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
June 23, 2025 • 45 mins
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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June 19, 2025 • 40 mins
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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June 17, 2025 • 50 mins
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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June 12, 2025 • 54 mins
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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June 10, 2025 • 51 mins
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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June 5, 2025 • 46 mins
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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June 3, 2025 • 40 mins
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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June 1, 2025 • 44 mins
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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May 29, 2025 • 53 mins
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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May 27, 2025 • 29 mins
When a tragedy happens to a mother online, does it still belong to her—or does it belong to all of us?
After beloved TikTok mom influencer Emily Kaiser’s 3-year-old son tragically drowned, the internet didn’t wait for confirmation. Strangers started playing detective, matching Zillow screenshots to TikToks, scouring Arizona death records, and demanding answers before her family had time to grieve.
This week, journalist Fortesa La...
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May 25, 2025 • 42 mins
Sharing something special with you this week, it’s an episode of Other People’s Problems, from CBC. Normally, therapy sessions are totally confidential — but this podcast opens the doors. On this season, the host Dr. Hillary McBride explores the transformative power of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. With her psychological expertise, Dr. Hillary leads clients through drug-assisted therapy, guiding them to new heights on thei...
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May 22, 2025 • 38 mins
Is it possible to raise a child without losing yourself—if you live in a country that actually supports parents?
In this episode, we sit down with journalist and author Abigail Leonard to talk about her powerful new book Four Mothers, a narrative that follows four women across four countries through the highs and heartbreaks of their first year of motherhood. From Finland’s robust family leave to Japan’s intense cultural expectati...
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May 20, 2025 • 52 mins
Ever feel like gentle parenting only works for gentle children—and yours were born throwing punches? Same. That’s why this week, I sat down with science journalist and parenting sanity-saver Melinda Wenner Moyer, author of How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes and the new book Hello, Cruel World: How to Parent with Hope in an Era of Anxiety and Doom.
We’re diving deep into the hard stuff: screen time panic, why discipline do...
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May 18, 2025 • 34 mins
What do writing a thriller, running a marathon, and raising small humans have in common? At some point, you’re convinced you’re doing it all wrong.
This week on Sunday Nice Things I down with bestselling author Andrea Bartz (The Last Ferry Out) to talk about the messy middle of any creative process—when everything feels like garbage and your brain is screaming “just quit.”
If you've ever felt stuck in the middle of something har...
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May 15, 2025 • 57 mins
We were told there’d be a village. A built-in crew of support, solidarity, and sanity that would show up the minute the baby did. But what if the village never comes?
In this episode, Jo talks to Melissa Wirt—mother of six, founder of Latched Mama, and author of I Was Told There’d Be a Village—about what it means to build connection in a culture that isolates mothers by design. They dive into the science of loneliness, the labor o...
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May 13, 2025 • 50 mins
What happens when you're not 100% sure you want to become a mother—but you go ahead and do it anyway? In this episode, we explore the space between certainty and regret, love and ambivalence, and what it means to mother without a clear road map.
Host Jo Piazza sits down with journalist and author Ruthie Ackerman, whose new book The Mother Code unpacks her own winding path to motherhood—through egg freezing, fertility treatments, d...
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May 11, 2025 • 22 mins
If your kids are into listening to podcasts (mine are...we are massive Greeking Out stans) then you are going to want The Ten News in your rotation. The Ten News podcast explores topics that kids care about most including events, sports, science, gaming, pop culture, entertainment, and more! With new episodes bi-weekly on Wednesday, it’s a great way for you and your family to stay connected with what’s going on in the world. The Te...
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