Love Letters

Meredith explores the healing power of music after a breakup. A lovelorn actress walks into a karaoke bar -- and finally finds peace. Hit songwriter Bonnie Hayes explains the universality of a good song. And a master playlist-maker shares his breakup recommendations. Email us at [email protected] or find us online at loveletters.show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The impulse to reinvent after a breakup can be strong. We want to run and chop our hair off. Or change careers. Or maybe climb a mountain. Meredith explores this quest for “breakup accomplishments” and how they help us raise our value -- not necessarily for other people, but for ourselves. Email us at [email protected] or find us online at loveletters.show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So much evaporates after a breakup -- the sweet texts, the lazy brunches, the shared Hulu account you both used for the “The Handmaid’s Tale.” But mementos from your time together remain, like relics of another era. Is it better to hold onto these things, or to dump them? Meredith investigates. With a cameo by Margo Howard. Email us at [email protected] or find us online at loveletters.show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The worst kinds of breakups are the murky ones. You think maybe you've been dumped, but you’re not totally sure. Or you know you’ve been dumped but still have so many questions, starting with: Why? Meredith learns the do’s and don’t’s of breaking up -- from the people who know best. Email us at [email protected] or find us online at loveletters.show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Breaking up was easier before social media. Not the emotional part -- that was always hard -- but the mechanics of it. You broke up and just avoided each other at the mall. Today, disentangling is … complicated. Photos of your ex with a new love infiltrate your news feed. Even a Venmo transaction can send you reeling. Email us at [email protected] or find us online at loveletters.show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s common advice after a breakup: The best way to get over an ex is to get under someone new. But does it work? Is rebound sex empowering, or does it just leave you feeling lonelier? Meredith Goldstein explores the emotions -- and the science -- at play in one of life’s most vulnerable moments. Email us your thoughts at [email protected] and find us online at loveletters.show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices