I appreciate the longevity of this podcast & have heard so many inspiring essays. Unfortunately, I absolutely cannot listen to it now with the new format. I miss the emphasis being on the essay, the soft intro, the music and the celebrity reading it being almost hidden in it all. When I see the titles / pics listed now it kind of reminds me of TMZ.

When I say I eagerly wait for a new episode each week and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that will keep me from playing Modern love during my very long morning drive to work I do a disservice to my absolute fascination with this show. I have cried so many tears with all the love stories, being the hopeless romantic that I am. This show is absolutely magnificent! The recap through the stories from the past 20 years has been incredible. I can’t wait for what next season will bring. You guys make me believe in love again, in all forms of love ❤️

Gen Z has spoken: We don’t need celebrities to endorse true stories. In fact, we’d rather they didn’t. Thanks, love the stories, but real people please!

I used to love this podcast. I can’t stand the new format. My memory is they always had a celebrity read an essay. Sometimes they would have a brief exchange with the narrator/celebrity about the essay. then they would often check in with the author of the essay about the emotional place they were in when they submitted an essay and how the publication of the essay did or did not change their relationships or lives, and finally where they stand now. These long interviews with the celebrities instead of the authors are so incredibly boring, and the “insight” they give often has absolutely nothing to do with the essay and its intended message. And i am often thinking, this is the worst advice/interpretation i have ever heard 1 why are they asking these people? I am not a huge fan of the host and i hate the new format. It is too bad.

Brilliant show! Love all the Modern Love essays and formats. The careful and thoughtful choice to feature each, and every essay, the brilliant conversations about the essay, the amazing themes challenges, and life choices that are explored, each perspective brings a new point of view, refracting like a kaleidoscope. I look forward to each episode.

At least were hearing the whole essay now but why the celebrities? Again, you’re still trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. Listen to your (sometimes now former) listeners: bring back the simplicity of what you used to do. It was wonderful the way it was.

ILOVED HEARING **AUTHORS** TALK ABOUT THEIR PIECES. Reading all the other reviews I feel seen! I thought I was the only one that HATED this new format with celebrities. Turns out Everybody HATES this update. PLEASE BRING BACK THE AUTHORS!!! Some producer im sure saw podcasts with celebs trending. But that’s not why we LISTEN. I LOVE HEARING *AUTHORS* TALK ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES.

What the heck is this? It is not Modern Love. This format and host clearly doesn't get it. The essays alone are the pillar of Modern Love not telling stories about yourself as a host, but Anna somehow inserts her own life into every episode. Don't you have an editor? Is anyone at the NYT even paying attention? These interviews are grating and uninformed. The audible background utters of Anna's tones seem impatient and invasive on her guests. The simplicity of the old format was what made Modern Love so perfect. there was no ego or agenda from the host. I can only hope that someday we can enjoy this podcast again. As it is now, its unlistenable.

This is not it. What a loss. Used to be my fave. Unsubscribing now. Please release the essays first. It’s so much harder to connect to the interview portion episode (which is great), but it would be so much more meaningful if it was done AFTER the essay.

This podcast used to be about true stories from the Modern Love column. I’m disappointed in the new format.

I love hearing the authors read their stories and Anna ask the authors questions afterwards. I don’t understand how a musician, actor, writer’s opinion matters! I want to hear from real people. I love Anna’s interviews of real people…the stories that make Modern Love so beloved. This format is a huge miss.

Anna (((( please )))) stop! it amazes me how much Anna can talk about herself. you’ve let her turn this into a podcast about her. nearly every episode now begins with a story or experience about Anna. even her questions come across as self indulgent. here’s a person who truly loves hearing herself talk and interject her own life into everything. Anna manages to Zelig herself into nearly every essay. The essays should live on their own. Please, please leave your life and ego out of other peoples experiences and their essays. i just can’t listen anymore.

This show used to be excellent. Insightful, deep, emotional stories from a variety of storytellers about the major loves in their lives. It was meaningful. And it showed the true breadth of “love” as it’s experienced by different people. I don’t even know what this show is now. It seems to be a celebrity interview show, with the most irritating host ever doing the audio version of “active listening.” “Mm” and “aw”and “oh” have never been uttered as much on a podcast as they have on this one. This new show has no heart. Last week, an actor spent the episode talking about the experience of making a film almost no one saw. If I wanted to hear that, I’d watch Late Night with whoever-the-heck-hosts-now. I really hope they abandon this nonsense and get back to the heart of this show, the format and content that created their audience.

It’s just not good at all, in any way. You can stop making it, it’s OK.

I subscribed to the original podcast format. This is a completely new podcast and completely disappointing. It’s uninteresting and lacks the depth and creativity it once had. If you want to make a new podcast, make a new podcast - using the same name and rebranding doesn't keep listeners.

Miss the old format and essays. There’s enough content out there already centered around celebrity interviews.

What a disappointment. Anna destroyed a once really poignant podcast. I really could care less about her life and her annoying interviews. The initial format of the show was perfect. The constant rebranding as time went on made the show not better but worse. I realized once I became more fixated on Anna’s constant “Mmhhmmm”’s during interviews than the actual story itself…it was time to unfollow.

More essays. Less celebrities, please. It was wonderful before the change. I’m not here to listen to celebrity promotion.

What happened to the focus on the stories? I don't want to hear celebviews. Please go back to old format.

What happened to the Modern Love essays? Are we just doing celebrity interviews now? Very disappointing!

I decided to give Modern Love a listen after mostly listening to The Daily and the other NYT political shows. I’m a sucker for the subject and feeling of love. And just had to give it a listen, the poems read by the guests are so heartwarming and heartbreaking but they center around love and how it comes in many forms. Definitely recommend it for all who have given love and lost love.

Why are the essays not the main focus? They should he an afterthought of the episode.

Boycott all NYT products due to Genocidal Lies

This is the best show ever!

This podcast used to be one of my favorites but they keep changing the format and it’s not getting better. I like that they have brought back full essays, but it makes no sense that the essay comes after the author interview. Edit: Please stop saying “mmmmm” in response to everything.

I used to love this podcast and look forward to new episodes, but have been disappointed by the newer format and the pieces chosen. It is now like week-old leftovers-fine, but definitely not as good. Why is the interview always dropped before the actual article reading? Did we run out of actors who like this podcast for performative readings? Too much unnecessary narrative by new host, and just overall saddened by the turn of format

This episode neglected to mention the elephant in the room. Dave is autistic and is no more of a issue in the marriage to be solved, than Kristen. Yes, Dave branched out and found his own set of interests. So? Still, they are two married people, one autistic and one allistic . The autism is the story, not the numerous years of speaking engagements and a book that was written. The fact that the autism was glossed over missed the entire point.

I absolutely love this podcast. Such a refreshing relief from true crime and politics. Thanks Anna!

I used to love this podcast and still enjoy pieces of it… but the new format does not work for me. I don’t think the interviews are very good and hate having the story and conversation in different episodes.

I just listened to the first episode of the new season and kept waiting for at least a little snippet of the author’s essay to be shared, but it never happened. This has become a boring podcast interviewing life stories. Why the format change when the original essay would describe the stories so beautifully? I barely listened last season and will most likely unsubscribe this season. Please listen to your audience requests.

Why did they ruin it with this new weird format??

This used to be such a wonderful podcast. I miss the old format and host.

This new format isn’t working. I tried on numerous occasions to give it a chance. I miss Meghna, the soothing piano intro and the engaging format of the old podcast. This new interpretation feels self-indulgent and, with all due respect, quite boring. The original Modern Love was absolutely perfect. Such a shame.

Please stop the madness. We just want to hear the essay first and then the discussion with the author. We don’t need to know Anna’s life story. The focus should be back on the author or what is the point?

I have listened to Modern since its inception. I have always enjoyed the essays but I always loved hearing the author’s discuss their stories too. I am enjoying the new format. Please continue to bring these wonderful stories to life.

Cannot get enough of this podcast. Well done! The most recent “I married my subway crush” needs to be done for the streaming version. On HBO. What a beautiful story. It reminded me of “on serpentine road with the top down” starring Minnie Driver - maybe she could play Zoe Fishman……

I love this show. I agree with another reviewer that it is better to have the essay read first and then the author commentary. Even though I still love this podcast, I do not know what the prior format was changed…at all. I love the stories being read by a voice actor and then having in the SAME episode the author and sometimes the subject talking to the host.

Not a fan of this new form of conversational podcast, bring back the old style of high quality & pre-recorded audio so we can enjoy the story better!

I love modern love, both the podcast and the written stories. I have been a fan for many years and the stories always made me cry and choke up. They were both beautiful and emotional. In the last year things have shifted, the narratives have become less interesting and sometime a bit boring. Hope you get your voice back.

Anna Jones has officially won me over! She’s a brilliant interviewer and finds ways to connect with and relate to her guests. Not keen on the new meta ads though…it really disrupts the tone and flow of the episodes which I always felt was so skillfully managed. If you must have ads, can you offer an ad-free version of this podcast to Times subscribers?

I do not enjoy the current format of this show. The only workaround I’ve figured out is to wait until both of a story’s episodes are released, and listen to them “backwards” so I get the essay first, and the discussion second. It’s still not great, because the discussions are recorded with the awareness that the listener has not heard the essay yet. We’ll see how long it takes before I tire of this and unsubscribe.

Anna’s presentation style these past two years have seemed to miss the whole point of the stories. Myself and mother listened to them religiously for love. Additionally, the host’s new hyper-fixation on a long winded discussion and leading questions distracts and takes away from the whole point. Please bring back voice actors also for the reading of the stories.

Hi there everyone. I know a lot of you are bombed out about the shows format changing. There is a solution it’s best to wait for the “Authors Read” of the essay . Then listen to the authors interview which comes before the authors read of said essay. I hope this helps I know we all love the old way however I will say the passion behind the essays has not changed.

What made modern love so special and different was the stories that were told through the essays that were read. I always appreciated the interviews at the end, but the new format, which is just a discussion of people’s issues, is not nearly as enjoyable to listen to. Please reconsider the new format- as I, and I presume others, will be looking for other podcasts that tell the beautiful stories that I modern love are used to share in such a compelling and relatable way.

I love the Modern Love column and the podcast and have been a listener for years. I like the new format (though I miss Daniel Jones) but would rather hear the essay read first, and then have the conversation with the writer. I just think that makes more sense. Even if you want to continue to do two episodes, great. But post the essay first and then the interview.

I love the interview with the authors but I wish we had a full essay read and after that an episode interviewing the author. We don’t really know what’s going on if we haven’t read the full essay.

I love that y’all added back the reading of the full-length original stories to each episode. I REALLY missed them. I didn’t care for the two-episode version with the interview and reading separate. Keep everything together!

I miss the full story reads. I don’t mind the interviews, but maybe release them the next day instead.

I have listened to several episodes and like them. However , I stopped the “kept woman” about half way through. The story felt like a cut and paste from some fairy tale. The subject was not believable and the host did little to challenge. I am curious if this was her first interracial relationship. I doubt it and I and guessing she dates non Asians more than Asians and while on its own it is not an issue at all but to stress this loss of culture and connection seems like she wants to have it both ways and the host was all too willing to assist. I like the other episodes and maybe this one was a bit too close to home for all.

This podcast used to be about the beautiful essays and now it’s a therapy session between the author and Anna who consistently interrupts with “mmm.” If you’re going to do an interview—stop interrupting! I like that they’ve started doing the essay read, but they’re very inconsistent and either don’t post it, or wait until Friday. Really disappointed with the NYT especially since they request our feedback every episode, yet do nothing.