Under the Beltway

Finding love in the District isn't easy - especially as a black woman. We hear from our friend Shana, who's so sick and tired of the D.C. dating scene that she's moving to Denver. Plus: Someone's sliding into Anna's DMs.

"You up?" is now more than just the text you send to your late-night booty call - it's also a new dating app. Under the Beltway talks with the developers of YouUp?, and asks them why their new "casual dating" app only works from 9 PM - 6 AM, what "power swiping" means, and how their moms feel about it all. ​Plus: Why Reena got kicked off Tinder. ​

Blogger Jesse Peterson, aka “Tinder District,” went on a blind date last year, courtesy of the Washington Post’s Date Lab. The not-so-forgiving headline: “He called the bars she frequents ‘college-y.’” We talked to Jesse about how Date Lab works, how her friends crashed her blind date, and how she became the talk of the town on an alt-right message board. Plus: Why Reena’s back on Tinder.

Got dating advice? We do! Well, actually, scratch that: Erika Ettin does. Before the advent of Tinder, Ettin, a long-time finance consultant, decided to go rogue and start her own consulting business -- but of the online dating variety. So in 2011, she launched her D.C.-based company A Little Nudge armed with a few spreadsheets and a heaping of personal experience. We chat with Ettin about how she helps the District's residents out with their online dating needs, what does and doesn't work on profiles, and her own relationship history. Sorry our interview made you late for a first date, Erika! Plus: Anna learns why her OKCupid dating profile needs some improvement.

Kevin is a little politically incorrect. In This Town, that's gotten him into a bit of trouble when searching for romance. He fills us in on the pitfalls of dating while un-PC, what it's like to search for love in Ohio, and how the online dating scene has evolved over the years. Plus: Kevin finds out what DTR-ing means. You're welcome, Kevin.

What happens when Rob, a curious and outgoing web developer, gets on Tinder and conducts a social experiment. (Ok, ok, he did the experiment while he was living in New York, but he's got some valuable dating lessons for you DMV folks!) Plus: How he met his now-girlfriend Emalie, a reformed Christian Mingle user, on Tinder.

Sarah Murphy, D.C.'s #1 dater (we think), gives a primer on all the online dating apps you can possibly think of and discusses how she used them all in her 76-date journey to get to her current boyfriend. It's a cute journey, we promise. Plus: Our producer Mitch Bennett, a.k.a. Sarah's boyfriend, gives his side of the story.

Allison Agnew, our recently promoted Senior Lesbian Correspondent, shares her experiences with D.C.'s queer dating scene. We discuss her forays into the now-defunct Welcoming Committee, how spaces for D.C.'s lesbian community keep disappearing, what the deal is with rising Gemini signs, and how she eventually found love at the district's favorite gay sports bar. Plus: An update on our October dating challenge. (Special shout-out to our endlessly patient sound producer Mitch Bennett, who has a really cool band.)

In this presidential debate special, we interview our good friend Gavin (one of the inspirations for this podcast) about his dating history in the DMV area, his streak of conservative Catholic partners and their reactions to his liberal feminism, and why debate nights are classic aphrodisiacs.

Anna and Reena HATE dating. Especially dating in Washington, D.C., where Reena has lived for three years and Anna has lived for two. The duo have very limited actual experience going on dates in the beltway -- and thank god. From the stories we hear of our friends — and our interviewees — it's an awful, awful jungle out there. Naturally, we decided to make a podcast out of it. Here's our first episode of "Under the Beltway," where we introduce ourselves, discuss our shared lack of dating experience, bemoan the state of romance in the District, and venture into the world of Craigslist's quintessentially D.C. missed connections.