S22E12: The Science of Intimacy, Sex, and Love w/ Dr. Justin Garcia
From Dateable: Your insider's look into modern dating and relationships by Yue Xu and Julie Krafchick
April 28, 2026 · 1h 25m
About this episode
Dr. Justin Garcia discusses the science of intimacy, sex, and love, exploring human connection and modern dating dynamics.
At our core, we’re not just wired for sex—we’re wired for deep connection with another human being. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Justin Garcia, leading sex researcher, evolutionary biologist, and Executive Director of the Kinsey Institute, who shares the science behind why humans are driven to bond, love, and seek intimacy. We explore how modern dating both supports and disrupts our natural instinct to pair bond, what choices like staying single or exploring nontraditional relationships mean in that context, and why even when connection feels hard to find it’s still fundamentally what we’re built for. To learn more about Dr. Justin Garcia follow him @drjustingarcia and go to https://kinseyinstitute.org/. Get his new book 'The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live & Die For Love' wherever books are sold. ---- Take our Dating Archetypes quiz: https://howtobedateable.com/ Read our book: How To Be Dateable: The Essential Guide To Finding Your Person and Falling in Love: https://howtobedateable.com/ Try the Dateable AI Dating Coach: Get personalized advice trained on our years of podcast episodes, courses and frameworks: https://studio.com/dateable…
People in this episode
Hosts: Yue Xu, Julie Krafchick
Guest: Dr. Justin Garcia
Topics covered
- intimacy
- sex
- love
- modern dating
- human connection
- evolutionary biology
Keywords
- intimacy
- sex research
- evolutionary biology
- modern dating
- human connection
- relationship choices
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Kinsey Institute
Products: The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live & Die For Love
More episodes of Dateable: Your insider's look into modern dating and relationships
- What Your Anxiety Means When Dating: What We Learned The Hard Way (So You Don't Have To) · June 12, 2026 · 25 min
- S22E18: How To Actually Connect With People You Meet IRL...At Social Activities, Sports, Clubs, Events, and Beyond · June 9, 2026 · 51 min
- Why Texting In Dating Doesn't Matter As Much As We Think: What We Learned The Hard Way (So You Don't Have To) · June 5, 2026 · 26 min
- S22E17: What Everyone Gets Wrong About Being Single (From Someone Who Has Been Single Her Entire Life) w/ Dr. Bella DePaulo · June 2, 2026 · 58 min
- How To Not Abandon Yourself In Dating & Relationships: What We Learned The Hard Way (So You Don't Have To) · May 29, 2026 · 25 min
- S22E16: How To Navigate Uncertainty (In Dating) w/ Simone Stolzoff · May 26, 2026 · 60 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Dateable: Your insider's look into modern dating and relationships podcast page.