Radio 831: A Romance Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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Radio 831: A Romance Podcast

iHeartPodcasts

Arts

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/7d. Total Eps: 16

A weekly discussion of everything romance—from the novels and the tropes to the book-to-screen adaptations and, of course, the drama of it all—with hosts Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall. Brought to you by the romance publisher 831 Stories.

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https://omnystudio.com/listener
16 shares
https://www.netflix.com/title/81939823
2 shares
https://www.juliaturshen.com/
1 share

https://www.instagram.com/nifmuhammad
1 share
https://www.instagram.com/baskinsuns
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https://www.instagram.com/squashgoblin
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Score global : 47%

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Welcome to Radio 831: A Romance Podcast

Thursday, April 30, 2026 • Duration 02:02

Everyone is talking about romance, and hosts Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall are here to delve into why. Each week on Radio 831, they dig into the books, tropes, adaptations, drama, and discourse shaping the conversation, exploring what our obsession with love stories says about how we actually live. Expect genre deep-dives, expert discussions with authors and superfans, and strong opinions on everything from dark romance and age gaps to Wuthering Heights and certain Russian hockey players. Come back May 7 to tune in.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Introducing Radio 831: A Romance Podcast! Plus, a Grab-Bag Speed Round

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 • Duration 08:49

It’s been about a year since we’ve been in your ears, and we’re so excited to share some news! Coming May 7, this feed will be the new home of the Radio 831 podcast: Your weekly dose of all things romance. It’s a production of iHeartPodcasts hosted by Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall, two brilliant, funny, knowledgeable people we love having in our ears.

It’s a half-hour show that we like to think of as the SportsCenter of smut: the audio companion to our romantic fiction publishing company 831 Stories that delves into everything from why certain subgenres are having a moment—hello, cowboys!—to what’s happening in the Jane Austen Verse.

Also, while we have you, we figured we’d take the opportunity to share some of the things that have made us wish we still had a podcast over these last 12 months. Butter bust, wild brand websites, an emotional phone call, and sausage-race innovation await!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Romance Adaptations, Rivals Season 2 with Tarah DeWitt, and Internet Boyfriend Nominations

Thursday, May 21, 2026 • Duration 31:49

It's summer adaptation season, and hosts Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall are taking stock: what Heated Rivalry got right, what People We Meet on Vacation got wrong, and what lessons studios are going to take from both. Then author Tarah DeWitt joins to break down the first episodes of Rivals Season 2, including: the moral complexity, the question of whether any sex scene can truly be called gratuitous, and what it means that Rupert Campbell-Black is, for the first time, trying to deny his nature. Plus: a quarterly Internet Boyfriend nomination round in which Sanjana makes a powerful case for Hannah Einbinder and Tyler lobbies hard for an underdog.

On adaptations: the Heated Rivalry blueprint, the People We Meet on Vacation debate, and the Patrick Schwarzenegger Beach Read casting that has the fandom in shambles.
Tarah DeWitt is the author of Funny Feelings, Rootbound, Savor It, The Co-op, and Left of Forever. Her next, Lost and Found, is out in August.
Rivals Season 2 is streaming now on Hulu and is based on the bonkbusters by Dame Jilly Cooper.

Yearning, Wuthering Heights with Betty Corrello, and a Backlist Reading Assignment

Thursday, May 14, 2026 • Duration 31:13

Welcome back to Radio 831, where hosts Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall make the case that yearning isn’t just trending—it’s a defining orientation toward life. Then they chat with author Betty Corrello to dig into what Wuthering Heights is actually doing in the canon: Is it a love story, is it camp, and what has romance inherited from Cathy and Heathcliff anyway? Plus: Sanjana gives Tyler her first homework assignment, Lisa Kleypas's Again the Magic, and Tyler comes back a changed woman.

On yearning: Allison P. Davis’s “A Year on Our Knees” for The Cut, the movie Pillion, and the idea that lit-fic assumes everyone is cynical and jaded ℅ Mel Thomas (aka @page.melt).
Betty Corrello is here to talk her favorite classic novel Wuthering Heights—the latest adaptation of which is now streaming on HBO. Her last banger of a romance (written under BC Dolce) is My Italian Vampire, and her next, out this October, is Back for Seconds.
Sanj’s backlist homework for Tyler: Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Origin Stories, the Rules of Romance with Jen Prokop, and Summer’s Anticipation Index

Thursday, May 7, 2026 • Duration 30:13

Welcome to Radio 831, where hosts Sanjana Basker and Tyler McCall share their romance origin stories and make the case for why romance is fiction's most underestimated genre. Then they sit down with Jen Prokop, co-host of the Fated Mates podcast, to break down what actually makes a romance a romance: the HEA, the theory of change, the unspoken rule that love has to make you better. Plus: what our hosts can’t wait to read and watch this summer.

Sanjana Basker’s romance origin story: period pieces and Lisa Kleypas’s historical romances.
Tyler McCall’s romance origin story: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee (and Harry Styles fanfic) and Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (related: this Jezebel article).
Four examples of romance at its best, from Jen Prokop, co-host of the Fated Mates podcast: The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn, Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, and Indigo and by Beverly Jenkins.

Open-Door vs. Closed-Door Romance, Kate Goldbeck on Writing Under Reader Surveillance, and a Case for Cheating

Thursday, August 6, 2026 • Duration 33:50

Bring the steam: Sanjana and Tyler advocate that sex scenes count as character work and that too many books miss that opportunity. Then Kate Goldbeck—the author of You, Again and Daddy Issues—stops by to talk about what it's actually like to write romance in an era of chronically online readers and, well, Threads. To close things out, Sanj and Tyler make the case for messier, sillier plots: well-executed cheating and unhinged premises, please.

Our two closed-door book picks are YA: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert and Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood.
Kate Goldbeck is the author of You, Again and Daddy Issues, and her Substack is a great BTS look at being a romance writer right now.
The wishlist for messier romance: the kind of emotional cheating brought to us by You’ve Got Mail and the sort of ridiculous set-ups Susan Elizabeth Phillips delivered with Nobody's Baby But Mine.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Case for Bad Sex Scenes, Riss M. Neilson on Disability in Romance, and What We’ve Consumed This Month

Thursday, July 30, 2026 • Duration 33:18

Hear us out: An awkward sex scene can actually be better than a frictionless one. Take the examples Sanj and Tyler cite from Business or Pleasure and Act Your Age, Eve Brown! Then, Riss M. Neilson shares her experiences writing chronic illness and disability and delivering romance to characters who deserve love and steam. Plus, a what-we’ve-consumed-this-month roundup ending with a wildly bad Italian accent courtesy of a rewatch of The Wedding Planner.

Most-memorable sex scene mentions: Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon and Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert.
Riss M. Neilson is the author of A Love Like the Sun and The Bridge Back to You. Her rec: Reel by Kennedy Ryan.
What we’ve consumed this month: The Invite, Lisa Kleypas’s The Wallflower series, Fossil Feud by Maggie North, Chase Me If You Can by Heather Francis, and .

Romance World-Building, Adriana Herrera on Historical Trailblazers, and All-Time Summer Reads

Thursday, May 28, 2026 • Duration 30:04

Sanjana and Tyler open on a question that cuts across every romance subgenre: What does authenticity in world-building actually require, and when does getting it wrong take readers out of the story entirely? Sanj brings her Corn Laws knowledge and a therapist-in-training's eye; Tyler brings ten years of fashion editing and very strong opinions about brand-dropping. Then author and publisher Adriana Herrera joins to break down the Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection—the Kickstarter collaboration with Ali Hazelwood, the Fated Mates podcast, and Julia Whelan's Audiobrary to give five genre-defining historicals the special editions they deserve—and why mainstream publishing keeps selling historicals short. To close: Sanj and Tyler pitch their all-time summer reads and define what separates a summer book from an anytime book.

On world-building authenticity: the fashion-brand problem, on-page therapy sessions, and why internal consistency matters more than strict historical accuracy.
Adriana Herrera is the author of Las Leonas series and co-founder of AH² with Ali Hazelwood. The Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection features Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin, Magpie Lord by KJ Charles, Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, Indigo by Beverly Jenkins, and by Lisa Kleypas.

A Close Reading of an Emily Henry Profile, Naina Kumar on Rom-Com DNA, and the Yearner Hall of Fame

Thursday, July 23, 2026 • Duration 32:58

Why an Emily Henry interview now? Sanjana and Tyler dig into Bloomberg’s recent piece on the author, where she discusses Hollywood adaptations and delivers the all-timer line: “A lot of actors think that it’s less humiliating to pretend to be a Beatle than it is to pretend to be in love.” Then: Naina Kumar joins to talk about heyday rom-com movies as novelistic underpinnings—see her latest, Just a Highland Fling!—and our hosts launch the Yearner Hall of Fame. Congrats to Ethan Hawke and Hanif Abdurraqib!

The Bloomberg Emily Henry interview.
Naina Kumar’s Just a Highland Fling (out this week!), Say You’ll Be Mine, and Flirting with Disaster. Her rom-com Mount Rushmore: When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, Palm Springs, and While You Were Sleeping. Bonus: Kate & Leopold.
Yearner Hall of Fame inductees: Ethan Hawke (his “the one who’s in love always wins” interview with Amelia Dimoldenberg) and poet/romantic/essayist Hanif Abdurraqib.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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ReelShort Romance, Tritney on C-Dramas and the Bathtub Loophole, and Sherry Thomas Homework

Thursday, July 16, 2026 • Duration 30:03

Are you on the vertical-video bandwagon? Or perhaps you’ll be more persuaded by another phenomenon, the C-drama, once you’ve heard @tritney’s take on the Chinese romance boom that has finally hit America. (Of course, she brings her starter-pack picks for anyone who wants to see some of the best eye-acting in action.) Then: Sanjana assigns Tyler Sherry Thomas's Private Arrangements, and Tyler becomes a full historical-romance advocate, one devastating "you breathe, and I'll know it's you" line at a time.

The ReelShort phenomenon and Nick Skonberg, vertical-vid star. Plus: Publishers Weekly on Harlequin microdramas.
@tritney’s C-drama romance starter recommendations, all on Netflix: Pursuit of Jade, Love in the Clouds, Hidden Love, The First Frost, and the BL (boys’ love) classic The Untamed.
Tyler's homework assignment: Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Radio 831: A Romance Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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Radio 831: A Romance Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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Other29

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RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Bookshop80

Other29

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