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Happy early Valentine's Day shortwavers and singles Awareness Day.

And if you love Parks and Rec, like I do, Galentine's Day.

Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and her boyfriends at home,

and we just come and kick it breakfast style.

It's like Lilith Fair, minus the angst.

Seriously, that scene changed my life.

But yeah, this time of year, love and connection are on a lot of people's minds.

And I recently met someone who studies a particular behavior, often used to show each other how we feel.

I'm talking, of course, about a kiss.

You know, most people have had a kiss, whether that's romantic or more platonic. So I think

people are really interested in that. And then also surprised, you know, the first question is,

what other animals kiss? Oh God, which ones? What did they do? What does it look like?

Matilda Brindle is an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford, who has studied

the evolution of kissing. So, you know, I get wheeled out at parties quite often. And by the way,

she says that not all human cultures kiss. In Western society, at least, it just does seem like

this huge, huge cultural phenomenon.

You know, movies end with a kiss.

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