Under the Influence with Jo Piazza (Jo Piazza)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.   You 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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