On this week’s 51%, we take two looks at matchmaking. First we meet the most popular woman on a certain online dating site. Then we travel to Israel for a story of matchmaking in a more traditional sense. I’m Allison Dunne and this is 51%.
Lauren Urasek is a science geek turned makeup artist and she’s in her mid-twenties. Urasek also is the author of the book Popular: The Ups and Downs of Online Dating from the Most Popular Girl in New York City. It is a collection of essays about her life as the most messaged girl on the online dating site OkCupid. She says before the book, she had started a blog and was featured in an article entitled “Meet the 4 Most Desired People in New York (According to OkCupid)," an article that appeared in a February 2014 issue of New York Magazine. She says attaining most messaged status was not a goal, but flattering. I asked her how she achieved that unintended status.
That was Lauren Urasek, author of the book Popular: The Ups and Downs of Online Dating from the Most Popular Girl in New York City.
And, while OkCupid, along with Tinder, eHarmony and others are the modern matchmakers of our time, the classic matchmaking industry still thrives in smaller communities. Israel Story Host Mishy Harman takes us into one woman's matchmaking journey in Jerusalem.
This story was reported by Mishy Harman, host of the hit Israeli podcast, Israel Story. It was a co-production with Tablet Magazine. You can download Israel Story on iTunes and at en.israelstory.org.
And we're glad you made a date with our show this week. Thanks to Katie Britton for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio