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Today, Explained

Why people cheat

31 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What fears do we have about infidelity?

1.398 - 12.244 Jonquilyn Hill

This program is both dedicated to the faithful and presented to the false hearted to encourage their renewal of temperance and virtue.

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12.425 - 17.938 Unknown

Because if a man can cheat on Megan Thee Stallion, what hope do the rest of us have?

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21.125 - 45.919 Jonquilyn Hill

A few weeks ago, I was zoning out, scrolling through Instagram. Dinner recipes, museum pictures, selfies. And then I saw something that shook me to my core. Cheating. Had me around your whole family playing house. Got cold feet. Holding you down through all your horrible mood swings and treatment toward me during your basketball season. And now you don't know if you can be monogamous?

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Chapter 2: Why do we react strongly to celebrity cheating scandals?

46.499 - 74.193 Jonquilyn Hill

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion said her boyfriend, basketball player Klay Thompson... cheated on her. The group chats activated immediately. My friends and I were stunned, shocked, and then enraged. The thing is, we don't actually know these people. And it's not the first time I've gotten worked up about a stranger's cheating scandal. Ariana Maddox and Tom Sandoval.

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74.473 - 79.34 Jonquilyn Hill

Fuck yourself with a fucking cheese grater. Halle Berry and Eric Benet. This is a failure in my life.

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Chapter 3: What are the common reasons people cheat?

79.881 - 85.83 Jonquilyn Hill

I love this man. And I thought I gave the best I had to give. Jay-Z and Beyonce.

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86.13 - 88.414 Unknown

Are you cheating on me?

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88.934 - 116.707 Jonquilyn Hill

Even random Reddit situations that may be made up will still definitely raise my blood pressure. I'm Jonquan Hill, and this week on Explain It to Me from Vox, the lowdown on our strong feelings about infidelity and how the rules may be changing. So why does cheating piss us off so bad, even when it's not happening to us? That's the question I asked sexologist and dating coach Myesha Battle.

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116.987 - 136.485 Myesha Battle

I think specifically with high-profile couples, it's because we want to see them succeed, or we're excited by the prospect of the drama that unfolds from a cheating story like the Coldplay executive cheating scandal. Oh, look at these two.

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Chapter 4: How does cheating affect trust in relationships?

136.465 - 160.482 Myesha Battle

We quickly want to identify who the villain is, who's been hurt, and then rally around the person that we want to support in that situation. Often, it's very cut and dried. If you cheated, you're a bad person. If you were cheated on, you're a good person. And that's not

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160.462 - 180.276 Myesha Battle

obviously always the case but because cheating happens so much I think that's a really quick assumption that we can make and then kind of jump to our own conclusions and want to jump to the aid of the person who's been cheated on and then of course jump on the person who has cheated.

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180.256 - 191.627 Jonquilyn Hill

Do we know why people cheat? Is there research on why people do this that explains this behavior? People cheat for so many reasons.

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194.43 - 205.421 Myesha Battle

From boredom to insecurity in the relationship to wanting to exert power or revenge in a relationship.

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Chapter 5: What role does non-monogamy play in cheating?

205.661 - 210.246 Myesha Battle

I really love the book The State of Affairs by Esther Perel.

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210.226 - 221.303 Esther Perel

Often when you are attracted by the gaze of another, it isn't just because you want to leave the person that you are with, but it is because you want to leave the person that you have yourself become.

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221.763 - 229.134 Myesha Battle

She really talks about the importance of delving into what the cheating meant for the person who cheated.

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229.495 - 238.208 Esther Perel

What did this affair mean for you? Were you thinking about us? Did you hope I would find out? Did you think about the children?

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238.188 - 241.752 Myesha Battle

and what the impact was on the person who was cheated on.

242.193 - 252.005 Esther Perel

These questions are actually going to calm you and they give you a different sense of power over your life and over your relationship.

252.145 - 259.133 Myesha Battle

If you can't really understand both sides of that and give space and process both,

Chapter 6: How is micro-cheating defined in modern relationships?

259.113 - 281.482 Myesha Battle

then it's not likely that you're going to get to a happy outcome on the other side of cheating, which is why it is one of the main reasons why people split up. It's a huge fracture in trust, and to rebuild that means that you have to do the work to understand why did this happen in the first place. Cheating is a choice. Monogamy is a choice. Non-monogamy is a choice.

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282.063 - 293.322 Myesha Battle

So when people are making these choices in relationship, they have consequences and you have to be able to have conversations about why and how you repair from that.

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293.403 - 301.881 Jonquilyn Hill

Yeah. Can we talk about the non-monogamy piece? I think especially ethical non-monogamy, it's a phrase that's used more and more. It's tossed around quite a bit.

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Chapter 7: Is it possible to have an online life without micro-cheating?

302.422 - 307.753 Jonquilyn Hill

Can people who are non-monogamous cheat as well? Oh, yeah.

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308.194 - 326.16 Myesha Battle

Yes. Because at the core of cheating is betrayal. So when I work with non-monogamous couples or people that are exploring non-monogamy, one of the first things that I do is talk about whether or not they want to create relationship agreements. Some people do. Some people don't. And the people who don't

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326.14 - 350.765 Myesha Battle

Maybe you would identify with a more relationship anarchy style of relationship as opposed to someone who is wanting something that is very codified and making agreements that people say they're going to adhere to. hey, we're going to be open, but you can only have sex with people who are not in our friend group and only one time, right?

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Chapter 8: What are the long-term effects of infidelity on relationships?

350.805 - 368.603 Myesha Battle

That would be an example of having relationship agreements. Whereas relationship anarchy is like, I'm going to do my own thing. We're going to see each other when we see each other. You know, there's some intentionality about that, but it's not necessarily that you have these structures around who can do what with whom.

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369.083 - 370.185 Jonquilyn Hill

Have you ever been cheated on?

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370.545 - 400.352 Myesha Battle

I have been cheated on. Yeah. and actually kind of a similar, I hate to compare myself to Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson, but this person cheated. We were living together. It was uncovered on Valentine's Day. It was pretty rough. And the way that he sort of told me that he had started seeing somebody was by saying, well, I'm not sure if I want monogamy, right?

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401.313 - 424.854 Myesha Battle

And so that was a piece that came up in the Megan Thee Stallion post on Instagram. And I totally related to that. And I do think that there's definitely a person who is trying to figure out whether they can handle monogamy or non-monogamy. And they find themselves in a situation where oh shit, you know, I can't handle monogamy, right? There are people for whom that happens, of course.

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425.536 - 429.992 Myesha Battle

But are there people that use non-monogamy as an excuse for their behavior? Absolutely.

433.364 - 443.037 Jonquilyn Hill

For anyone who's listening, who's going through this, who's gone through this, what are some first steps towards healing?

443.717 - 464.865 Myesha Battle

It is a trauma, and I think recognizing it and labeling it as such is a great first step. It's not just something that happened in your relationship. It has an impact on you. It may have an impact on whether the relationship continues. You know, in my case, it was my living situation. You know, I couldn't stay there.

466.187 - 480.027 Myesha Battle

You know, it impacts so many things and you're feeling all of that in your nervous system. It can create a PTSD response. It can certainly diminish your feelings of trust and safety in relationships of all kinds.

480.007 - 502.649 Myesha Battle

So really having a lot of support during this time, whether that's family and community that just takes you in, no questions asked, like mine did, or friends saying, you know, I've been through the same thing and whatever you need, let me help. Like my friend coming with garbage bags to just dump all my stuff and get me out of the house. Yeah. Or, you know, starting therapy when you're ready.

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