Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

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

July 10, 2025 46 mins
Reality television isn’t just escapism—it’s a sociological goldmine. In this episode, Reality Life host Kate Casey breaks down why the smartest people she knows are watching Love Undercover, Jury Duty, and The Keepers. Plus: the archetype of the aspiring influencer, what Mariska Hargitay’s new doc reveals about legacy and loss, and how Jeff Bezos turned his wedding into an extravagant PR stunt. This is your sharp, funny, wildly sat...
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We don’t have rituals for breaking up with friends.  Romantic breakups come with scripts—we know how to mourn them, process them, even joke about them. But when a friendship falls apart, we’re left in a strange cultural vacuum. I still think about the women I’ve lost as friends more than the men I’ve dated. I still stop myself from texting them, still wonder if they think about me, still carry the unresolved ache of the loss. Thei...
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Mental Health Rewritten, is a recently released nonfiction narrative podcast tackling stigma in mental health head on. Host Dominic Lawson and his guests are challenging narratives around sex, suicide, and cultural identity. Here's the first episode, which covers sex addiction and porn.  Listen to Mental Health Rewritten here. Join our newsletter community here. Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsor...
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Carla Sosenko grew up with a rare vascular disorder, a body that didn’t conform and a deep love of fashion that helped her feel seen. In this intimate conversation, the author of the new memoir I'll Look So Good in a Coffin opens up about navigating shame, self-worth, and beauty standards in a culture obsessed with thinness. We talk about what it means to dress a body that defies expectations, how weight-loss drugs like semaglutide...
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There’s an influencer for everything—including the intersection of geology, volcanology, academia, and queer joy. This week, we are chatting with Denali (@dykanite), a PhD student and science communicator with nearly 300k Instagram followers whose viral posts make earth science funny, fierce, and deeply human. They dig into how a geology joke launched an entire platform, why science isn’t neutral, and what it means to be an openl...
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June 29, 2025 42 mins
Many years ago I made a podcast about the bad ass women left out of too many history books. Today I am dropping Fierce in your feed. This episode is about Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress. Years before the United States ratified the 19th amendment, a woman from Montana had already infiltrated Capitol Hill. Jeannette Rankin rose through the ranks of the women’s suffrage movement, bringing an electric energy to...
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The number one show on Netflix right now is Poop Cruise. What happens when a Carnival cruise ship loses power in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and thousands of passengers are left with no food, no working toilets, and no way out? You get a poop cruise. In this special episode we break down the gloriously grotesque Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, a surprisingly funny, bizarrely moving, and fully revolting story of ...
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June 26, 2025 48 mins
We get real about weight loss drugs in this episode—no shame, no BS. Journalist Kara Baskin joins me to talk side effects, societal judgment, and the weird, wonderful, often infuriating experience of being a woman in a changing body. This isn’t about chasing skinny. It’s about reclaiming comfort, confidence, and control in a culture that tells us we can’t win either way. Read Kara's work here. Join our newsletter community here....
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This week, we're talking to journalist EJ Dickson of The Cut about what really happens at Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit, where thousands of Gen Z girls gather to hear influencers tell them the future is feminine, submissive, and off the grid. But here’s the twist: it doesn’t look extreme. It looks aspirational. It looks like a lifestyle brand. We break down how the conservative movement is packaging tradition...
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June 22, 2025 41 mins
Today I am dropping an episode of my new mini-series (Re) Committed here. (Re) Committed dives into stories of love lost and found again when people least expect it. This series was inspired by Christine Pride's new novel, All the Men I've Loved Again, which is based on her own second chance romance when she fell in love with the same two men in her twenties and again in her forties. Today we hear Christine's story of how she fell...
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What happens when the U.S. government slashes one-third of PBS Kids' funding? Shows get canceled. Summer camps disappear. The most vulnerable kids lose access to free, educational media. Today we're talking with Sara DeWitt of PBS Kids about what Trump's recent cut what that means for shows like Daniel Tiger and Molly of Denali, and why public media is still one of the most powerful tools we have to reach and teach all children—esp...
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Dolly Parton might be the last thing Americans agree on. In this episode, we talk to ⁠Will Bonfiglio⁠, the WashU lecturer behind a wildly popular college course on Dolly, about how the country icon became a cultural unifier across politics, class, gender, and generations. From Dollywood to “9 to 5” to her million-dollar vaccine donation, this is a conversation about kindness, capitalism, and why Dolly Parton is an uber influencer ...
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June 15, 2025 126 mins
There are too many movie podcasts. That’s why I only bring you the ones that are actually worth your time. That Aged Well is one of them. Hosts Paul and Erika are pop culture savants who rewatch the movies we all thought were perfect and lovingly tear them apart. They ask the real questions, like: “How guilty should I feel for still loving this?” Start with their Father of the Bride episode because it’s perfect. Binge That Aged...
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What if dads stopped “helping” and just…parented? Today I am talking about flipping the script of the patriarchy with @Tidy Dad (Tyler Moore). We talk paid leave, emotional vulnerability, and why men need to start showing up in the ways that matter most. Get Tyler's book Tidy Up Your Life here. Subscribe to Tyler's Substack here. Join our newsletter community here. Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely ...
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You’ve got a book idea—but how do you go from blank page to published author? Literary agent and author Kate McKean of the Agents & Books substack joins us to demystify the publishing process from query letters to advances, platforms, rejection, and all the weird feelings in between. This is the real talk every aspiring writer needs. What does a literary agent really do—and how do you find one? How do you write a query lette...
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June 8, 2025 74 mins
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 2 Analysis (with Jo Piazza) Chelsea is joined by author and podcaster Jo Piazza for a Season 2 analysis of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” They break down what made this season so hauntingly wonderful, from the plastic surgery Utah waves alchemy to Taylor's mom getting her 15 minutes of fame in her new AI bot form, to breaking down what each wife brought to season 2, to quote Demi, put your ...
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Influencers are selling women starvation and calling it empowerment. Today we talk to Cut reporter EJ Dickson about her viral investigation into SkinnyTok and the Skinni Société, a subscriber-only Instagram group where thousands of young women are encouraged to obsess over calories, steps, and how to be the “skinniest girl at graduation.” Together, we unpack how social media platforms allow this to flourish, why these communities f...
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Close your eyes. Picture a woman with lashes so long they could reach across the aisle. Lips plump enough to bounce a quarter off. Matte foundation, pageant curls, a bold lip, and a jawline that could cut glass. Now ask yourself: Is she a Real Housewife or a member of the Trump administration? This week, we’re digging into MAGA Beauty—the algorithm-fueled, hyper-feminized aesthetic dominating the right-wing political sphere. From...
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Today I’m dropping a brand new, really unique podcast into your feed and it's all about money.  “Debt Heads” is a very funny, surprisingly cathartic, extremely relatable investigation into the American economy from two people in debt. In the pilot episode we meet our two co-hosts, Jamie & Rachel, who dig into the reasons why so many people find money so hard to discuss, why we think we’re happier when we keep our secrets hidden, ...
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What if the thing you bought to keep your baby safe was actually preparing them for a lifetime of being watched? This week we sit down with New York Times critic and author Amanda Hess to talk about the dark underbelly of parenting tech. From the SNOO to the Owlet sock to that creepy CGI fetus in your pregnancy app, we unpack how modern devices promise safety while quietly feeding our data, and our kids’ data, to the algorithm god...
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