Slow Love Podcast Lisa Portolan Co-host Met At Film Event May 2026

"You're a slow person," Lisa said, mid-sip of her cheap red wine.

Episode 47 was titled "The Meet-Cute Reconsidered." In it, Lisa told the story of the broken projector and the cold fries for the first time publicly. Arlo, editing the episode that night, left in the moment where Lisa's voice cracked—just slightly—when she said, "I didn't know I was looking for slow. I thought I was just looking for a film." slow love podcast lisa portolan co-host met at film event

They recorded the first episode in Arlo's cramped apartment, surrounded by microphones and tangled cables. Lisa spoke into the foam windscreen like she was confessing to a friend. "I'm Lisa Portolan," she said. "And I used to think love was fast. Then I met a man who taught me about whale songs." "You're a slow person," Lisa said, mid-sip of

They ended up at a dive bar next to the theater, sharing a basket of cold fries. Arlo was a sound editor who worked on nature documentaries. He talked about the way whale songs changed over decades, the patience required to capture the perfect rustle of leaves, how silence was not empty but full of potential. I thought I was just looking for a film

Slow Love now has millions of listeners. In every live show, Lisa tells new audiences the origin story. She always ends the same way:

The film was called Echoes in Static . It was pretentious, glacially paced, and featured a seven-minute close-up of a kettle boiling. By minute twenty, half the audience had checked their phones. By minute forty, a man two rows back began to snore.