Confessions of a Closet Romantic
109 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsWelcome to Confessions of a Closet Romantic, a sweet and sexy show highlighting the smartest, most engaging romantic stories on the big and small screen — sometimes books— that share a common takeaway.
I'm a writer, former film student and book reviewer who has loved romance forever — those hopeful, heartwarming and dramatic stories about sex, romance, connection and love. I've always felt shamed for loving this genre, but not anymore!
Every two weeks, I'll be your ridiculously enthusiastic, gushing, affectionate companion as we explore a diverse range of sexy, compelling love stories. Romance lovers, never feel shame, and never watch alone! Join me!
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Episodes
Hot Romcom Mamas: The Idea of You/Mother of the Bride/A Family Affair
July 12, 2024 21:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm child free but Anne Hathaway, Brooke Shields and Nicole Kidman are the hottest of hot mamas in these romcoms, and make motherhood look like living your best life on steroids. It's a difficult enough job without worrying if you qualify for the MILF label like these ladies do, and sure, they're guilty of mothering while sexy and gorgeous. But these actresses of a certain age playing mothers of a certain age taking a chance on hot lovers and age-gap romance also act...
Romance Replay: LGBTQ Love
June 28, 2024 19:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBSend us a Text Message. Let's close out Pride Month with a replay of my episode about two amazing LGBTQ screen romances: the romantic drama Supernova, and the gleeful musical about teen love, The Prom. Prepare for snotty crying, then bopping in your chair. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com Don't miss my episode on the fantastic LGBTQ romcom Fire Island. And the fabulously funny, honest and sexy gay romcom Bros. Support the Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please click shar...
Girl Crush: Bottoms/Booksmart/The Half of It
June 14, 2024 17:00 - 37 minutes - 25.5 MBSend us a Text Message. Hey romance friends! Let's celebrate Pride Month with a trio of smart, funny, quirky movies about queer girl crushes on high school classmates. Classmates to lovers is one of the most popular romantic tropes ever, and these movies have quite the unique take on those beats. The friendships are deep and full of love, the romantic explorations are hot, sexy, and heartfelt and the kisses are swoon-worthy. High school can be an exciting, and scary time for figuring out yo...
The Romantic Awakening of Don Jon
May 31, 2024 20:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBSend us a Text Message. A romcom where a main character is addicted to porn? That's just the beginning of this amazing character study, written, directed by and starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. Jon is a difficult man to admire: he's a dishonest womanizer, marinated in heteronormative culture and toxic masculinity. Then two women cross his path and change it —one to his detriment (Scarlett Johansson as Barbara) and one to his betterment (Julianne Moore as Esther). Esther provides the mirror to...
Quick Take: Bridgerton Season 3
May 17, 2024 21:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBSend us a Text Message. It's been a couple of years, a hot minute since we spent time with the Bridgerton and Featherington families. If this was real life, every single woman in the Ton would now be a confirmed spinster, but fortunately, in this glittering romantic period costume drama world, we resume the story as the wallflower Penelope Featherington finally gets the romance she has dreamed of. The second part of Season 3 airs on Netflix next month — how in the Regency world will this f...
Love and Taylor Swift
May 03, 2024 21:00 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MBSend us a Text Message. Romance friends! I'm celebrating my 100th episode this week with an indulgent deep dive into the tear-stained emotion, blind love and delicious word play in Taylor Swift songs. My romance friend Mariah, a Swiftie from way back, returns to the show so we can gush together over the passion, the heartbreak, the artistry, the tiny exquisite emotional universe that is every Taylor Swift song (almost 250 released, and counting). https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.co...
Serial Romantic: This is Me Now: a Love Story
April 19, 2024 18:00 - 25 minutes - 17.6 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm a J Lo fangirl from way back, and even though the title of her narrative concept film based on the album of the same name seemed ridiculously self-absorbed, I got completely transported by it anyway, because...J Lo. It's not just the story of her second chance romance with the person she never stopped loving, and has reunited with over the age of 50, it's a story about how she learned to love herself in the intervening years. I was also super invested in the maki...
Romance Replay: Second Chance Romance
April 05, 2024 18:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MBSend us a Text Message. I have the sweetest hangover that I don't want to get over. My first ever visit with my long-distance sweetie was amazing, he's already gone home, and we're already planning our next visit. I'm exhausted, but in the very best way, so I bring you a replay of my second chance romance episode, which I created a little over a year ago after I got on dating apps for the first time in years, hoping for a love like this. And then Twitter brought us together —once upon a tim...
Long Distance Romance: Going the Distance/What Happens Later
March 22, 2024 18:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm meeting my LDR sweetie for the first time this week, after more than a year of online dating, and excited doesn't begin to cover it. Humans are spread out all over the globe yet hyper connected, so many of us will experience a long distance romance at some point in our lives. LDRs are thrilling and intensely romantic, but can also leave you open to frustration and pain. A decent lingerie collection, unlimited Skype, solid communication skills, generous use of em...
Spirituality and Desire: Black Narcissus
March 08, 2024 17:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm a classic film nut, and there's no better example of overblown, dramatic and romantic Hollywood storytelling than the movie Black Narcissus, starring Deborah Kerr. Based on the 1930s Rumer Godden novel, it’s a story that shows how women throughout history have so often buried themselves in service to others as they sublimate their own feelings and desires — or more likely, find those desires shamed, controlled and punished. So let's celebrate Women's History Mont...
Think Pink: Barbie Part 2
February 23, 2024 19:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBSend us a Text Message. In this episode, I'm joined by my romance friend Mariah to gush, giggle, get deep and then frothy again about the Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, directed by Greta Gerwig. It was the most mega of mega movie hits last year, now Oscar nominated in many categories, and well deserved. It's been a long time since a movie has made me laugh and think this much, and we just can't stop talking about it. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com The...
Hotter Than Ever
February 09, 2024 19:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MBSend us a Text Message. My favorite shows, books or movies feature women over the age of 40 finding sensuality, romance and connections of whatever type they desire. Unfortunately, society likes to pretend that women — especially older women —don't have desires. There aren't many examples of sexy fearless aging in Hollywood once you get beyond the Book Club and Nancy Meyers movies, shows like And Just Like That and Grace and Frankie, all of which feature the movie industry stable of "accept...
Boss in Pink: Barbie
January 26, 2024 19:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm one of the last remaining people on planet earth to see this amazing movie, and it still managed to surprise me, even after all the hype. I love Greta Gerwig, I love her courage in telling a story about feminism and patriarchy using Bazooka pink, candy colors and a beloved, if stereotypical, doll. And I love Barbie even more now after learning about her modern diversity and variations. For a doll that's survived more than 60 years, transformed amid many cultural ...
Hanukkah Hijinx: Round and Round
December 14, 2023 12:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBSend us a Text Message. It's a holiday miracle: I've finally watched one of the most perfect Hallmark holiday movies I've ever seen, with stellar writing, directing, editing, and acting. The story is heartfelt, it has relatable stakes, it's romantic and touching and funny: everything a holiday movie should be. Not surprisingly, it's inspired by one of my favorite romcoms of all time, Groundhog Day, the original time-loop romance. I rooted for all of the characters, and the central romance, ...
Darkly Funny Connection: Shiva Baby
November 30, 2023 12:00 - 24 minutes - 16.8 MBSend us a Text Message. There's no way to exactly describe the dark and hilarious debut dramedy Shiva Baby except to say: you giggle at what should be sad, feel heartbroken for what should be exciting, become annoyed with the emotional meddling, and end up a ball of stress and tension — until the twists and turns of this darkly comic plot unwind the whole thing, ending with a painfully hysterical moment and heartwarming queer romance in the making. With an emotional roller coaster loaded wi...
Shipboard Romance
November 16, 2023 12:00 - 44 minutes - 30.5 MBSend us a Text Message. How I love a romance set aboard a luxury cruise ship or ocean liner, especially classic movies set on ships in the early to mid 20th-century, a heyday of ocean travel. The coziness, the leather luggage with a separate toiletries case, the cute staterooms and cabins, the service, people dressing for elegant dinner and dancing, the endless ocean views, and falling asleep rocked by waves...of course, in this dream, I'm on the Cunard Line in a massive luxury suite with f...
Gothic Romance: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde/Mary Reilly
November 02, 2023 10:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBSend us a Text Message. It's Halloween week, and time to confess that I'm strangely attracted to Gothic horror stories and creepy "romance," especially the many interpretations of the fascinating classic 19th century novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Each filmmaker and writer present different themes in their Jekyll and Hyde adaptations, from gender and sexual politics, personal ethics and morality, to abusive patriarchal structures and class and power inequities. The original ...
Romance in the Buff: Naked Attraction
October 19, 2023 10:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBSend us a Text Message. Selecting potential mates based strictly on physical attributes is definitely a vibe —as seen on the UK dating show Naked Attraction, which has recently started streaming in the US. As expected with a TV show that features full frontal nudity, it's inspiring quite a lot of discussion :) So I invited my UK-based sweetie (a.k.a. Mr. Bingley, a perfect nickname, because he's ridiculously kind, like the Jane Austen character) to discuss the nuances with me, because he ha...
Romance Replay: Love Over 40
October 05, 2023 10:00 - 30 minutes - 20.9 MBSend us a Text Message. I just saw Book Club: The Next Chapter, a frothy, fun and flirty sequel to Book Club, a movie I talked about in this episode, and I'll feature the sequel in an upcoming episode. This time, the besties end up in Italy and it's a sweet and sexy exploration of long-term friendship, shared adventures, and finding your romantic bliss by taking a chance with the help of friends who almost know you better than you know yourself. They sip Prosecco in a Roman café, travel by...
Quick Look: the Trope-y Romcom Goodness of Love at First Sight
September 21, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm not a snob when to comes to romantic tropes. I don't discriminate: the more outlandish the better, and I love them all. Every beat might be as familiar as the back of my hand, but my attitude is: bring it on again. It's even better when there are little refreshing updates to beloved romcom plots, like in the new Netflix movie Love at First Sight. This unimaginative title promises the most smarmy movie experience ever, but it turns out to be a tender, warmhearted,...
Romantic, Painterly Psychological Thrillers: The Essex Serpent/The Beguiled
September 07, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 16.4 MBSend us a Text Message. Is it Halloween yet? If it's getting cooler where you live, too, let's brew some tea or pour some hot chocolate or hot cider and snuggle on the sofa with two of the most atmospheric, painterly, creepy yet oddly feminist and romantic movies I've ever seen. CW: brief references to marital physical abuse and graphic 19th century medical techniques. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com A ghostly figure, an escapee from the local asylum, a forced marriage to a v...
Love Bomb: You Hurt My Feelings
August 24, 2023 10:00 - 25 minutes - 17.3 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm a huge fan of the films of Nicole Holofcener, and her latest is another lo-fi, funny, thoughtful story for anybody who's ever tried to make a romantic, platonic, sibling or parental relationship thrive. Is it ever okay to tell a little white lie to the people we love to spare their feelings? When is it okay to fib a little? Do blunt honesty, the unvarnished truth, or our brilliant but unsolicited opinions make people feel appreciated and loved, or is the truth a ...
Surf's Up: the Sensual Romance of Surfing
August 10, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBSend us a Text Message. Ever since I first saw 1959's Gidget rerun on TV, I thought surfing and beach culture looked like the most fun you could have all summer. I might be an outsider still but my surf crush continues with every surfing movie or documentary that comes along, and the crazy-sexy fictional or real-life characters who make riding multi-story ocean waves look like a beach picnic. How could you not fall in love? https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com Movies The one and ...
Romance Replay: Year Round Holiday Magic: The Bishop's Wife
July 27, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Summer is kicking my butt, and I desperately need to chill. Let's celebrate Christmas in July and enjoy a replay of one of my favorite episodes, about one of my favorite classic holiday movies: the romantic and spiritual The Bishop's Wife, starring my movie boyfriend, the dashing and debonair Cary Grant. This story is the gift that keeps on giving: what if a gorgeous angel came down to earth to answer a bishop's prayers for guidance, giving him not what he wants, bu...
Reunited in Love
July 13, 2023 10:00 - 35 minutes - 24.4 MBSend us a Text Message. It's almost reunion season — translated into stories, that theme seems to always include unrequited love and crushes, frustrated ambition, embarrassing attempts to impress, reliving lost youth, and shattered dreams. Some are dramedy, some straight-up drama, but reunion movies have one thing in common: characters whose pasts collide with the present in endlessly fascinating ways. And the plots nearly always involve a search for connection, romantic or otherwise. CW:...
Quick Take: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
June 29, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 16.2 MBSend us a Text Message. This minor Woody Allen film asks a really pertinent question for a romance podcast: do we fool ourselves by looking to the stars, horoscopes, psychics or fortune tellers to comfort and convince us that love is out there waiting for us? Or does this harmless belief in destiny help us survive a harsh and often cruel world? While possibly making us very annoying to friends and family? Gemma Jones is the sparkling center of this quietly humorous and often emotional movi...
LGBTQ Love: Supernova/The Prom
June 15, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm taking a closer look at two emotional and exhilarating romantic LGBTQ love stories to celebrate Pride Month. These movies are very different in tone, but are equally heartwarming and visually exciting, with incredible performances. I laughed, I cried, I danced and sang along, and you can't ask for a better celebration than that. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com Supernova has a quiet confidence that lulls you to its poignant, inevitable conclusion, b...
Raunchy Medieval Romcom: The Little Hours
June 01, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 16.4 MBSend us a Text Message. It's difficult to describe the tone of this bawdy, outrageously gigglesome medieval romcom: it's played straight, for laughs, while deeply subversive, satirical and quietly hilarious, just like its 14th century source material, The Decameron. The brilliant comic acting and directing maximize the satire, connecting ancient social norms with current religious, sexual and gender politics. The result is quietly magnificent. CW: kink and sex, religious satire https://www...
Bros-mance
May 18, 2023 10:00 - 25 minutes - 17.4 MBSend us a Text Message. Bros was a bit of a box office disappointment, but it's a fabulously funny, honest and sexy gay romcom. Fire Island may have gotten there first by also showcasing an entirely LGBTQ cast, but when it's about romcoms this good, everybody's a winner. We're finally hearing different voices in Hollywood (not enough), and seeing a diversity of people (not enough, but going in the right direction) experiencing on-screen romance and love, and it's about damn time. https://w...
Sexy Dad Bod: the Evolution of George Clooney
May 04, 2023 10:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBSend us a Text Message. What more could be said about witty, gorgeous George Clooney? For a long time now, George has been a worthy modern day Cary Grant, with all of the bantering sexy suave of that classic film icon. But I've noticed in more recent roles that George is moving into his rumpled cargo shorts phase (with just the slightest potbelly, still ridiculously attractive) as he adds more and more father figure roles to his hot little filmography. https://www.confessionsofaclosetroman...
Breakups and Makeups: High Fidelity/Rye Lane
April 20, 2023 10:00 - 39 minutes - 27.2 MBSend us a Text Message. The only romantic breakups I "enjoy" are fictional ones, especially if the couple makes up after learning something valuable about themselves and their partner. Nothing better than romantic reconciliation, but sometimes the healthiest outcome is going our separate ways, and we often discover that our best romance is with ourselves. Romcom realizations like these are much easier and neater to achieve on film, and that's probably why I love screen stories like these. ...
Beautiful Survivor: Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
April 06, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBSend us a Text Message. Warning: major gushing ahead! In this episode, I'm taking a look at the new two-part documentary Pretty Baby, all about the life and career of Brooke Shields. I think it's safe to say she was my first girl crush, and I still adore her. She's had a charmed but often difficult life, full of exploitation and some abuse, and has come out on the other side with her intelligence, sense of humor and groundedness intact. She's a survivor, and for that I admire the hell out o...
Connecting the Dots: Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne
March 23, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBSend us a Text Message. You know what would be fun? A trip to a planet where women's pleasure is a priority, and the fluidity of relationship styles, sexual orientations and identities is embraced at all times! In other words, let's journey into the candid documentary series Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne, hosted by the supermodel turned actress and LGBTQ+ icon, documenting her personal and educational exploration of all things surrounding identity, sexual pleasure, romantic connection and...
Romantic Heartache & Lessons of Love 2: Hadestown/Ironweed/The Red Shoes
March 09, 2023 11:00 - 41 minutes - 28.4 MBSend us a Text Message. It's part two of our exploration of sad romances. This time, we look at the Tony award-winning Broadway musical Hadestown, which is--like Moulin Rouge--based on the ancient myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. I look at another ill-fated Depression-era love story, Ironweed, and another tragic art vs. romantic love story, The Red Shoes. And Oz, The Relationship Coach, stops by to give us some tips on handling heartbreak. All I can say is: have tissues nearby. https://www.co...
Romantic Heartache & Lessons of Love 1: Moulin Rouge
February 23, 2023 11:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBSend us a Text Message. Sometimes all you want is a good cathartic cry, especially if it's over love and heartbreak. In this two-part episode, I'm joined by romance writer and fellow heartache aficionado Mariah Cotnoir to explore two tragic love stories full of romance, beauty and much-needed personal growth. We've all been there —if we're lucky —and despite the pain, romance is still the best game in town, whether in lived experience or the movies. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic...
A Different Valentine: the Romantic Drama of Dating Shows with Every Rom Com
February 09, 2023 11:00 - 41 minutes - 28.6 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm back with fresh episodes featuring slightly offbeat romance, just in time for Valentine's Day :-) First up, a conversation with Jennifer Howell, the producer and cohost of the Every Rom Com podcast about the romance, drama and fun of reality dating shows. She's obsessed with them and I'm not at all, so exploring the format and culture of these shows was fascinating. And I learned that we both think intellectuals are hotter than gym rats (they really are). https:...
Romance Rerun: Romance After Dark
January 26, 2023 11:00 - 35 minutes - 24.4 MBSend us a Text Message. My final rerun this month is one of the spiciest episodes I've ever done — it's story time for adults. So if you like your romance sizzling hot and kinky, put the earbuds in and enjoy! Support the Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Thanks for listening!
Romance Rewind: Bedroom Therapy
January 12, 2023 11:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm taking a tiny break this month to plan ahead and I'm re-running some of my favorite episodes from last year. First up, Bedroom Therapy, featuring the sexy and heartwarming movies Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and The Sessions (check out the original episode for more information on my guests and show notes). https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com Support the Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Th...
Quick Take: How to Please a Woman
December 29, 2022 11:00 - 19 minutes - 13.7 MBSend us a Text Message. I am starting the year as I mean to go on, celebrating another mainstream movie, much like Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, that is focused on womens' capabilities, wishes, desires and pleasures. And not as a subplot, but central to the action. I think it's a very auspicious start to the new year. May this tiny trend continue! https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com It's their job to iron and mop and give orgasms—in whatever order the customer demands. Luckily no...
Year-Round Holiday Magic: The Bishop's Wife
December 15, 2022 11:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MBSend us a Text Message. So many holiday films in my rotation every year, and my favorites tend to be classic movies: absorbing emotional stories full of romantic, platonic and familial love, redemption arcs, and endings with joy and hope. The Bishop's Wife (1947) has it all, and it's a movie I watch throughout the year when I need comfort or inspiration. And you can't beat Cary Grant as an angel in a well-cut suit. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com More about The Bishop's Wife ...
A Musical for the Lovelorn: Cyrano
December 01, 2022 11:00 - 37 minutes - 25.8 MBSend us a Text Message. "Yes, I'm in love. I dare." Oh this movie. I'm sobbing at the drop of a hat lately, and it turns out that a heart in love and cracked wide open is the perfect foil for Joe Wright's glorious, lush, emotional film, Cyrano. This sung-through musical makes the prettiest lovelorn cocoon, and Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett are a revelation. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com/ The rich, romantic look of the Cyrano movie is just as compelling as the lyrical cho...
Quick Take: Kevin Can F... Himself
November 17, 2022 11:00 - 19 minutes - 13.1 MBSend us a Text Message. This dramedy-within-a-sitcom show is all about settling in life, marriage and relationships, especially romantic relationships, and then waking up to who you are and what you really want and need. I can't stop thinking about it, Annie Murphy's performance, the way it's structured and written — and that manic intrusive laugh track, which can just get the f.... outta here. Kevin Can F... Himself isn't just a PG-rated title, but a symbol of a character who struggles to...
Dating Romcoms: He's Just Not That Into You/How to Be Single
November 03, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 20.6 MBSend us a Text Message. If you're the one person on the planet who hasn't heard: I've been on dating apps, and wow, I need to process. Let's do it together, shall we?! There's nothing more amusing than a dating romcom full of romantic disaster, then sweet gooey love at the end. Or that invigorating enemies-to-lovers story to get you in the mood to dive back into your matches. Or not. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com "Not surprisingly, men were more likely than women to rate ho...
Romances We Love: Juno/Before Midnight
October 20, 2022 10:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBSend us a Text Message. From time to time, I like to ask people about the romances they love best, the stories that changed their lives or made them think about love and connection a bit differently. After meeting Danielle and Wolfgang from the Hello, I'm Listening podcast, I immediately wanted to ask them this question. Turns out that we all love a good coming-of-age story —plus their real-life romance started out with a meet cute, too, so I liked them immediately. https://www.confessions...
Second Chance Romance Part Two
October 06, 2022 10:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm concluding my second-anniversary celebration with another second-chance romance episode, featuring movies about finding romance later in life, especially after sadness and disappointment. This theme is one of my favorites, especially as I get older and wade back into the dating pool. It's a funny and bizarre experience at times, but these movies give me hope that my second chance is out there—if only for two hours. Movies The Face of Love is described as a "psy...
Second Chance Romance Part One
September 22, 2022 10:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBSend us a Text Message. I'm celebrating the second anniversary of this podcast with a two-part episode on one of my favorite romantic tropes, second-chance romance. In this case, it's finding love, sex and connection at a later age or after romantic or sexual disappointment. Older and wiser has never felt more hopeful as I'm talking with retired sex therapist and erotic romance writer Dr. Donna Jennings a.k.a. Dr. J, getting her tips for navigating healthy sexuality at any age. CW: this i...
Quick Take: How to Build a Sex Room
September 08, 2022 10:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MBSend us a Text Message. It's a NSFW, shame-free look at relationship and healthy sexual desires to celebrate the second anniversary of this podcast! I've grown along with this show, and I fully embrace the wide range of fantasies and desires represented in sex-positive romances, romantic movies, and TV shows — like How to Build a Sex Room on Netflix. I can't say enough about how lighthearted, fun, empowering, sexy and surprising this show is. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com R...
Adapting Austen: Netflix's Persuasion with Romancing the Story
August 25, 2022 10:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Apparently I'm one of the few people on the globe who enjoyed Netflix's Persuasion with Dakota Johnson :) I take a deep dive into this adaptation with Sarah Gamez, romance writer, filmmaker and host of Romancing the Story podcast. We chew over what the filmmakers got right and perhaps got wrong in this version. And I confess that pretty much any Jane Austen adaptation is a good adaptation for me as long as it's billed the right way. https://www.confessionsofaclosetr...
Advice Romance Part 2: The Truth About Cats and Dogs/The Ex Talk
August 11, 2022 10:00 - 37 minutes - 25.8 MBSend us a Text Message. It's more fictional and real-life advice in this action-packed episode! Isabelle Popp, a contributor to BookRiot, stops by to talk about her recent essay about romance novels, and Carly Lane, pop culture critic and "romance nerd" for Collider, Vulture and Paste Magazine, explores her upcoming book A Regency Guide to Modern Life. We'll revisit the vintage romcom The Truth About Cats and Dogs, a Cyrano retelling set against the backdrop of a pet-advice show, and take a...
Advice Romance Part 1: Romance Road Test
July 28, 2022 10:00 - 32 minutes - 22 MBSend us a Text Message. In the next couple of episodes I take a look at advice romance: fictional advice in a contemporary romance and a romcom set at radio stations, real life online advice, and a smart, funny new podcast called Romance Road Test. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com What will pull these couples closer together--or push them apart? In Romance Road Test, good friends Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg put romance hacks to the test in their marriages. The sho...