It's been a while, but today we've got a science episode! Making her return to the show is Lindsey Osterman, a psychologist who has been studying parasocial relationships. It's already incredibly likely that you take part in some number of parasocial relationships, but now in the time of COVID they're more prevalent and important than ever.
Here are the studies Lindsey references!
Gabriel et al (2018) - From apprentice to presidentDownload
Osterman & Hecmanczuk (2019) - Parasocial ForgivenessDownload