Home Podcasts Love-ly: Exploring Modern Relationships
Love-ly: Exploring Modern Relationships

Love-ly: Exploring Modern Relationships

Immigrantly Media 66 Episodes Aug 21, 2026

Love-ly is a podcast that explores modern relationships through the lens of cultural traditions and contemporary dating. Host Mehak shares heartfelt stories about love, identity, and connection, focusing on first and second-generation immigrants balancing family expectations with dating apps and 'situationships.' Each episode features conversations that highlight the universal truth that everyone has a lovely story worth telling. New episodes are released every Friday.

Episodes

Don't Let Someone Else's Timeline Lower Your Standards
Don't Let Someone Else's Timeline Lower Your Standards Aug 21, 2026 2746 Summer's ending, everyone around you is coupling up, and suddenly "almost right" starts to feel right enough. Here's your reminder to get pickier, not less. This week, Mehak (@whathemehak) is joined by Evelyn Alvarez (@ripeness), a New York–based entrepreneur, doula, community leader, mother, and one of the tías on Project Pulso's matchmaking show, Tía's Choice. As the first-generation daughter o
The Blue Checkmark of Dating: Is Love Just Social Proof? with Alexa V.
The Blue Checkmark of Dating: Is Love Just Social Proof? with Alexa V. Aug 18, 2026 3078 Fresh off a wholesome, "emotionally regulated" Valentine’s Day with her friends, Mehak (@whathemehak) dives into a deep conversation about why romantic love has become a "performance of adulthood" and a "social status symbol" in 2026. Joining the conversation is content creator Alexa V. (@lifewithlex444), who discusses her decision to opt out of intentional dating in 2026. She opens up about her
Parental Guilt, Digital Wellness, and Why AI Falls Short with Israa Nasir (November 2025)
Parental Guilt, Digital Wellness, and Why AI Falls Short with Israa Nasir (November 2025) Aug 14, 2026 2495 In this episode of Love-ly, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Mehak⁠⁠⁠⁠ sits down with psychotherapist and @well.guide founder Israa Nasir to discuss life as a third-culture kid and why she doesn’t feel guilty about not having children, despite parental expectations. Their conversation also turns to the future of digital mental health care, inspired by Israa’s essay, “Outsourcing Emotional Labor
Maybe We Just Forgot What to Look For
Maybe We Just Forgot What to Look For Aug 7, 2026 1732 This week, no guest — just Mehak. After some health concerns forced her to slow down and put her phone down, she spent time reflecting on where she's headed — the woman she wants to become, the partner she wants to be, and the life she's trying to build. Mehak revisits the conversations she's had this year that have reshaped how she thinks about dating: Clayton Echard on nuance and rushing to ju
The Professional Girlfriend: Inside OnlyFans
The Professional Girlfriend: Inside OnlyFans Jul 31, 2026 2655 This week, Mehak sits down with Gracie Canaan—comedian, writer, actress, and OnlyFans creator—to go inside the world of digital intimacy from both sides of the screen. We love to judge the women who sell intimacy online, but who's really creating the demand? As one half of the six-part investigative podcast OnlyFantasy (made with journalist Leon Neyfakh), Gracie has spent a lot of time thinking ab
Pleasure in the Age of Aesthetic Capitalism with Danielle Bezalel (December 2025)
Pleasure in the Age of Aesthetic Capitalism with Danielle Bezalel (December 2025) Jul 24, 2026 2545 We're bringing back a previous conversation where Mehak sits down with sex educator and pleasure expert Danielle Bezalel—host of Sex Ed with DB. Together, they unpack the motifs that shape our earliest understandings of intimacy: immigrant households where sex was whispered, cultures that mistake silence for safety, and school systems that replace curiosity with misinformation. From D
Two Years on the Pole, Three Years Celibate
Two Years on the Pole, Three Years Celibate Jul 17, 2026 3241 This week, Mehak sits down with her close friend Yana — Ukrainian artist and former midnight ballerina— to unpack the two and a half years she spent working at one of downtown Toronto's most iconic strip clubs, and everything that chapter taught her about men, money, and herself. Yana sets the record straight on the women behind the stage, recounts the one boundary that was violated once and neve
It's About Your Patterns, Not Their Astrology with Jessica Lanyadoo
It's About Your Patterns, Not Their Astrology with Jessica Lanyadoo Jul 10, 2026 3966 Jessica Lanyadoo was getting dressed for a solstice party when her spirit guides told her: don't wear pants, wear a skirt. That night she met the man she's now been with for 14 and a half years. In this episode, Mehak sits down with Jessica Lanyadoo, humanistic astrologer, psychic medium, animal communicator, and host of Ghost of a Podcast, to talk about what astrology can (and can't) tell us abo
How to Make Opposites Last
How to Make Opposites Last Jun 26, 2026 3726 Anna Gold and Tim Utting's love story began at a Halloween party in 1987: hours of conversation, one missed meeting, and a note that said: you have one more chance. He called. The rest is 39 years of history. In this episode, Mehak sits down with Anna and Tim, IMAGO practitioners and co-founders of Replenish Relationships, to talk about what it really takes to communicate across differences. They
No Promposal, No Problem: Aidan Taylor on Dating Late & Owning It (April 2025)
No Promposal, No Problem: Aidan Taylor on Dating Late & Owning It (April 2025) Jun 19, 2026 3360 Is it ever too late to start dating? In an earlier conversation, Mehak sits down with Aidan Taylor (host of Banterly) to unpack what it really means to be a “late bloomer” in the chaotic world of modern dating. They talk about first dates, ghosting, gay bar drama (yes, including a bathroom incident), dating as a person of color in NYC, and what it's like to feel "behind" when everyone around you
Grab a Snack. It's Love Island Season.
Grab a Snack. It's Love Island Season. Jun 12, 2026 994 It's Pride Month. Mikey is back. And this week, Mehak (@whathemehak) and Mikey are doing what they do best: spilling the tea. They get into what Pride actually feels like when you're still coming out at work, a full Love Island debrief (TLDR: Sol is a witch, Sincere is a liar, and Zach is everything), and a recent podcast guest story that has to be heard to be believed. Pull up a chair. Happy
What You Lose When You Always Leave
What You Lose When You Always Leave Jun 5, 2026 2776 Josef Andrew Miklavc grew up everywhere and from nowhere — born in Mexico, raised across six countries before he was 14, the son of an Austrian father and an Indonesian mother, who never quite fit the passport he was handed. He built a corporate career in Australia, then walked away from it, and now spends his days chasing dry seasons between Vietnam and Thailand, building community in places he'l

Recommended