Strangers on the Internet

In this episode, in which Irina and Michelle host Midwestern graduate student Lisa (a pseudonym), the focus of the conversation is on physical safety. Lisa shares her experiences with being stalked, owning a gun, conducting background checks before every date, and having to take out restraining orders. Find out how people who lie about their age on dating apps sometimes do so for much more nefarious reasons than you might expect, and listen to Lisa dish about why dating fellow academics might not be all roses! You will walk away with new insights and important safety tips from a guest who has seen it all.

Irina and Michelle welcome a special guest from Louisiana on this episode: disability law scholar Katherine Macfarlane. Kat has navigated dating, marriage, divorce, and then dating again with an invisible condition. How have significant others reacted when she has needed accommodations for her lifelong rheumatoid arthritis? And what's it been like dating (and when need be, breaking up) as an immunosuppressed person during the COVID-19 pandemic? Come for a lesson in empathy from this brilliant and wise academic who tells all about her interactions with strangers, whether in NYC or Idaho, and from Los Angeles to the other "LA"! Katherine Macfarlane's faculty profile (on leave 2022-23): https://www.sulc.edu/page/katherine-macfarlaneKatherine Macfarlane's scholarship: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2115906

In this guest episode, Irina and Michelle have the chance to sit down with Californian criminal law professor Erin Sheley who found love (and indeed, a fiance) on Bumble after dating app adventures across North America. While last time we had Catgate, this week's episode brings us Fishgate: this vegetarian scholar and her avid fisherman date from the apps did NOT see eye to eye when it comes to how many fish are okay to kill in a year. Erin also tells the tale of how a man tried to throw her on the train tracks in Calgary and how an intrepid cowboy intervened just in time to save her life! We will discuss the difficulties in settling down romantically as an itinerant academic, so come join us on this journey from DC to Canada, Oklahoma, Dallas, and finally San Diego. Also, what exactly was that guy planning to do on their car ride if Erin hadn't sent his info to her friends in advance? Can even a criminal law professor stay safe from crime by strangers on the Internet? We've got the tea - grab a cup and have a listen!Prof. Erin Sheley: https://www.cwsl.edu/directories/faculty-staff-directory/erin_sheley.htmlProf. Sheley's legal scholarship: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1222553Prof. Sheley's book: https://www.amazon.com/Criminality-Common-Imagination-18th-Centuries/dp/1474450105

Irina and Michelle talk to British philosophy professor, life coach, Twitter favorite, and host of "The Academic Imperfectionist" podcast Dr. Rebecca Roache. A self-described introvert, Rebecca is of two minds about dating apps these days. Should she bother meeting new men or comfortably stay home, knit, and hang out with her kids and cats? And speaking of cats, come hear about "Catgate", the incident in which a (narcissistic) then-boyfriend became enraged with Rebecca because she dared to pet a stray kitty while the couple was talking! We also discuss how to learn to trust yourself again after falling prey to liars and other predators, and how to get in touch with your sense of intuition that can steer you in the right direction in all things dating.Dr. Rebecca Roache: https://rebeccaroache.weebly.com/The Academic Imperfectionist (life coaching and podcast): https://www.academicimperfectionist.com/

After covering how to enter a romantic relationship in the modern era, Irina and Michelle now delve into how to make it a successful one. How do you apply the Golden Rule (treat others like you would want to be treated) in a relationship? Even better, how do you upgrade to the Platinum Rule (treat others like THEY want to be treated)? Is the idea of the Five Love Languages just a scam or can you use them as guidance to maintain the spark? The Dating Professors share with you the key insights from researchers such as John Gottman, Esther Perel, and others so that you can buck the trend of long-term relationships becoming less happy over time and keep that flame burning instead!

In this episode, Irina and Michelle scour the Interwebs for recent dating advice and critique what they find. Will that article in The Cut teach you about whether you're too picky on dating apps? What about the pearls of wisdom in those (in)famous advice listicles? The Dating Professors go through the good, bad, and ugly of these pointers and show YOU how some of them definitely point in the wrong direction! Plus, hear what our hosts have to say about Hollywood's vision of dating over the last twenty years.