This week we talk religion with Ralph Carl Wushke, the Ecumenical Chaplain at the University of Toronto. We aren’t religious ourselves, but we figured Ralph could pass along some dating and relationship wisdom that anyone can apply. We also asked him about marriage, being gay in the church, and um… what “ecumenical” means…

Theme music as always by Drew Danburry. Other music this week by Szai, pocketjawa, jhampton, DJ Junks, and eugenkiss.

Lauren went on a first date, and her date hated everything. Hip-hop, friendly people, her own grandma… everything. This week’s show is a cautionary tale for those who can’t quite seem to put their best foot forward.

Thanks to Andrew Norton for doing this interview for us. Theme music as always by Drew Danburry. Additional music by eugenkiss, Dan Semotan, and Steve Rabulan.

Bathhouse tales from insiders – this week, we get the lowdown from a customer, as well as Peter Bochove, the legendary Toronto entrepreneur. Pull up a seat, and let us regale you with stories of secret plots, lawsuits, the lengths some people will go to for their soup and crackers, and yes, sex too.

Check out the original post for music credits and comments.

Ayla Newhouse is a Toronto-based designer who’s looking at dating and relationships through the lens of design – and working to solve relationship problems using the tools of design. She tells us how ethnographic research helped land her a boyfriend, and about how she’s helping others tackle their dating woes.

Ayla is holding a pre-Valentine’s mixer here in Toronto on February 9th, and you can also check out her upcoming online workshop on Skillshare. You can find more about Ayla and the project at Dating by Design, where you can also grab a free PDF of Ayla’s dating canvas. Image above by Ayla Newhouse.

Theme music by Drew Danburry. Other music this week by:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• Monster Rally “Color Sky”
• Kishi Bashi “Bright Whites”

A conversation with Carlyle Jansen (founder of Good for Her) about how she’s keeping her relationship fresh and fulfilling by re-evaluating it every year. Carlyle incorporated a Celtic handfasting into her wedding ceremony, and in doing so she’s committing to her partner for a year and a day. This means every anniversary is a chance to evaluate how they’re doing, and set goals for the coming year. Can this kind of quasi workplace performance evaluation help a relationship thrive? We think it just might.

This episode was inspired by a talk Carlyle gave at TEDx Toronto. During our conversation Carlyle mentions an article by Dr. Peggy Kleinplatz titled The components of optimal sexuality: a portrait of “great sex”.

Theme music by Drew Danburry, other music this week by:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• The Cactus Channel “The Colour of Don Don”
• Delicate Steve “Love”

Konstantine and Salina met in Grade 1 at Faywood Elementary School in Toronto. By grade 4 Konstantine had developed feelings for Salina, and maintained that crush right through to grade 8. They parted ways and went to different high schools, and different universities – but that’s not where the story ends.

Here’s a video of Konstantine and Salina dancing together, in grade 2:

Huge thanks to Konstantine and Salina for sharing their story with us. Theme music, as always, by Drew Danburry. Other music by:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• Maurice and the Beejays “The Further Adventures of our Man Friday”
• Phantom Blues Band “Mary Ann”
• Tuatara “Falling Pianos”
• Anne Garner “Stones (instrumental)”
• Tycho “Hours”
• The Cactus Channel “Emanuel Ciccolini”
• This Will Destroy You “Quiet”
• This Will Destroy You “Freedom Blade”
• Jill Barber “Chances”
• Delicate Steve “Love”

This week JP and Elah play matchmaker and send real people on real dates! The catch? Our volunteer Nicole has to pick the gentlemen using smell alone. Will her favorite smell also be her favorite date? We’ll reveal all at the end of the show.

This episode uses tape from a pilot we made for CBC Radio. It was intended to be the first in a series where we’d test out a different matchmaking method every week. Sadly, it won’t be going forward beyond the pilot, but we had fun making it and really appreciate CBC’s support and guidance during the production process. We also appreciate that they allowed us to turn the tape into an I Like You episode. Note that what you’re hearing isn’t the pilot, and hasn’t been approved by CBC. So basically, don’t blame them if you don’t like it.

If you’ve got a great radio show or podcast idea, you can pitch it the same way we did at cbc.ca/pitch

Theme music as always by Drew Danburry, other music this week by:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• The Cactus Channel “The Colour of Don Don”
• Panik “Lonely Hunter”
• The Cactus Channel “Emanuel Ciccolini”
• General Elektriks “Raid the Radio”

Kat Angus was the cool ex: she got over her breakup with Brandon quickly, and they stayed friends. Then things went bad. An email was sent to Brandon’s new girlfriend – it was filled with lovey words from Kat – and pictures…

Big thanks this week to Kat for sharing her story. If you have a story to share, email us.

Theme music, as always, by Drew Danburry. Additional music by Hellenica and:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• Danny Fox Trio “Trudge”
• Empty Set “My Girl’s On The Other Side Of The World”
• Gordon Grdina’s Haram “En Shakawt al Hawa”
• Sean Noonan “Banshee Dance”
• Maurice and the Beejays “The Further Adventures of our Man Friday”
• General Elektriks “Raid the Radio”
• Kishi Bashi “Bright Whites”

This week we have four short stories from fantastic contributors. They all have to do with the beginning, middle, and/or end of a relationship. Huge thanks to Dave Pickering, Jonathan Harris, Whitney Jones, and Dave Huth for letting us use their stories on the show. Also thanks to Cowbird – a great storytelling site where three of this week’s stories were originally published.

Original links to contributor’s stories:

Jen by Dave Pickering (in GBA Podcast #1)

Something Worth Waiting For by Jonathan Harris

First Love and 27 Other Firsts by Whitney Jones

Metamorphosis by Dave Huth

Theme music as always by Drew Danburry, additional music by Abigail Clarke and:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• General Elektriks “Facing That Void”
• General Elektriks “Raid the Radio”
• The Reign of Kindo “Nightingale”
• ApSci “Crazy Crazy Insane”
• Kishi Bashi “Bright Whites”

Do you know everything you need to know about sex? More importantly – do students in elementary and high schools? We explore the often hilarious, sometimes troubling, and always awkward world of sex ed, with help from contributor Sierra Bellows – who did a fantastic putting together these stories. Sierra also points us to this great article about sex ed from the New York Times.

[Update: Astute listeners may notice that one of the stories has been removed from this updated version of the episode. In the interest of transparency we felt we should pass along what happened. Sierra spoke to a sex educator who requested that her story be removed, presumably for professional reasons. We stand by the story and Sierra's work on it, but we decided to comply with the request. We don't want to put anyone's job at risk. It's just unfortunate that the interviewee only came to us after the story had been published.]

Our theme music, as always, is provided by Drew Danburry. Other music featured in this episode is available as a free MP3 download:

[NOTE: Unfortunately our music provider was acquired by another company, and they no longer offer free mp3 downloads. Below are the tracks used in this week's show.]

• Tuatara “Falling Pianos”
• Tender Trap “Do You Want A Boyfriend?”
• Tuatara “25th & 6th”
• Kishi Bashi “Bright Whites”