Love Factually – Details, episodes & analysis

How much insight do people have about their romantic preferences? What does effective support look like? Does career devotion require tradeoffs in our relationships? Paul and Eli discuss the science behind the acclaimed musical throwback: La La Land.

For show notes, click here. 

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

How does the trajectory of a relationship unfold over time? What does a good apology look like? Can men and women actually be friends? Paul and Eli unpack the themes of the genre-redefining masterpiece: When Harry Met Sally.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel are two professors who use psychological science to explain what your favorite romantic films get right -- and wrong -- about attraction and relationships.

Do people agree about who is attractive? What does it take to be a good matchmaker? Does similarity predict attraction? Paul and Eli discuss how well Clueless—the satirical 90’s remake of Jane Austen’s Emma—reflects the science of relationships.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

What does it mean to share your life with someone? How does sexual compatibility work? Can new relationships help us get over old ones? Paul and Eli consider these questions, and more, in their analysis of “Her,” Spike Jonze’s 2013 boy-meets-operating-system romance starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

What are the consequences of believing in the idea of a soulmate? How do relationships develop from the first day to the last? How well does the reality in our heads match the reality in the world? Paul and Eli consider these questions, and more, in their analysis of (500) Days of Summer, the 2009 romantic comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

How does passionate love feel? What does it mean to pay attention to each other? Are there distinctive characteristics in the emergence of same-sex attraction? Paul and Eli consider these questions, and more, in their analysis of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the gorgeous period drama depicting forbidden love in late-eighteenth-century France.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

Are some people un-date-able? What does attachment avoidance look like? How should we think about grand romantic gestures? Paul and Eli dissect 10 Things I Hate about You, the 90s attempt to modernize Shakespeare’s eternally controversial “The Taming of the Shrew.” 

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

What is the absolute worst way to handle relationship conflict? Do we distort our own memories to make us feel better about our relationship? Are the reasons we’re attracted to someone similar to the reasons we’re attracted to someone else? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind submerges Paul and Eli in an ecstatic fever dream about these fascinating questions.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil

How quickly do attachment bonds start to form? What are the relationship consequences of believing that men and women are fundamentally different? How does self-disclosure cultivate feelings of intimacy? Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise takes Paul and Eli on a nostalgic joyride through these and other topics.

For show notes, click here.

Hosted, produced, and edited by Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel.

Music by Andrew Fraker and Sons

Artwork by Katie Keil