7 podcasts to tug at your heartstrings this Valentine’s Day

Feel the feels on Valentine’s Day with podcasts celebrating all kinds of love, loss, and connections. Whether it’s romance, platonic love, a beloved hobby, undying love for a pet, life partnership, or heartbreak, this list has you covered. You might need to break out a box of tissues.

For true stories from The New York Times‘ long-standing column, “Modern Love” has new, weekly episodes. Rom-com fans will want to check out “Meet Cute” and “When I Met You,” filled with short and sweet pick-me-ups. Listen in as modern daters skip the swiping and are nudged along on dates by fairy godparent coaches on “This is Dating.” The new season of “Land of the Giants: Dating Games” dives into the dating app scene and the lucrative businesses behind it.

Modern Love

From The New York Times’ beloved column comes classic stories and newer sagas on the “Modern Love” podcast. Hear true tales on all kinds of love and life-changing moments, some of which have been adapted into books and a TV series.

This is Love

Vox Media Podcast Network’s “This is Love” highlights the many forms love can take, told firsthand by one guest each episode. You’ll hear true stories of friendships, life partnerships, breakups, parenting, and more tear-jerking tales. True crime fans might recognize host Phoebe Judge’s voice from the super-popular series, “Criminal.”

The Rom-Com Room

Hosts and rom-com fanatics Kendra Okereke and Mercedes Gonzales Bazan chat about their favorite movies, ones they love to hate, crushes, and more on “The Rom-Com Room.” The co-hosts will also share advice and invite listeners to reclaim romantic comedies instead of calling the genre a “guilty pleasure.”

This is Dating

Eavesdrop on virtual first dates with “This is Dating,” featuring modern daters looking to change their app-swiping ways and connect. With help from a team of fairy godparent experts and coaches, the four daters are set up with potential matches and listeners are flies on the wall for their experiences. The team sends the daters questions and conversation prompts while dates are in session to nudge them along.

Meet Cute Rom-Coms

“Meet Cute Rom-Coms” are perfect pick-me-ups for Valentine’s Day and all-year round. Check out new, semiweekly episodes running less than 15 minutes each and make sure to start over the episodes from the beginning of each story arc.

Land of the Giants

This season on “Land of the Giants,” hosts Sangeeta Singh Kurtz and Lakshmi Rengarajan look at the lucrative industry of dating apps. The series examines the likes of Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, and such companies’ impact on users’ hopes of connecting. Hear from industry leaders, experts, and users as they talk all about “Dating Games” and if the dating apps’ business goals line up with users’ goals. This series presented by The Verge, The Cut, and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

When I Met You

Meet Cute’s “When I Met You” is a series inspired by true events. Episodes embrace all the feels like falling in love, awkwardness, happiness, sadness, and everything in between. Tune in for over 20 stories running less than 7 minutes each featuring performances from professional actors.