Lemonado

Dear listeners, before we get into today's episode,

I want you to know it includes a conversation about domestic violence.

Please take care.

If you or someone you know need support, text begin to 88788 to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

So occasionally, I'll get completely sucked into a show on what we used to call TV.

And, you know, often it's a guilty pleasure, which is perfect when I just want to veg out after a busy day.

But there is one show that I just cannot get enough of these days.

Have you seen Love on the Spectrum?

If you haven't, you're in for a real treat.

The simplest explanation is this.

It's a reality dating show that follows young people on the autism spectrum as they navigate dating and relationships.

It started as an Australian series, and now it has a U.S. version that is a big, huge hit on Netflix. You know, most dating shows, most reality

shows are all about drama and caddiness and vulgarity and bad behavior is really rewarded

and discourse is, well, it's not discourse at all. I honestly, I can't stand most of them. But this show is the

opposite. It's warm and earnest. And more than anything, it's kind. It was co-created and is

directed by an Australian guy named Kean O'Cleary. Though I understand some of the criticism of the show, it can be manipulative.

The music is too bouncy and the voiceover is kind of infantilizing.

But I can't help but love it because of the show's unfailing kindness.

If you tune in to learn about individuals with autism, you certainly will do that. And that's

valuable, I think, especially if you don't have a personal relationship with somebody on the

spectrum. But pretty quickly, it becomes more about how honest and direct these people are in

...