, sipping champagne by the pool while Dale Moss is forced to do sketches. The long-awaited “BIP” reboot is here, and based on the three-hour premiere, production took the original “Bachelor in Paradise” we loved, dropped it into a blender with a huge scoop of “Too Hot to Handle” and “Love Island,” and puréed it into a fine Netflixified slurry of reality dating content. Tony award-winning composer, writer and actor Shaina Taub joins us to break it all down. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Juli 1h 53min

It’s a two-part episode this week, in both timing and tone: In the first half, Claire and Emma giddily bask in the romantic climax of Nic and Cierra’s post-Casa reunion. In the second, pod bestie Leigh Blickley joins Claire to pick up the pieces of our hopes for this season, as offscreen revelations and onscreen heel turns – especially in the brutal Stand On Business challenge in episode 26 – have sullied our longtime faves. Is there anything left to hope for this season, aside from a bombshell worthy of Amaya Papaya entering the villa? It’s not looking like it. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Juli 2h 46min

BFF of the pod Kelsey McKinney joins us to discuss a real rollercoaster of a week on “Love Island USA.” We start with some truly baffling eliminations – how dare they do this to Hannah??? – and then head straight into the most pain-filled Casa Amor Fiji has ever witnessed. (We feel personally victimized by some of these choices. Stop taking cues from that failed “Bachelor In Paradise” season, producers!!!) Luckily we got a hint of redemption at the end… and Nicolandria stans everywhere rejoiced. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

26 Juni 2h 11min

It’s rom-com rewatch time! We head back to 1990 Los Angeles for a beautiful tale about a sex worker (Julia Roberts) being lifted up into wealth, privilege and classiness by a corporate raider with a heart of gold (Richard Gere). It’s the ultimate capitalistic fairy tale, dreaming up a ruthless investor who has amassed millions by destroying things – but who actually has a soft heart, principles, and a deep yearning to be loved. Comedian Josh Gondelman (host of the upcoming YouTube special “Positive Reinforcement”) joins for a beat-by-beat journey through the Rapunzel-Cinderella-Pygmalion Frankenstein that made Julia Roberts a star. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Juni 2h 16min

“LOVE ISLAND USA” SEASON 7 IS CINEMA! We weren’t quite ready to commit after a week of episodes – one can’t lock in too early, you have to explore! – but after watching episodes 9-14, we’re closing off. The drama in the villa reached all-time highs, with a pancake incident pushing Huda and Jeremiah’s bond to the breaking point, a forced recoupling that prompts an epic crashout, and a newly minted couple experiencing a breakup so agonizing you’d never guess they had declared their feelings just an hour before. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19 Juni 1h 44min

Bachelor Nation and Love Is Blind Land have been rocked by two major splits – including an acrimonious divorce between Lydia and Milton of “Love Is Blind” that finally closes the book on a disastrous season 5 (from which zero couples now remain). Then we discuss the entirely unsurprising split between Grant and his “Bachelor” winner Juliana, delivered anticlimactically via Instagram Stories. But it’s not all bad news! Two big “Bachelor” weddings brought the love this week. We dig into it all, plus some thoughts on the “Traitors” season 4 cast announcement. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Juni 1h 1min