To the Best of Our Knowledge: Love Lust Longing

In this hour, we've turned our hearts over to software; 30 million Americans have online dating profiles. About one-fifth of all new relationships in North America start with people meeting online. So far, the algorithms don't seem to know much more than we do, about what we're looking for. Journalist Dan Slater talks about what he discovered while working on his new book, Love in the Time of Algorithms.

Next, is this... a date? Should I ..? Are we going to..? A story from Marilyn Pittman.

Then, do you believe in love at first sight? James Bennett says he experienced... well... something like it

After that, what turns you on? Sure, there are the obvious answers: beauty, brains, braun. But human sexuality is a complicated business. Studying it is more complicated still. That was, until the internet came along. Computational neuroscientist Ogi Ogas is half of the team behind A Billion Wicked Thoughts, the book that used web search history data to blow the lid off sexual desire. If you want to learn more, take a look at this 2012 talk with Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam.

Following that, so romance is about sex, right? By definition? Not so, says David Jay. He founded the Asexual Visibility & Education Network.

Then, seduction seems like a dirty word these days. In our era of frankness, hook-ups and FWBs, why bother seducing someone? Cultural historian Betsy Prioleau says charm is an endangered, misunderstood and useful art.

Next, a story about seduction, about allegiance, about love. From Donna McNeil.

And finally, so romance is about attraction, about intimacy, and sometimes about sex. Sometimes, it's also about love. So now for an even larger question: what the heck is love? Psyhchologist Barbara Fredrickson's says love is more brief - and more available - than we think it is. [Broadcast Date: February 13, 2013]

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