Under the Influence is a deep dive into social media, a place haunted by aspirational marketing where it feels like every other person is a social media influencer trying to sell you something, all while posed in perfect houses that never seem to get messy. And behind this airbrushed perfection is money, so much money. Billions and billions of dollars. Journalist and mom Jo Piazza looks at how we got here, what it all means and how the commodification of every single aspect of our lives is driving everyone (but mostly women and mothers) a little insane.
Sun, April 13, 2025
Today I'm dropping an episode of These Packs Puck. Anyone who's a parent knows how chaotic life with kids can be — but being a professional athlete and a parent comes with its own unique challenges. On their podcast, These Packs Puck, Madison and Anya Packer, professional hockey players and moms-of-two, speak candidly about their life on and off the ice. This episode happens to feature Jo talking about social media and parenting. Y ou can find more episodes of These Packs Puck here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 10, 2025
What happens when your life falls apart—and the Internet is watching? Jessica Turner had the husband, the kids, the career, and the perfectly curated feed. But when her husband came out as gay, everything she thought she knew about her life, her marriage, and herself shattered. In this raw and deeply honest conversation, Jessica opens up about what it really looks like to rebuild from the ground up—navigating grief, rewriting your worth, dating again, and raising kids with integrity in the spotlight. Her new book, I Thought It Would Be Better Than This , is a love letter to anyone living through disappointment and learning to write a new ending. Whether you’ve faced heartbreak, grief, or just feel like life didn’t go according to plan, this episode will remind you: it’s not over. You still get to choose what happens next. Grab Jessica's book I Thought it Would be Better Than This here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, April 08, 2025
Most of us think we understand our menstrual cycles. We track them with apps. We count the days. Maybe we even know when we’re ovulating. But what if everything you think you know is either oversimplified—or totally wrong? And what if the tools you're using to "know your body" are collecting your most intimate data... and selling it? In this episode, Jo talks with Laura Federico and Morgan Miller, authors of The Cycle Book , about the real science behind your cycle—and the avalanche of misinformation being spread by influencers who have no business talking about hormones. From raw meat diets to cycle syncing with moon phases, social media is full of bold claims and bad advice. This conversation cuts through the noise. You’ll learn: Why most period tracking apps are wildly inaccurate (and legally allowed to sell your data) What the follicular and luteal phases actually mean for your mood, energy, and well-being How to identify hormonal patterns that impact everything from sex to chronic illness Why pen-and-paper tracking might be the most powerful (and private) health tool you’ve never tried This isn’t about becoming a hormone expert. It’s about getting real information, trusting your own body, and unlearning the junk we’ve all absorbed from magazines, apps, and wellness influencers. Find The Cycle Book here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 03, 2025
Online spaces and societal expectations are radicalizing young boys at an alarming rate. The haunting TV drama "Adolescence" depicts a 13-year-old boy arrested for murdering a female classmate—a fictional story that reflects real concerns about how toxic internet communities are shaping vulnerable minds. Reverend Angela Denker, author of " Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood, " offers a nuanced perspective on two painful truths: white boys and men are both dangerous and struggling. While making up the majority of mass shooters in America, they also die by suicide at higher rates than any other group. The vacuum of positive masculine content in progressive spaces has pushed boys toward extremist corners of the internet like Andrew Tate's rhetoric. As both a pastor and mother of two boys, Denker provides insights into how Christian fundamentalism, the internet, and traditionalist gender roles contribute to male insecurity and violence. She challenges listeners to see themselves in destructive patterns to begin healing and offers hope through stories of men who have escaped radicalization. This isn't just about danger and struggle—it's about hope and solutions for creating healthier masculine identities for the next generation. Get Disciples of White Jesus here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, April 02, 2025
You've earned the degree, landed the job, and crushed your first assignments—so why aren't you moving up? The shocking truth: it's not you, it's the system. "For every 100 men at the entry level that get that first big promotion, only 81 out of 100 women make the same leap." Join us as McKinsey senior partner Lareina Yee, co-author of "Broken Rung," reveals why the first step on your career ladder might be sabotaging your entire professional journey—and what you can do about it. Our guest, a McKinsey senior partner and co-author of "Broken Rung," shares startling insights about this persistent issue that has remained stubbornly unchanged over the past decade. Learn the warning signs that you might be stuck on this broken rung and discover tactical strategies to actively manage your career from day one. The conversation explores: How to recognize when you're stalling in your early career years The concept of "experience capital" and why the first 5-7 years are critical Why choosing a company culture matters more than choosing a job How technology skills can future-proof your career Practical ways successful women can help others climb past the broken rung With 12 million occupations expected to shift and change by 2030, this episode offers essential guidance for women at any career stage—whether just starting out or pivoting industries. Discover why success isn't a solo act and how building strong networks with both mentors and sponsors can make all the difference in navigating today's rapidly evolving workplace. Buy The Broken Rung here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 27, 2025
In this deeply personal episode, we sit down with extraordinary mountaineer Melissa Arnot, whose achievements include multiple Everest summits including one without supplemental oxygen. But this conversation goes far beyond climbing mountains. Melissa's new book explores the universal struggle many women face: never feeling like we're enough despite accomplishments that prove otherwise. From her tumultuous upbringing to becoming an elite mountain guide while balancing motherhood and relationships, Melissa shares her journey of overcoming the relentless inner critic. This raw, honest discussion resonates with anyone who's ever felt inadequate despite "doing all the things." Like the bestseller "Wild," this isn't just a story about outdoor adventure—it's about discovering what it truly means to be enough in a world that constantly demands more. Join us for a powerful conversation about self-worth, impostor syndrome, and finding peace with who we are rather than what we achieve. Learn more about Melissa and get Enough here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 25, 2025
From wine windows that went viral during the pandemic to churches becoming TikTok sensations, we unpack how influencer culture is changing the way we experience historic and cultural sites all over the world, but particularly in Italy. Plus, we tackle that other burning question: with so many Americans dreaming of escaping to Italy, is it actually feasible? And would those same people just become part of the problem? Is all of it just a social media induced fever dream for most Americans? Listen to Fosca's excellent podcast here and learn more about all of her excellent Italian services here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, March 23, 2025
Today on Sunday Nice Things I'm dropping in an episode of the show Too Much Money that I made with my friend Doree Shafrir. The show is a wild ride through the crazy ways that billionaires spend their money. And now that we live in a world with a billionaire ruling class it's a more interesting listen than ever. This episode is about why billionaires love to buy media properties and then ruin them. In this ep we discuss the various billionaires (Jeff Bezos, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Mort Zuckerman, Sam Zell, etc.) who have bought media properties, what happened next, and who suffered (hint: not them!). Listen to all the episodes of Too Much Money here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 20, 2025
The misinformation about birth control and women's rights on social media has reached a fever pitch. The other day I was served a reel telling me that taking birth control will both give me cancer and make me more attracted to my cousin. How can we fix this? With information. Can a report card help save reproductive rights in America? This week, I'm chatting with Jennie Wetter from ePROs Fight Back to discuss their groundbreaking report card grading all 50 states on reproductive health and rights. As the US earns its sixth consecutive failing grade, they break down the current landscape of abortion access, sex education, and maternal healthcare state by state. A crucial listen for understanding reproductive rights at the local level—where the real fight is happening. Jennie is the director of the rePROs Fight Back initiative and leads the creation of the report. She also hosts a weekly podcast that is a go-to resource for keeping up with the devastation happening to reproductive rights. Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 18, 2025
Professor Katherine Phelps is shattering the stereotype that social media is purely destructive for young girls. After spending a ton of time with these young women and interviewing them about their online habits for her new book Digital Girlhoods she's discovered that social media plays a valuable role in community building and identity formation. Katherine discusses the complex dynamics of online bullying, privacy, and visibility, as well as the broader societal influences that shape young girls' digital lives. Maybe it isn't social media that is failing girls, but our society, our culture and even us. Get Digital Girlhoods here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 13, 2025
Today we're talking to Susie Shaw, a mother who bravely shares her journey through the devastating loss of her child, William. Susie recounts the harrowing day William went missing during a family ski vacation and the aftermath of that tragedy. Our conversation delves deep into the challenges of grieving, the dire need for better bereavement support, and the role of grief influencers online, both the good and the bad. You can follow Susie on Instagram here . Learn more about William's Be Yourself Challenge and The Green House here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 11, 2025
Have you ever wondered if you could stop being so neurotic, or become more of an extrovert? Are our personalities set in stone when we are born or can we adapt them over time? To find out Atlantic journalist Olga Kazan set out on a year-long experiment to become more extroverted, less neurotic, and more agreeable. Discover how Olga successfully changed aspects of her personality through simple practices like meditation, social activities, and volunteering. She debunks the myth that personality is "set like plaster" and reveals how our traits can be nudged in positive directions in as little as a few weeks. The conversation explores: How much of our personality is genetic versus changeable The surprising link between happiness and social connection Practical strategies for changing different personality traits Why experiencing difficult times often creates our strongest memories Grab Olga's Book, Me But Better, here . Read her viral Atlantic cover story here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, March 09, 2025
I'm a little obsessed with this week's Sunday Nice Things. I am very excited to bring you the CRAMPED podcast. Cramped is one nerd’s quest to find out why we know next to nothing about period pain. Tired of suffering from "death cramps" with no diagnosis for 20 years, Kate Downey has to look for her own answers. What she finds will change how you think about your own body and the medical system. Because having a microphone gets you more answers than having a uterus. In this episode Kate gets sucked down a rabbit hole of "hormone balancing" content on TikTok, and wonders...this whole time, have her cramps just been due to a hormone imbalance? She talks with Alex Sujong Laughlin (Normal Gossip, Defector) about her experience trying to balance her hormones with info from TikTok, and then gets real answers from Dr. Thara Vayali on hormone function, cortisol, and how our hormones ACTUALLY work. Read the transcript for this episode here . Listen to episode one of CRAMPED here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 06, 2025
What if taking a step back from your career wasn't seen as slacking, but actually celebrated? Harvard Business School professor Christina Wallace discusses why we all deserve a season to dial it back at work. She'll make you question how you're measuring your life (spoiler: it's probably not just about that paycheck) and why the "lean in" mindset did women zero favors. We dig into why companies should let employees hit the brakes occasionally, how to tell your boss you need breathing room without getting fired, and why finding a hobby you don't monetize might save your sanity. Read Christina's HBR piece on seasons of stepping back here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, March 05, 2025
In celebration of the release of Elle Cosimano's latest book Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave we are re-releasing our much beloved interview with Elle about how she blew up her life to follow her dream of becoming a writer. This is a must listen for anyone looking to pivot or make a change right now. Elle was miserable in her job working in real estate. Then her mother offered to care for her children for the summer and take on the physical and mental load of parenting so that Elle could try to write her own book. That moment of receiving permission to do something for herself, completely changed Elle's life and put her on the path to writing her first book, to finding an agent, to publishing a book and then many books and then hitting the bestseller lists. And along the way Elle connected with other women who were also blowing up their lives to switch careers to become authors. Those women inspired her every single day to keep going. This is about women lifting each other up and supporting one another unconditionally. It is about the fear and shame and guilt many of us have about doing something that seems selfish, that is for ourselves. Elle Cosimano has inspired me so much on my own journey and I know that she is going to inspire you. Get a copy of Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave here . Learn more about Elle and buy all of her books here . Subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos of all episodes here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 04, 2025
Tyler Moore, better known as @TidyDad, accidentally became an influencer while maintaining his day job as a NYC public school teacher and showing off his housekeeping skills on his blog and social media. The episode covers practical organizing hacks like using denture tablets to clean water bottles and taking advantage of vertical door organizers for stuffed animals, but we also explore how Tyler's openness about mental health challenges and his approach to modern fatherhood have struck a chord with his predominantly female audience. Learn more about Tyler and grab a copy of Tidy Dad here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, March 02, 2025
I genuinely believe that books bring people together and I want to create space for more book events, book clubs and book discussions. Robin Kall is amazing at this. She has been running the Reading With Robin series in Rhode Island for decades now and she regularly brings together hundreds of people to chat about books. Robin is first and foremost a book lover and today we are diving into how to build a bookish community, how we can use reading as self care during these trying times AND how to model good reading habits for your kids. Her simple tip, always have a book with you, is so easy and I still need the reminder. Follow Robin on Instagram here. Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 27, 2025
Too many of us enter motherhood carrying expectations shaped by filtered social media posts, polished representations in media, and well-intentioned but incomplete stories from those who came before us. We're told we'll instantly fall in love with our babies, that we'll intuitively know how to be mothers, and that any difficulties will be outweighed by overwhelming joy. That’s not the experience for a lot of us. This week I got to chat with Sarah Hoover, author of "The Motherload," for a candid conversation about the aspects of motherhood that often remain hidden: postpartum depression that manifests as rage, the grief of losing your pre-baby identity, and the challenge of connecting with your baby when nothing feels the way you expected. You can find out more about Sarah Hoover’s work here — and buy The Motherload here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 25, 2025
How good are you at communicating? The truth is that we can all be better at being heard and hearing others. Communicating well is not a super power, but rather a skill that any of us can learn. And in this age of intense digital communication, we all need to find ways to stop just shouting or whispering into the void and truly connect with one another. Our guest today is Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and the author of Supercommunicators. He's giving us practical tips for improving communication in personal and professional settings, and explaining why curiosity and understanding are key to becoming a supercommunicator. Order Supercommunicators here . Follow Charles on Substack here . Join our newsletter coven here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, February 24, 2025
On Today's Sunday Nice Things we are diving into the new book Romances & Practicalities, a love story in 250 questions by blindsiding my husband into answering some of these questions live on a microphone. We also hear about his Parker Posey/Sarah Silverman fetish, which makes all of the sense. Grab a copy of Romances & Practicalities here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 20, 2025
Are Gen X women having the best sex of anyone? Let's talk about this week's viral New York Times article about women in their 40s and 50s experiencing an unprecedented sexual renaissance. This is a generation that is rewriting the rules about pleasure, power, and partnership. Perhaps Gen X hit the perfect timing: mature enough to know their worth, young enough to embrace change, and shaped by an analog childhood that fostered authentic connections. From the impact of social media on modern dating to problematic portrayals of middle-aged women's sexuality in media we're diving into how cultural narratives fail to capture the reality and joy of real women's experiences. SUBSCRIBE TO GLYNNIS'S NEWSLETTER HERE . Order I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself here . Join our Over the Influence newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 18, 2025
What if we just stopped accepting the absurd beauty standards that society has created for women? What if we actually aged gracefully instead of just talking about it? That's what New York Times columnist Jessica Grose has decided to do. We chat about her viral article about choosing to "go full crone" in 2025, rejecting cosmetic procedures like Botox in favor of letting her face just do what a face is supposed to do. We explore how social media has intensified beauty pressures, the astronomical costs of "maintenance" treatments, and our attempts to model self-acceptance for our girls in this image-obsessed world. Read Jess's NYT column on going full crone here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, February 16, 2025
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Thu, February 13, 2025
What if summer vacation did not suck? Let's dive into the challenging reality of summer childcare in America and explore why planning for summer breaks has become increasingly stressful and expensive for parents, particularly working mothers. Katherine Goldstein writer of "The Double Shift" newsletter, joins us to discuss the historical context of America's unique summer childcare crisis (spoiler: it is much, much worse here than in most other countries) and shares creative alternatives to traditional summer camps. Whether you're a parent already deep in the summer planning chaos or someone curious about this systemic challenge, this conversation offers both practical insights and a broader perspective on how we got here and what could change. Follow Katherine's work at the Double Shift newsletter here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 11, 2025
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Thu, February 06, 2025
Join Jo and Glynnis as they dive into Joe's recent experience with pneumonia and the challenges of navigating the ER, explore the sense of dread permeating America right now, and discuss the importance of finding joy and community in challenging times. Also, Go Birds! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 04, 2025
The world is not fair. But it feels even less so these days. Today's we're diving headfirst into the pressing issue of gender equity in the workplace with special guest and senior researcher, Siri Chilazi from Harvard's Kennedy School. Siri is much more optimistic than I am about the future for women and I wanted to know why. We're chatting about practical strategies for hiring, performance evaluation, and breaking down norms that hold us back. How do we operate in a workplace and world where DEI is becoming a dirty word? She's got great advice about how we can shift norms in our day to day even if we aren't the CEO and she did manage to fill my cold dark heart with a little bit of optimism. Grab Siri and Iris's book Make Work Fair here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 30, 2025
Why are the skincare girlies always washing their faces? Are all those products they push on social media any good or are they just getting paid to promote them? Today we're breaking down all the social skincare myths and tricks with skincare professional Jordan Samuel. What really works? What is all b.s." And what is the worst skincare product I was tricked into buying this year. Learn more about Jordan and his wonderful products here : Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 28, 2025
Marketing expert Mara Einstein reveals how modern marketing tactics mirror cult recruitment strategies. When she noticed the eerie similarities between the NXIVM cult and LuLaRoe's business practices, she began researching how marketers manipulate consumers through digital platforms. She breaks down why your late-night shopping sprees are no accident, how AI is making advertising even more deceptive, and why influencers function as "cult light" leaders guiding our purchasing decisions. Einstein, who appears in Netflix's "Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy," also explains why the current social media marketing model is unsustainable and offers practical tools for resisting manipulation in an increasingly predatory digital marketplace. Grab Mara's new book Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 23, 2025
The myth of the good mother in absolute BS and it has pushed too many women into spirals of shame and guilt for not being "enough." Today we are debunking all of the pseudo science, flawed studies and media archetypes that contributed to the myth of the good mother so that we can talk about the reality of being a mom. Our guest is Nancy Reddy, author of The Good Mother Myth. The conversation also dives into practical steps for sharing domestic responsibilities and fostering more genuine, joyful parenting experiences. Order The Good Mother Myth here . Follow Nancy on substack here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 21, 2025
Everyone feels shame, but it also feels like a misogynistic construct that is more often placed on women. Nearly a decade ago, Melissa Petro was working as a public school teacher when the NY Post outed her as a former stripper and call girl. The media went wild and she was publicly humiliated and forced to resign from a career she loved. From then on, Melissa has dedicated her life to growing awareness of how sexist shame is weaponized against women to keep us from achieving our goals and knowing our worth. Today we're diving into: Shame as a particularly gendered experience How women face impossible societal standards Parallels between shame in sex work and motherhood The impact of social media on public shaming Get Melissa's book Shame on You: How to be a Woman in the Age of Mortification here. Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 16, 2025
Protecting kids and teens on social media is one of the things I think about all of the time. What are the platforms doing to support parents and is it enough? How can the government do more and what do parents need to know about all of it. Today we're having a candid conversation with Nicole Lopez, Meta’s Global Director of Youth Safety. Nicole shares insights on how Meta is tackling online bullying, sextortion, and the challenges of age verification. Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 14, 2025
This episode will motivate you in all kinds of new ways. Amidst all of the chaos in our country right now we actually have an opportunity to completely blow up the way we view motherhood, caregiving, women’s labor and ambition. Neha Ruch is leading this revolution. The author of the new bestseller 'The Power Pause,' joins me to explore the outdated stereotypes of stay-at-home motherhood and proposes a new narrative that values career pauses. The discussion highlights the importance of redefining ambition and professional identity and challenging traditional workplace norms that have been shaped predominantly by men. It emphasizes the need for unity among women, advocating for a paradigm shift where career breaks for caregiving are seen as valuable and growth-oriented. We can change the damn world. Here's one place to start. Learn more about Neha and Mother Untitled here . Order The Power Pause here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 09, 2025
Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of former YouTuber and convicted child abuser Ruby Franke, is on the media circuit right now to promote her new memoir, "The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom." Journalist and friend of the pod Fortesa Latifi just did an exclusive interview with Shari about Rolling Stone and is here to talk about all the reveals in the book from why Shari thinks family video influencing should be fully outlawed to her mother Ruby's romantic relationship with her co-conspirator Jodi Hildebrandt. Read Fortesa's Rolling Stone piece here . Follow her on substack here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 07, 2025
The number one question Dr. Jennifer Lincoln gets asked as an OB-GYN who gives fact-based information on Instagram is "IS THIS NORMAL?" Because these days it is truly hard to figure out what is. Instagram and TikTok influencers are putting out more misinformation than ever about women's bodies. Dr. Lincoln joins us to dispel myths, provide fact-based advice, and talk about her journey to using Instagram to educate. We're getting into the challenges of finding reliable information, the dangers of social media "experts", and practical tips for making informed decisions about birth plans and reproductive health. Learn all about Dr. Jennifer Lincoln and follow her here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 02, 2025
As she approached her fiftieth birthday, Debra Whitman, a globally recognized expert on aging, wanted to delve deeper into why so many Americans struggled to live well as they aged. And she began to wonder what was in store for her own second fifty. Suddenly, the questions she’d been studying for years became personal: How long will I live? Will I be healthy? Will I lose my memory? How long will I work? Will I have enough money? Where will I live? How will I die? Whether you are approaching fifty, into your later years, or caring for someone who is, you’ll find a wealth of wisdom in this episode. Buy The Second Fifty here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 31, 2024
What do you want more of in 2025? I want more travel, more friend stuff, more adventure. We're digging into all of it with Glynnis on today's episode. I also want money and security and I think it is OK to say those things out loud. We also have special guest Ophira Edut of the Astrotwins, my favorite astrologist, to tell us what the stars have in store for us in the next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, December 26, 2024
What if all of the women in the world just decided to stop helping tomorrow? The world would shut the hell down, is what would happen. One of the things that I've realized about myself is that I am an intensely over committed, pathetic people pleaser. I am always offering to help way more than anyone ever expects. My guest today, Amy Wilson wants us to recognize this about ourselves. She isn't here to help us fix it, but just to see it. Amy has always been the ultimate helper. She describes herself as a big sister, a girl scout, a faithful reader of teen magazines, a personal assistant and a mom of three. And she's always kind of thought that it was her destiny to be a people pleaser, to put other people first. Until it all got to be too much. You can order Amy's book HAPPY TO HELP here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 24, 2024
The new year isn't just about resolutions – it's about revolution. Your professional and personal revolution. It's about reclaiming the lead role in your life's story. Today, we're chatting with my very best friend Jackie Cascarano about how she went from lawyer, to working in academia to coaching women through career and life transitions with her business Juno Women's Collective. 🚀 Listen in as we explore the journey of reinvention and finding your true purpose. We talk about succeeding and failing and the ambition trap that far too many women fall into before they even realize what it is they want out of life. Learn more about Juno here . Follow Jackie here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, December 19, 2024
Coming at you live from Iceland to encourage you to book that friend vacation in 2025. Or better yet ask your husband to give it to you as a Christmas gift. We spend so much time planning our kids play dates and their activities that we forget to do these things for ourselves. No more. We cannot be our best selves without taking time for ourselves. Let's talk about the joys of me time, of friend vacations and doing absolutely nothing in a new place while I soak in a hot spring on a black lava beach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 17, 2024
Today we're taking a deep dive into the world of a 16-year-old TikTok star who wants to change the industry as we know it and ensure that the next 20 billionaires are females under 25. Sloane Price is wildly ambitious in ways I couldn't have imagined possible when I was a teenager. And today we're talking about her business plans, the ways that brands and agencies take advantage of teen girl influencers (plus how she wants to fix it) and why the teenage influencers today are the future of celebrity marketing. You can follow Sloane on TikTok here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, December 15, 2024
Today we're dropping an episode of We've Got Issues in your feed that's been getting a lot of attention. We all want a village, or so we say? But where is it? How do we find it? How do we keep it? And once we get it will we actually be happier? You can binge all the episodes of We've Got Issues here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, December 12, 2024
It's way too easy for social media to make us feel like crap. But the things that shame us or guilt us, or make us want to throw our phones across the room often say more about our own demons and trauma than they do about the influencers themselves. Today we're joined by journalist Fortesa Latifi who went down a rabbit hole of jealousy looking at one influencer's birth pics. We're also diving into the exquisite stupidity of push presents and whether or not you should feel guilty about wanting to go right back to work after giving birth. Follow Fortesa's Substack here . This is her article about Pookie's birth . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 10, 2024
Who lands the cover of the far-right version of Cosmo, a profile in Glamour magazine and another in The New York Times within days of each other? Ballerina Farm does. I'll bet you thought it was Cher. Let's dive inside the Ballerina Farm media blitz with Glamour reporter Stephanie McNeal who spoke to Hannah Neeleman for her rebranding "I AM NOT A #TRADWIFE" press tour. We're asking questions about whether or not a social media brand can appeal to everyone in our polarized world and whether rebranding herself as an entrepreneur instead of a housewife is the ultimate flex. Read Steph's Glamour piece on Ballerina Farm here . Order Steph's book Swipe Up For More here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, December 08, 2024
Happy Sunday! We are dropping a new show in your feed today. This is Basket Case (LOVE THE NAME). Where do you go when your own thoughts are unsafe? Basket Case, a series hosted by Nicole Kelly (NK), decodes the kaleidoscope of mental health and uncovers how our brain contorts our reality through original reporting, tender conversations, and deeply personal explorations. On this episode, Bertranna’s autism makes her obsessed with finding the Truth about neurodiversity. You can binge all of Basket Case here . Learn more about NK here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, December 05, 2024
Behind every powerful woman… are more powerful women taking justice into their own hands. That is currently more true than ever. When I saw Suffs the musical the other day I found myself sobbing in the bathroom with complete strangers and I simply had to talk about it with the magical Nikki James who portrays the inimitable Ida B. Wells in this Broadway masterpiece. SUFFS brings to life a complicated chapter in the ongoing battle for the right to vote: the American women’s suffrage movement. In the seven years leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, an impassioned group of suffragists—“Suffs” as they called themselves—took to the streets, pioneering protest tactics that transformed the country. They risked their lives as they clashed with the president, the public, and each other. A thrilling story of brilliant, flawed women working against and across generational, racial, and class divides, SUFFS boldly explores the victories and failures of a fight for equality that is still far from over. Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 03, 2024
This week Hannah Neeleman, the founder and CEO of the brand Ballerina Farm appeared on the cover of Evie magazine , the MAGA-friendly lady magazine that claims to be an alternative to traditional media’s abject feminism. If we had any questions about the Neeleman family’s political leanings (I didn’t) then this answers them for us. On the cover Hannah is posed seductively in a prairie field whilst milking a cow in a pristine linen dress. The magazine, which is cleverly designed to looks exactly like other recognizable women’s brands like Vogue and Elle , touts MAGA-friendly headlines like THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SEXY: Why Society Needs Aspirational Beauty. Here to talk about all of it is NYT bestselling author of A Well-Trained Wife, Tia Levings . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, November 27, 2024
As we head into Black Friday and the vortex of holiday shopping we need to chat just a little bit about the Amazon of it all. Today’s guest is Dana Mattioli, author of THE EVERYTHING WAR: Amazon's Ruthless Quest to Own The World and Remake Corporate Power. She’s helping us dive into all of our feelings about shopping with Amazon and how to weigh the often wonderful convenience of it with the challenges faced by small businesses and the safety concerns related to some products sold on on the site. Read Dana's pieces on WSJ here . Order the EVERYTHING WAR here . Join our OVER THE INFLUENCE newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, November 26, 2024
If women don't have real conversations about their health and their bodies then we will never get the healthcare we deserve. Get ready for lots of real and honest talk about Ozempic and the semi-glutides as Jo chats with Glynnis about all the questions people ask her about taking the drugs for the past three months including: Why did you start? Do you hate food now? Do you feel sick all the time? How do people react when you tell them? Are you gonna stay on it forever? Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, November 24, 2024
Today we're dropping an episode of Committed in your feed. As a parent, how do you transcend the regular run of the mill parent/child relationship? How do you turn your bond into a real friendship? When Jessica's two kids were young, she pulled them out of traditional school, began homeschooling them and started traveling abroad. They left the U S a decade ago in search of a more authentic path. Since then they've lived in an RV in Europe for three years, learned to sail and crossed the Atlantic together as a family. This has been challenging and insane and also delightful and wonderful. Today we're talking to Jessica and Largo, her 17-year-old son, about how this lifestyle has strengthened their bond. This is the first in a two-part episode. In the first episode we dig into the foundation of their relationship and next week are getting into the mother-son duo's decision to hike the Appalachian trail together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, November 21, 2024
AI technology is significantly increasing social media addiction every single day by predicting user behavior. It’s now more imperative than ever that parents model healthy screen habits to influence their children's behavior before it’s too late. In this episode, long-time tech exec Mark Weinstein, author of Restoring Our Sanity Online, discusses the evolution of social media, the rise of surveillance capitalism, and the increasing addiction to social media driven by AI. He emphasizes the need for parents to model healthy behaviors and protect their children from online dangers. Weinstein also highlights the importance of legislative measures to ensure online safety and shares insights from his experiences speaking with social media executives. You can order Restoring Our Sanity Online here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . To sponsor this podcast contact: sales@adalystmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, November 19, 2024
How can you get the status you need and deserve? What makes people WANT to work with you? As a professor of organizational behavior at University of North Carolina Alison Fragale, the author of Likeable Badass, is trying to help women figure out how to gain the status we deserve. It’s easy to feel powerless at work and at home. But there are strategies we can use to boost our status with coworkers, potential employers, audiences and even our own kids. We're also going to dive into negotiation techniques that work every time. Order Likable Badass here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . To sponsor this podcast contact: sales@adalystmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, November 14, 2024
Friendships are the backbones of many of our lives. But they also feel harder than ever to maintain and nurture. We need more strategic approached to our friendships and we also need a blueprint for how to cull toxic friends from our lives. Here to give us all of it is Anna Goldfarb, the author of Modern Friendship: How to Nurture Our Most Valued Connections. Anna argues that we need to update our approach to friendships in a way that accounts for the hyper-fluid society we live in. The key to forming a lasting bond is what Anna calls “Wholehearted Friendship”―proven strategies to enhance enthusiastic connection. Order Modern Friendship here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, November 12, 2024
What is a good mother? What is a bad mother. What is a traditional mother? Let's sit with all those questions for just a hot second and then realize that there's no right answers. Humans lived for 95% of our existence as hunter-gatherers: we raised children communally and in a way that was dramatically different from contemporary post-industrial societies. What can we take away from historical models of caregiving to help us get rid of the guilt and shame that social media heaps on us? We discuss it all with science writer Elena Bridgers including: Modern mothering lacks historical precedent. Current parenting models are harder on mothers. Leisure time is crucial for mothers' well-being. Community support significantly aids parenting. Myths about traditional motherhood need debunking. Understanding evolutionary biology can inform modern parenting. It's important to explore alternative parenting options. Having different options and being able to talk through what might work for you is key. The conversation should focus on maternal mental health, not just children's well-being. Moms are struggling with guilt and burnout from balancing work and childcare. Social isolation is a significant issue for modern mothers. The traditional models of motherhood are not representative of our evolutionary past. Children in hunter-gatherer societies had more autonomy and playtime. Parenting skills are often learned through experience, not instinct. Teenagers used to play a significant role in childcare, which has diminished. The structure of modern society contributes to feelings of loneliness among mothers. We need to rethink the support systems for mothers to improve mental health. Follow Elena's newsletter here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, November 07, 2024
I woke up Wednesday morning in a sheet cake and red wine coma, floating in confusion, grief and fury. And yet I still had to parent. We still have to be the leaders and teachers our children will so desperately need for the strange and uncertain future. So how do we talk to our kids about what is happening? Today I'm joined by Amanda White, the Executive Director of the Therapy For Women Center and Julia Hitch of the Seattle Clinic to answer all of your questions. Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, November 05, 2024
Take some time for yourself to enjoy this election day....to enjoy the fact that you got to vote for a woman for president. We get to savor that. And you know what I have a lot of optimism. Here to share in the joy with me are Glynnis MacNicol and @EmilyinYourPhone. Binge all of the episodes of We've Got Issues Here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, November 03, 2024
Let's take a break from election doom scrolling to clean out our closets. And while we do it why not try out a new podcast called Frugal Friends all about how to shift from a mode of overconsumption to one of underconsumption (and enjoy doing it). You can binge all of the Frugal Friends episodes here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 31, 2024
Influencers who hate Halloween, influencers who make you feel like you're failing Halloween (no more boo baskets people), plus a little Ballerina Farm brand extension for good measure. Subscribe to In Pursuit of Clean Countertops here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, October 29, 2024
Why can't I do a back walkover as a 44 year old woman? That is the central theme of this hilarious episode with Lyndsay Rush, AKA @MaryOliversDrunkCousin. Sure we talk about poetry and existential dread, but mostly back walkovers and grudge holding against people who have no idea who we are. Lyndsay's new book of poems A Bit Much just came out and it is such a joy to read. Order it here . You can subscribe to our newsletter and join our community at Over the Influence . You can pre-order a personalized copy of the trashiest trad wife murder mystery of all time, EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU right here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 24, 2024
Parenting is a long game. After parenting six kids for the past twenty-eight years Gabrielle and Ben Blair know that better than anyone. I love advice from other parents, especially ones that I respect as much as Gabrielle (@DesignMom) and Ben. Today we’re getting into all the advice from their new book The Kids Are All Right including the importance of emotional authenticity, building a family culture, the benefits of low-stakes activities and embracing the crappiest of moments. Living in the world is stressful enough. As parents we don’t need to impose even more stress on our lives. Here are some more highlights: Building a family culture is an ongoing process that shapes the future of our relationships. Emotional authenticity is crucial; kids should feel free to express their feelings. Parenting is about shared experiences that create lasting bonds. The long view of parenting helps maintain relationships beyond childhood. It's important to embrace challenges as part of family life. Parents should focus on creating a safe and loving home environment. Kids need to learn that it's okay to not be happy all the time. Low-stakes activities help children learn without pressure. Sports should be enjoyable, not a source of stress. Parents should focus on building relationships with their children. Manufactured stress can harm family dynamics. Engaged parents are a sign that kids will be fine. It's okay for kids to experience a range of emotions. Grab The Kids Are All Right here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, October 22, 2024
In the wake of the Ruby Franke scandal, Utah is finally considering legislation to protect and compensate the children of influencers. Joining us today is journalist Fortesa Latifi to talk about this breaking news AND the brand new tell-all book about the dangers of family vlogging from the eldest Franke child Shari Franke. Some of these influencers kids are helping their parents to make millions of dollars. McMansions and Mercedes are being bought from the labor. They deserve better and they just might get it. Read Fortesa's latest piece in the Washington Post here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 17, 2024
There are 30 million romance readers in the United States and 50% read a book a week. That is a lot of books my friends! Today we are talking to our friends Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo about their brand new romance publishing venture 831 which is delivering sexy, smart and spicy romances for the modern woman. I’m obsessed with their first book Big Fan which not only features a kind male protagonist that you will definitely want to do it with, but also touts universal basic income in a very organic way. They also have a no asshole policy in their books which I adore. I want more kind men, hot sex, progressive policies that will save the planet spicy margaritas of romances in my life and I think you will too. Order Big Fan here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, October 15, 2024
There's a fine line between marketing and creating false desires and influencers stomp all over it. Influencers often convince women they have problems that can only be solved by buying things. But this holiday season we don’t have to give in. Today we’re talking about the historical context of marketing and its impact on consumer behavior, emphasizing the emotional triggers behind impulse purchases. We have insights from Jen Smith of the Frugal Friends podcast and the author of Buy What You Love Without Growing Broke on how to navigate the overwhelming influence of social media and marketing during the holidays and practical tips for making more intentional financial decisions. Listen to Frugal Friends here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, October 13, 2024
For today's Sunday Nice Things we are dropping in an episode of Mom to More. Join Sharon Macey, former SAHM and mother of 3 as she dives deep into conversations with inspiring moms who successfully reinvented themselves, forging impressive next acts. If you're seeking practical tools, actionable tips and that loving kick in the pants to create your "MORE," this show is for you. Get ready for a supportive and motivational exploration of life beyond raising kids as Sharon helps you unpack the question: What Do You Want To Do When Your Kids Grow Up? Today's episode contains an interview with the always inspiring Lee Woodruff. You can binge all the episodes here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 10, 2024
Why is everyone so burnout? Modern parenting has shifted towards a focus on status and achievement, often at the expense of genuine happiness and well-being. How did we get here? How did our kids' childhoods end up so different from our own? Can we find some kind of middle ground between overstressed parents killing themselves to help their kids achieve and our own parents who drove us around in a station wagon with no seatbelts. Journalist and author Jennifer Wallace joins us to talk about her brilliant book Never Enough where she dissects toxic achievement culture and gives parents a framework for something different. Social media makes it all so much worse, but there is hope! We CAN do better. Order NEVER ENOUGH here . Join our newsletter community here . Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here . Visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, October 08, 2024
The Mormon #MomTok ladies are making serious bank and I want to talk about it. Many of these women are the breadwinners in their families and that is shaking up the patriarchy of the Mormon Church. Joining us today is Bobbi Rebell of Financial Wellness to talk about everything from product placement to brand integration to royalties. Money has given these women options and power in spite of their husbands and their community and that is what we should really be talking about when it comes to this show. Subscribe to Bobbi's newsletter Financial Wellness here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 03, 2024
Lauren Sisler’s journey of overcoming the shame of losing her parents to opioid addiction hasn’t been easy, but she has allowed it to give her purpose and help her find resilience. In her new book Shatterproof the ESPN sideline reporter details how her mother and father died within hours of each other, victims of their hidden battle with prescription drug addiction. Today we're talking about her path to writing that book and letting go of the shame of her parents' story so that she can honor their memories. A few things we cover in this episode: Your story is what ultimately helps you find purpose. It's important to own every single chapter of your life. The journey of healing is not linear. Shame can prevent us from asking important questions. Stories have the power to inspire and create change. We often hide our struggles to fit societal norms. Finding purpose can come from sharing our pain. Order SHATTERPROOF here . Follow Lauren on Instagram here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, October 01, 2024
What has digital culture done to our standards of beauty and to our wallets when we have to spend to reach those standards of beauty. The proliferation of all digital media has wildly influenced how we perceive ourselves and our bodies, often to our detriment. Today we're joined by Elise Hu, a journalist and author who used her time as an NPR correspondent in Korea as a launching pad to explore the brave new world of absurd beauty standards. We also talk about why meat on a stick is the best food group and what we want on our tombstones. Listen to Elise on TED Talks Daily here . Listen to Elise on Forever 35 here . Order her book Flawless here . Subscribe to Over the Influence, the newsletter here . Buy yourself a Sicilian Inheritance for all of your friends here . Please visit our lovely sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, September 30, 2024
So many of you have been asking me for true crime podcast recommendations and I have a few I can drop in the feed. Let's start today with REDRUM. REDRUM is a podcast focusing on the true victims of crime. Each episode focuses on a new story. Real life, real victims, real crime presented by Grace Cordell. REDRUM True Crime is available wherever you get your podcasts. Spotify link Apple link Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, September 26, 2024
This is our first episode taking a look at the rise of "independent journalist" Jessica Reed Kraus through the lens of the recent RFK Jr. sexting scandal with journalist Olivia Nuzzi. What does it mean to be an independent journalist and how is House in Habit impacting the news cycle. This is an excerpt from my new show with @EmilyinYourPhone We've Got Issues. So much more on this topic to come. You can binge all the episodes of We've Got Issues Here . Join our Over the Influence newsletter here . Visit our wonderful sponsors right here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, September 24, 2024
As a former history and government teacher Sharon McMahon thought she could do something to help combat all the misinformation and confusion she was seeing online in 2020. Since then her social media presence @SharonSaysSo has filled a vital need for clarity during complex times. Sharon cuts through the outrage, online vitriol and B.S. Her new book The Small and the Mighty is a hopeful and inspiring portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In this episode we'll be talking about: How Sharon grew from 12k Instagram followers to an audience of millions by giving people what they need and want. How to bring others around to the right side of history. How to influence people for the good. How to give people the space to change and grow without being deleted or blocked. Order Sharon's book The Small and the Mighty here . Subscribe to our newsletter Over the Influence here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sat, September 21, 2024
When we see images of #tradwives on social media we see beautiful images of domestic bliss. Young women looking at this content could be easily tricked into believing this is a more aspirational path than getting an education or their own work experience. But the real women who have escaped real tradwife situations paint a very different picture of abuse, submission and control. Today's guest was married and pregnant at eighteen. Her husband forbid her from going to school, getting a job or even buying a kindle so she could read. When she tried to leave it felt impossible because she had none of her own money. Now, as many of us are watching the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives we need to talk about the actual reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, September 17, 2024
Let's take a deep dive into the intensely dramatic and overly scandalous new reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Joining me today is New York Times columnist Jessica Grose to dissect the deeper meanings behind all the Botox, swinging scandals and brattiness. Like them or not, these women are attempting to dismantle the patriarchy in their own way and they've gained a ton of power and money through social media. Come for the trash, stay for the insights into gender and religion. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter and join our community here . Read Jess's excellent NYT piece here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, September 12, 2024
It's Jo's 44th birthday. We've got a little advice, a little hilarity and a brand new podcast to share with you. Jo has been working on a new show with @EmilyinYourPhone called We've Got Issues. It's a politics show that will actually give you some hope again, will make you laugh a little and will help you start hard conversations with friends and loved ones about this insane election. This week we are talking about the realities of the Trump and Republican agenda on IVF and how it will impact all of us. ENJOY. You can binge all of the episodes of We've Got Issues here . They'll be up weekly. More on influencers (including the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, September 10, 2024
Raised by a single mother in Dayton, Ohio, Macy Eleni began thrifting at age 12 out of financial necessity and to help escape anxiety from bullies and an estranged relationship with her father. Over a decade later, Macy has built a massive TikTok platform around her love of second hand and vintage finds, and the belief that authentic self expression is crucial for mental health. Macy has created a sustainable niche amidst the hyperconsumerism of influencer culture, creating authentic personal style outside an algorithmic trend cycle that promotes microtrends and overconsumption. Buy less. Thrift more. Love life :) Follow Macy here. TikTok | Instagram Grab Macy's Book Second Chances here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, September 05, 2024
When you're a mom two things can feel impossible, making new friends and making dinner. In today's episode we are joined by NYT bestselling author Caroline Chambers of the What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking substack to talk all about her book of the same name. We're digging into how hard it can be to build community, but how wonderful it is when you do it. We will also chat about how Caroline took a rejected cookbook idea and turned it into the best food substack in the world by catering to exhausted parents, and THEN turned that newsletter into a bestselling cookbook. Subscribe to the OVER THE INFLUENCE substack here . Order Caroline's book What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking here and subscribe to the substack here . Check out our sponsors here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, September 03, 2024
Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Let's dive into a gothic true tale of murder, sex, jealousy and mayhem in paradise. In Eden Undone Abbott Kahler tells the story of the German ex-pats who tried to build themselves a utopia in the Galapagos Islands with dire consequences. This story has so much to tell us about fame and infamy and the pursuit of both. Just like today's homesteading influencers who claim to go off the grid in pursuit of a simpler life, these settlers also chased their version of likes and accolades from around the globe. The desires for attention ultimately destroyed all of them. Buy Eden Undone here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, September 01, 2024
It's been a year since the release of the Wilder podcast about the life and legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder! Thousands of people have listened to the Wilder podcast and continue to keep the dialogue about Laura’s life and legacy alive. Glynnis and Jo published books. But perhaps most importantly, the Little House on the Prairie TV show turned 50! To prepare for this momentous anniversary in early September (and Glynnis’ 50th birthday), Glynnis and our producer Emily got together to share memories from the road and reflect on the lessons we learned from making this show that we still think about every day. Plus, they share never before heard clips from the road trip that started it all and from interviews with some of the most beloved Little House actors who still play a huge role in keeping Laura’s legacy alive. Binge all the Wilder episodes here. Buy Glynnis' book, I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself , and Jo's book, The Sicilian Inheritance ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, September 01, 2024
It's been a year since the release of the Wilder podcast about the life and legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder! Thousands of people have listened to the Wilder podcast and continue to keep the dialogue about Laura’s life and legacy alive. Glynnis and Jo published books. But perhaps most importantly, the Little House on the Prairie TV show turned 50! To prepare for this momentous anniversary in early September (and Glynnis’ 50th birthday), Glynnis and our producer Emily got together to share memories from the road and reflect on the lessons we learned from making this show that we still think about every day. Plus, they share never before heard clips from the road trip that started it all and from interviews with some of the most beloved Little House actors who still play a huge role in keeping Laura’s legacy alive. Binge all the Wilder episodes here. Buy Glynnis' book, I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself , and Jo's book, The Sicilian Inheritance !
Thu, August 29, 2024
Astrology is all over the social medias, for better or worse. Here to guide us through it today is a woman who has been reading the stars for women's mags since before Facebook was a glimmer in Zuck's eye. We're joined by Ophira Edut, one half of the AstroTwins, the official astrologers for ELLE magazine and the matchmakers on Amazon Prime Video’s Cosmic Love. What can astrology tell us about what is happening right now and how we can handle it? What can we read in the stars to figure out this weird world we live in in 2024 and did these identical twin sister astrologists really predict the trad wife trend? Follow everything AstroTwins here . Buy The Astrology Advantage here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, August 29, 2024
Astrology is all over the social medias, for better or worse. Here to guide us through it today is a woman who has been reading the stars for women's mags since before Facebook was a glimmer in Zuck's eye. We're joined by Ophira Edut, one half of the AstroTwins, the official astrologers for ELLE magazine and the matchmakers on Amazon Prime Video’s Cosmic Love. What can astrology tell us about what is happening right now and how we can handle it? What can we read in the stars to figure out this weird world we live in in 2024 and did these identical twin sister astrologists really predict the trad wife trend? Follow everything AstroTwins here . Buy The Astrology Advantage here .
Tue, August 27, 2024
In light of the recent attacks on Gus Walz for showing a beautiful display of emotion when his dad took the stage at the DNC we are discussing how dangerous it is when men are not allowed to show a wide range of emotions. Too many men are taught that they can't experience anything except for rage and that is simply unacceptable. Today we are joined by our husband in residence Nick Aster to talk about how to raise boys to have all the feelings, our favorite song from Free to Be You and Me and the strangely tender moments in Goonies and Footloose. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, August 27, 2024
In light of the recent attacks on Gus Walz for showing a beautiful display of emotion when his dad took the stage at the DNC we are discussing how dangerous it is when men are not allowed to show a wide range of emotions. Too many men are taught that they can't experience anything except for rage and that is simply unacceptable. Today we are joined by our husband in residence Nick Aster to talk about how to raise boys to have all the feelings, our favorite song from Free to Be You and Me and the strangely tender moments in Goonies and Footloose. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here .
Sun, August 25, 2024
This week we lost a true media legend in Phil Donahue. Years ago I got to interview Phil and his wife of more than 40 years Marlo Thomas for my Committed podcast. I still think about that interview all the time. We are replaying it here in tribute to Phil and Marlo's epic love story. Marlo never wanted to get married. But she was so smitten with Phil after appearing on his show in 1977 she finally took the plunge. Marlo became a stepmom to Phil's four boys, they lived long distance and figured out how to make it work. They survived Hollywood and cross country moves and jealousy over co-stars. Their wit and wisdom about commitment is unparalleled. You can binge all the Committed episodes here .
Thu, August 22, 2024
No one makes parenting more fun than my artist and author friend Steven Weinberg. I will co-parent with him and his wife Casey any day of the week. We even created a fake summer camp for our kids so we could get a little bit of work done in the Catskills. Steven's new book What is Color is out this week and it is an absolute delight for curious and creative minds who love paintbrushes as much as microscopes. This clever and eye-catching full-color nonfiction book dives deep into the strange, wacky, silly, and occasionally perilous history behind the colors that paint our everyday lives and this wacky podcast episode dives into all things color and how to make parenting a little bit more fun. Order What is Color here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . To get Mint Mobile's new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to MINTMOBILE.COM/INFLUENCE.
Mon, August 19, 2024
The Influencers are taking over the DNC this week! 200+ influencers have been credentialed for the political party and they'll be roaming around taking selfies, conducting interviews and competing with the mainstream media for eyeballs. We've got our own UTI correspondent on the ground @EmilyinYourPhone giving us all the dish on the influencer rumors, the big parties and who is gonna get Kamala to twerk. Follow @EmilyinYourPhone her e and subscribe to her substack here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . To get Mint Mobile's new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to MINTMOBILE.COM/INFLUENCE.
Sun, August 18, 2024
Introducing the She Did What?! podcast. Life as a mom, entrepreneur, wife, friend and HUMAN is…A LOT! Join Katie Jacobs and Brandy Chandler, every Thursday as they have unfiltered, hilarious and relatable conversations about the ups, the downs and the chaos of it all. Binge all the episodes of She Did What?! here .
Thu, August 15, 2024
Do #TradWives have any real basis in American history? Are they nostalgia or mythology? Here to unpack it is journalist Clara Bingham, the author of The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973. What made #TradWives so popular in the 50s and 60s? Was it real or was it advertising? Aren't today's social media #TradWives just performing and creating advertisements of domesticity for brand deals? Let's dig in! You can order Clara's book The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973 here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, August 15, 2024
Do #TradWives have any real basis in American history? Are they nostalgia or mythology? Here to unpack it is journalist Clara Bingham, the author of The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973. What made #TradWives so popular in the 50s and 60s? Was it real or was it advertising? Aren't today's social media #TradWives just performing and creating advertisements of domesticity for brand deals? Let's dig in! You can order Clara's book The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973 here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Try VIIA Hemp ! and use code INFLUENCE! Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to Quince.com/influence for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Tue, August 13, 2024
Never forget that if it exists in the world there is an influencer for it. Welcome to the world of HENFLUENCERS where people dance and drink and sing with their chickens for their millions of followers. They're selling $20 chicken coops and shipping baby chickens through the mail. Once you go down the henfluencing rabbit hole you might not come back and culture reporter Tove Danovich is here to tell us everything. Tove is the author of UNDER THE HENFLUENCE where she explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds who stole her heart the moment her first box of chicks arrived at the post office. Order UNDER THE HENFLUENCE here . Subscribe to the OVER THE INFLUENCE newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, August 13, 2024
Never forget that if it exists in the world there is an influencer for it. Welcome to the world of HENFLUENCERS where people dance and drink and sing with their chickens for their millions of followers. They're selling $20 chicken coops and shipping baby chickens through the mail. Once you go down the henfluencing rabbit hole you might not come back and culture reporter Tove Danovich is here to tell us everything. Tove is the author of UNDER THE HENFLUENCE where she explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds who stole her heart the moment her first box of chicks arrived at the post office. Order UNDER THE HENFLUENCE here . Subscribe to the OVER THE INFLUENCE newsletter here. Try VIIA Hemp ! and use code INFLUENCE! Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to Quince.com/influence for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Sun, August 11, 2024
Women play integral roles in conspiracy theories. You just have to know where to look. Grab your red string and follow along with host Cristen Conger for the unhinged women's history and Illuminati paranoia that set the stage for today's conspiracy-pilled political and pop cultures. Historian Lindsay Porter introduces us to the fascist foremothers of modern conspiracyism who were spreading disinformation about deep state plots, elite cabals and shady secret societies a century ago. Listen to more Conspiracy She Wrote here .
Thu, August 08, 2024
What makes a great marriage, or even a good marriage? Today we're talking to Frances Mayes, bestselling author of the mega-hit novel Under the Tuscan Sun which has been a touchpoint for women going through any kind of life change or reinvention for nearly 30 years. Now Frances has a new novel called A Great Marriage, to which she brings a lifetime of wisdom from her own two marriages and her parents' tumultuous union. I adore this quote from the book: "You can hammer out a good marriage. Great is a whole other thing. Boiled down, way down, a great marriage happens when two people are big enough to want more for the partner than they want for themselves. Not just as much. More.” Order A Great Marriage today . Subscribe to the Over the Influence Newsletter here. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to Greenlight.com/Influence . Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at MINTMOBILE.com/INFLUENCE . Go to hellobello.com/INFLUENCE , to get 30 PERCENT OFF your first customized bundle, AND a full-size freebie product of your choice. Visit Bodysmartfitness.com and use the code INFLUENCE for 20% off your coaching program.
Tue, August 06, 2024
What will the future really look like under Project 2025? Tia Levings escaped an abusive marriage and has since transformed her life through years of trauma therapy. With her new book, A Well-Trained Wife, she's shedding light on the dangers of the Christian patriarchy and its insidious infiltration into American politics. Complacency is not an option. Whether you're a die-hard feminist or just beginning to question patriarchal norms, Tia Levings’ story is a powerful testament to resilience and the necessity of taking action. Buy A Well Trained Wife today ! Subscribe to Tia's Newsletter here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence Newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, August 04, 2024
Today's Sunday Nice Things manages to combine two of my favorite women to listen to—Krista Tippett, the journalist and creator of On Being and Kelly Corrigan, NYTimes bestselling author, radio host and all around funny and brilliant lady. This is an episode of a truly wonderful podcast called Kelly Corrigan Wonders. This is a place for people who like to laugh while they think and find it useful to look closely at ourselves and our weird ways in the hopes that knowing more and feeling more will help us do more and be better. You can listen to more of Kelly Corrigan Wonders here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, August 01, 2024
How can parents save their kids from social media addiction? What can we be doing right now to make the digital world better for all children? The answer is that there is so much we can be working on. Today we're chatting with Julie Scelfo, the founder of MAMA. MAMA is a grassroots group of parents standing up to big tech and reclaiming the power of parents to fight media addiction in our homes, our schools and our communities. You are going to want to listen and re-listen to this episode about how media addiction is reshaping childhood and how we can actually make change happen. Learn more about MAMA here. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, July 30, 2024
Being a woman in the world isn't easy. Being a mom isn't easy. How do we find time for ourselves when we're caring for everyone and everything around us? Today's we're talking to Liz Tenety, co-founder of Mother.ly about the impossible standards society places on mothers and how to redefine success and ambition while juggling tiny humans. Follow all things Mother.ly here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, July 28, 2024
Here are 43 pieces of good advice that do not suck, gleaned from a life that is aging like a fine cheese. Read the original 43 pieces of advice for 43 years newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, July 25, 2024
A new interview with the CEOs of the Ballerina Farm brand reveals startling never-before-heard details about their lives together, their courtship and their plans for the future. But it also reflects strict conservative political views that directly mirror those expressed at the recent Republican National Convention. Come with us as we go deep into the latest on the Ballerina Farm brand with momfluencing expert Sara Petersen. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here to discuss this episode and all our topics with the rest of our community. Get Sara Petersen's wonderful newsletter In Pursuit of Clean Countertops here . Buy The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, July 23, 2024
Join Glynnis and I as we talk about our aging and changing bodies and the wildly popular books that dive into perimenopause and menopause. We talk about middle-aged women in the starring roles of our own life and why we need more steamy sexy TV shows and movies with real women with real bodies in their forties and fifties. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Buy The Sicilian Inheritance here . Order Glynnis's book I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, July 21, 2024
This week on Sunday Nice Things we are bringing you an episode of The Only One in the Room, a podcast by writer Laura Cathcart Robbins about what it is like to be the "only" in a variety of situations. In this show comedian and writer Jodi Miller discusses being the only single mother in the room. Jodi tells the story behind adopting her daughter, which included a last minute and unexpected phone call from her lawyer instructing her to fly out to Kentucky the following day, during COVID, to pick up her child. This leads to a realization of just how hard it is to be a single parent to a young child. Listen to all of the episodes of The Only One in the Room here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, July 18, 2024
Before Judy Blume was JUDY EFFING BLUME she was a mother of two searching for purpose outside of her home in 1960s suburban New Jersey. Today we're talking to Rachelle Bergstein, the author of the new book The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood For All Of Us about how the story behind how Judy transformed her life after having her kids, how she dealt with early rejections and nasty reviews and why she remains so damn relevant to all of us today. Buy The Genius of Judy today !!! Subscribe to the Over the Influence Newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, July 16, 2024
Victoria Hunter went viral on Instagram for her unconventional depiction of a 'trad wife.' Dressed in a long modest dress, Victoria identified herself as a bisexual advocate of trans rights whose husband does all the cooking. The Internet went crazy for it. But Victoria doesn't consider herself a tradwife. She just likes the aesthetic (as does every woman who shops at Doen) and she used that viral moment and her increase in followers to talk about what she really wants to talk about, being an autistic woman who was diagnosed late in life. The interview delves into the dynamics of social media, its impact on mental health, and the importance of authenticity online. Victoria also shares her personal journey with her autism diagnosis and how it shapes her life and parenting style. You can follow Victoria here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence Newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, July 14, 2024
Welcome to Sunday Nice Things! Introducing, HOW TO BE FINE. Half advice show, half reality show. Join podcast besties Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg as they seek advice from experts, and then put that advice to the test. All this season they’re focusing on the loneliness epidemic and the struggles of friendship - from making new friends to breaking up with BFFs. Their goal? To help get you a little closer to fine. Listen to all the episodes of HOW TO BE FINE here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, July 11, 2024
What makes a worthy mother and who gets to decide that? It's a question that is often considered when we think about things like adoption, abortion and the foster system at large. This episode explores the often overlooked perspectives of birth mothers, the socioeconomic challenges they face, and the trauma associated with relinquishment. Based on sociologist Gretchen Sisson's extensive research, including over 100 interviews detailed in her book 'Relinquished', this discussion sheds light on the broader failures of societal and governmental support for mothers and families and how popular culture has shaped how we view adoption in this country. Order Gretchen's book RELINQUISHED here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, July 09, 2024
This week we dive into the transformative power of motherhood on creativity. Join us as we chat with photographer and filmmaker Karni Arieli about her inspiring Eye Mama Project, a collection of raw and gorgeous images of motherhood collected from around the world. Eye Mama captures both the beauty and struggles of motherhood, aiming to provide a truthful, empathetic portrayal of the invisible aspects of motherhood. Learn more about the Eye Mama Project here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, July 07, 2024
Today's Sunday Nice Things is Jo's OG podcast, Committed. Levi and Jared are ready to get engaged. But Levi has been keeping his relationship with Jared a secret from his family and that has to change if they want to move forward. This is a story about being honest, completely and radically honest, with yourself and the people you love before you get married. I asked Levi if he was scared, scared to tell his story in such a public way, if he wanted to use a pseudonym. He didn't. He’s trying so hard to be brave, to be honest. Levi wants to tell his love story now....all of it. You can listen to all the episodes of Committed here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, July 04, 2024
Julia Dzafic has been in the influencing game for 15 years, making her what I like to call an OG influencer. She has been a blogger and an Instagrammer and now she is an author. Today we're digging into what life is like behind the filtered curtain for creators. How do you separate your identity from what you do for work? If you're an influencer how do you separate your real life from your online brand? We will also chat about the imposter syndrome and shame that seem to only infect women, especially women who are intensely online. Order Garden Grown here . Subscribe to our newsletter Over the Influence here . Follow Julia here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, July 02, 2024
With all the chatter about #tradwives and #homesteading and #homeschooling we need to be talking about the realities of some of the highly Christian Patriarchal norms and rules behind these things. Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and expected to live at home as a stay-at-home daughter after she turned 18, until her father allowed her to marry a man he chose for her. No college and definitely no career. She was trained to serve the men around her, and her life would never be her own. Growing up, she was told she was set apart, holy, she belonged to God. In her mind, she was blessed. She was quick to follow the rules and judged anyone who didn’t live by the same black and white beliefs. She knew that if she disobeyed, she would be cast out forever. But as she grew older something deep inside Cait told her this wasn’t how life was supposed to be. Order Cait's memoir RIFT here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence substack here . Order The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, June 30, 2024
Dropping a new show into your feeds today for Sunday Nice Things. The Creative and the AI is a journey through how artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the creative process. We are at the beginning of a creative revolution that is sweeping over a content hungry world. In technology and the arts, AI is set to change everything. For creators the fear and hope is palatable, as they look to a future where AI is part of everything they do. From replacement to ruin, collaboration to co-existence, and everything in between, join Corin Lines-Stary, on a journey to discover what artists, creatives and technologists think about AI and their practice. Corin Lines-Stray on LinkedIn Mike Russell on LinkedIn Music Radio Creative Website Mike Russell on Youtube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, June 27, 2024
Today, I am joined by the hilarious Laura Belgray, an award-winning copywriting expert and the true queen of libing unapologetically. Laura's book Tough Titties: On Living Your Best Life When You're the F-ing Worst empowers you to live life authentically and honor your unique timeline. She's hilarious and a massive dork and I love her. We are also joined by Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling to talk about their wonderful new summer novel, The Memo, a book I like to call Sliding Doors for a new generation with a better haircut. Buy TOUGH TITTIES here . Buy THE MEMO here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, June 25, 2024
Online culture has been defining very specific ways to be masculine and feminine. So does culture at large. Masculine is often thought of as dominant, strong, powerful and fierce while feminine is seen as soft and emotional and beautiful and caring. I'm so curious if we could flip that narrative. I think about it all the time as the mom of a boy. What if we assigned other characteristics to "masculine," things like caring and nurturing, warm, kind, supportive, joyful and respectful. What if we thought of these as male traits? And maybe you already do, but I don't think that most of our culture does. Here to talk to me about all of it is someone else who has been thinking about masculinity and femininity for a very long time. Catherine Connors is the former head of content for Disney Interactive, and she used to call herself a princess hacker because part of her job was figuring out what characteristics a Disney princess should have. Catherine believes in the power of fairytales and the power of storytelling to flip the narratives we've traditionally been told about what is masculine and what is feminine. Follow Catherine on Instagram at HER BAD MOTHER . Subscribe to Catherine's Substack HOLY DOODLEBUG Here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, June 23, 2024
New podcast alert! Today we are bringing you a show called You Probably Think This Story's About You. You Probably Think This Story’s About You is an exploration of love, betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of one man’s deceit, told through the eyes of the women whose lives were irrevocably changed by it. Brittani Ard wants to understand how the man she once believed to be her soulmate could have deceived her so deeply. Devastating revelations unfold. Listen to all the episodes of You Probably Think This Story's About You here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, June 20, 2024
What is a Cute-servative? It's an adorable nickname that conservative women are giving to themselves online as part of the Barbie-rific branding of the conservative party to young women. And this brand is working! Join us as we discuss the current political burnout many women are feeling and the critical need to stay engaged. Our guest, Emily Amick of the Instagram account @EmilyInYourPhone, explores how conservative forces are successfully courting young women through social media. We dive into the importance of keeping hope alive in politics, the impact of effective messaging, and the necessity of local political involvement. The conversation also touches on Emily's personal battle with thyroid cancer and the power of community support. ORDER DEMOCRACY IN RETROGRADE HERE . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Order The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, June 18, 2024
What if we opted out of technology? What would it look like? Who would we be? Let's find out. Founder of global tech-free movement The Opt-Out Family, Erin Loechner is a former social media influencer who walked away from a million fans to live a low-tech lifestyle—and is now teaching others how to do the same. Spoiler alert: Forget parental control apps, time limits, or reward charts. This revolutionary path takes us into the heart of the beast itself: the social media algorithm. Erin has seen the perks and pitfalls of social media usage, and she knows how to hack the strategies of tech wizards and platform experts so you can borrow their billion-dollar playbook to engage your family in meaningful ways away from screens. Today she gives us practical encouragement and creative ideas to transform your family's relationship with today's ever-evolving technology. We WILL find a way to be more interesting and engaging than the algorithm. Find all of the Opt Out Family Resources and order the Opt Out Family book here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Order The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, June 16, 2024
Today we have just a taste of a new series called We Are the Great Turning that is truly bringing me hope and resilience when it comes to talking about the climate crisis. The show shines a light on 95-year-old legendary eco-spiritual teacher, Joanna Macy, in heartfelt, intimate dialogue with her friend, activist Jess Serrante. Together, they explore what it truly takes to stay resilient, joyful, and motivated while confronting the climate crisis. You can listen at WeAreTheGreatTurning.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, June 13, 2024
Nara Smith cooks Oreos and cereal from scratch in her pristine kitchen filled with SMEG appliances. She is a 23-year-old mother of three married to her teenage sweetheart Lucky Blue? She regularly broadcasts from her kitchen to more than six million social followers and until last week I had no idea who she was. But Nara Smith is a woman with power and influence so I wanted a whole primer on her brand. Here to give it to me is Momfluenced author Sara Peterson. We are going deep into the Nara Smith world and also diving into whether she is a #TradWife and whether we are all going too far in labeling any woman who does anything domestic as trad. Follow Sara's wonderful Substack In Pursuit of Clean Countertops here . Follow our newsletter Over the Influence Here . Order Momfluenced here . Order The Sicilian Inheritance (for everyone you know) . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, June 11, 2024
Other countries have social safety nets. America has women. We are holding it all together at the seams even as we are often falling apart. Today I am talking to the brilliant sociologist Jessica Calarco about her new book Holding it Together. We talk about how the United States leans on the unseen and unappreciated labor of women to keep the country running. We can no longer accept that as the default. Women’s labor is the reason we’ve gone so long without the support systems that our peer nations take for granted because women’s work maintains the illusion that we don’t need a net. We also dive into the popularity of #tradwives and how it relates to all of this. Order Holding it Together here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, June 09, 2024
Fresh out of the cockpit. I am joined by Nick Aster for a fun little bonus session to debrief on our new flying hobby. Somehow we also talk about how he wears khaki shorts to the gym and how he believes I steal all of his socks. Which is not a true thing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, June 06, 2024
For mom summer is often the season of no affordable childcare. But it is also the season of trying to ignore your children at the beach or public pool. So today I am joined by my friend Jane Rosen, author of the new hit beach read Seven Summer Weekends, to talk about what we plan on reading this summer. We are also joined by some very special author guests to chat about their books AND we are talking about the very cool thing Jane and other authors with books launching on June 4th did to support one another. Life takes a village people! Order Seven Summer Weekends here. Subscribe the the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, June 04, 2024
As we know, there is an influencer for everything. And ADHD (particularly ADHD for women) is one of those things that now has a ton of influencers. There is a lot of misinformation and a lot of useful information. Many women are telling their own stories of ADHD for the first time ever on social media which is incredible. Today we are joined by Meredith Carder, whose account Humming Bird ADHD has more than 170k views. Meredith only found out she had ADHD when her daughter got diagnosed. After that she took courses to become an ADHD coaching course to help other women in her situation. We are talking about what makes someone an ADHD coach or an ADHD influencer, what kinds of content on social may be helpful for women with ADHD and what might be hurtful. Follow Meredith here . Subscribe the the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, May 30, 2024
Today we are talking to a self-described "recovering helicopter mom," to discuss the challenges and transformations in her journey away from "perfect" and overprotective motherhood. From dealing with childhood trauma to striving for supermom status, Cari Fund shares her poignant story of how she faced her toxic childhood straight on and vowed to be a different kind of parent to her own kids. We're talking healing, self-care, and redefining what it means to be a mother in a society that often demands unrealistic perfection. Learn more about Cari here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, May 28, 2024
Screens and social media are allegedly giving us anxiety, shortening our attention spans and changing our brains in ways that may be irreversible....at least according to the articles I have read. But I want to parse fact from fiction and click-bait headlines from actual scientific studies. Here to answer all of my burning questions about whether social media is breaking my brain and if so how I can fix it is our new resident UTI neuroscientist Brett Abrahams. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here. Buy yourself a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, May 23, 2024
Today we have a no B.S. guide to what is happening right now with kids and teens and screens and social media. Joining us is Dr. Alison Yeung, a physician and mom who is giving parents a balanced, data-driven approach to the effects of social media and screens. From the alarming trends in kids' mental health to the impact of smartphones on young minds, we explore the complexities of parenting in the digital age without being judgey or preachy.. Follow Alison on Instagram here @thesmartphoneeffectmd Follow our newsletter Over the Influence here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, May 21, 2024
A small town in Japan is trying to build an Instagram block wall to keep tourists from overrunning their village to take the "perfect" Instagram shot. This seems to be happening more and more lately. Social media doesn't just hurt locations that can't handle thoughtless social media posters, it can also cause disappointment and anxiety for travelers. Join me and award-winning travel writer Jordi Lippe as we delve into the intersections of travel, social media, and the quest for authentic experiences. This episode explores the transformative power of travel, the impact of social media on our travel expectations and experiences, and how to navigate the digital world responsibly. Want to be a part of our coven? Sign up for the Over the Influence newsletter today . Follow Jordi here and PAK Rêve here. Order nine copies of The Sicilian Inheritance today ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, May 19, 2024
Is it just us, or does American culture have narcissismfever? Between 2004 and 2016, the volume of Google searches for the word “narcissist” grew exponentially. Thanks to factors like the rise of therapyspeak, TikTok mental health diagnoses, and badly behaving reality stars-turned-world leaders, discourse about this buzzy, yet poorly understood phenomenon has exploded. Are we as a society becoming more narcissistic? Or are we now over-using and misusing this term to the point of meaninglessness? Wait, is obsessing about other people's narcissism its own kind of narcissism?? In an effort to soothe these thought spirals, host Amanda ( @amanda_montell ) settled in for an illuminating chat with her debut guest, psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula ( @doctorramani ), author of the New York Times bestseller "It's Not You" and one of the world's foremost narcissism experts. Tune in for a relatable, brain-tingling, and clarifying discussion about this confounding topic, complete with questions submitted by the "Magical Overthinkers Club" and bits of wisdom to help us overthinkers get out of our own heads. - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers. - To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack . - Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality , or listen to the audiobook . - Sources: What Is Narcissism? Science Confronts a Widely Misunderstood Phenomenon Time grows on trees: The effect of nature settings on time perception Therapist Aisha's Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, May 16, 2024
Let's talk about Harrison Butker's viral graduation this week where he informed women graduates that their highest career calling was to be a wife and mother. If you got #tradwife vibes from that sentence, you aren't alone. The Internet is not happy and here to dissect the politics and the culture wars of it all is none other than Emily Amick, author of Democracy in Retrograde and the guru behind the account @EmilyinYourPhone. We also explore the broader context of Christian patriarchy, authoritarianism, and the pushback against progressive gender narratives. Additionally, we touch on the emotional labor and societal expectations imposed on women, the allure and pitfalls of the 'Trad Wife' lifestyle, and the rise of polarizing ideologies in digital spaces. Sigh. ORDER DEMOCRACY IN RETROGRADE TODAY . Watch MY Graduation speech here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, May 14, 2024
The new hit romance The Idea of You has everyone buzzing about so-called middle-aged women and the pursuit of pleasure. What kinds of pleasure do we deserve? Which ones are taboo, and who decides? Today we talk all about the movie with resident lady pleasure expert Glynnis MacNicol of the new book I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself. BUY I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself today . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, May 12, 2024
For today's Sunday Nice Things I get to chat with Rachel Hirsch, one of the incredible audiobook narrators of The Sicilian Inheritance. I love audiobooks. I often toggle between the audio book and the print version for efficiency. I also sometimes listen to the audio book AFTER I finish the print version because it is simply relaxing. I love chatting with Rachel today about how audio books get made and the incredible actors behind them. You can get The Sicilian Inheritance audiobook here . And learn more about Rachel here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, May 09, 2024
What would you do if you discovered your therapist was on TikTok? And worse than that...what if they were talking about things YOU told them in therapy. Today we are talking with Bustle writer Kate Lindsay about her reporting on the mental health TikTok stars and the patients who are concerned. There are so many ethical and practical issues surrounding mental health content on social media these days and we are going to dive into all of it. To read Kate's Bustle piece go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, May 07, 2024
If it exists in the world there is an influencer for it. And Genealogy and family research is no exception. I found Crista Cowan (The Barefoot Genealogist) while I was trying to solve my great great grandmother's murder for the Sicilian Inheritance true crime podcast and I became fascinated by how she uses her platform and her position as Ancestry's Corporate Genealogist to help people climb their family trees, but more importantly to help them shape their identities and how they move in the world. Learn more about Crista's work as The Barefoot Genealogist here . Listen to The Sicilian Inheritance true crime podcast here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, May 03, 2024
Let's journey into a strange corner of social media filled with uncomfortably buff men chowing down on raw meat. Yes, meatfluencing is a thing. My special guest is Nick Aster, my very own husband, who I will try to convince to become a meatfluencer to put our kids through college. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, May 02, 2024
There is a prevailing narrative around women and money that says women are a mess financially. It isn't true! And we are talking about that today with Her Money podcast host and personal finance guru Jean Chatzky. We dispel the myths that women aren't good with money. We talk about how to save for college and retirement and we dive into why influencers can create dangerous expectations when it comes to investing. Follow everything Jean does over at Her Money. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, April 30, 2024
For a long time every novel I read or rom com that I watched contained a lady journalist, or a hard-hitting ad executive. And about two years ago all those characters became influencers. Now about every other novel I read has an influencer character and I don't know if I like it. Today I talk to the journalist and novelist Sheila Marikar about her decision to write influencers into her new book Friends in Napa. I also have a bonus conversation from the car (DRIVING IN CARS WITH JO) with Glynnis MacNicol about why she is taping her mouth shut when she sleeps. The answer has to do with Gwyneth Paltrow. Buy Friends in Napa here . Buy I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself here . And order nine copies of The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 25, 2024
I'm touched out. I say that all the time. Before I became a parent I didn't know that was possible. But once I became a mom my body was no longer my own; it belonged to my children. But I didn't have a way to talk about the feeling of being touched out until I read the stunning book by Amanda Montei of the same name—TOUCHED OUT. There is an expectation gap between what we imagine motherhood looks like and what it actually is and the cultural script for motherhood has often been written by men. Today we get into the loneliness and alienation of motherhood, what it means to be touched out and what sex looks like after becoming a mom. Grab Amanda's book here ! Subscribe to our newsletter Over the Influence here. Order The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, April 23, 2024
Bestselling author Elle Cosimano (of the famed Finlay Donovan series) was miserable in her job working in real estate. Then her mother offered to care for her children for the summer and take on the physical and mental load of parenting so that Elle could try to write her own book. That moment of receiving permission to do something for herself, completely changed Elle's life and put her on the path to writing her first book, to finding an agent, to publishing a book and then many books and then hitting the bestseller lists. And along the way Elle connected with other women who were also blowing up their lives to switch careers to become authors. Those women inspired her every single day to keep going. This is about women lifting each other up and supporting one another unconditionally. It is about the fear and shame and guilt many of us have about doing something that seems selfish, that is for ourselves. Elle Cosimano has inspired me so much on my own journey and I know that she is going to inspire you. Learn more about Elle and buy all of her books here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Order your Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, April 21, 2024
On today's Sunday Nice things we have an episode of the podcast Your New Life Blend with my dear friend, soul mate and constant companion Glynnis MacNicol talking all about her new memoir about eating all of the cheese and delicious food and having all of the sex in Paris with host Shoshanna Hecht. Glynnis MacNicol spent the long stretch of COVID lockdown mostly alone in small Upper West Side apartment, mostly without really touching another person. So by summer 2021, after vaccines had rolled out and restrictions were finally lifting, she jumped at the chance to stay at a friend's apartment in Paris, and immediately bought a plane ticket out of her pandemic-imposed solitude. Landing in Paris she found a city just waking up from its own lockdown, and felt in Parisians all around her the same urgent, greedy desire to enjoy every pleasure life had to offer - food (cheese, croissants, chocolate), community (in-person, Zoom be damned), and connection (very much in person, very pleasurable, very much enjoyed). She recounts it all and then some in her joyful, decadent, and insightful new memoir, "I'm Mostly Here To Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris," coming in June, which dares to suggest that women have the right to enjoy themselves - and their choices - fully and gloriously, without needing permission. In this episode of "Your New Life Blend," Glynnis talks to host Shoshanna Hecht about how seeking & claiming pleasure is actually a radical feminist act; the power of a free woman freely making her own choices; the joys of embracing your life unfolding at any age; and why we all deserve to truly enjoy ourselves. Subscribe to Your New Life Blend Here . Order Glynnis's book I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself HERE . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 18, 2024
Renee Reina worked on her PhD in psychology for ten years. Then the pandemic happened and she started making TikToks and podcasts about mom life with her eighteen month old. When that started making money she decided to pursue content creation as a career path instead of what she refers to as a "real job." Why don't we consider what women do online a "real job?" That's just one of the things we are diving into today. Renee talks about ambition and guilt and shame and mental load and I would argue she is still using her PhD every day to help women and mothers. She simply isn't using it the way white men have used PhDs for the past 200 years. Just a little bit of what we are touching on in this episode: How can we enjoy our lives more? Does being the default parent make it harder to enjoy life? Are a lot of the things that cause us stress self-inflicted? Why do clean houses on social media piss me off the most? Follow Renee on all the things here . Subscribe to the Mom Room podcast here . Get our newsletter OVER THE INFLUENCE here . Pick up The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, April 16, 2024
Sam Dogen offered himself up to me as a sacrificial lamb when he wrote to me and told me that he was the male equivalent of the trad wife. He was kidding. But Sam is a stay-at-home dad who is the primary caregiver for his children and today we talk about the stigma and judgement he feels for having taken on that role. Learn more about Sam and The Financial Samurai brand and content here. Order a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance here , here and here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, April 14, 2024
Dropping the Sicilian Inheritance true crime podcast into your feeds while she is hot. This show is a gonzo adventure. It is White Lotus Meets Only Murders in the Building and I am Selena Gomez and Nick is Steve Martin and Charlie is Martin Short. Here is the official fancy description of episode two. Journalist Jo Piazza’s family has been playing a hundred year long game of telephone about the murder of her great great grandmother Lorenza Marsala. Family members who have gone back to Sicily to discover the truth, including Jo’s dad have been shut down by authorities and threatened by seemingly supernatural forces. But Jo is determined, maybe even a little obsessed, to cut through the stories, the lies and the mythologies to find out the truth, even if her family members don’t want her to. Subscribe to The Sicilian Inheritance podcast here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 11, 2024
I love book influencers! They're my biggest hype people. And my guest this week is Jordan Moblo, but you might know him better as Jordy's Book Club. Jordy's Book Club has more than 140,000 followers. That is a lot of influence and clout my friends. And I don't think it's giving him too much credit to say that Jordy's recommendations, really can help an author find new readers. I love our conversation today because we're really gonna dig in to how we can create more respect in the book influencing ecosystem. How can we all meet one another's needs? And how can we value the people who are selling books for publishers and authors? And also, what can we all learn from book influencers about growing our own personal brands online and how to share our passions with the world? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, April 09, 2024
Hillary Wilkinson found the need to take a big look at technology when her children began asking for their own devices. Quickly overwhelmed, she found that the hard and fast rules in other areas of life became difficult to uphold in the digital world. As a teacher and a mom of 2, Hillary believes the key to healthy screen habits lies in empowering our kids through education and awareness. We are the first generation to parent while balancing screens, life, and family. Each episode on the Healthy Screen Habits podcast features insights, tips, and takeaways to help parents make informed decisions on how to help their family live a healthy digital life. Parenting is hard. Technology can make it tricky. Hillary uses this podcast to help bring these areas together to help all families create healthy screen habits. For more on Healthy Screen Habits and to listen to all the episodes check them out here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 04, 2024
Twenty minutes a day of mediation seems pretty out of reach for most moms. Frankly five minutes of meditation seems pretty out of reach. Today we are talking to clinical psychologist Kathryn Barbash about ways to bring mindfulness into your daily life that will actually work for you as a busy parent. Follow Kathryn's substack Mindful in the Mud here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, April 02, 2024
Is a daily dose of uncertainty exactly what we need? Is embracing uncertainty instead of fearing it the answer to happier and more curious parenting? I believe that my guest today is one of the most interesting writers and thinkers talking about social trends and technology's impact on humanity today. Maggie Jackson's new book Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure has shaken up my brain in many new and wonderful ways. Today we discuss how we can be challenged by uncertainty and also really thrive in it. Learn more about Maggie and order Uncertain and Distracted here . Grab your copy of The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, March 31, 2024
Sharing an episode of another podcast Jo is loving: Pop Culture Moms. Andie and Sabrina are toddler moms and best friends of 20 years. They’re taking their obsession with TV and movies to the next level by talking to celebrities, writers and fellow “scholars” of pop culture about what they can learn from the fictional moms they love most. In this episode: Some of the best moms on TV right now are cartoons. We hear from Deena Margolin and Kristin Gallant, the moms behind parenting resource Big Little Feelings and co-hosts of the podcast, After Bedtime, about what the mothers in Bluey and Daniel Tiger are doing right. Listen to “Pop Culture Moms” HERE . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sat, March 30, 2024
It's finally here! The true-crime podcast where I try to solve my great great grandmother Lorenza's murder that The Sicilian Inheritance is based on. DO NOT WORRY there are no book spoilers. These were created to be enjoyed together...companions, not spoilers. Journalist Jo Piazza’s family has been playing a hundred year long game of telephone about the murder of her great great grandmother Lorenza Marsala. Family members who have gone back to Sicily to discover the truth, including Jo’s dad have been shut down by authorities and threatened by seemingly supernatural forces. But Jo is determined, maybe even a little obsessed, to cut through the stories, the lies and the mythologies to find out the truth, even if her family members don’t want her to. If you love this and want more subscribe to The Sicilian Inheritance podcast here . Order copies of the book The Sicilian Inheritance for everyone you know ! OH and did I tell you there is also a Sicilian Inheritance Olive Oil ? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 28, 2024
Today kicks off our miniseries of women who have switched careers in midlife. My friend Corynne Cirilli used to be a gossip columnist and entertainment journalist with me. After having kids she took a career pause and then trained to be a post-partum doula! We dig into how Corynne decided she was passionate about post-partum care and how she used that passion to make a massive change in her own life after taking a career pause to have her babies. ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE TODAY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 26, 2024
Why do human beings make terrible decisions? Is it our fault or is technology programming us to be irrational? Let's get into it with Renaissance Woman Amanda Montell, podcaster, linguist and author of the new book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality. Why do we develop parasocial relationships with influencers and celebrities? Why do people have a baby to save a marriage? We may not have all the answers, but we do offer a little bit of hope for a more rational future. BUY AMANDA'S BOOK HERE - The Age of Magical Overthinking ORDER THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, March 22, 2024
All the latest on the dumpster fire coming out of Buckingham Palace. Apparently the royals think NOW is a good time to hire a new communications assistant. And Jo has applied for the job! Also Donald Trump has weighed in on Kate-gate and he has thoughts....thoughts that might surprise you. All that and more with our resident Kate expert Caro Claire Burke. Follow Caro HERE . Order your Sicilian Inheritance HERE . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 21, 2024
Today we're going to talk about two things that we don't talk about nearly often enough—career setbacks and women's ambition. And these things have way more to do with one another than we might think. I genuinely believe that our ambition only increases or has the potential to increase after a setback. That's one of the reasons I wanted to bring on both of today's guests. We will be hearing from business strategist and all over hype woman Amanda Wagner about why ambition should never be considered a dirty word. We need to be allowed to be ambitious in all of the things—our careers, our parenting, our relationships and even our gardening if that is our jam. We are also chatting with the author and journalist Amy Shoenthal. whose book The Setback Cycle is all about working through life's inevitable setbacks and coming back stronger than ever. ORDER THE SETBACK CYCLE HERE FOLLOW AMANDA HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 19, 2024
A lot of things get fetishized on Instagram and #farmlife is one of them. Farm life on social media is often portrayed as hazy, beautiful, aspirational leisure. We rarely, if ever, see the hard actual work that goes into farming, the backbreaking labor and the intense costs of maintaining a farm. We do see a lot of chickens and beautiful blue eggs, but never the dirt under the fingernails or the fields that have failed due to unpredictable weather patterns. We don't see these things because they aren't always pretty and perfect. And social media thrives on pretty and perfect. Today we're talking about what it's really like to be a woman farmer. What it's really like to work your land and what it's really like to depend on your farm for a living. Our guest is Sayer Palmer, a vegetable farmer and a mom who tries to juggle work-life with mom life. This is the beautiful reality of living on a farm, not the dream of it. Follow Sayer here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, March 17, 2024
Who wants to enjoy a little bit of nostalgia this Sunday morning? Join Jo on the magical and wonderful happy-making Stuck in Stonybrook podcast where they revisit our favorite childhood series through a modern (and often feminist) lens. Subscribe to more Stuck in Stonybrook here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 14, 2024
How do YOU discover new books that you love? I think that people want to read what other people are reading. I think we are desperate for water cooler conversation about books, the kind we used to have before everyone had Stanley Cups. Today we are digging into the world of book influence with Zibby Owens (AUTHOR OF THE NEW NATIONAL BESTSELLER BLANK). Zibby has been at the forefront of getting books to people for the past decade as a podcaster of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books, as an event planner and content creator and now as a publisher and bookstore owner. She freaking does it all. And today we are digging into it all, including spilling a little tea on how those celebrity book clubs actually work. She's done all of the things. She's been a podcaster, a content creator and event planner. And now she's a publisher and a bookstore owner. This woman lives and breathes books. ORDER ZIBBY'S BOOK BLANK HERE Order The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, March 13, 2024
Very important topic today in this emergency episode—what the heck is going on with Kate Middleton? We do a deep dive into all the conspiracy theories (and how the Swifties are involved), the specifics of the photo manipulation, why people even give a flying eff and most importantly what this has to do with how we treat women in the media. We also have to talk about how we cover brands, because make no mistake the Royal family is a celebrity brand that is failing spectacularly at their crisis management right now. And of course...the question everyone is asking...is Kate Middleton a tradwife? Here to give us a primer and some incredibly astute commentary is none other than Caro Claire Burke, the only person I actually follow on TikTok. Follow Caro here! And order your copy of The Sicilian Inheritance TODAY right here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, March 11, 2024
"If we weren't so afraid of being old, we could have a vision in our head of what we could be when we are an older woman." — Lyn Slater In 2014, Lynn Slater became an accidental icon when she started a fashion blog and Instagram account in her early sixties. The media went wild and all of the stories focused on how she was an older woman who dared to talk about style and fashion and put it out there on the Internet. Lyn rode the influencing wave for nearly a decade before she decided she wanted to take more control of her narrative. As she approached her 70th birthday she began writing her new book How to Be Old. I love this book. I love that Lyn is taking the piss out of everyone that only wanted to describe her as an old woman. And I gained so much knowledge about how now in my forties, I can start to plan for who I want to be in my fifties and my sixties and my seventies. This book is filled with so much wisdom for women of all ages and we talk about all of it on today's episode. Order HOW TO BE OLD here . Subscribe to Lyn's substack here . Order The Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 07, 2024
Gen X is the scrappiest generation and we might just be the generation to change how we think about and treat perimenopause. Today we get to talk to my dear friend Stacy London about perimenopause and perimenopause influencers. When Stacy was going through perimenopause herself advocacy and education for women's healthcare became her new passion and her new business. Stacy has worked her ass off to break through the noise and the b.s. around perimenopause and we are going to get into all of it. ALL OF IT. There is value in age. As Stacy so wisely tells me in this episode: Menopause is Mother Nature's biological fail safe to make you sit up and realize that you don't have an expiration date but the values that you held when you were younger do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, March 06, 2024
There is nothing better than leaving your children and going on vacation with your best friend. My own BF Jackie crashed my reporting trip in Sicily this week (much to my delight) and it reminded me of the importance of both travel and girlfriend time. This does not sound like every other episode of UTI, but I thought maybe you might like to be in a car with us on this weird journey in Sicily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, March 05, 2024
Social media is incredibly toxic for women and girls. I say this all the time, and sometimes I start to feel like a real conspiracy theorist, like the social media version of a prepper telling you to build a tunnel under your house with lots of canned goods, but it is still something I truly believe. My guest today is Kara Alaimo, the author of OVER THE INFLUENCE (a book, not my substack). It looks at how social media is affecting every single aspect of the lives of women and girls from our parenting to how we date to our careers and our physical safety. But it also gives practical tips about what we can do about it, as users, as creators and as lawmakers to solve a problem that is not just going to go away. You can order OVER THE INFLUENCE (the book) here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, March 03, 2024
Today's Sunday Nice Things has everything that you want in a Sunday listen—swingers, the seventies and puritanical Minnesota. From my friends who bring you the Terrible Thanks for Asking podcast comes a new show called Time Capsule: The Silver Chain. This is an 8-episode “true no-crime” documentary podcast that delves into the secret world of partner-swapping suburbanites in 1970s Minnesota. Newsletters from an abandoned safe deposit box set host Paul Ditty on an investigation to learn all he can about The Silver Chain – a suburban Minnesota swing club from the 1970s – and its members. Paul attempts to reach several of the club's members. No one will talk until finally he reaches Carol, one of the club’s founders who eventually agrees to talk. But just as Paul is on his way to Modesto, an email from Carol's daughter changes his course. Subscribe to Time Capsule: The Silver Chain here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 29, 2024
There is no one-size fits all cure for grief. It's something you just have to go through and we all go through it in different ways. There has recently been a rise in grief influencers on Instagram and some of them can be quite predatory, targeting people at their most vulnerable time to purchase things like course to overcome their grief. Some of them are also wonderful and helpful. Like everything on social media there is a spectrum. Here to talk to me about all of this today is Sloane Crosley, author of the gorgeous new book Grief is for People. You will want this book in your life and this conversation, even though it was about grief, brought me so much joy. Quick warning, this episode does talk about death by suicide so please take care while listening. You can buy Sloane's book, GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE, here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 27, 2024
We've talked a lot on this podcast about using kids as content and where the line should be drawn. We've also talked about mothers posting pictures of their sick kids to get attention. But there is another side to the story. What if your child had a rare disease? What if one of the only ways to get the medical establishment and doctors to take notice of that disease was to shout about it at the top of your lungs, sometimes on social media? What would you do? It's an impossible question. Last November, Amanda Byerly's daughter Elin was diagnosed with retinol dystrophy, a disease that could ultimately make her go blind. And because the disease is so rare, there's not a lot of funding for it. So it is up to the parents to fund research and ultimately to find a cure. Amanda made the decision to post her daughter and the diagnosis on Instagram to raise both money and awareness. But it's tricky, and Amanda has to draw new boundaries for herself every day about the things she should share to help educate people about Elin's disease and what might invade her daughter's privacy. You can learn more about the disease here . You can follow Amanda and Elin here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, February 25, 2024
On today's episode of Sunday Nice Things we are bringing you the series Momplicated where host Dana Phillips dives into the dumpster fire of motherhood with women who aren't afraid to swim around in the muck and pick trash out of your hair. Today she is joined by the hilarious Caitlin Murray, who is best known for her wickedly funny Instagram account Big Time Adulting! Dana and Caitlin discuss vacationing with kids, the awfulness of sick and snow days and why it is OK to not love the baby stage of childrearing. Follow Dana on Instagram @dana.p.phillips Follow Caitlin and Big Time Adulting here . Subscribe to Momplicated on your favorite podcast app ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 22, 2024
Pandora's Box is open. We will never go backwards in terms of technology. Social media literacy is media literacy. There are more eyeballs on small screens scrolling through influencers than people reading political news or watching television shows. Influencers have more of an impact on people than most politicians and traditional celebrities. We need to talk about how to talk about them. Today we are joined by media critic and writer Caroline Burke about the different ways to parse the social media industrial complex to make it healthier for us. Our brains are not up to the task of dealing with the level of manipulation happening on the socials. We dive into: The lack of literacy in Congress around social media Why Ballerina Farm should be called a brand, not a person. Also, let's remember that its followers outnumber the population of many small countries. Why does our brain feel like it is overheating when we are on social media for too long Why don't we teach tech literacy in schools? How our parasocial Instagram relationships make us buy more stuff Why is jealousy inherently a moral negative? You can follow Caro on Instagram here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, February 21, 2024
The former family Youtuber and vlogger Ruby Franke has been sentenced to up to 60 years in prison for felony child abuse. And frankly, I'm just going to say it here—I hope she serves the maximum sentence. This comes after Ruby has admitted to punishing her children in a variety of horrific ways. Quick update on the news and the ripple effect it could have in the parenting influencing community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 20, 2024
Have you ever rewatched a beloved movie as an adult and then been shocked, absolutely shocked by the behavior of the parents in it? A great example is The Parent Trap (both versions) in which two parents choose to abandon one of the children because they don't like one another. Today we are getting into which pop culture representations of parents do and don't hold up with Andie Mitchell , and Sabrina Kohlberg , the hosts of the brand spanking new Pop Culture Moms (it's not even out yet so this chat is a real sneak preview). We're talking problematic parents and awkward parenting storylines. I also get them to go deep into a very important subject—hot TV dads. So sit back and relax and let's take a break from #tradwives to enjoy a little pop culture nostalgia. You can subscribe to Pop Culture Moms here. Episode start dropping on Feb 27. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, February 18, 2024
Each week on the SSR (Shit She Read) podcast host Alli Hoff Kosik will challenge a guest to reread a literary throwback or to experience for the first time ever a book they may have missed as a kid. The show covers everything from The Baby-Sitters Club to Holes to Nancy Drew and Harry Potter. Guests are asked to spill all the feels and all the opinions about their throwback read for your podcast-listening pleasure. A glass of wine is not required, but it's certainly allowed. This week I happen to be the guest talking about none other than Little House in the Big Woods in all its prairie problematic glory. You can subscribe to SSR here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, February 16, 2024
Welcome to Friday Quickies....the Daily for influencer and social news with more foul language and swingers. This week we talk about Taylor Swift giving her boyfriend's podcast a boost, Minnesota joining the good fight to pay influencer kids and why Instagram is censoring your politics and how you can keep following the accounts you love. We also have the trailer for the new narrative swinger podcast (yeah you heard that right) Time Capsule: The Silver Chain. You can subscribe to Time Capsule here . Follow Emily Amick of @EmilyInYouPhone here . Follow Fortesa Latifi here . And pre-order The Sicilian Inheritance here . You can also subscribe to our substack Over the Influence here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 15, 2024
Molly Winter recently hit the New York Times bestseller list with her memoir MORE, an account of the first ten years of opening up her marriage when her children were young. She is still happily married and she says her marriage and sex life is better than ever because she has been able to explore more facets of herself with her partners. Molly's account of the first 10 years of her open marriage is raw and honest and eye-opening. It has plenty of lessons for people who don't want to open up their marriages, but who do want to figure out how to be a better partner and how to follow their passions and desires as a wife and a mother. Society loves putting women into boxes, but the truth is that we want more and sharing these stories is the only way we can change the way the world sees us and treats us. You can order MORE here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 13, 2024
It's not pretty. But it is real. There's a new breed of the ANTI-TRADWIFE out there and they are sharing the raw and honest stories about living a life submissive to a man and what it looks like on the other side. Today we are talking to Enitza Templeton, a mom of four who was a tradwife for ten years before she left her husband to try to make it on her own. Entiza made a video from the food stamps office that went viral on TikTok where she warned young women against depending on a man for financial security. She compares being a trad wife to being a "domestic slave," and says that you are "sitting prey." She feels like her husband never liked her. She felt like his mommy. Life was miserable until she made the decision to leave. We are seeing more and more content pushing back on the tradwife trend. It doesn't always go viral like Enitza's story because it isn't traditionally beautiful and aspirational, but these are voices that need to be heard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, February 11, 2024
Welcome to a new episode of Sunday Nice Things. This week we are bringing you the new show Gratitudeology created by my friend Jamie Hess. When Jamie almost died, she woke up. As daughter of legendary broadcast journalist Joan Lunden, it seemed from the outside that Jamie had everything… so why did she feel so empty inside? She pondered that question as she fell into a life of drug addiction, and when she hit her bottom, it hit her: nothing feels good until we get grateful… but we often don’t feel grateful until we have a wake-up call. Are you searching for your wake-up moment? Tune in each week for an incredible story of turning pain to purpose, told by some of the most inspirational people on the planet. Through these stories, we’ll help you apply the study and practice of Gratitudeology to live a happier, healthier, more abundant life. You can listen to more episodes here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, February 09, 2024
Need some news you can use to talk about at your Super Bowl Party? We have Glamour reporter Steph McNeal here to explain the latest right wing conspiracy theory about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce faking their relationship to help Biden. Also all the updates from Teen Vogue's Fortesa Latifi on laws to compensate the kids of influencers and the new backlash against luxury stuff influencers on TikTok. Welcome to the world of DEINFLUENCERS. Some stories to catch you up: Are Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Faking Their Relationship to Help Biden? Inside the Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory These States Are Trying to Require Influencer Parents to Pay Their Kids We're Getting Disillusioned By Overconsumption on TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 08, 2024
Let's talk about anxiety, real talk about anxiety! Today we are joined by Julie Chavez, a librarian, mom of two and the author of the memoir Everyone But Myself. When you are a working mom, there is no time for debilitating anxiety. There's not. And the terrifying aftershocks of Julie's first panic attack left her grappling with questions about the causes of her mental health crisis and where it was going to lead next. This book resonated with me so deeply. This is a hopeful and honest account of love and loss and the husband who can't read your mind, about disastrous family outings and finding a new path. It is about the joy of a well-lived life and how hard it can sometimes be to enjoy that life. I think we're all going to feel better after this episode. You can order Everyone But Myself here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, February 06, 2024
Tia Levings was recruited into a Christian fundamentalist movement as a young wife. She quickly learned that being a godly and submissive wife in the Christian patriarchy included strict discipline and isolation, and required women to be silent keepers of the home. Years of pain and abuse followed. After becoming a mother, Tia realized that she was the only one who could protect her children from becoming the next generation of patriarchal men and submissive women. That's when she fled with her children. One of the things Tia says a lot that really gets to me is that if we continue to ignore the messages that the fundamental evangelical Christian community are sending out to us, then we're just plunging this country right into the near future of the book The Handmaid's Tale. Tia was a trad wife and today she is an independent woman living the kind of life she always dreamed about. She has written wisely about the inhumanity of trad wife life and why it is not something to be celebrated with beautiful images on social media. All of this is documented in Tia's new book, A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape From Christian Patriarchy and on her Substack, The Anti-Fundamentalist . You can also follow Tia on Instagram here . She is a delight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, February 04, 2024
Welcome to Sunday Nice Things! Today we have an episode of This American Ex-Wife from the wonderful Lyz Lenz! I first became obsessed with Lyz when I read her book God Land and then she came on an early episode of Under the Influence to talk about attending a mom influencing conference and I fell hard for her. She's the creator of the newsletter Men Yell at Me which I read religiously every time it hits my inbox. This American Ex-wife is a podcast that explores the state of American heterosexual marriage. Lyz sits down with a cast of women to talk about their divorces, their journeys and unpacks an institution many take part in but few talk about: divorce. Today's episode is with the poet and bestselling author Maggie Smith who delves into how her divorce forced her to spend more time with herself and how that ended up being a very good thing. Listen to This American Ex-Wife here Order This American Ex-Wife the book here . Sign up for Men Yell at Me, here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Sat, February 03, 2024
So many of you have asked me for an audio preview of The Sicilian Inheritance that I finally just sat down and created one! Why not! I love this part. In it our main character has just met our Sicilian protagonist Giusy in a Sicilian restaurant. It's filled with delicious food and wine and even ends in a cliffhanger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 01, 2024
The #fitfluencers and #wellness brands are coming for you. And they've been on the attack since January 1. This time of alleged renewal and reinvention is the Super Bowl for brands hoping to sell you a "better" or a "thinner" you. YOU are the product during this time of year and brands pay big money to get in front of you during this vulnerable time. Today we chat with digital brand marketer Amy Shoenthal (author of the Setback Cycle) about HOW you get targeted and Danielle Friedman (author of Let's Get Physical) about the history of fitness marketing and the good, the bad and the ugly of #fitfluencers. You can order The Setback Cycle here . You can order Let's Get Physical Here . You can also read Danielle's piece on #fitfluencers for the NYT here . Also grab yourself a Hot Sicilian.....while it's hot . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 30, 2024
We talk a lot about the negative parts of social media, but good things do happen online. One of those good things is community. Five years ago the New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg started #1000WordsofSummer. It’s an online community that convenes for two weeks in June to write 1,000 words a day. People were obsessed with it. Jami’s new book, 1,000 Words, is inspired by this community. It includes letters from her and over 50 seasoned writers on how to do the work when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. So today we are talking to Jami about how to start writing, how to keep writing and how to be a good member of the literary community. Follow Jami on Instagram here . Subscribe to the Craft Talk the newsletter here . Buy 1,000 Words here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, January 28, 2024
If you want more of She Pivots you can find all the episodes here . Under the Influence is sponsored by Quince and Honeylove . Give yourself the luxury you deserve with Quince ! Go to Quince.com/influence for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Get 20% OFF @honeylove by going to https://www.honeylove.com/Influence #honeylovepod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 25, 2024
What if we recognized the ambition inherent in motherhood? What if we normalized corporate career pauses? What if we didn't let ourselves be defined by the false mommy wars created by the media between work at home moms and work outside the home moms? Today we have Neha Ruch, creator of Mother Untitled, the leading resource for ambitious women leaning into family life. They are on are on a mission to update the perception of career pauses and downshifts for motherhood, infusing this life chapter with ambition, dignity, growth, and potential. We are on the cusp of a new feminism and a new narrative made up of so many different kinds of multi-hyphenated women. Learn more about Mother Untitled here . Under the Influence is sponsored by Quince and Honeylove . Give yourself the luxury you deserve with Quince ! Go to Quince.com/influence for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Get 20% OFF @honeylove by going to https://www.honeylove.com/Influence #honeylovepod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 23, 2024
Social media is political. That is a fact. You may think you're following beautiful images of a woman breastfeeding her baby in the Costa Rican jungle while her nine other children wait patiently by the waterfall, but pay closer attention and she is telling you not to vaccinate your children or use birth control. You never know who is behind a message or who is boosting information and accounts behind the scenes. Emily Amick, of the account Emily in Your Phone breaks it all down for us in the same no nonsense way she does on her Instagram account about all the political news we need to know. She's an incredible resource for using social media in progressive politics and she is very wise about how conservative forces have simply been better at using the socials to achieve their goals. Under the Influence is sponsored by Quince and Honeylove . Give yourself the luxury you deserve with Quince ! Go to Quince.com/influence for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Get 20% OFF @honeylove by going to https://www.honeylove.com/Influence #honeylovepod Make sure to follow Emily in Your Phone here @EmilyinYourPhone AND preorder her book Democracy in Retrograde . You can order a personalized Sicilian Inheritance from Bluebird Bookstop . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, January 21, 2024
Welcome to Sunday Nice Things.....a bonus episode where we share a podcast we love, a book we love, a rant we have to get off our chests. It's a nice thing for Sunday because we deserve them. This week we have an episode of The Cult of Perfect podcast from my friends Sara Petersen and Virginia Sole Smith. The Cult of Perfect explores the intersection of motherhood, public performance, and bodies, and tries to figure out what our addiction to the idea of perfect says about us and the world we live in. This episode is called Let Them Be Beige and explores everything from Ballerina Farm’s shiplap, influencers cosplaying poverty when they really have SO MUCH MONEY, the psychology of ownership, and the joy of living with less. You can get more Cult of Perfect right HERE . And subscribe to our newsletter OVER THE INFLUENCE HERE . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 18, 2024
Until about six months ago I didn't know that the Mrs. America pageant existed. And when I did some research and found that it originally judged contestants on their domestic acumen it felt a little trad wifey to me. When I talked about it on an episode I was contacted by a listener named Chloe Rosen, AKA Mrs. New York. And she wanted me to know I was wrong. She wanted me to know that there is way more to the pageant than I talked about and that the contestants are bad ass women who deserve recognition in numerous ways. I love being told something I don't know. I also love civil conversations about bias and the things that might be outside our own worldview. So welcome to Under the Influence Mrs. New York. Let's talk about all things Mrs. America! You can follow Chloe here . This episode is sponsored by One Skin. Get started today with One Skin and get 15% off using code Influence at checkout. After you purchase, they’ll ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them we sent you. We are also sponsored by the delightful linen, fabric and bedding brand ettitude . You can get $35 off your order, plus free shipping for a limited time when use the code Influence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, January 16, 2024
You know who is alive and well on Instagram? Jesus. And I say that without judgment, but it is true. Whether you realize it or not religion, namely Christianity, is being repackaged through beautiful images of motherhood and parenthood on social media. Today we talk to Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, a reporter for Christianity Today who has been researching Christian social media, #tradwives and images of "good motherhood," that quietly promote religious beliefs. Because many of these images look so beautiful and so aesthetically pleasing they lodge in our brains, and we may not know what kind of an ideological place they're coming from or the impact they are having on us. This episode is sponsored by One Skin. Get started today with One Skin and get 15% off using code Influence at checkout. After you purchase, they’ll ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them we sent you. We are also sponsored by the delightful linen, fabric and bedding brand ettitude . You can get $35 off your order, plus free shipping for a limited time when use the code Influence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, January 14, 2024
Social Media anxiety is now a staple of many, many, many conversations in therapy. People come to the couch to talk about how Instagram and TikTok make them feel left out, make them feel left behind, make them feel shame and guilt. It's a lot. Today we have on clinical therapist Lauren A. Tetenbaum, LMSW, JD, PMH-C. Lauren works with women (usually post-partum) and other caregiver she has seen a massive spike in people wanting to talk about how to deal with all of the crap they feel because of social media. In the spirit of having a renewing January Lauren is here to give us some tips for getting rid of our own social media baggage. It's just like therapy....without the bills. Learn more about Lauren here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 11, 2024
Nanny shaming in mom Facebook groups, parents hiring $125 private investigators to spy on their caregivers, nannies losing their jobs because of an anonymous tip. Welcome to the nanny wars on social media, where everyone is always watching and the littlest victims, the kids, are caught in the middle. Today we talk to Jen Wieczner of New York magazine about her excellent story on the chaos that ensues after a parent posts about a “bad nanny” on Facebook. This isn't just a parenting story. It is about labor, power, management and money and it impacts anyone who relies on someone else to care for their children. This episode is sponsored by Green Chef. Go to greenchef.com/60undertheinfluence and use code 60undertheinfluence to get 60% off, plus 20% off your next two months. You can read Jen's story on The Cut here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, January 10, 2024
Who chooses what we see on social media? Instagram (META) and other social media companies have the power to pick and choose what images they want to show. They also have the power to stop showing your posts to people if they don't like the content. The problem is that there are no real rules for what they don't allow you to post. This week Jo posted a picture of a book cover (Glynnis's new book I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself ) that showed a beautiful painting of a naked woman's backside. Instagram sent her a warning to remove it or risk losing engagement and followers. Why is Instagram choosing to censor this image when they don't limit much more salacious photos that tend to make them money? The rules are ambiguous so they can change them all the time. In this episode we get Glynnis on the phone to talk through Instagram's decision to censor her book cover and Jo's feed. You can check out and order I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself HERE . As always, pre-order The Sicilian Inheritance this month and get a free subscription to the Over the Influence newsletter . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, January 08, 2024
It's Dry January time for a lot of people. What better time to dive into the world of sobriety influencers. Finding sobriety is different for everyone. It's a journey. These days Instagram and TikTok have become a big part of getting sober. Suzanne Warye started out as an influencer on her page @MyKindOfSweet by posting her workouts and her outfits. When she experienced post-partum depression she was shockingly honest with her audience about how hard it was. The response was so positive that she began to open up about something that is often even more taboo—sobriety. She didn't realize just how many people needed to hear about how she left alcohol behind. Now, @MyKindofSweet has evolved into a place where she shares the bright side of sobriety, and spreads the news that you don’t have to wait for rock bottom in order to evaluate your relationship with alcohol. She also shares excellent sweaters! This episode is the first in our series of January renewal episodes! We talk a lot here about the negative impact of influencers, but this month I want us to focus on how we can use social for the things we want to accomplish. For more Under the Influence (transcripts, interviews, show notes and pics) follow our substack, Over the Influence . You can follow My Kind of Sweet Here . And as always, pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, January 04, 2024
Why do we care about an influencer baby we will never meet? Ballerina Farm just gave birth to her eighth child.....and the Internet can't handle it. Well, social media can't handle it. The famous influencer's mom announced the birth and now all the influencer message boards are going crazy over it. But why do we care? Why do we care about a woman we don't know and a baby we will never meet? I would argue that influencer babies are the new celebrity babies. They command the same kind of attention. They are also big money. It reminds me of the days when I worked for celebrity weeklies and we all paid millions of dollars for celebrity babies. So let's travel back to those days...back to the magazine wars over celebrity babies before we dissect why we care about this Ballerina Farm baby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, January 01, 2024
If you are potty training a child these days social media is probably serving you all sorts of potty advice. One of the most surprising accounts we have come across is one encouraging diaper free potty training from infancy. Let's put aside the method for a minute and just call out the fact that this is an account that regularly posts images and videos of children in their most intimate moments...using the potty, or failing to use the potty. We talk to Washington Post and Teen Vogue reporter Fortesa Latifi about the repercussions of this for kids later in life and the privacy issues. We also do a deep dive into the recent #prankmybaby trend where parents purposely play jokes on their kids to make them cry on TikTok. Happy New Year everyone! You can follow Fortesa Latifi on Instagram here . Subscribe to Over the Influence Substack here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, December 29, 2023
Is there anything lamer than New Years’ resolutions? Part of me thinks that New Year's resolutions are bs. And the other part of me thinks, you know what I’ll try anything to make life easier and better and more enjoyable. As I always say, many things can be true at once. It IS nice to have a time of year when we can renew and revive and just set some goals for ourselves. And so I have gathered some very smart women to tell me their plans and intentions for the coming year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 26, 2023
Let's settle this debate once and for all...is #TradWife content actually dangerous, or just stupid? Today I talk toThe Cut's Brooding columnist Kathryn Jezer Morton about her column on this very subject. Spoiler alert: I think it is dangerous and here is why. #TradWife content on social media strips the idea of motherhood of all of its unseen, really hard labor, and makes it look like it is just beautiful and clean and easy and sourdough kneading all the time. We rarely, if ever, see the men or the other caregivers who are helping #TradWives because it doesn't look as alpha to have help. When we don't see caregiving we can't normalize it in society and it chips away at our efforts to fight for affordable childcare. #TradWife content also often glorifies and prettifies rural living. A lot of these homesteading skills that are glorified on #TradWife accounts are actually rooted in people who were in poverty, who were doing these things not because they thought it would look nice on social media, but out of necessity. AND FINALLY, #TradWife content is breathing new life into the mommy wars by pitting women against one another. So much to dive into in this episode. Read Kathryn's CUT columns here . Subscribe to our substack OVER THE INFLUENCE here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, December 21, 2023
A story went viral on the NY Post and Reddit in the past 24 hours claiming that a husband left his wife because he became OBSESSED with a #tradwife on TikTok. This is the headline: TikTok ruined my husband of 12 years — now he wants a ‘tradwife’ and we’re getting divorced. We clearly had to do an emergency episode about this and I couldn't think of a better guest than my own husband, Nick Aster, who is constantly confused by #tradwives and social media in general. Is this for real? (probably not) Is it hilarious and totally worth talking about? (Absolutely). Should we turn it into a domestic thriller television series? (working on it right now). And how can we use this topic to talk more with our spouses about equality and sharing the burden of domestic labor? (It is all in this episode). You can read the NY Post story here . Subscribe to the Over the Influence Substack here . Pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, December 19, 2023
Breaking news over here. After months of anticipation, Ruby Franke, the mom influencer who was charged with abusing and starving her children, finally pled guilty to child abuse. In court, she expressed regret and sorrow for her actions, revealing that everything she did was, disturbingly, an act of love. New details of her abuse emerged in Franke’s plea agreement and they are terrible! But the story keeps getting weirder. As part of her plea deal Franke will testify against her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. According to reports Franke is going to testify against Hildebrandt, and allege that she is some kind of Svengali who was controlling her during the periods of disgusting abuse. This mini episode is everything you need to know about this bananas case. You can subscribe to our newsletter OVER THE INFLUENCE here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, December 18, 2023
Will daycare give your kid attachment issues? Are you breastfeeding wrong? Is sleep training the worst thing you can do as a parent? Being a mom often feels like you've failed at something at least once a day, sometimes more. Women are judged and shamed for so many of our choices. How we deal with that judgement and shame is often up to us. I have turned to experts like today's guest Emily Oster so many times during my parenting journey to dispel my own guilt, shame and the misinformation surrounding parenting. Emily is a professor of economics at Brown University. She's also the author of three incredible books that you should definitely get for any new parent in your life. Expecting Better, Crib Sheet, and The Family Firm. Her website and podcast, both called Parent Data, are guides for parents that give you numbers and decision-making tools to feel more empowered about the decisions you make as a parent. All of which are hard. Listen to Parent Data Here . Order all of Emily's books here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, December 14, 2023
Welcome to an Under the Influence - Too Much Money crossover episode! By now you've probably heard about the $59 million wedding that has everyone going crazy on Instagram and TikTok. The bride, Madelaine Brockaway seemed to come out of nowhere with her gonzo bananas wedding content that included a performance by Maroon 5, a rehearsal dinner at the Palais Garnier opera house, and a sleepover at the Palace of Versailles. Prior to the wedding, guests were invited to attend a private party at Chanel’s Haute Couture Headquarters and a lunch at the Eiffel Tower. It almost feels like the Internet was being punked. But there's so much more to the story, including a surprise criminal twist from the groom. Jo gets together with her Too Much Money podcast cohost Doree Shafrir to dissect all the conspiracy theories about why anyone would throw a $59 million wedding. Is Maddy desperate to be an influencer, a reality television star? Is her new husband actually going to jail? If you love this episode then you will adore the rest of our Too Much Money episodes. You can binge all of them here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, December 11, 2023
How many of you remember the Katie Sorensen story? Maybe you don't remember the name, but you might remember the episode we did a couple of years ago about the mom influencer in the Michael's parking lot who falsely accused a Latino couple of trying to kidnap her kids to get more viral attention for her Instagram account. Katie's trial for making false claims only happened this year and reporter Emily Guerin has been covering it for the LAist podcast Imperfect Paradise. Today we get all the updates from Emily about Katie's case in addition to shifting the lens onto the couple that she falsely accused, Sadie and Eddie Martinez. You can find Imperfect Paradise here . Here is the original episode of UTI on this story . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, December 08, 2023
No one should ever shame you for how you parent on Instagram. I have said it before and I will say it again—if you feel shamed then it is time to unfollow. Today we talk to Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, a licensed psychologist and mother of four, with a passion for parenting grounded in science and love to debunk the biggest Instagram myths and lies. We're going after whether screentime breaks your kids' brains (nope), whether you should make your kids say thank you (I still think so), Whether time outs are effective (yes) and the best way to potty train (no one knows). All of Dr. Goodwin's posts and advice are grounded in research and not pseudoscience like so many of the parenting influencers and coaches who are flooding your Instagram accounts. Follow Dr. Goodwin @parentingtranslator And visit her website here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, December 04, 2023
In this incredibly brave interview we speak with a woman who considers herself a former trad wife. She got married young and had kids young. Her husband convinced her to quit school, to stay home, to take care of the kids and to give up all agency when it came to their finances. When she wanted to leave the marriage she didn't have the education, work experience or resources to do it. But she made it work and now she is on the other side. She still feels like she is playing catch up as a 41 year old woman and is here to offer advice and warnings for women who decide to be submissive to their husbands and give up their agency and independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, December 01, 2023
The postpartum period is a clusterf*ck dumpster fire of hell and do not let anyone tell you different. It is also magical and wonderful and life-changing and gorgeous. Many things can be true. This is all of my advice for how to survive the newborn period and a chat with the incredible Tara Clark of Modern Mom Probs who consistently makes me feel seen as a mother in a world that too often turns a blind eye to us. Send this one to every prego and newborn mom in your life. They need it. You can follow Tara @modernmomprobs And you can order The Sicilian Inheritance here ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, November 27, 2023
Does the Internet fundamentally hate women? Social media platforms can be a battleground, often subjecting women to harsh criticism and verbal violence. And no one knows that better than tech reporter, author and general Internet bad ass Taylor Lorenz. Taylor has been called a lot of things online. She has been lauded as one of the nation’s preeminent tech reporters for places like the New York Times and the Washington Post. She has also been called the scum of the Earth. Told she was ugly. Told she was stupid. She once received a comment that said. "I hope you cry yourself to sleep every night. I hope you take your own life. I hope you live all your days in fear. You are the scum of the Earth. Why are you still breathing?” This kind of online harassment is not unique to Taylor. Women are constantly subjected to it online. Female influencers, female journalists, any woman who dares to have an opinion about just about anything. The Internet is a nasty and toxic place to be a woman. It is even nastier if you are a person who is extremely online, which is the title of Taylor’s latest book. Extremely Online in which she chronicles the rise of social media’s power and influence and doesn’t shy away from the dark places it has taken all of us. I got to chat with Taylor about what it is like being a woman who is extremely online and covering communities that are extremely online. We dove into all of it from her public feud with Fox News' former resident woman hater Tucker Carlson to Gamer-gate to why TikTok isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Grab your copy of Taylor's book EXTREMELY ONLINE here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, November 24, 2023
Mini bonus for anyone who needs a post holiday reminder that you're amazing and no one should tell you any different. Parenting advice influencers are ubiquitous these days. And they are spending thousands of dollars to boost their posts to get them in front of you so they can shame you into feeling like a crappy parent and then sell you their courses where they teach you to be your kids' therapist. You really don't need to be their therapist. You need to be their parent and Jo is getting off the parent advice influencer bandwagon by blocking these snake oil peddlers and accepting that maybe her feral children will eventually just grow out of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, November 20, 2023
In our constant quest to stay connected, Instagram and other social media platforms have become staples of our daily lives. Yet, there is a growing counter-movement of folks who have chosen to break free from the shackles of these platforms, daring to live a life beyond the 'like' and 'follow' buttons. But what does life on the other side of social media look like? The writer, author and bad ass creative Marlee Grace is one of the brave few who have dared to step off the social media stage. The decision to unplug, as Marlee puts it, did not come lightly- it was a long and challenging journey fueled by the need to reclaim their time and creativity. They were uncertain about a world away from the constant validation, but they pressed on, curious about the freedom that lay beyond Instagram's borders. Marlee Grace’s journey through the social media detox reveals that breaking away from these platforms, despite their seemingly inevitable clutch, is possible. The life that lies beyond is quieter and slower, but it offers a chance for us to regain command over our time, attention, and most importantly, our minds. You can follow Marlee on Substack at Monday Monday . Listen to Marlee's COMMON SHAPES podcast here . Subscribe to Jo's OVER THE INFLUENCE newsletter here . Order THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE early and often. It makes a great gift and paperweight . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, November 15, 2023
Back in July, an Ohio plastic surgeon lost her medical license after the state medical board investigated her for live streaming operations on TikTok and causing harm to patients in the process. TikTok fans may know this doctor by the name Dr. Roxy. She gained millions of views and followers over the past few years by live streaming plastic surgeries from her office. Surgeries like liposuctions, implants, and butt lifts. You can read Judith Newman's piece on Dr. Roxy on The Cut here . To sponsor this podcast contact: sales@adalystmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tue, November 14, 2023
Jo has made a new podcast and here is a sneak peak of the first episode. From Jo Piazza and Doree Shafrir, the host of the hit podcast Forever 35 comes TOO MUCH MONEY. Too Much Money is a podcast that attempts to answer this question by telling stories about people who have more money than they know what to do with, and use it in ways that are sometimes foolish, often petty, and often ridiculous. Each week, Jo Piazza and Doree Shafrir go deep into the story of one of these extremely rich people and how they’ve spent their money: like $500 million yachts, $250,000 dinosaur fossils, and years-long feuds with their neighbors over ocean views. After all, maybe you CAN be too rich. You can subscribe to TOO MUCH MONEY here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, November 13, 2023
What are you afraid of? Today we are talking about fears and finances. Because our phones are listening to us all the time they can probably hear us when we voice these fears out loud. Jo has recently been served a bunch of financial influencers who want to sell her advice to be a millionaire in a $500 course. These finance charlatans are preying on all of our very real fears. Thankfully we were able to call up an actual personal finance expert and the author of the new book on fear, A HEALTHY STATE OF PANIC to talk Jo off the ledge and tell us who we should actually follow (or not follow) when it comes to our money terrors. Welcome Farnoosh Torabi to UTI. Order Farnoosh's Book A HEALTHY STATE OF PANIC here . Follow Farnoosh on Instagram here . And pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance so I don't need to sell plumbing supplies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, November 10, 2023
I want to tell all of you moms out there something very important today. You are a good mom, a good parent, a good caretaker. You are good. You are good at taking care of your children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, November 09, 2023
Are trad wives happier than the rest of us? So many of the women I know who are bad-ass boss babes struggling to juggle it all—career, relevance, fulfillment, being a good mother, being good at work, being OK at being a wife—are really unhappy and anxious. I don’t believe in being submissive to your husband and I don’t particularly want to stay home and be the sole caregiver for my children and the only one taking care of my house. But I have been hearing from many traditional wives who say THEY LOVE THEIR CHOICE. They are happy and in fact they believe their decision to opt out of the system where women work their asses off outside of the home IS RADICAL. Today we will be hearing from some of these women in their own words. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter HERE for episode transcripts, bonus content and more of my ramblings about weird stuff on and off the Internet. And order your college roommate a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance to make up for that Pearl Jam CD you never returned. You can subscribe to the Radical Mom's Union Substack HERE .You can also follow Andrea at @instinctualmothering and Nicki @Nicki.french You can follow Bianca Saeed on her Instagram @motherhoodempowerment . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, November 06, 2023
Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter HERE for episode transcripts, bonus content and more of my ramblings about weird stuff on and off the Internet. And order your college roommate a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance to make up for that Pearl Jam CD you never returned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, November 01, 2023
Order Devorah's Book HERE Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter HERE for episode transcripts, bonus content and more of my ramblings about weird stuff on and off the Internet. And order your college roommate a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance to make up for that Pearl Jam CD you never returned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sun, October 29, 2023
A couple of years ago, Kelli Stuart was diagnosed with breast cancer after she went in for a routine mammogram and it did not go the way she expected. Once Kelli got her diagnosis she wanted to find one thing in her life that she could control. Like a lot of women that I know and love, Kelli is a doer and a fixer. She talked to all of the doctors and did the treatments that they recommended, but she also wanted to do more. She wanted to know more. While Kelli was waiting for her treatments to do their thing, she went down a deep rabbit hole of cancer influencers. Some of it was helpful, because finding community when you are going through it can be a wonderful thing. But some of it got dark, and unhelpful, and even scary. Some of the influencers she found were recommending treatments that were so expensive people were mortgaging their homes. I asked her to come on today to share her personal story with diving into this cancer influencer rabbit hole and the moment that she realized she had to dig herself out of it. You can follow Kelli here and order her book The Master Craftsman here . And if you want to surprise all your family members with copies of The Sicilian Inheritance come Spring you should definitely do that. I won't stop you. In fact, I'll come make dinner...or at the very least I'll order the Hello Fresh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 26, 2023
A lot of parents are putting really gross shit of their kids online every single day. And millions of people are watching it. Millions! Millions. We are talking about poop blowouts and booger picking videos and vomit and pee and every possible bodily fluid you can imagine. Sarah Adams is the unfortunate recipient of many of these videos. Ever since Sarah started the anti-sharenting account, Mom Uncharted, where she discusses the perils and pitfalls of sharing your kids online, her audience have been sending her every single gross video that they come across, including the ones that feel a little (sometimes maybe a lot) dangerous. This is one of THOSE episodes....the kind where you will never want to share your kids online again. It's gross, but also it's scary, and sometimes even dangerous videos of children. Subscribe to the OVER THE INFLUENCE substack here to get full transcripts, bonus content and ME in your inbox on a regular basis. Follow Sarah Adams of Mom Uncharted on Instagram here . You can pre-order THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE here and I will love you forever and never have post booger videos of my kids on the Internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, October 23, 2023
You can read Minna's original piece in the New York Times here and buy Mom Rage here . As always, grab your Sicilian Inheritance often and early . I need to know how many cannolis to make for the launch! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, October 20, 2023
Earlier this week we asked whether the "traditional wife" Lex Delarosa was trolling us with her Instagram account. So many of you were convinced that her content was satire. UTI is here to clear up the confusion once and for all. You'll have to listen to find out the answer. But what I can tell you is that this conversation veers off into so many different tangents, including the massive levels of hate Lex gets on her account. The comments she gets vary from things like, "I don't like your hair," to "you should be murdered." I think this Friday bonus episode (to close out #Tradwife Week) will surprise you and give you plenty to think about. Happy Friday all! You can follow Lex here . You can subscribe to our substack OVER THE INFLUENCE here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, October 18, 2023
Have you heard about #softgirls? They're young women who want to check out of hustle culture. Their greatest dream is to achieve nothing. She doesn't want to be a girl boss. In fact, a lot of them do not want to work for pay at all. She just wants to perfect her skincare regime and do all the Pilates. Are these women aspiring to be little more than trophy wives? Are they the gateway drug to #tradwives and a life of submission to men? We're here to find out with Glamour reporter Stephanie McNeal who wrote a truly excellent piece on the #softgirls for Glamour mag. Read all of Steph's Glamour pieces, but especially her one on soft girls here . You can buy her book Swipe Up For More here . As always, you can pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance and I might just show up at your house with Sicilian wine and cannoli . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, October 16, 2023
Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe to Anne Helen Petersen's Substack Culture Study . Read her piece on #tradwives here . And listen to her podcast Work Appropriate . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, October 11, 2023
Jessica Elefante used to be part of the problem. She was a brand strategist and marketer who created fake problems for us so we would buy things and do things. Because that is what brands and influencers do. They trick us into believing we need things to make our lives better. But now Jessica is a reformed BS artist and she wants to fix the problem. She wants to help us figure out how to stop the nefarious forces of influence from making us unhappy and unhinged with her new book Raising Hell, Living Well. I love this woman and I feel so lucky that I made a new friend by reaching out to her to work on this podcast. You can buy Jessica's book here! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/711835/raising-hell-living-well-by-jessica-elefante/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, October 09, 2023
What will happen to all the kids having their lives made into content? How do they feel? Maybe they're fine, maybe they're miserable. It is so hard to know because most of them are still so young. But reporter Fortesa Latifi has done a deep dive into how influencer kids are feeling about their entire lives being broadcast online. She spoke to one young woman of an influencer who told her parents she didn't want to be in their videos any more and they told her if she didn't appear they would lose all their money. How should we think of this labor as we consume this content and how can and should the government step in to protect children from online exploitation? You can read Fortesa's story on influencer kids here: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/influencer-parents-children-social-media-impact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, October 05, 2023
What line do we cross when we post pictures of sick kids to social media and why does the Instagram algorithm and content machine seem to promote these kinds of images? I am not the only one who gets creeped out when I am served pictures and videos of other people’s sick kids in the hospital. The discomfort is very real. I need to talk through all of my feelings about posting sick kids on Instagram and the money making infrastructure (branded content of sick children) around it which is why I am so excited for today’s guest, Fortesa Latifi. She is a kick ass journalist who is one of the few covering the influencer world seriously and smartly for places like the Washington Post and Teen Vogue. Her recent piece in the Washington Post examined the phenomenon of medical influencers and asked the very important question….why can’t millions of people look away from these pictures being posted of kids during their most vulnerable experiences? Fortesa is a goddamn gem of a human and you are going to love her as much as I do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, October 02, 2023
Feeding kids is hard. It doesn't matter if you have a sushi-loving toddler or one who eats three beige foods. There is judgement and stigma about everything and it is easy for moms to feel like they are constantly failing. Today we talk to author, podcaster and substacker Virginia Sole-Smith (author of Fat Talk and substacker of Burnt Toast) about how kid food influencers on social media can make mothers feel shame and promote diet culture and anti-fat bias from an incredibly young age. BUY Virginia's book Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture here. https://bookshop.org/p/books/fat-talk-parenting-in-the-age-of-diet-culture-virginia-sole-smith/18525159 Subscribe to Virginia's newsletter and podcast Burnt Toast here. https://virginiasolesmith.substack.com/ Buy The Sicilian Inheritance here. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-sicilian-inheritance-jo-piazza/20266161 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Wed, September 27, 2023
The robots are coming for all of us. Companies like Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, are using books to train their AI machines without asking for permission. Jo did a search on The Atlantic's database of books that AI is using to train its robots to steal our livelihoods and found FIVE of her titles on there. We are now clearly living in the Matrix. It begs the question of what else are these companies hiding and what else could they be stealing from us. We have to care about how Meta uses author's works because it is a reflection of how little they respect anyone's words, thoughts or images. Jo talks to fellow author and podcaster Emma Gray of Love to See It (and the author of A Girl's Guide to Joining the Resistance) about why the entire publishing world is going bananas about this today. Listen to Emma's podcast Love to See It here https://www.emmarosegray.com/podcast Buy her book A Girl's Guide to Joining the Resistance. https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Guide-Joining-Resistance-Feminist/dp/0062748084 And you can read The Atlantic story about the database here. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/books3-database-generative-ai-training-copyright-infringement/675363/ And you know you can always buy The Sicilian Inheritance if you feel so inclined. https://www.bluebirdbookstop.com/product-page/pre-order-the-sicilian-inheritance-by-jo-piazza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, September 25, 2023
Munchausen by Proxy has gotten a lot of attention lately with Patricia Arquette's star turn in the series The Act. MBP refers to when a caregiver abuses a child by pretending they are ill in order to get attention for themselves. With the rise and prevalence of social media there are more and more cases of Munchausen by Proxy and Munchausen syndrome happening in the digital world. There are cases of people pretending to be sick themselves to get attention and cases of caregivers pretending their children are ill to get attention, and sometimes to raise money. To talk about all of this I am joined by Andrea Dunlop, the host and executive producer of NOBODY SHOULD BELIEVE ME an investigative true crime podcast about Munchausen by proxy. Andrea is the founder of Munchausen Support, an online resource and non-profit that supports survivors and families. She is a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s Munchausen by proxy committee where she serves alongside some of the country’s foremost experts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Sat, September 23, 2023
You can download all of the Infamous episodes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-the-future-and-everybody-is-thin/id1652941051?i=1000628712174 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, September 21, 2023
Well we just had too much to say about Ballerina Farm to keep it to one episode. Her brand has become a mini empire and I look at it a little like Ree Drummond meets Laura Ingalls Wilder meets the personality of Emily in Paris. Prairie life nostalgia is currently big business and that's why I had to call our very own Wilder/Prairie Life expert Glynnis MacNicol to figure out why so many people have such strong feelings about this woman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, September 18, 2023
Buy Sara's book y'all. MOMFLUENCED is an incredible read. You can also subscribe to her substack here . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, September 14, 2023
Quick update on the Ruby Franke story wherein everyone throws everyone else under the bus. Kevin Franke says he and Ruby were separated! He has been in "a fog" for the past year. Her sisters call her a narcisscist who should be put away forever and her sister-in-law just says Ruby IS NOT her cup of tea. My takeaway? Everyone in this story is awful in their own special awful way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mon, September 11, 2023
Thank you to Jessica Grose for joining me on today's adventure. BUY HER BOOK. She is a national treasure. Screaming on the Inside was just released in paperback . We used a very brief clip from ABC News. Their coverage of this story is impeccable. You can read more here . Transcripts of this episode are available to paid subscribers of my Substack, Over the Influence . I mentioned my new book, The Sicilian Inheritance. It is available for pre-order now . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Fri, August 11, 2023
Laura Ingalls Wilder probably couldn’t have imagined the multi-million dollar media empire that would emerge from her books. From the television show to prairie chic dresses to dolls to tin cups bearing her name, Laura is a brand, a business and, dare we say it, an influencer. Her stories have spawned industries large and small, both directly and indirectly for nearly a century. In this very special episode from the new podcast, Wilder , Jo discovers how the fantasy of a simple prairie life got sold to millions around the world. Go deeper: Stay at the Prairie House Manor in De Smet, SD The Queen’s Treasures Melissa Gilbert’s Modern Prairie Stephanie McNeal on the Nap Dress Sara Petersen’s Momfluenced Follow us for behind the scenes content! @WilderPodcast on TikTok @Wilder_Podcast on Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Tue, February 14, 2023
Are more women having affairs? Or are they finally just talking about it? Throughout history, women have been stigmatized, ostracized, and so much worse for committing adultery—while men have too often been given a pass. But the truth is that women have the same wants, needs and desires as men despite cultural assumptions. Hosted by journalist Jo Piazza, this groundbreaking podcast series features real women of different ages and backgrounds telling the stories of their affairs, many for the first time. After five years of reporting on marriage in the wildly popular Committed podcast, Jo is now uncovering the other side of monogamy and finding some surprising answers about the motivations behind female infidelity – from sex, to empowerment, to self-esteem, and even love. In She Wants More, Jo explores the double standard of cheating, unpacking the guilt, shame, and the expectations placed on women. She has candid conversations with women about the affairs that have either strengthened or broken their marriages that will make you feel like you're eavesdropping on an intimate conversation between two friends. These stories will make you question everything you thought you knew about desire, monogamy, and marriage. Listen to She Wants More on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-she-wants-more-107769177/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bonus · Mon, September 12, 2022
But it is coming. We decided that maybe Jo's birthday isn't the most impactful day for women to shut down the Internet and truth be told we also got cold feet since we've seen a lot of failed internet strikes this summer. But don't worry, we picked a new day for all of us to shut it the f*ck down. In the meantime Jo did a guest appearance on Bridget Todd's podcast "There Are No Girls on the Internet" talking about a strange corner of the Instagram influencer world dedicated to #tradwives, women who channel the false nostalgia of the fifties in order to promote the patriarchy and keep women in a dark and subservient place. Stay tuned at the end of the episode when we announce the actual Women's Day Off the Internet. It's a good one. And happy birthday to Jo! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, July 14, 2022
The social media influencer has officially replaced the plucky girl journalist as the heroine of choice in women's fiction. The latest and most hilarious example of this is Jenny Mollen's new novel City of Likes, a wickedly funny story about a woman just like us who gets sucked into the maddening web of a mom influencer. Jo got to hop on Jenny's podcast "Third Wheel" this week to chat all about influencers, female friendship, the attention economy and Mormon momfluencers soft swinging with each others husbands. It's everything you want to listen to while you ignore your kids this weekend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Sat, July 09, 2022
Jo and Glynnis are making a new show and they need your help... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wed, June 15, 2022
Holly Frey, host of Stuff You Missed in History Class , sits down with Kris McDaniel and Andi Gordon, two winners of Seneca Women to Hear: Search for the Next Great Female Podcasters See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, June 02, 2022
As women’s rights are eroding in the United States, our Women’s Day Off (the Internet) is becoming increasingly necessary. While we plan it, we take one more look at Iceland as a model for how to build a better society for everyone and particularly for women. Luckily we don’t have to go too far back this time. We can look at the women who are there right now–specifically Iceland’s first lady, Eliza Reid. In her book, Secrets of the Sprakkar , she tells the stories of extraordinary Icelandic women to illustrate how the country became a leader in gender equality. Jo and Eliza sat down together to talk about the book and how being a mom in Iceland is just different than in the US. With paid paternity leave, less guilt, less judgment, and a strong sense of sisterhood, there’s so much we can learn from Eliza and her country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 14, 2022
Prepare your flux capacitor because we’re going back to the future. In the final episode of Season 2, Jo talks to experts in social media to predict what’s to come in the influencer world. Right now, social media could be compared to the Wild West: unregulated, unpredictable, and quite frankly, unfair to a lot of people. But luckily, with the help of some incredible women, influencers and consumers are starting to fight back. This episode features Lindsey Lugrin who is working to eliminate unpaid labor in social media with F*ck You Pay Me, Jenna Sereni who is working to create a more authentic social media experience with HandsDown, Peggy McDermott who is bringing influencing to academia, and Kim Nortman who is focused on Web3.0 with Tellie. Listen to this final episode to join the movement to change the term “influencer” from a dirty word to a respected profession. Oh! And Jo finally reveals the long awaited date of The Women’s Day Off the Internet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 07, 2022
These days it seems like everyone’s houses look remarkably similar. White kitchens, brushed brass accessories, exposed beams and all the shiplap. Why, you ask? Because we are all under the influence of design influencers. These people log on to Instagram every day and show you, yes you, how to take your older home and make it look newish, modern, but still cozy and old-timey. In a lot of ways this has been a revolutionary and wonderful development: free advice on how to renovate your home at your fingertips. No more subscriptions to design magazines, hiring expensive designers, or spending hours doing research. Nope, it’s right there on Instagram. But, of course, this type of influencing is not without scandal. Often the pressure to perform and establish yourself as a brand has led to overcharging and under providing. And then inevitably, the takedown is much larger than the rise. Ultimately, this episode helps us answer two questions: how does hustle culture lead to cancel culture and why is it so important for influencers to diversify their content over several platforms and maybe even go back to the basics of blogging. We get to talk to one of Jo's favorite design and renovation gurus, Emily Henderson, who takes us back to the early days of the design blog and explains how she has managed to slow down, take stock, and focus on the basics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 31, 2022
There truly is an influencer for everything! After spending a week in the hospital when her son got a concussion (don’t worry, everyone is ok), Jo left with a glaring realization: Rule 35 even applies to the medical industry. The nurses in the ICU revealed that they all follow nurse influencers, even post on Instagram during their breaks, and some have over a million followers. But nurse influencing isn't all scrubs sponsorships. COVID-19 and vaccine hesitation have created a social media battle between nurses who are pro-vaccine and those who are against the vaccine. Some of these nurses have lost their jobs for the things they have said on social media. Some have gotten death threats against their entire family. Some live in terror that misinformation could lead to more and more deaths. Because of the largely unregulated nature of social media, some nurse influencers can spread disinformation with few consequences for themselves and massive consequences for society at large. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Fri, March 25, 2022
Founder of the beloved organic baby food company Happy Baby, and now Founder & CEO of Healthybaby — Shazi Visram has learned so much starting businesses and advocating for children’s health; but she’s learned the most from raising her two developmentally different kids. She’s also met some of the world's brightest minds along the way. Armed with everything she wishes she’d known the first time around, Shazi wants to share the knowledge she’s gathered to help parents raise healthy connected children that reach their fullest developmental potential. Each episode is a shortcut to hard-won parenting insight from leading doctors, scientists, experts, and friends on what the latest science and research says on cutting edge and debated topics in parenting, and what the future holds for parents in our rapidly changing world. Listen to The Healthy Baby Show with Shazi Visram on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-healthy-baby-show-93537285/ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Thu, March 24, 2022
Influencers pop up where women need them most. They create a space to discuss taboo topics and provide resources when social structures fail us. Fertility is one of those topics, and fertility influencers have a large community of women flocking to them for answers, advice, and support. But not all women feel the same about this content. Are fertility influencers good? They destigmatize the topic and offer free information for an otherwise pricey process. Or, are fertility influencers bad? They often are not associated with a medical professional and cannot deliver individual care, just like with mental health influencers. And ultimately, what does the increase of fertility related social media content say about the lack of resources in our society? We wouldn’t even need to turn to social media if we were able to have these discussions IRL. Listen to this week’s episode to decide if you’ll be cheering YAY or NAY for fertility influencers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 17, 2022
It is nearly impossible to find a therapist that is covered by insurance, doesn’t have a waiting list, or even just returns your phone calls. Nowadays, we tend to rely more on people we know through social media to provide us with the alleviation of our mental struggles rather than traditional paths such as face-to-face therapy. What are the dangers of this? Being diagnosed by unlicensed advice givers? Being given recommendations for prescription medication that will mess with your brain? Developing an unhealthy parasocial relationship with your mental health provider. Parasocial! What the hell does it mean? We dig into the history of parasocial relationships from 19th Century French philosophers, to 1950s TV celebrities to today's social media influencers. The stakes of this relationship only escalate when influencers are discussing mental health. Sure, there’s some good in destigmatizing mental illness, but what are the chances they’re exacerbating the mental health crisis we’re already in? Hint: the answer is somewhere in the middle and it's up to us to strike the right balance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, March 10, 2022
Last week we dove down the rabbit hole of mental health Instagram. We're all in the midst of a mental health crisis right now and frankly we could all use a little help. While social media is often a major contributing factor, if not the source, of these mental health problems, there is also the flipside: comfort creators. These are the people who use social media to post content that you turn to when you are feeling down and need a pick-me-up. They are not necessarily there to give advice like the mental health influencers we covered last week, but instead to show you a picture of their fluffy dog or read you an uplifting poem that helps to release the stress you’ve been carrying all day. For this special bonus episode, Jo is joined by her comfort creator: the poet Kate Baer, whose poems helped Jo through the insanity of her postpartum time and still lift her up today. If you want more Kate Baer in your life you can buy her books I Hope This Finds You Well and What Kind of Woman wherever you buy books. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Sun, March 06, 2022
Listen to host Jo Piazza take on the role of guest on a new podcast about the LuLaRoe scandal hosted by Buzzfeed writer Stephanie McNeal. #BecauseofLuLaRoe: The Dream Vs. Reality LuLaRoe’s rise coincided with the rise of influencers and platforms like Facebook Live which retailers used extensively to sell their products and host online events. These platforms became the perfect medium for depicting the aspirational lifestyle that LuLaRoe was selling. Top sellers were encouraged to show off a flashy and upbeat lifestyle by posting about their achievements and using the hashtag #becauseofLuLaRoe. So how did LuLaRoe retailers build their followings online, and what was the reality vs. the image they were creating? Author and Under the Influence podcast host Jo Piazza joins us this week to break down how social media and influencer culture contributed to LuLaRoe’s success. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 03, 2022
We’re in the midst of a mental health crisis. And women, especially mothers, have been hit the hardest. But what is an entire generation of mothers to do when they live in a country where any kind of health care, especially mental health care, is largely inaccessible? A lot of moms turn to Instagram. Mental health creators have been around for a while, but should they be trusted as a source for psychological well being? Do these creators really help or just make people who are already broken more vulnerable? Maybe both can be true at once. Join Jo on a deep dive into the history of self help and mental health media to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 24, 2022
If it exists in the world, there’s an influencer for it. Teachers absolutely fit the bill as Jo learned when a listener reached out to her about her kid's teacher whose Instagram content concerned her. Should we judge how teachers present themselves outside of the classroom? And if we’re offended by what they post, is it legal to demand repercussions? These questions sent Jo down a rabbit hole into the wide world of Teachergram. Turns out Instagram is a sort of shadow support system for teachers. Influencing can be a way for wildly underpaid educators to support themselves and each other. And this isn’t unique to teachers. Ultimately, if there’s a deficiency in the world that’s ailing women, an influencer who can fill that need is just a click away. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 17, 2022
What would it take for you to get off Instagram? The promise of better mental health? An urge to detangle yourself from the algorithm? Or maybe it would take a scare. The threat of someone stealing your photos and role playing as you and your family. Any way you spin it, the decision to get off Instagram is a hard one. But if we’re ever going to use our power to improve the platform, it might be what we have to do. This week, Jo talks to two women–one who took the leap off Instagram and one who didn’t despite a horrific experience. These stories tell show us what we risk when we stay on Instagram and why getting off is such a personal choice. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 10, 2022
Remember the day Instagram went dark last fall? We sure do. It woke us, and so many influencers, up to how precarious making your living off social media can be. It also reminded us just how dependent and addicted so many of us are to a platform that is indifferent about us at best. In season one of Under the Influence we learned just how much content women are creating and consuming on social media platforms, for better or worse. We have a lot of power to make these places better and we don't even realize it. So what if the world had no choice but to realize it? We might just have a plan for that. With a lesson from Iceland and some major planning, we’ve figured out a way to let women take the reins and show the men in charge of the socials how much power we have over their platform. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trailer · Thu, February 03, 2022
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on Instagram, we're here to blow everything up. On season 2 of Under the Influence, we’re exploring what it means to be a woman social media. We’re going into different pockets of influencing from teacher influencers, to fertility and mental health influencers, to talk about how Instagram is a reflection of all the ways women are mistreated in our society. And how we might fix that by shutting it all down. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fri, October 08, 2021
Momfluencers aren’t the only online creators that have to fight for fair pay. Bookstagram is full of women posting dreamy photos of books and thoughtful reviews of titles, new and old. Their content drives a ridiculous amount of book sales, but do publishers pay the women making these posts? Rarely...if ever. Mostly they just get free books, which doesn’t exactly pay the bills. Fresh off her own book launch, Jo talks to two bookstagramers who have recently started asking publishers to pay them for their work. They also discuss the power shift that happens when women are allowed to review books, diversity within the bookstagram space, and much more. Buy Jo’s new book, We Are Not Like Them ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, September 02, 2021
A stranger recently approached Jo's kids and their babysitter on the playground. She acted like she knows them, like she knows Jo. But none of it is true. Are you terrified? We sure are. In this bonus episode of Under the Influence Jo commiserates over this crazy incident with top influencer Jess Kirby who completely removed her daughter from Instagram after a similar thing happened to her. Jess made the call so quickly, the way only a mother can do, to wipe her daughter's image offline. Will Jo follow her lead? Is it finally time to take her own children the hell off her Instagram? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, May 13, 2021
What happens when a mom influencer broadcasts the attempted kidnapping of her children in the parking lot of a crafting store in California wine country? What happens when those claims are completely untrue? This bonus episode dives into the case of mom influencer Katie Sorensen and what happened last December when she falsely accused a Latino couple of trying to kidnap her two children. Sorensen was recently charged with giving false information to the police. Those charges could carry a sentence of six months in jail. Along with journalist Sara Petersen, Jo delves into what happened in that parking lot and also talk about why it may have happened. Nearly 4.5 million people watched that video Sorensen posted. Her followers skyrocketed. If crisis and tragedy drive more and more attention then is there an allure to post the kinds of things that will get you that attention. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 15, 2021
Over the course of a year of reporting on mom influencers we watched the business model evolve and shift in myriad ways. There are brand new mom influencers on TikTok who weren't even doing this when we started the podcast. And they're killing it! Jo talks to some of the moms who are just crushing it on the video platform and, of course, tries to master TikTok herself. How do you think that's going to go? We also look to the future of influencing, starting with a conversation between Jo and Gabrielle Carteris, President of SAG-AFTRA, about bringing influencers into their union. There’s so much possibility for this industry and the women who are a part of it. As we wrap up the season, Jo reflects on all of this and decides where she lands in the fabric of the influencer world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, April 01, 2021
In the influencer industry, women make more money than men, but, as in the real world, there's still a steep racial pay gap. There’s an Instagram account that documents this. @InfluencerPayGap brings transparency to the money influencers make from brands and also to document the pay gap between white influencers and influencers of color. Racial inequality is embedded into the influencer space and it weighs heavily on influencers of color. In this episode we talk to the women who are trying to fight against it while the industry is still young and malleable. Unfortunately, this is just one of many real world problems that finds itself being replicated in the influencer space. Politics, conspiracy theories...they creep into our online lives and make our feeds a dark, dark, place. Like QAnon dark. Is there a way out of this? Does the influencer industry really have to fall into the toxic patterns that dominate nearly every other industry on Earth? This week, Jo sets out to find an answer to that. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 25, 2021
It’s no secret the internet can be a terrible place to be a woman. Any woman who ends up in the spotlight faces an intense amount of criticism and hate. For many reasons, the majority of that hate tends to come from other women and in the mom influencer industrial complex it often comes from other moms. After putting herself out there as a potential influencer Jo has gotten her fair share of online hate, but as a former gossip reporter she also has a long history of doling it out. In this episode Jo talks with a woman who built a website to hate on other women online, an original mom influencer who buckled under the hate, and reckons with how to break the cycle of woman on woman hate online. If that’s even possible. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bonus · Thu, March 18, 2021
In the past six episodes, we’ve travelled far and wide across Instagram’s momosphere. We’ve gone through the history of influencing, learned how to craft the perfect Instagram post, and weighed the consequences of sharing your life and your kids’ lives online. That last one really weighed on Jo. Learning about the potential dangers of posting about your children on social media was a shock and made her question this entire influencer experiment. This week, we’re taking a mental health break away from the ‘gram to process what we know about this insane world. We’ll be back next week with a full episode, but for now Jo and Glynnis have a quick chat to digest The Sharenthood and discuss whether Jo should continue as an influencer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 11, 2021
The French have laws limiting parents who Instagram their children. We have no such restrictions in the United States. In fact, social media and the world of influencing are still the wild west when it comes to children, the adorable little creatures whose images are fueling this industry. This episode got darker than we expected as we try to figure out the psychological and emotional impact of sharing images of children online. There are issues of privacy, of consent, of dignity. These ethical and moral quandaries have no easy answers and the only models we have for what this will look like in twenty years are child stars. And, well, we all know how most of them turned out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, March 04, 2021
What goes into making the perfect Instagram post? After being unceremoniously rejected from the Harvard of influencing, Jo manages to convince RewardStyle to let her in anyway. In this episode she puts their lessons to use, and tries her best to turn herself into an influencer, to create a shoppable life. She quickly discovers one of the dirty little secrets of influencing: influencers are hiring professional photographers to take a week or a month of content at once. Yes! Influencer photographers are the new wedding photographers. So Jo hires one and tries to take beautiful pictures of her entire family in matching pajamas. This is a disaster. But is it a profitable one? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 25, 2021
Authenticity might be the most over-used word in the influencer industrial complex. But what does it even mean? What the hell is an authentic woman? An authentic mother? From celebrities to politicians to Instagram moms, women are attacked for trying too hard to get it, or are ripped to shreds for not having enough. This week, Jo tries to figure out how to be a more authentic mother by going to both extremes: she speaks to the surfing Instagram mamas of Byron Bay, as well as a woman who chose to post her home birth on Instagram stories. But at the end of the day is searching for authenticity online just a trap designed to keep us on a hedonistic treadmill that makes us feel bad about ourselves? Or is it actually possible to be a real mom and still get paid for it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 18, 2021
There is a Harvard of influencing. Yes, you read that correctly. And we're going there...or, at least we're applying. Until recently Instagram was for looking, not buying. But one very savvy tech founder helped to solve that disconnect; a woman, naturally. Amber Venz Box is a 34 year old mother of four and the founder of RewardStyle and LikeToKnowIt. In the past decade, her companies have driven $8 billion in sales for brands. This week, with Amber's help, Jo applies to become a RewardStyle influencer and tries to figure out if her life is shoppable. Shoppability is a new term, one that even academics are now using. But finding out if your life as a mother is shoppable is like asking which of your kids is more commercial. And that's where this all starts to get a little uncomfortable. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 11, 2021
Mom influencing is a multi-billion dollar industry. How the hell did we get here? How did influencing become a job? Why doesn’t Wikipedia mention mom bloggers in their history of women and what does the 19th Century economic philosopher Thorstein Veblen have to do with why we are so enchanted by people who seem wealthier than we are. Consider this your history lesson of women influencing other women to attempt to lead more perfect lives. We start in 1896 with the creation of Vogue , wonder if Lucille Ball was actually the first mom influencer, and scroll all the way to the the beautiful mess of the early Mom Internet. Moms have been commodified since the beginning of moms, the only difference now is who is making the goddamn money. And if past is prologue, will answering all these questions help Jo figure out how to become the influencer of her dreams? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thu, February 04, 2021
It’s two in the morning and journalist and author Jo Piazza cannot stop scrolling and scrolling through Instagram, gazing at picture-perfect images of motherhood that look nothing like her own life mothering her baby and toddler. But she realizes that with just one click she can attempt to buy these women’s perfect lives...because every other mother on Instagram is trying to sell you something. Who are these women? Why are they so mesmerizing? Dive down the rabbit hole of the billion dollar mom influencer world with Jo as she pulls back the curtain on this under-reported and under-valued industry. Stop number one, the Mormon Church. Why are so many successful mom influencers members of the LDS community? Have they cracked the code to getting paid for the unpaid labor of motherhood? And how does this all relate to porn? At the end of the day Jo begins to wonder, as she watches her own media industry crumble around her, could this be the future of content? The future of her career? Could she get paid to be a more perfect mother? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trailer · Wed, December 09, 2020
Under the Influence is a deep dive into the Mom Internet, a place haunted by aspirational marketing where every mom is a social media influencer trying to sell you something, all while posed in white kitchens that never seem to get messy…with toddlers in cloth diapers that never ever leak; a bastion of carefully curated lives that are #blessed. Behind the airbrushed perfection is a multi-billion dollar industry that is dominated and consumed by women, yet largely ignored by the mainstream media. Journalist and mom Jo Piazza looks at how we got here, what it all means, and how the commodification of motherhood is driving women a little insane. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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