Meredith and Margaret on Lindy West and “Adult Braces”

Love Letters

The Boston Globe

Relationships, Society & Culture

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Meredith talks to former Love Letters guest Margaret H. Willison about “Adult Braces,” a new memoir by feminist writer Lindy West that has sparked big debate about West’s polyamorous relationship.West – who also wrote “Shrill” (which became a Hulu show) – says in this new book that she didn’t want to be in a non-monogamous relationship … but is now happy being one of three. But some readers/fans of West have found this happiness hard to believe.The book reminded Meredith of Margaret’s episode, which was about a complicated non-monogamous relationship that did not work out for Margaret.If you haven’t read the book, that’s OK. Meredith and Margaret will explain the conversation, and how critiques of the book have revealed what we expect of other people’s love stories.Margaret also gives an update on her love life, which is more calm than it used to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Jamie Lang and Sophie Haboo have arrived on Disney Plus.
0:04.0	We're having a baby.
0:06.0	We're having a baby.
0:07.0	I've always wanted to be mom.
0:09.0	And we're bringing you on our journey through everything.
0:12.0	I have no idea what we're doing.
0:13.0	Thank you. I have more of an idea.
0:15.0	I think of it like a Tamagocchi.
0:17.0	At the end of all of this...
0:20.0	We're going to have a little baby.
0:21.8	Raising Chelsea, a Hulu original series streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:27.3	18 plus subscription required T's and T supply.
0:35.0	So a few weeks ago, I started seeing a lot of criticism online about a new book called Adult Braces, a great name for a book.
0:43.4	The book is written by writer Lindy West.
0:45.6	Some of you may be very familiar with her work.
0:47.9	Other people, maybe this is the first time you're hearing of her.
0:50.4	She actually had a book turn into a TV show called Shrill, which I think a lot of people are fans of.
0:55.9	Anyway, this new book of essays and memoir from Lindy West gets into her relationship with her partner
1:02.6	and how that relationship becomes a polyamorous one.
1:06.4	A lot of people read this book and thought, this is bad.
1:09.7	Not that the book is bad, but that
1:11.3	Lindy West was writing about a relationship that she perceived as healthy for her, as good
	...

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