Under the Influence with Jo Piazza
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.
Episodes
April 29, 2025 • 48 mins
What do Britney Spears, American Pie, Girls Gone Wild, and the rise of trad wives on TikTok all have in common? More than you think.
In this episode, we dive into the cultural stew of the late ’90s and early 2000s with Atlantic critic Sophie Gilbert, author of Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves. From foam fingers to foam parties, we unpack how the sparkly, bedazzled, and disturbingly sexi...
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April 27, 2025 • 66 mins
Dropping a great new podcast in your feed today. Normal Curves is a podcast about sexy science & serious statistics. Ever try to make sense of a scientific study and the numbers behind it? Listen in to a lively conversation between two stats-savvy friends who break it all down with humor and clarity.
Professors Regina Nuzzo of Gallaudet University and Kristin Sainani of Stanford University discuss academic papers journal club-sty...
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April 24, 2025 • 41 mins
What do you want to be when you grow up? For Gen Alpha, the answer might just be: a brand.
This week, we enter the world of the Sweet Sisterhood—a so-called “content house” made up of girls aged 8 to 12 with a combined following in the tens of millions. Think ring lights, sassy videos, and moms-turned-managers. But behind the sequins and smiles is a bigger, messier question: Is this the future of childhood? Will every kid need a pe...
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April 22, 2025 • 46 mins
Ten days. Six bags. One baby screaming about her missing keys, her cell phone and how much she hates shoes and pants. Spring break in Vegas, Zion and Bryce had it all—drunk fairy godmothers in Vegas, kids veering dangerously close to canyon edges, and a toddler who staged daily protests against wearing pants.
These are our lessons learned and a survival guide to chaotic family travel: overpacking regrets, road trip rules, the unde...
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April 17, 2025 • 81 mins
This week, we're asking the question on the Internet's bitchy lips: is Meghan Markle a tradwife? To get to the bottom of it, I'm dropping in a special crossover episode with Off With Their Headlines where I try to answer that very question.
We unpack what “tradwife” actually means, why Meghan’s branding is smart (not submissive), and how capitalism, feminism, and influencer culture collide in unexpected ways. Plus, a little tea ...
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April 15, 2025 • 65 mins
Why does Bridget Jones still hit us right in the feelings—decades later? Because she’s all of us. A little messy, a little lost, and still trying to figure it out.
This week, we’re diving into the joy, the grief, the chaos, and the sexy normalcy of the new Bridget Jones movie—and why romantic comedies are finally having a moment again (and thank God for that).
It’s a full-on love letter to the rom-com: from waxing mishaps and mo...
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April 13, 2025 • 55 mins
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 parenti...
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April 10, 2025 • 41 mins
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...
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April 8, 2025 • 48 mins
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...
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April 3, 2025 • 42 mins
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 perspecti...
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April 1, 2025 • 46 mins
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 pr...
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March 27, 2025 • 66 mins
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 a...
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March 25, 2025 • 51 mins
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 j...
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March 23, 2025 • 44 mins
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 variou...
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March 20, 2025 • 45 mins
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 r...
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March 18, 2025 • 67 mins
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...
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March 13, 2025 • 40 mins
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 foll...
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March 11, 2025 • 48 mins
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 acti...
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March 9, 2025 • 51 mins
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...
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March 6, 2025 • 48 mins
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 o...
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