Introducing “The Aphrodite Project”
From Sea Foam to Substack
How do you write a guidebook on love when your understanding of it is rooted in myths of obsession, lust, and longing? Welcome to The Aphrodite Project.
The Aphrodite Project is a podcast play where ancient mythology crashes headfirst into the chaos of NYC dating. The goddess of love, lust, and femininity herself is accidentally invoked by a disillusioned radio host, someone who’s fed up with her own dating disasters. Determined to “fix” modern dating, Aphrodite sets out to create a crash course on love and relationships. After all, she’s the goddess of love. She must know everything about it, right?
But here’s the catch: the myths Aphrodite knows are rooted in being watched, desired, and defined by others. She knows lust, obsession, and ownership, but does she know love? Has anyone ever looked at her with devotion rather than desire?
Maybe this is just me romanticizing my dating history but there is something very relatable in Aphrodite’s mythology. The goddess, born from castrated genitals turned seafoam, cast out by the ocean and, at least in the popular retelling, immediately perceived, desired, evaluated. Wiping salt water from her eyes, hair tangled, seaweed sticking to her new, yet unstable legs, desired, the goddess of love before she could even memorize her own face. She was an object before she was a subject.
Most of my dating life took place in New York, where I often felt like I was performing rather than truly being myself. In the six years that I spent in the city, I’ve rarely if ever on dates felt like a person with a brain rather than a woman with a body.
Recontextualizing my dating history as part of Aphrodite’s journey turned these experiences into lessons. For example, the date who wouldn’t stop talking about his startup while dismissing mine as a silly sex magazine (rip SHAME Magazine, you would have loved the Bop House) became a character and a learning moment rather than just a lapse in judgment. Maybe that’s the hopeless romantic in me but I felt like I wasn’t on a bad date, not really; I was learning, reflecting, and eventually choosing to approach love differently. Rejection is redirection or something like that. I think I was right to stay optimistic, it allowed me to fall as deeply in love as I am now.
When I make the link between Aphrodite and my dating experiences, I do not assume her beauty (learned from Arachne) but I do assume a shared, if mine is more diluted, feminine experience. And isn’t that what the gods, especially the Greek pantheon, are? Divine, yes, immortal too, but so anthropomorphic we recognize in them our biggest flaws, insecurities, and sometimes, in the case of Aphrodite in The Aphrodite Project, our dearest dreams?
The Aphrodite Project isn’t just about bad dates; it’s about reframing how we see love, autonomy, and self-worth. It’s about growth, reflection, and choosing to stay soft while being firm with boundaries. I hope you’ll join me on this journey. The podcast will be 13 episodes, released bi-weekly on the Pulse.fm Substack accompanied by show notes and extra content, directly to your email!! The first three episodes will be free and posted on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music as well. After that, you can join our community for $7/month or $70/year. We're launching February 14, seems appropriate.
Thank you for reading! Tune in for the next update and the very first episode dropping so very soon!! Don't forget to subscribe for early access and follow along on social media (tiktok, instagram).
Love you, take care, xxxxxxxx
Nemo
