What can we possibly say about marriage that hasn't already been said? Hate it or love it, you've got to admit that the institution has a very large influence on our lives. Even if we choose not to get married, a good many days in our lives are sacrificed to attending other people's weddings.

In this episode, Marta, Pauline and Sindhuri talk about how their views and perceptions of marriage are influenced by their cultures. Sindhu's Sri Lankan/Indian, arranged-marriage-favouring family would like for her to marry a boy from "within the community" (that's a euphemism for caste). Pauline can't envision her Dutch family telling her whom to marry, and Marta believes Italian views towards marriage are diverse and regionally-specific.

We discuss the ideas of Esther Perel, this relatively new trend called 'sologamy' (marrying yourself) and more!

Brought to you by the Erasmus Mundus journalism students at Aarhus University, Denmark

Music and Audio Credits:

‘Embracing Sologamy: Meet The Woman Who Married Herself’ - Vice - YouTube

The Ghost in Your Piano - Climb

Victor Herbert Orchestra1910 - Old DutchEdison Cylinders

Romance Keys by Click Click Click

Esther Perel's TED Talk

Run The Tape by Asthmatic Astronaut

Strina Calabrese by Italian Village Music and Dance

'These City Streets' by BigAlBeatz licenced under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0