LOVE: Between Delusion and Kind Pessimism

Feat.: Gesa Jessen and Ole Liebl. Hosted by Polina Aronson.

And just like that, here we are again, with a brand new, English-language podcast!

Welcome to „Mixed Feelings“, a podcast that digs into feelings that are exactly that: mixed. Because feelings are rarely simple. Joy can come with sadness, hope with fear, love with anger. In „Mixed Feelings“, we dive into these emotional entanglements: why they arise, why they’re so hard to unravel, and what we can hold on to when we’re in the thick of them.

Each episode brings together researchers from our centre and voices from outside academia — writers, artists, activists, and practitioners — to shed light on the messy, powerful, and often contradictory feelings that define contemporary life.

If you’re curious about why we feel the way we do, how emotions shape politics and culture, and how to navigate today’s complex emotional landscape — this podcast offers fresh insights, surprising connections, and perspectives you won’t hear anywhere else.

Whether you’re feeling hopeful, heartbroken, or just human — „Mixed Feelings“ is a space to reflect, rethink, and feel your way through it.

In this inaugural episode we look at what is probably the most mixed feeling of all: love. It’s everywhere — in pop songs, in rom-coms, and on that “made with love” sticker on your favorite jar of jam. But are we still convinced by the old idea of romantic love we inherited from the past?

In this very first episode of “Mixed Feelings”, we dive deep into the emotional rollercoaster that is modern love: part utopian dream, part cultural burnout. From friendships with benefits to feminist cohousing and digital delusionships — how are new models of intimacy reimagining the ways we live and care for each other?

We talk with literary scholar Gesa Jessen and feminist blogger and author Ole Liebl, as they unpack the scripts we’ve inherited, the fantasies we cling to, and the quiet revolutions reshaping our emotional lives.

Can we really reinvent love — or are we just rewriting the same old story in a different font?
Tune in for bold questions, surprising answers… and a cat who unexpectedly survives a tumultuous romantic drama.

And here are a few books and other sources mentioned in the conversation:

Berlant, L. G. (2011). Cruel optimism. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822394716

Capote, T. (1959). Breakfast at Tiffany’s (3rd ed.). Hamilton.

Debré, C.  (2024). Play Boy. Profile Books

Debré, C. (2023) Love Me Tender. Profile Books.

Edwards, B. (Director). (1961). Breakfast at Tiffany’s [Film]. Paramount Pictures.

De Pizan, C. (1999). The book of the city of ladies (R. Brown-Grant, Trans.). Penguin. (Original work published 1405)

Graeber, D. (2011). Debt: The first 5,000 years (1st ed.). Melville House.

July, M. (2024). All fours. Riverhead Books.

Liebl, O. (2024). Freunde lieben. HarperCollins.