How Will the Recession Change Marriage?

French dating app Happn wants to put the spark of destiny back in online dating by connecting you with people who cross your physical path. That meant a serious realignment during the pandemic, with everyone suddenly stuck at home, not crossing paths with anyone but their pet lizard.

How much do you hate your ex? It might depend on your gender: Men are far more likely to have positive feelings about former flings, while women are more likely to blame their ex for the breakup.

An estimated 70 million people are somewhere on the autism spectrum, and many of them struggle with the wham, bam, social interaction or scam of traditional dating apps. So a new wave of small companies have launched a variety of apps specifically aimed at the autism community, hoping to help them find love.

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The Great Recession and the Great Depression both saw marriage rates drop steeply, leading some to theorize that the current downturn will do the same. But the role of marriage has changed, so this trend may not look the same this time around. Still, one past stat is encouraging for those forging pandemic romances: Couples who did get married during the Great Depression were more likely to stay together.

In India, unmarried couples often find themselves out of luck when looking for a place to spend time together, with hotels asking for a marriage certificate before letting them book a room. So a wave of hotel aggregators has sprung up to cater to this modern-minded demographic that just wants a little alone time.

Tantra is a philosophy that has long been associated with sex (and Sting!), but there’s way more to it. Tantric speed dating, billed as “yoga for your love life,” guides attendees at events across the U.S. through a series of physical and verbal partner exercises designed to spark connection.

Serious question: Where did this guy find the time? The story of a woman who discovers that the man she’s engaged to is secretly engaged to four other women.

2. Reddit Reality TV

Why have one insane (probably) true story when you can have hundreds? The curators of @redditships, a Twitter account curating the craziest Reddit relationship dilemmas, have created a corner of the internet for those of us who love hearing about the romantic insanities of strangers.

3. Live-In Lovers

Not everyone was either locked down with a partner or locked down alone — some were trapped with their platonic roommates. Here’s one such tale (spoiler: They end up having sex, and yes, it gets awkward).

Today, on The Carlos Watson Show: David Oyelowo leapt to superstardom with his seminal performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in 2014's Selma — but the mastery of his craft has been decades in the making. Today, he talks to Carlos about the rise of Nigerians in Hollywood and beyond, what MLK would make of 2020 ... and how to pronounce his surname. Watch on YouTube now!

1. No More Flings?

Lockdown may have kicked off the slow dating trend, but it looks like it has legs now: After months of getting to know people on dating apps rather than just meeting them for hookups and never messaging again, Bumble data collection found that 55 percent of people say lockdown changed their outlook and made them want to look for a more meaningful relationship.

Being neurotic may make some aspects of life difficult, but one big study found that people with neurotic personality types had a better understanding of what made their partners feel loved. Still, such personalities often have difficulty sustaining long-term relationships, indicating that knowing is only half the battle.

Leaving a lock clamped to a Paris bridge is SO gauche (and bad for the bridge), but we’re all in on the St. Augustine, Florida, tradition of “love trees” — two trees growing entwined. Couples can hang metallic hearts on a trellis outside a nearby gift shop, the Love Tree Cottage.

1. Aced It

Is this better or worse than those guys that hold giant fish? The new pandemic dating app trend is posting a photo of your negative test results for COVID-19, so your potential hookup knows that you’re clean — or at least you were when you took the test, right before touching a medical clinic door handle.

If you must have a pandemic-era sex party (and you shouldn’t, since large groups are definitely not a good idea right now), make sure to wear a mask — both to stop germs from spreading and because it’ll probably be a weird turnoff that causes you to rethink the whole thing.

3. COVID-Safe Sex

Is it possible to have sex without spreading the coronavirus? The Terrence Higgins Trust has put out new recommendations for safe sex during the pandemic, including don’t kiss your partner, wear a mask and use positions where you’re not face to face. Condoms, as is the case for preventing other infections, are also a good idea.

4. Safe and Spooky

After a concerned citizen wrote into an advice column about their friend who believes she’s having sex with a ghost during quarantine, many are saying: Isn’t ghost sex the safest possible option?

If you could make yourself fall in love, would you do it? Yale University ethicist Brian Earp thinks it’s not far off on the horizon — with renewed understanding of how our brain chemistry affects our feelings, companies could potentially create and market real-life love potions (or drugs that make you fall out of love).

In the 1960s, doctors experimented with LSD — not illegal at the time — to get sparring couples to communicate better. Now, many scientists think we should take a hard look at MDMA (aka ecstasy), citing the few studies that have been allowed as evidence that the drug could keep the magic alive by keeping us emotionally open and acting generously toward each other.

3. Doctor Love

Before he was the face of the White House coronavirus response, Dr. Anthony Fauci inspired a steamier devotion: Author Sally Quinn says she based the hero of her 1991 romance novel Happy Endings on Fauci, who at the time was a hotshot AIDS doctor — and, according to Quinn, “really sexy.”