Love Island or Lust Island?

Summary

Today, Explained — “Love Island or Lust Island?”
Date: July 10, 2026
Host: Jonathan Hill (filling in)
Guests: Brooke Lamentia, Taryn Finley
Podcast: Today, Explained (Vox)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the cultural phenomenon of Love Island USA, diving into how the show has shifted from genuine romance to overtly sexualized, less authentic interactions. Host Jonathan Hill speaks with pop culture writers Brooke Lamentia and Taryn Finley, examining not just the show's popularity and format, but its evolving tone, the changing attitudes of contestants, generational perspectives on sex and relationships, and the infiltration of “red pill” internet culture into prime-time reality TV.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is Love Island, Really?

[02:11–04:44]

• Brooke Lamentia introduces the show's basic setup: attractive 20-somethings isolated in a Fijian villa, seeking romance while competing for prize money.
  • Quote: “It’s basically just like a dating show where a bunch of hot young people go to a villa. They're cut off from the world... and they try to find love.” – Brooke Lamentia [02:36]
• Despite the competition aspect, previous seasons focused on genuine romantic connections.
• Contrasts with other dating shows—The Bachelor, for example—by allowing equal numbers of men and women and interaction among all contestants.

2. Why Does This Season Feel Different — and Less Sexy?

[05:11–09:18]

• Lamentia discusses shifts in the show's tone:
  • More overt sexual challenges have replaced organic flirtation (“porno vibes”).
  • Intimacy now appears forced or performative, not natural.
  • Contestants are compelled to “make out with everyone” as part of games, making the acts less about connection and more about spectacle.
  • Quote: “It’s not as fun to watch. It's honestly kind of gross... There’s no genuine and natural romantic and sexual tension left in the villa, it feels like. And that is where I think it's lost the plot.” – Brooke Lamentia [05:25]
• The performative aspect of sex on TV is contrasted with Gen Z’s broader trends toward less sexual activity in real life.

3. Consent, Performance, and Generational Shifts

[09:18–12:49]

• Discussion shifts to broader generational attitudes:
  • Gen Z is said to be less sexually active, yet more performative/sexy on reality TV.
  • Lamentia critiques the lack of explicit verbal consent in the villa’s sexual games and the potential real-life impact:
    • Quote: “Having especially the show lack like official and verbal consent, especially when it comes to all the sexual things happening, is a little bit jarring and a little scary for our future.” – Brooke Lamentia [12:07]
  • She worries about the normalization of non-consensual physicality and the show's influence on viewers’ expectations for dating.
• Suggests older casting (“let’s have a 25+ show”) to encourage more mature, informed interactions.

4. Red Pill Discourse and Manosphere Influence

[16:30–20:50]

• Taryn Finley joins to analyze the spread of “manosphere,” “red pill,” and “pink pill” ideologies on the show.
  • Recent seasons feature more contestants parroting conservative, hyper-masculinist or orthodox gender views, especially during Casa Amor.
  • Contestants openly discuss “domination,” “alpha males,” and classes of women, using language with clear misogynistic undertones.
  • Quote: “You don't have to disrespect and degrade your partners in order to make a new connection... And doing it... kind of weaponizing intimacy.” – Taryn Finley [18:40]
• Female contestants also echo retrograde gender roles, expressing desires for traditional, dominant male partners.
  • Example quote: “I need someone who's gonna call the shots. That's my type of guy.” – Female contestant, cited by Taryn Finley [19:21]

5. Sexual Morality and The “Lustful” Label

[20:12–21:37]

• A new “scarlet letter”—lustfulness: being labeled as overly sexual gets you shamed or even kicked off.
  • Quote: “Like, being lustful is the worst thing you can possibly be. They accuse the boys of being lustful. They accuse a girl of being lustful.” – Jonathan Hill [20:18]
• This shift is read as part cultural reflection, part pop culture influence: it’s cool to “perform” sexiness, but actually having sex carries stigma.
• Quote: "Hoe culture itself, there is an attack on. I don't even know if I can say ho culture." – Taryn Finley [22:14]

6. Mirror or Mold? Does Love Island Reflect or Influence Us?

[22:21–23:37]

• The show acts both as a cultural mirror and a mold, shaping and reflecting changing views of sex, gender, and relationships.
  • The line between TV performance and real life is blurring, raising concern about what viewers (especially young ones) model from the show.
  • Quote: “It’s like a circle. I definitely think we're being influenced by Love Island and we're influencing Love Island itself.” – Taryn Finley [22:31]

7. Why Watch at All?

[23:32–25:40]

• Despite (and because of) its flaws, Love Island provides “appointment television,” community, and an entertaining lens into modern dating—all the ways people relate, mess up, and sometimes connect.
  • It serves as a conversation starter and a “magnifying glass” on contemporary romantic and sexual culture.
  • Quote: “Appointment television is back via Love Island... it keeps a lot of people grounded, keeps a lot of people within community... there are some really good lessons to glean...” – Taryn Finley [23:37]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On performative sexuality:
  • “I was doing splits on the dick. I was doing splits on his head. I was doing back bends and I even sucked a man's foot. Like, I've never done that in my life, let alone on national television.” — Brooke Lamentia [08:00]
• On generational confusion:
  • “It’s like performance art almost in a way where it's like, we're doing this because we're on this show, but it doesn't feel genuine to us because we don't know how to have like a good sexual experience and a good sexual, like, connection.” — Brooke Lamentia [09:55]
• On show’s influence:
  • "We’re so invested and because we feel so parasocial, this feels like an extension of our world. But there needs to be very clear boundaries between what is TV, what is entertainment, and what is like real life and real dating." — Brooke Lamentia [12:30]
• On Love Island fandom as community:
  • "Appointment television is back via Love Island... in these crazy, crazy days, keeps a lot of people grounded, keeps a lot of people sane, and keeps a lot of people within community." — Taryn Finley [23:38]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:11] — Introduction to Love Island, format explained
• [05:11] — Why the season feels “unsexy” and more performative
• [09:18] — Gen Z, sex, and performativity; lack of consent
• [16:30] — Red Pill/manosphere discourse on the show
• [20:12] — “Lustful” as a slur; morality politics
• [22:21] — Does Love Island mirror culture or change it?
• [23:37] — Why still watch? Community and self-reflection

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Conclusion

Through candid conversation, this episode of Today, Explained peels back the layers of Love Island USA’s latest season, arguing the show is at a cultural crossroads: more explicit yet less authentic, simultaneously shaped by and shaping a generation’s confused attitudes toward sex, consent, and intimacy. The hosts and guests raise questions about reality TV’s responsibilities—and its uniquely modern power to influence, rather than just reflect, how we love, lust, and relate today.

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Transcript

[Jonathan Hill]

Emmy Noms came out this week and among the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and America's husband, Sterling K. Brown is Ariana Maddox, cementing her rise from sexy, unique restaurant employee to the host of summer's hottest reality show, Love Island USA. The premise for those who don't know 12 very photogenic 20 somethings, six boys and six girls enter a villa in Fiji where they get into straight people shenanigans. Along the way, even hotter 20 somethings come to try to break them up and home get a hand in what happens the show is more popular than ever. It was streamed for over 2 billion minutes just in the first two weeks. But this season feels different from past ones and it's not just because of all the toe sucking. Coming up on Today Explained from Vox what happens when the red pill goes beyond real life and comes for reality TV? 2

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[Jonathan Hill]

it's today explained. I'm Jonathan Hill filling in today. Brooke Lamentia writes about culture for the Cut and she wrote a piece titled is this the least Sexy season of Love Island Ever? So naturally I wanted to ask her how a show about finding love in bikinis got unsexy. But first, for those who have never taken a trip to the villa, Brooke, what is Love Island?

[Brooke Lamentia]

Well, first of all, that's like such a beautiful place to be and I'm really envious of those people's brains. But, yeah, Love island is a reality TV show that started in the UK around 2015. It came to the US in, I think, 2019. And it's basically just like a dating show where a bunch of hot young people go to a villa. They're cut off from the world. It's like, as live as you can get. So they're there right now. So these people that were watching are in Fiji as we're speaking, and they try to find love. Yeah. Toast to new beginnings.

[Taryn Finley]

Yes.

[Brooke Lamentia]

And toast to hopefully falling in love and finding the man of our dreams. I'm Trinity. I'm 22 years old, and I love love. So Love Island, USA. Find me my man.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

Not gonna find my wife in a nightclub.

[Brooke Lamentia]

I might find my wife at a

[Unidentified Male Participant]

run club or at a museum.

[Taryn Finley]

Just dumb to put it out there.

[Jonathan Hill]

And they're trying to win money too, right?

[Brooke Lamentia]

And they're trying to win money, but I feel like the money has never been, like, the point. Like, I don't know. It's such a silly concept. I get to the end every year, and I'm like. I forget that there's money involved because it feels so, like, afterthought, you know?

[Jonathan Hill]

What makes this show, you know, work as a real I'm here to find love show versus some of the other dating reality shows we have out there.

[Brooke Lamentia]

I mean, I think this season is different, but in the past, I feel like it actually has been quite genuine because it's a lot of people coming into one space, and all you're thinking about is like, do I like my connection? Do I like this person? And so you can talk to everyone. And it's a show where you like the Bachelor, for example, it's one boy and, like, 30 girls. Like, that's crazy. That's never gonna work. That's weird. So it's like this. At least it's equal. Boys and girls. You're, like, thinking about who you're attracted to and then who you have good conversations with and, like, who you want to share a bed with.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

I did want to ask you if you wanted to. If you wanted to sleep together, if you wanted to share a bed tonight. We can either. We can cuddle or piddle for it, but we'll figure that shit out later. Okay?

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Yeah, we'll figure that out later.

[Taryn Finley]

I'm not opposed to it.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

Yeah. All right, cool.

[Brooke Lamentia]

There's all these different layers that make it more real when it comes to dating. As real as you can get.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

All right, tell me about your family. It's always been like, my mom, brother, and I, and then my grandma, like, pretty much, like, raised me, too, so I'm just a grandma's boy. I love my grandma.

[Taryn Finley]

Grandmas are the best.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

That's like, my lady.

[Brooke Lamentia]

And I think that has, like, led to the success. There's people that are married and have babies, and that's, like, pretty good to me, you know?

[Jonathan Hill]

You wrote a piece for the Cut titled, is this the least sexy season of Love island ever? Is Love island no longer sexy? What is going on with my fun tropical bikini show? What changed?

[Brooke Lamentia]

Yeah, I mean, everyone's still in bikinis. Everyone's still hot. That's the thing. Everyone's hot. That hasn't changed. But I think the way that they've engaged with sex and with kissing and with, like, anything physical has really, really changed from old seasons. And it's. It's not as fun to watch. It's honestly kind of gross to watch. And it's like, I don't need to see everyone kiss every single day because, like, they're being forced to in a challenge. Like, there's no. There's no genuine and, like, natural romantic and sexual tension left in the villa, it feels like. And that is where I think it's lost the plot. And it's, like, not as sexy as it has been. And it's never really been a show. I mean, people were having sex on the early seasons of uk, but I would still argue that, like, it's even that this feels somehow worse.

[Jonathan Hill]

And for those who don't know, challenges are what they call essentially games they have islanders play, usually set up like a competition. Boys against girls or couples against each other. Can you say more about how the challenges were different this season?

[Brooke Lamentia]

I mean, the show has always been couple forward. You, like, couple up with a partner. You guys share a bed. And so it's always very like, what's gonna happen in bed? Are we gonna cuddle? And there's, like, a very clear thing of, like, the couples will put the covers up over their head, and that means they're, like, kissing and doing stuff. But more and more, and especially this season, they have all involved, like, extremely heavy making out right away. So I think I was counting all the bombshells that came in, and they all started by making out with everyone, which is weird. Like, imagine you enter a villa, you're half naked. You don't know these people, and then you're like, I'm just gonna stick my tongue down everyone's throat and see what happens. Yeah, it's strange. It's not a normal way to say hello. Everybody gets to make out. I mean, it used to be like every challenge would be like, okay, maybe kiss an islander that you're interested in. And it would be like a cheeky little, like, let me do a slight little peck of this different islander. That's not my couple that maybe I'm intrigued by. And it was sexy and like low key and kind of like flirty, but not like Basque. Grabbing tongues everywhere. Porno vibes. What is your favorite sex position? Is it missionary, doggy or cowgirl? I love this game.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

I don't ever sit down with a girl on a first date and I'm like, my name's Shawn.

[Jonathan Hill]

I like doggy style.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

You know what I mean? I'd be a serial killer.

[Brooke Lamentia]

And you're gonna see who you can lick the longest and then you're gonna suck every single toe. Finally, our prince will test out every girl's toes. I was doing splits on the dick. I was doing splits on his head. I was doing back bends and I even sucked a man's foot. Like, I've never done that in my life, let alone on national television. And then if you win, you get to like, jump into a pot of slime. Like, it doesn't make any sense and it doesn't do anything for the plot except. Cause everyone to like, feel that their bodies aren't theirs. Almost like, it almost feels like now you walk into the villa and there's an understanding that like, people are going to grab you and kiss you and suck you and tickle you and like, you just have to do it and be okay with it. You have to do the beat.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

Be.

[Brooke Lamentia]

Yeah, it commodifies everyone's in a weird way that makes it uncomfortable to watch and not as fun.

[Jonathan Hill]

I think it's so interesting because on one hand, the show is a little more sexed up than it has been in past seasons. But Gen Z, which is the generation that's primarily on the show, is having less sex than ever. I wonder how you think about that. Like, how you squared those two things.

[Brooke Lamentia]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's. That's always a sentiment that's interesting to me because I'm technically Gen Z, so I feel like I watch people. Your people.

[Jonathan Hill]

Tell me of your people.

[Brooke Lamentia]

I'm like, my people. I don't. I don't know. Like, we get this rep that we are not having sex, but I think it's just. It's because then we get on shows and we do stuff like this. And it's like you've never even, like, you grab an ass. Like you've never even seen an ass before and it's like, have you seen an ass before? Like, we need to think about these things. Like, there's like, no, there's, no, it's not shame. I will say I think it was hard with this and it's hard with criticizing this show because there's a world where it was really like, women weren't allowed to be sluts, men weren't allowed to be sluts. And I think it's really great that people are embracing like, sexiness and sluttiness. And it feels like you can kind of do what you want. I think that's amazing and I think people should live their truth in that way. But it's like performance art almost in a way where it's like, we're doing this because we're on this show, but it doesn't feel genuine to us because we don't know how to have like a good sexual experience and a good sexual, like, connection. And so that's why I think it feels bad and it feels weird to watch. And I think it's also just because Gen Z is like, we're way more online. It's like less in person. Maybe like dating apps or you first see the exterior and then you have to like connect in person. But I also just think it's like people are, their, their brains aren't fully developed, you know, yeah, let's have a 25 plus show.

[Jonathan Hill]

Yeah, I think of me at 22 and oh, yikes on a bike, right?

[Brooke Lamentia]

And also it's like, if I was in the show and producers was like, okay, now make out with everyone. Like, I'm gonna do that. But it's like, I'm 21 years old. Like, give me some more time to think about how I wanna show up in this world. Because they do. I mean, everyone's watching. They're going to have a lot of influence and like, it does impact young people and how they see dating. Like, I'm sure men are watching this, hearing Casey go, I ain't going to

[Unidentified Male Participant]

lie to me and I ain't done shit.

[Brooke Lamentia]

They don't deserve me. Like, these girls are high school girls, but I deserve college girls. And they're like, what does that mean? But I need to know that. And then they're going to see, they're going to be out dancing and see a girl and just like grab her and kiss her. And we don't want that. You're watching like your peers. And so it's almost like you're seeing like how would my friends respond? And I would hope that people would watch the show and be like, okay, Love island is a show and these people are on a, on a reality show and maybe this is not how I should act. But you never know. And I think having especially the show lack like official and like verbal consent, especially when it comes to all the sexual things happening, like is a little bit jarring and a little scary for our future. I mean, it's like they're doing lap dances and grabbing butts, which I keep saying, but it's like there's no like can I touch you? It's just like boom. And it's sure maybe the show, but like we need to realize that that is not how the world actually works. And I think because we're so invested and because we feel so parasocial, this feels like an extension of our world. But there needs to be very clear boundaries between what is tv, what is entertainment and what is like real life and real dating.

[Jonathan Hill]

Brooklyn. You can read more of her work at the Cut. Coming up. What can a show where people hang out in bikinis on an island all day teach us about modern day dating?

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[Taryn Finley]

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[Brooke Lamentia]

I got a text.

[Jonathan Hill]

Oh, it's just Today Explained. We're back with Taryn Finley. She's a culture writer who covers the intersection of identity politics and entertainment. I asked her what the young cast of this season of Love island can tell us about the current state of dating and relationships.

[Taryn Finley]

There is a very well known stat at this time that, you know, Gen Z is having less sex than previous generations. And you know, we can tell, but we can also tell, you know, that, you know, they value and go about dating in very different ways. By the way, we are hearing these islanders talk to one another. I mean, not to, you know, kind of like dive right in there, but also to dive right in there. There's been a lot of discussion about, you know, the influence of the manosphere and, and red pill, you know, discourse affecting this season and how that has like been so prevalent in what some of not only the guys say but also what some of the girls say, you know.

[Jonathan Hill]

Yeah, how have we seen sort of that manosphere, red pill, pink pill stuff crop up this season?

[Taryn Finley]

Oh, girl how much time do you have? Because I think what we, where we saw it kind of at its height was Casa Amor. For those who aren't aware, Casa Amor is kind of like the ultimate test for these islanders to go off and be introduced to new bombshells and test their connections with their original partners. And within Casa Amor, I think it became very blatant for a lot of people because we're hearing conversations, especially between Casey and Corbin, who are, you know, the among the two youngest in the villa of the guys, you know, talking about, like, I don't want to be

[Unidentified Male Participant]

mean, but I feel like Titi and Parmita are like college girls and those girls in the villa are like high school girls

[Taryn Finley]

and really demeaning and degrading the connections that they had.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

Casa Amore is just, I don't know, the vibe is different. These CASA women, 10 out of 10,

[Taryn Finley]

you don't have to disrespect in, degrade your partners in order to make a new connection. You don't have to say like, okay, well, you're not giving me kisses. I'm going to get kisses from these other women. And doing it in a very, not only entitled but also kind of like weaponizing intimacy way.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

No more. No more begging all night.

[Taryn Finley]

I'm not going to be begging all night for no kiss, bro. And then again, like I said, you know, the women aren't, you know, there are innocent in this. You know, we hear especially early on in the season talk of like, okay, I want to be dominated. I want an alpha male.

[Brooke Lamentia]

You're like a tall guy. I like tattoos. Like, who doesn't like tattoos? I need someone who's gonna call the shots. That's my type of guy.

[Taryn Finley]

And it feels kind of like, okay, why are these 20 something year olds out here, like, trying to revisit, revert back to the 1950s rather than having their hot girl, hot boy summer in kind of a, you know, messy but also like ethically non monogamous way.

[Brooke Lamentia]

If I got a guy that told me I want kids, I want to get married, maybe I'll pop them out. How many do you want? I'll make a basketball team for you. If you don't like basketball, we'll do a soccer team.

[Jonathan Hill]

It's a show that is raunchy, but it's politics can actually be pretty conservative. There's this term that's been coming up over and over again this season, and it's lustful. Lustful.

[Unidentified Male Participant]

You doing this all because of lust? No. Intimate or kissing.

[Brooke Lamentia]

I'm not Lustful.

[Jonathan Hill]

Like, being lustful is the worst thing you can possibly be. They accuse the boys of being lustful. They accuse a girl of being lustful. Like, people will use it as an excuse to kick people off the island. Do you think the conservative nature of the show is something that's been intentional by producers, or is it sort of a reflection of where we are when we think about sex and love and dating in this country right now?

[Taryn Finley]

I think it's more of the latter. Right. And I never would have thought, especially as a former 20 something who had so many lustful years, I just never would have thought that, like, that would be the crime on Love Island. Right. And I think kind of going back to what we were saying earlier, Gen Z has a very different view of sex. I just think that it is a byproduct of a lot of the manosphere talk that we've seen and a lot of the, like, love her to death. But, you know, we hear Lotto say so many times how her body count, she can count it on, you know, on one hand anyway, body count.

[Brooke Lamentia]

So I might say I'm a virgin any day.

[Taryn Finley]

And like, that idea has just permeated a lot of pop culture recently, where it's like, okay, like, you can be sexy and talk about sex, but performing the act and doing it with too many people or exploring with too many people, that is the crime. So unfortunately, even though the kind of esthetics of hoe culture is alive, hoe culture itself, there is an attack on. I don't even know if I can say ho culture.

[Jonathan Hill]

You can say. You could say ho. I don't think you can. You can say ho.

[Taryn Finley]

Okay, great.

[Jonathan Hill]

Is Love Island a reflection of us as a culture or is the show influencing us? Like, what direction is this going in?

[Taryn Finley]

I think it's like a circle. I definitely think we're being influenced by Love island and we're influencing Love island itself. And I mean, obviously, you know, as audiences, we have a say in what's going on. We're talking about it with our friends at brunch, with Strangers on the Train. Like, we're having Love island watch parties. Like, I definitely think what we're seeing and how we're funneling our own experiences into these conversations shows how much the show is impacting us and is causing us to think a little bit differently about how we go about dating, how we go about friendships, what we prioritize. Right. But also the reason why we're even able to have these conversations is because Love island has been built In a way, whether that is purposeful or not to reflect all of that.

[Jonathan Hill]

So with all that being said, why should people even watch this show?

[Taryn Finley]

I'm like, should you? No, you really should. You really should. I'm unfortunately addicted. I'm. I'm on the ride now. I've gotten my boyfriend on. On the. On this roller coaster of a show. But I do think that a couple of things. So appointment television is back via Love Island. I think that that is important. I think that that is something that, especially in these crazy, crazy days, keeps a lot of people grounded, keeps a lot of people sane, and keeps a lot of people within community. I mean, there are folks who I haven't talked to in so long, but I'll post something about Love island and, like, we'll reconnect. And I think that that is probably true of a lot of people' in, you know, discussing this show and interacting and engaging with this show. But I also think that there are some really good lessons to glean from the conversations that we're having on Love island each season. We never know what we're gonna get. And so being able to take a magnifying glass and look at kind of what and who is moving in society at large within this. Within this dating conversation, but also within, like, a communal conversation and also to kind of, like, look internally. Right. I mean, there are certain things that I've realized about myself, like, ooh, girl, I do that. And I think that in a lot of ways, like, being able to watch this show and talk about it with people and also just kind of, like, see these, you know, people as avatars, for better or worse. Like, does feel, like, kind of cathartic and enlightening.

[Jonathan Hill]

That's Taryn Findlay. She's a culture journalist who's written for the New York Times, Essence, NBC, Refinery29, and more. Today's show was produced by Dustin Desoto, edited by Aminah Alsati, Fact Checked by Gabriel Dunatov, and engineered by David Tadashore. I'm Jon Glen Hill, and you can usually find me hosting my own show, Explain it to Me, which drops in the Today Explained feed on Sundays.

[Taryn Finley]

Sam.