Big tech companies tell us they’re our servants, existing to fulfill our desires more cheaply and conveniently than ever. Alfie Bown doesn’t think so. He thinks Deliveroo, Tinder, Pornhub etc. aren’t just giving us what we want, they’re shaping what we want. He reckons our tech overlords are secretly remaking humankind on the level of desire.

We chat about Chinese cars that know what you want to eat and why time travellers don’t get horny.

Bown is the author of a new book called Dream Lovers: The Gamification of Relationships

I talk about a crush I had in Paris as a boy. Then Sep and I dig into Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Marcel Proust to explain what on earth was going on in my heart. Rousseau advises how to get from boner to bonheur. Proust explains why it’s easier to fall for someone you pass in a car than someone you actually have to talk to. We find out that the human heart is a liar that it's more fun to believe anyway.