What does romance have to do with true crime? Anyone who's fallen prey to coercive control, stalking, cat-fishing or domestic violence will know that the fantasies we're taught about romance can be very damaging when it comes to resisting overbearing partners and recognising red flags. British philosopher and author Alain de Botton wrote the seminal book on the topic in 2016. It's called 'The Course of Love' and Meshel interviewed him way back then about the surprisingly inorganic and unrealistic origins of romance. Surprise! It's yet another convention we've invented ourselves that's impossible to live up to and leads to lots of heartache. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.