New York Times’ Modern Love editors Dan Jones and Miya Lee open up about pandemic love
The pandemic has put plenty of romances — old and new — to the test. While the newfound stresses it has brought haven’t exactly been ideal, Daniel Jones and Miya Lee, the editors behind the New York Times’ popular Modern Love column, believe it has offered a new perspective when it comes to partnership. “A lot of us learned about what really matters in relationships,” Jones told KCM.
Lee and Jones have the unique task of poring through thousands of essays submitted to them as editors of the New York Times’ must-read column, Modern Love. Borrowing its title from the same-named David Bowie song, the column began as a weekly more than two decades ago. After reading so many submissions, particularly over the past year, Jones and Lee have a unique insight into how the pandemic has affected our relationships.
“People broke up or divorced because they were able to have the clarity to see what wasn’t enough,” says Jones, “and others formed stronger bonds because they were trapped together and couldn’t just cut and run on to the next best thing.” (The studies back this up: The beginning of the pandemic saw a spike in divorce rates and breakups, but 63% of those who are still together reported they’ve become closer while navigating the ups and downs of quarantine.)
Lee similarly noted a bright spot when it comes to relationships, saying the pandemic has “demonstrated the extent to which we are all connected” and the ability for love to survive even during most trying times. “The pandemic has shown me how durable love is,” she says, “And how fragile it is, too.”
Now in its 17th year, Modern Love has been turned into a podcast, a book, and a TV series on Amazon Prime. With the additional formats, Jones says the sheer number of submissions they receive has skyrocketed: Together, they field roughly 13,000 or 14,000 stories a year, from writers across the globe all vying to have their work chosen for the spotlight. And of course, not every Modern Love essay is selected to be featured on the podcast—Jones estimates that out of the more than 900 essays published in the column to date, roughly 260 have been turned into a show.
“The exposure of the podcast started [the increase], but the TV show added a whole other layer and extended Modern Love beyond New York Times readers considerably,” he says. But the editors’ goal remains the same: To find the best stories for their audience. What are they looking for, exactly? Jones and Lee say a sense of vulnerability and intrigue are key, as well as a unique perspective and broad resonance.
The duo and their producers have been experimenting with Modern Love’s podcast format: During its initial refresh last October, the show was brought under the Times’ in-house production team NYT Audio, the same group that built The Daily into a chart-topper. The team also opted for professional voice actors to read the Modern Love essays, instead of famous actors. (Previous performers include Greta Gerwig, Jake Gyllenhaal, Constance Wu, and Issa Rae, just to name a few.)
In its new iteration, the podcast is adding an element where each essay is explored in more depth and features the subject. “Certain essays stick with you and you want to explore them further — the aftermath, the other people involved,” says Jones. “So we look at the potential for both story and ‘extra’ that can be gained by revisiting them.” Lee says this new element illustrates that Modern Love offers real stories with real people. “It’s generative too, because you kind of see how they interact — they kind of prompt each other in ways that we would never know,” she said.
Jones and Lee will likely receive hundreds of pandemic-focused essays in the near future, and both said they hope to continue to push the boundaries of the kinds of stories Modern Love encompasses. Fresh episodes of the Modern Love podcast are released every Wednesday, and without revealing any spoilers for this new season, Jones says readers should “expect to be surprised.”
Written and reported by Tess Bonn.
