Ask Elisa: Dating Stories and Advice

Do you have a dating story you’d like to have featured on a Dating Storytime episode of Ask Elisa? Send in a written version of your favorite dating story for me to read on the show to askelisapodcast@gmail.com.
I also take questions from listeners. This can be a simple question about dating etiquette or sharing a dating dilemma you’re facing you’d like some feedback on. Send in your questions to askelisapodcast@gmail.com.
New episodes every Thursday.
Want to be a guest on Ask Elisa? Complete the Guest Interest Form
 
Find Ask Elisa online @askelisapodcast
www.askelisapodcast.com 
Ask Elisa is a feminist podcast about dating and relationships. Find humor and connection in discussions that challenge outdated gender roles, traditional narratives, and patriarchal expectations. Episodes include dating stories, dilemmas, and questions sent in from listeners. Join Ask Elisa for the laughs, stay for the honesty, and leave feeling a little less alone.
I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me (plus a divorce and handful of break ups), I wanna talk about it! Join me for honest conversations about modern dating, divorce, dating apps, gender dynamics, situationships, red flags, boundaries, and building healthier relationships.

In this episode, Claudia is back to talk with me about the chatting phase on the dating apps.  After you match with someone, you can chat. The chatting phase is the time to decide whether or not you want to meet in person. Since Claudia and I both date men, we only discuss chatting with men on dating apps. 
As always, I share a question from a listener for my guest and me to respond to. The question for this episode is, "Have you ever been stood up before?"
Send in your dating dilemmas & questions to askelisapodcast@gmail.com or through social media direct messages to have Elisa and a guest share their response on a future episode.
Want to be a guest on Ask Elisa? Complete the Guest Interest Form
 
Find Ask Elisa online @askelisapodcast
www.askelisapodcast.com 
Ask Elisa is a feminist podcast about dating and relationships. Find humor and connection in discussions that challenge outdated gender roles, traditional narratives, and patriarchal expectations. Episodes include dating stories, dilemmas, and questions sent in from listeners. Join Ask Elisa for the laughs, stay for the honesty, and leave feeling a little less alone.
I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me (plus a divorce and handful of break ups), I wanna talk about it! Join me for honest conversations about modern dating, divorce, dating apps, gender dynamics, situationships, red flags, boundaries, and building healthier relationships.

It's a special dating storytime episode! These are short episodes where a guest and I each tell a story from our dating past. Please enjoy a quick story from Rachael about a guy with a boat and my story about a guy without a bedframe.
Send in your dating dilemmas & questions to askelisapodcast@gmail.com or through social media direct messages to have Elisa and a guest share their response on a future episode.
Want to be a guest on Ask Elisa? Complete the Guest Interest Form
 
Find Ask Elisa online @askelisapodcast
www.askelisapodcast.com 
Ask Elisa is a feminist podcast about dating and relationships. Find humor and connection in discussions that challenge outdated gender roles, traditional narratives, and patriarchal expectations. Episodes include dating stories, dilemmas, and questions sent in from listeners. Join Ask Elisa for the laughs, stay for the honesty, and leave feeling a little less alone.
I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me (plus a divorce and handful of break ups), I wanna talk about it! Join me for honest conversations about modern dating, divorce, dating apps, gender dynamics, situationships, red flags, boundaries, and building healthier relationships.

In this episode, I talk with Claudia, a therapist and active dater. We discuss our processes for reviewing dating profiles, what gives us the immediate ick, and what we like to see. Since Claudia and I both date men, we only discuss men's dating profiles. 
As always, I share a question from a listener for my guest and me to respond to. The question for this episode is, "Should unmatching etiquette be a thing?"
Send in your dating dilemmas and questions to askelisapodcast@gmail.com or through social media direct messages to have Elisa and a guest share their response on a future episode.
Find Ask Elisa online:
www.askelisapodcast.com 
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AskElisa
Instagram: @askelisapodcast
Threads: @askelisapodcast
YouTube: @askelisa
Tiktok: @askelisapodcast
About Ask Elisa
Ask Elisa is a podcast about dating in your late 30s, 40s, and older. I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me, I wanna talk about it! Dating at this stage in life has its unique challenges.
Join me and my guests as we take real questions from listeners and dive into the messy, funny, and often frustrating world of modern dating—from first dates and dating apps to boundaries, heartbreak, and everything in between. Whether you’re newly single, getting back out there after years, or just trying to make sense of it all, you’ll find validation, perspective, and comfort here. Come for the laughs, stay for the honesty—and leave feeling a little less alone in your love life.

In this episode, I talk with my friend Rachael about starting to date after a big break up. Many people in their late 30s, 40s, and older find themselves on the dating scene after the end of a significant relationship. I've been through a divorce and had a second long-term relationship of almost eight years end unexpectedly. Rachael called off her wedding just two weeks before the date. We discuss our experiences of the public nature of these types of break ups and what it was like to get back out on the dating scene.
I share a question from a listener for my guest and me to respond to. The question for this episode is "How do you balance small talk and depth on a first date?"
Rachael's blog: thisvulnerablelife.org
 
Send in your dating dilemmas & questions to askelisapodcast@gmail.com or through social media direct messages to have Elisa and a guest share their response on a future episode.
Want to be a guest on Ask Elisa? Complete the Guest Interest Form
 
Find Ask Elisa online @askelisapodcast
www.askelisapodcast.com 
Ask Elisa is a feminist podcast about dating and relationships. Find humor and connection in discussions that challenge outdated gender roles, traditional narratives, and patriarchal expectations. Episodes include dating stories, dilemmas, and questions sent in from listeners. Join Ask Elisa for the laughs, stay for the honesty, and leave feeling a little less alone.
I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me (plus a divorce and handful of break ups), I wanna talk about it! Join me for honest conversations about modern dating, divorce, dating apps, gender dynamics, situationships, red flags, boundaries, and building healthier relationships.

Ask Elisa is a feminist podcast about dating and relationships. Find humor and connection in discussions that challenge outdated gender roles, traditional narratives, and patriarchal expectations. Episodes include dating stories, dilemmas, and questions sent in from listeners. Join Ask Elisa for the laughs, stay for the honesty, and leave feeling a little less alone.
I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me (plus a divorce and handful of break ups), I wanna talk about it! Join me for honest conversations about modern dating, divorce, dating apps, gender dynamics, situationships, red flags, boundaries, and building healthier relationships.
Send in your dating dilemmas & questions to askelisapodcast@gmail.com or through social media direct messages to have Elisa and a guest share their response on a future episode.
Want to be a guest on Ask Elisa? Complete the Guest Interest Form
 
Find Ask Elisa online @askelisapodcast
www.askelisapodcast.com 
Ask Elisa is a feminist podcast about dating and relationships. Find humor and connection in discussions that challenge outdated gender roles, traditional narratives, and patriarchal expectations. Episodes include dating stories, dilemmas, and questions sent in from listeners. Join Ask Elisa for the laughs, stay for the honesty, and leave feeling a little less alone.
I’m your host, Elisa Sparkman. I found myself unexpectedly single right before my 40th birthday. Now with two years of dating behind me (plus a divorce and handful of break ups), I wanna talk about it! Join me for honest conversations about modern dating, divorce, dating apps, gender dynamics, situationships, red flags, boundaries, and building healthier relationships.