Episode Description

In this episode of After Peter Pan, host Pat Tenneriello sits down with Mads Larsen, a researcher and author who studies the evolution of love, and pair bonding. Together, they explore one of the most uncomfortable questions of our time: What happens when modern dating stops working—and what does that mean for our future?

Mads unpacks the history of human mating, from the rise of monogamy to the Tinder era, explaining how technology, freedom, and shifting gender dynamics have created the perfect storm for a global fertility collapse. The conversation dives deep into how men and women are adapting (or failing to), why we may have become too smart for our own survival, and whether society can find balance between individual freedom and collective continuation.

What You’ll Learn:

• How modern dating apps and social trends are reshaping human pair bonding.

• Why declining fertility rates could represent a deeper cultural crisis.

• The evolutionary roots of attraction, love, and family formation.

• How women’s liberation and technological progress changed mating forever.

• What it might take to rebuild connection in an age of hyper-freedom.

Mads Larsen:

• Research Gate

• Google Scholar

• Book: Stories of Love from Vikings to Tinder - Link to free download

Photo Credit for Mads: Photo by Øivind Haugen