Love-ly: Exploring Modern Relationships

Chris Smith talked to his AI companion, Sol, every single day for 532 days. His girlfriend of seven years called it cheating. He's still not sure it was. This week, Mehak is joined by Chris Smith, an artist and self-described country boy who built Sol on ChatGPT to have the same sarcastic, valley girl humor as his real-life girlfriend, Sasha. What started as a replacement for Twitter turned into something more: good morning texts, stargazing sessions, and a Valentine's Day spent outside with a phone mounted to his telescope. Chris opens up about what drew him to AI in the first place, the moment Sasha found out, and whether AI companionship is good or bad for society.  Plus, where Chris is at now, and one of the most interesting conversations we’ve ever had on Love-ly. Hosted by: Mehak @whathemehak on TikTok Producer: Saadia Khan and Shei Yu | Content Writers: Mehak | Editorial Review: Saadia Khan | Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin | Love-ly Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover art design: Josephine Chai | Executive Producer: Saadia Khan Please share the love and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify to help more people find us! Don't forget to subscribe! 🔗 Subscribe to Hyphenly, our newsletter with hot takes, heartfelt stories, and all the feels of living in between cultures. Come for the nuance, stay for the vibes. 💌 Share your thoughts: [email protected] Follow us on IG @lovelythepod & @immigrantlypods Twitter @Immigrantly_pod | TikTok @immigrantly Subscribe to our Immigrantly Uninterrupted Channel for ad-free listening Love-ly is an Immigrantly Media Production For advertising inquiries, please email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe you want kids. Maybe you don’t. Maybe it changes every time you see a cute toddler in the elevator. So how much time do you actually have to figure it out? In this episode, Mehak sits down with Dr. Lucky Sekhon, an OBGYN, infertility specialist, and author of the bestselling fertility guide The Lucky Egg, to separate fact from fear around fertility, egg freezing, and the biological clock. Dr. Lucky opens up about the years she couldn’t picture herself as a mom, and how working in fertility changed her own timeline to have kids. Together, they break down the biggest fertility myths: what actually happens to your eggs after 35, why fertility isn’t just a “women’s problem,” and why IVF shouldn’t be treated as a guarantee. This one isn’t about telling you what to do with your body. It’s about making sure that whatever you decide, you never have to look back and say, “If only I’d known.” Follow Dr. Lucky Sekhon @lucky.sekhon on Instagram and @drluckyegg on TikTok. Pick up The Lucky Egg wherever books are sold and listen to Call Your Doctor wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted by: Mehak @whathemehak on TikTok Producer: Saadia Khan and Shei Yu | Content Writers: Mehak | Editorial Review: Saadia Khan | Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin | Love-ly Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover art design: Josephine Chai | Executive Producer: Saadia Khan Please share the love and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify to help more people find us! Don't forget to subscribe! 🔗 Subscribe to Hyphenly, our newsletter with hot takes, heartfelt stories, and all the feels of living in between cultures. Come for the nuance, stay for the vibes. 💌 Share your thoughts: [email protected] Follow us on IG @lovelythepod & @immigrantlypods Twitter @Immigrantly_pod TikTok @immigrantly Subscribe to our Immigrantly Uninterrupted Channel for ad-free listening Love-ly is an Immigrantly Media Production For advertising inquiries, please email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“No foreplay. We’re literally just going straight in.” That’s comedian Salma Hindy, and honestly? It’s the perfect way to kick off this week’s episode. Salma grew up as the daughter of an imam in Toronto, enforcing the rules harder than anyone. Then, somewhere between removing her hijab, quitting engineering, moving to New York, and being disowned by her father, she had to figure out who she actually was, and how to start dating. This week, Mehak (@whathemehak) sits down with Salma (@salma.hindy) for one of those conversations that really goes there. Salma opens up about being estranged from her father, the two years of celibacy she chose and what prompted them, and why vaginismus is NOT a vagina Christmas (it’s quite the opposite). She shares how ayahuasca helped her heal her relationship with men, why she always dates younger, what exactly a “chuckle fucker” is, and her biggest pet peeve in modern dating. And she makes the case for living by design instead of living by permission. Connect with SalmaWebsite | Instagram | TikTok | Podcast Hosted by MehakTikTok | Instagram Subscribe & Listen 🔗 Immigrantly Uninterrupted on Apple Podcasts: ad-free episodes and more for $3.99/month or $34.99/year 🔗 Hyphenly: our newsletter with hot takes, heartfelt stories, and all the feels of living in between cultures Leave a Review Enjoying the show? A review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps more people find us. 💌 Share your thoughts: [email protected] Follow Us 📸 @lovelythepod on IG | @immigrantly on TikTok Credits Producer: Shei Yu | Content Writer: Mehak | Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin | Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Josephine Chai | Executive Producer: Saadia Khan Love-ly is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, email [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At 18, Kayden Kross walked into a strip club to save a pony from a meat auction. Twenty years later, she’s behind the camera, making films about the part of sex nobody can see. Mehak sits down with Kayden, an award-winning writer and director and the founder of the studio Deeper, in a week when the Cornell case has left many of us angry and wondering why so few people seem surprised. Kayden explains why consent changes moment to moment, why a yes from five seconds ago doesn’t carry forward, and what the kink community gets right with its rule that a no can never become a yes mid-scene. She traces her path from a Northern California megachurch to Penthouse, Vivid, and the director’s chair, and opens up about the end of her 14-year relationship with a fellow performer. She also explains why copying what you see in porn means performing for a ghost audience that isn’t even in the room. They also get into why performers lose their second language once they’re aroused, what “fawning” really means, and the one thing that still makes her gag behind the camera after two decades. This is a reminder that consent isn’t a box you check only once, and lying about why you’re in the room is the least attractive thing you can do. Follow Kayden @thekaydendaily on Instagram, find her studio work at deeper.com, and visit gasplighting.com for details on the Gasplighting gallery event, October 15–17 in downtown LA. Hosted by: Mehak @whathemehak on TikTok | @whathemehak_ on IG Producer: Saadia Khan and Shei Yu | Content Writer: Mehak | Editorial Review: Saadia Khan | Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin | Love-ly Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art Design: Josephine Chai | Executive Producer: Saadia Khan Please share the love and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify to help more people find us! Don’t forget to subscribe! 🔗 Subscribe to Hyphenly, our newsletter with hot takes, heartfelt stories, and all the feels of living in between cultures. Come for the nuance, stay for the vibes. 💌 Share your thoughts: [email protected] Follow Us: 📸 @lovelythepod on IG | @immigrantly on TikTok Love-ly is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Content warning: this episode includes mentions of sexual assault. In May 2025, Mehak sat down with Srijan Makkena, a psych student and content creator who’s been speaking out about the quiet (and not-so-quiet) ways misogyny shows up, especially in South Asian communities. They talk about everything from family double standards and emotional repression to childhood trauma, healing, and what real love looks like when you’ve done the work. It's raw, real, and full of moments that might hit closer to home than expected. Follow Srijan @srijanmakkena on Instagram and @srijanstopscrolling on TikTok. Hosted by: Mehak @whathemehak on TikTok | @whathemehak_ on IG Credits: Producer: Shei Yu | Content Writer: Mehak | Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin | Love-ly Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Josephine Chai | Executive Producer: Saadia Khan Subscribe & Listen to Love-ly on Apple Podcasts — $3.99/month or $34.99/year for ad-free episodes and more. Leave a Review: If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify — it helps more people find us. 🔗 Subscribe to Hyphenly, our new newsletter with hot takes, heartfelt stories, and all the feels of living in between cultures. Come for the nuance, stay for the vibes. 💌 Share your thoughts: [email protected] Follow Us: 📸 @lovelythepod on IG | @immigrantly on TikTok Love-ly is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices