Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Three things are happening in the group chat right now: perimenopause, ICE, and Heated Rivalry. That’s it. That’s the list. And yes, I am late to this particular party because this is a show I have to watch alone, in the daylight, with no children within a one mile radius. So let’s talk about why this Canadian, low-budget, nipples-everywhere hockey romance has basically taken over the brains of American women in this exact moment. I brought in the only person I wanted to unpack it with: Sarah Wendell, co-founder of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, who has been taking romance seriously since before the rest of the world decided it was cool. We get into what makes the show feel so different from American TV, why it probably couldn’t have been made here, and how it became a global obsession without a celebrity tentpole (hahaha tentpole). We talk about what it means to watch two men do their own emotional heavy lifting for once, with no woman managing the feelings, and why that turns women on. This episode is funny, smart, extremely not safe for kids, and designed for anyone who has ever loved “delicious trash” and also wanted to talk about it like it's Proust. Read EVERYTHING Smart Bitches, Trashy Books here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’m really excited to introduce you to a new show today. It’s a smart podcast about trashy books: Smart Podcast, Trashy Books, created by my good friend Sarah Wendell. Sarah has been talking about romance novels in a smart, generous, deeply thoughtful way since long before the current romance renaissance. She’s brilliant, she’s an absolute delight, and she has produced more than 700 episodes of this podcast. Typically, Sarah talks with authors, readers, reviewers, and bloggers about romance novels, which happen to be one of the most popular genres in fiction worldwide. But today’s episode is a little different. Her guest is our mutual friend Amanda Matta, best known online as a royal-watcher and pop culture historian, and the host of The Art of History podcast. In this episode, Amanda brings her Art of History treatment to classic old-school romance novel covers. Yes, there is Fabio. And yes, it’s as fun as it sounds. Listen to more Smart Podcast, Trashy Books⁠. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor Wolfe, better known as The Daily Tay, has built a massive following online by helping us laugh about the hardest parts of motherhood. In this episode, we talk about Taylor’s new book Just a Busy Season, a brutally funny and deeply honest look at postpartum life, breastfeeding shame, marriage after kids, and how the so-called “busy season” never truly ends. We dig into how she went from a 2009 blogger to running a full-blown media business, why the word “influencer” still feels condescending, and what it’s like when satire goes viral and strangers decide they know who you are and decide to crap all over your life in the comments section. We also get into mom shaming, why one cruel comment can outweigh a hundred kind ones and how women end up policing each other online. Order Just a Busy Season here. Follow Taylor on Instagram here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are so many “most anticipated” lists about what to read this year. We have one book at the very top of ours: The Fountain by Casey Scieszka. Casey is one of our closest friends, and this is the novel we’ve been quietly recommending for years before anyone could actually get their hands on it. The Fountain, out in March, is set in the Catskills and follows Vera, a woman who looks like she’s in her mid-twenties but has been alive for more than two hundred years. She comes back to her hometown to figure out what happened to her and whether she can finally stop living forever. It’s a page-turner, but it also asks bigger questions about aging, power, womanhood, and building a life with purpose and love. We also talk about friendship and books as a form of survival, the high-stakes insanity of swapping early drafts with someone you’re just getting to know, and what it looks like to build a creative life while parenting, running a business, and juggling more jobs than anyone should have at once. Plus, we get into writing process, imposter syndrome, and what actually makes someone a writer. If you’re choosing a March book club pick right now, this is one to put at the top of your list. ORDER The Fountain here. Request that Casey Zoom into your book club here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

January should officially be Women’s Rest and Recovery Month, because after December most of us are sick, behind on work, emotionally fried, and trying to pretend that carrying the mental load of not just our own families but everyone we care about was somehow restful. In this episode, we’re joined by Jackie Oña Cascarano, founder of Juno Women’s Collective, an executive career coach, entrepreneur, and former attorney who works with women navigating transition, burnout, and big life shifts. Jackie brings language, research, and real-world experience to the question so many of us are asking right now: how do we rebuild joy when we’re exhausted. The conversation moves through what joy can realistically look like in daily life, from mid-January getaways and intentional planning days to micro-pleasures that quietly make everything feel lighter, like good coffee, using the nice olive oil, burning the candle instead of saving it, and clearing clutter that fuels anxiety. Follow Jackie on Instagram here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

January feels like a real dumpster fire so far. It's supposed to feel like a reset, but instead it feels chaotic and messy and exhausting. Today we are zooming in on why the urge to fix everything at once backfires every time and why the smallest changes are often the ones that actually stick. We're joined by Under the Influence tidying guru Tyler Moore, aka Tidy Dad to walk through his five-to-ten-minute approach to tidying just your own stuff. Not the whole house. Not your partner’s drawers. Just yours. because being the boss of other people feels like too much right now. Follow Tidy Dad on Instagram here. Grab his book, Tidy Up Your Life here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re kicking off the new year by talking about something we both love and hate: “resolutions.” Or, more accurately, a list of what we don’t want in our lives in 2026. With bestselling author Glynnis MacNicol, we get into why this week is useful for taking stock, even if you refuse to “manifest” anything, and how writing things down (by hand, in a real planner) can make your brain take it more seriously. We talk about setting boundaries with toxic people, getting clearer about what projects and workplaces we’re willing to say yes to, and why “less screen time” isn’t really the point—it’s less social media, less surveillance of our own lives, and a better approach to being online: go in with a list, do what you need to do, and leave. We also get into news diets, the complicated reality of stepping away from your phone when you have kids, and the way social media magnifies the sense that everything is on fire, all the time. Then the conversation turns to something bigger: relational retirement economics—the idea that friendships and community function like long-term savings, and that investing in relationships is often the most practical kind of security. Subscribe to Glynnis's wonderful substack here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this heartfelt conversation, Dr. Florencia Segura shares her personal journey of losing her daughter Rosie to Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). She discusses the lack of awareness surrounding SUDC, the role of social media in her grieving process, and how she keeps Rosie's memory alive. Dr. Segura emphasizes the importance of research and community support in understanding and preventing SUDC, while also navigating the complexities of grief within her family and marriage. Ultimately, she encourages listeners to live fully and love deeply, inspired by Rosie's spirit. Learn more about Rosie, SUDC and Florencia's mission here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does friendship actually look like in the messy middle parts of midlife, when time is scarce, energy is finite, and relationships have to earn their place? This episode with journalist Anya Kamenetz explores how friendships change in your forties, why many people feel lonelier even as they crave deeper connection, and what it really takes to build rich, sustaining friendships as an adult. Read Anya's story and subscribe to her Substack here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Traveling with kids is not a vacation. It’s work. It’s labor. It’s also one of my absolute favorite things to do. In this episode I talk about how we actually make it happen as a family, from taking my “lumpy babies” to Sicily to hauling three kids through London while one of them pukes all over an Uber and then immediately asks for sushi. I’m joined by my family travel guru, writer and travel journalist Regan Stephens, founder of the travel guides Saltete and mom of three girls who spends a month every summer exploring the world with them. We dig into the real mechanics of traveling with kids: choosing one anchor activity a day instead of trying to see everything, letting each kid pick something so they feel invested, and embracing grocery stores, metros, and playgrounds as essential cultural experiences. Subscribe to Regan's newsletter here. Browse the Saltete guides here. Get your free Saltete guides at these links: Where to Eat + Drink in Philadelphia A Guide to Visiting Philadelphia with Kids Jo Piazza’s Ultimate Guide to Traveling in Sicily Jo Piazza’s Family Guide to the Catskills Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today I'm dropping an interview that I did with the Love-ly⁠ podcast into our feed. This week on Love-ly, Mehak sits down with bestselling author, journalist, and podcaster Jo Piazza, widely considered one of America’s sharpest observers of women, motherhood, and the influencer economy. Together, they unpack the increasingly visible and controversial world of “trad wives”—women who embrace and promote full-time homemaking on social media. Mehak and Jo explore why the aesthetic is so magnetic, what’s intentionally left out of the picture-perfect narrative, and how domesticity is often repackaged as empowerment. Along the way, Mehak and Jo discuss a viral TikTok from @cortneygetsfit, a stay-at-home mom navigating life post-divorce after years of financial dependence on her husband. Piazza opens up about the realities of feminist choice, financial independence, and how her own views on marriage and partnership have shifted over time. Pulling from her years of reporting and her latest book, Everyone Is Lying to You, the conversation gets into shifting gender roles, the pressure cooker of modern womanhood, and the glossy myths social media keeps feeding us. You can listen to more episode of Love-ly here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The trad wife trend has finally hit its ceiling. After years of algorithm-friendly homemaking, the movement is showing the cracks in its seams. The performance is shifting. The ambition underneath is no longer hiding and that reveal says everything about where the culture is headed next. Brands like Ballerina Farm and Nara Smith are now openly embracing the CEO role instead of pretending domestic perfection happens without childcare, staff, or structure and that transparency matters. But what happens when the influencers who sold “traditional femininity” as a lifestyle pivot to empire-building in plain sight? Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Holiday joy is supposed to feel cozy and magical. Instead, a lot of women spend December simmering with quiet (or not so quiet) rage. Let's dig into why the holidays can feel especially brutal for women in midlife, and what our hormones, our brains, and the unpaid mental load of the season have to do with it. Her guest is Dr. Kim Einhorn, an OB GYN and founder of the MP Collective, a personalized menopause and perimenopause practice. Kim explains how hormone fluctuations in perimenopause can hijack your mood, why you suddenly cannot stand the way your partner does just about anything, and how sleep, stress, and resentment collide to tank both your patience and your libido. Kim gets into practical ways to lower the mental load, use the power of no, rethink self care, and protect your joy this season, without burning your life down or making one more cheese plate for people you do not like. Learn more about Kim and the MP Collective here. Join our newsletter community here. 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 news about Australia's social media ban for teenagers we are resurfacing an episode with a young creator. This is a deep dive into the world of a 16-year-old TikTok star who wants to change the industry as we know it and ensure that the next 20 billionaires are females under 25. Sloane Price is wildly ambitious in ways I couldn't have imagined possible when I was a teenager. And today we're talking about her business plans, the ways that brands and agencies take advantage of teen girl influencers (plus how she wants to fix it) and why the teenage influencers today are the future of celebrity marketing. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Australia just became the first country in the world to ban social media for anyone under sixteen. It’s a sweeping, messy and imperfect law. But it's also one of the first real attempts to hold tech companies accountable for the impact their platforms have on kids. We dig into what the ban actually does, why it matters even with all its flaws, and what the early backlash from teenagers and tech companies reveals. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quite Literally Books is doing something rare in publishing. They are bringing back books by American women who were once widely read, widely praised, and then quietly erased from the literary conversation. These writers were bestsellers a hundred years ago. They were reviewed by the major outlets. They shaped cultural debates. And then, because the canon was built and maintained mostly by men, their work disappeared from classrooms, bookstores, and the public memory. Republishing these books is not just a literary project. It is a way of restoring voices that should never have been silenced in the first place. In this episode, I talk with the two women behind Quite Literally Books. They explain how they track down these lost authors, what it feels like to hold a great book that history forgot, and why stories about motherhood, marriage, mental health, labor, and identity from the early twentieth century still feel shockingly current. Check out ⁠Quite Literally Books⁠. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re bringing back one of my favorite episodes because it has only become more relevant. On the surface, it is a story about “bad nanny” posts in mom groups. Underneath, it is a story about money, power, and the invisible labor that holds up our entire childcare system. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a thriller writer discovers her novels have been quietly fed into AI without her consent and decides to fight back. In this episode, Jo digs in with Andrea Bartz, author of The Last Ferry Out and Reese pick We Were Never Here, to unpack how pirated books ended up inside massive AI training datasets, what it was like to be deposed and to face down an AI giant, and how that fight led to a proposed 1.5 billion dollar copyright settlement that lawyers are calling the largest in history. They trace every step of the case, explain how authors can check whether their own books are eligible for payouts, and ask what this moment might mean for the future balance of power between artists and AI. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos of all episodes here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

W're told that motherhood is supposed to feel natural, fulfilling and instinctive. If it does not, our culture tells you the problem is you. Jo and licensed psychotherapist Vanessa Bennett, author of The Motherhood Myth, are here to rip that story to shreds. They trace how impossible standards for mothers were built, from the Virgin Mary as manufactured ideal to helicopter parenting and the avalanche of parenting advice on social media. Vanessa explains ego death in early motherhood and what separates true intuition from anxiety. They also talk about martyrdom as a trap, internalized misogyny, why women turn on each other online, and how asking for help can be an act of rebellion. If you have ever felt like you are failing at a role you know you are actually good at, this episode is an invitation to start living it on your own terms. Vanessa's Website Follow Vanessa on Instagram Find The Motherhood Myth here Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode dives into the joy of planning a trip, because there really should be a German word for the absolute delight that the anticipation of travel brings you. Perhaps also one for the thrill of getting great recommendations. Jo is in London with her entire crew and she taps into one of her most trusted tastemakers to build some ideal itineraries—a proper Sunday roast, the best pubs, where to walk when the weather turns, the museums that keep kids engaged and the shops worth packing an extra bag for. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You may think you know the NXIVM story. The secretive self-help empire. The sex cult headlines. The downfall of its leader, Keith Raniere. But the most famous woman at the center of the story has remained largely silent. Allison after NXIVM tells the story of Allison Mack: former Smallville actress, high-ranking NXIVM member, and convicted felon. With exclusive access following her release from prison, this series traces her astonishing path from Smallville fame to NXIVM’s inner circle—and her effort to rebuild a life in the wreckage. Through raw interviews with those who knew her before, during, and after NXIVM, the show dives deep into the gray zones of influence, accountability, and redemption. And how we as a society treat women who have done bad things, often fueled by social media. In this episode, Allison Mack heads to court to be sentenced. When the judge hands down his sentence—three years in federal prison—Allison must begin to unravel the beliefs she once evangelized, parsing what was true and what was manipulation. You can find Allison After NXIVM here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you actually have hobbies, or do you just have things that feel like self-improvement projects? In this episode, Jo kicks off an “Adventure Year” with her best friend Jackie, a grad student in positive psychology who went through a midlife crisis that left her feeling like a houseplant in the corner just watching everyone else enjoying their lives. Therapy, research, and a Mahjong class later, Jackie is obsessed with how women both need and lack true hobbies that are not about weight loss, productivity, or caregiving. Jo and Jackie talk about intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, why yoga and Pilates usually don’t count as hobbies, how play boosts wellbeing, and the idea of “psychological richness” that comes from trying new things. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The stories we tell about women matter. How we amplify and promote those stories matters. To that end we are considering how to resurrect a history series we did years ago about bad ass women that history has forgotten. We're dropping one of those episodes in your feed today. This is an episode of Fierce: Stories of Women Who Changed the World. In this episode meet Clementine Paddleford, the forgotten food journalist who elevated food writing from dull and mundane to a delicious art form. The way we write about food today is largely due to Clementine, the roving reporter who taught herself to fly a plane so she could report on every aspect of food across the country and around the world. Afterwards, hear Jo’s conversation with Yasmin Khan, the best-selling food writer whose books on middle eastern cooking, The Saffron Tales and Zaitoun, expertly carry on Clementine’s legacy. Listen to more episodes of Fierce here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can parents ever really know what’s happening inside their kids’ phones? This episode takes a hard look at how Instagram says it’s protecting teens—and whether those promises hold up. Instagram’s Global Director of Public Policy, Tara Hopkins, explains the new “teen accounts,” parental supervision tools, and age verification systems. We also ask how these safety features actually work in practice, what still slips through the cracks, and what it means when the people building social media are also parents trying to keep their own kids safe online. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re heading back to 1994 for My So-Called Life episode three, “Guns and Gossip.” A gun goes off at school, rumors spread, and Angela Chase is caught between wanting to be seen and wanting to disappear. Pop culture historian Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Seinfeldia, When Women Invented Television) joins the conversation to explore why the show still feels so real and what it taught us about identity, gender, and growing up. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s been thirty years since My So-Called Life premiered—thirty years since Angela Chase fell for Jordan Catalano and quietly redefined what teenage angst looked like. This week, Under the Influence rewinds to 1994 for a nostalgic deep dive into the one-season show that changed how we saw adolescence, parents, and ourselves. Emily Crandall, a political theorist with a PhD from CUNY who moonlights as an underemployed adjunct and podcast maker (“Yay, capitalism”), and Esme Shaller, a clinical psychologist and professor at UCSF whose middle school daughters are currently reading The Babysitters Club, join the conversation. Together, they explore how My So-Called Life captured the confusion and loneliness of being fifteen, why its portrayal of parents feels so different through adult eyes, and how it laid the groundwork for every coming-of-age show that followed. It’s a love letter to the nineties—a time before phones, when friendship was analog, music was everything, and watching a boy lean against a locker could still break your heart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For decades, menopause has been treated like a medical afterthought—a punchline, a whisper, or something to “just get through.” But millennial women are starting to hit perimenopause, and we’re not going quietly. The hormones are unpredictable, the rage is real, and the information gap is staggering. Psychotherapist and author Lauren Tetenbaum, who wrote Millennial Menopause: Preparing for Perimenopause, Menopause, and Life’s Next Period, joins the show to unpack how an entire generation is redefining what it means to age. The conversation moves from sleepless nights and hormonal chaos to the deeper stuff—mental health, careers, sex, friendship, and the ways the medical system continues to fail women. With humor and clarity, Lauren explains what perimenopause actually is, why most doctors aren’t trained to recognize it, and how millennial and Gen X women are demanding better care, better research, and better conversations. This isn’t the end of anything—it’s the start of women taking ownership of their bodies and rewriting the story of midlife. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tradwife influencers are selling women a dangerous fantasy — that dependence is aspirational. It’s not. In this episode, we dig into the real cost of giving up financial agency with Steph Wagner, National Director of Women & Wealth at Northern Trust and author of Fly: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom and Living a Life You Love. We unpack why budgets fail, how a weekly money date can change your life, and the four principles every woman should know to actually grow wealth. Steph shares how losing everything after her marriage ended became the catalyst for her financial awakening — and why owning your money is the ultimate rebellion against tradwife culture. Buy Steph's book Fly here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Therapist, writer, and content creator Vanessa Spinarsky helps women untangle the cultural scripts that shape how we mother. Her viral message to “unf*ck your conditioning” has resonated with thousands of mothers who are tired of feeling like their worth depends on self-erasure. This conversation dives into the myths of the “good mom,” the performance of control, and how social media keeps us dysregulated for profit. We talk about what it looks like to stop performing motherhood and start living it, why burnout is really a form of self-abandonment, and how to find authenticity in a system designed to make women disappear. Follow Vanessa on Instagram here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The publishing world can feel like an exclusive club: one where the rules are unwritten and the gatekeepers speak a different language. In this episode, we talk to novelist Kristin Vuković to break down what really happens behind the scenes of selling a book. From finding and querying a literary agent to surviving rejection, negotiating deals, and choosing the right publisher, we pull back the curtain on all the things. We also chat about the upcoming Adriatic Writers Conference in Croatia that I am co-organizing which is changing the game for authors by teaching both the craft and the commerce of writing. If you’ve ever dreamed about getting your book into the world, this is your roadmap to how it actually happens. Apply for a spot at the Adriatic Writer's Conference in Spring 2026 here. Find more of Kristin's work here. Find Lidija's tips for what to ask an agent here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our friends at Tink Media and the Resonate Podcast Festival have launched something called Pitch Party—a brilliant idea that gives independent audio creators a place to share their podcast pilots with real listeners. This week’s pilot, Heart Trouble, is a haunting and beautiful piece of storytelling. It begins when country radio DJ Sid Wood dies suddenly in 1987. Decades later, his daughter finds a box of old cassette tapes and hears her father’s voice for the first time. That discovery sends her on a cross-country journey through the Midwest and the American South—from honky-tonk bars to the Grand Ole Opry—to uncover who her father was, and what his life (and his music) meant. Listen to more of Pitch Party here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We spend nearly two months a year on social media. Two months!!!!That’s how much time the average person gives to an algorithm built to hijack their attention, flood their brain with dopamine, and quietly rewire how they connect, focus, and feel joy. In this episode, clinical psychologist and addiction medicine expert Dr. Thekla Ross breaks down the science of how our phones became “sophisticated attention traps”—and what that’s doing to our relationships, our sex lives, and our ability to feel joy. Jo and Nick join her for a brutally honest conversation about how to break the habit, rebuild intimacy, and reclaim the parts of life that can’t be lived through a screen. Learn more about Thekla's work here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We talk a lot on this show about women doing too much. About the impossible math of modern life—motherhood, work, ambition, marriage, self-care, friendship—and then one day, another full-time job sneaks in: caregiving for your parents. That’s where I am right now. Squarely in the sandwich generation. Raising three small kids and moving my own mom from the suburbs into the city. This week, I’m joining the brilliant reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis on her new show So Your Parents Are Old for a crossover episode about what happens when the people who raised you suddenly need you to raise them. We get honest about the third shift—the invisible labor of caring for everyone at once—about guilt, burnout, and what it means to have zero minutes left to spare. If you want to subscribe to So Your Parents Are Old you can do it here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor Swift isn’t a tradwife. She’s the opposite. She’s a woman who waited, who dated the douchebags, found herself, built an empire, and then finally chose a partner who celebrates her, supports her, and will never be her glass ceiling. That’s the story we should be talking about, the one that actually matters for young women. If you are a person who wants a partner, it is wonderful to wait for the right person and to find a good man. My best girlfriend Jackie Cascarano of Juno Women's Collective and I dig into why Taylor and Travis’s relationship is such a powerful example for young women, and why it’s time to stop calling every woman who wants marriage and kids a tradwife, as if wanting those things somehow cancels out your feminism. We also get into the fragile male ego, the madness of Bama Rush, and the weird ways social media keeps shaping what it means to be a woman right now. Read the WSJ story about Bama Rush here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every family runs on a kind of mythology — the stories we tell about who we are, where we come from, and what we’ve survived. For Gabrielle Hamilton, those stories fueled both her cooking and her writing. The James Beard Award–winning chef behind Prune and the author of Blood, Bones & Butter has spent her life turning memory into art. In her new book, Next of Kin, she returns to the chaos and brilliance of her childhood — the beauty and the violence, the humor and the heartbreak — to see what still holds true after all these years. This episode is about how family becomes material, how humor masks survival, and how writing it all down can both preserve and transform the people we come from. Next of Kin is out now. Grab your copy here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I finally did the thing. After years of dreaming about a Philly bookstore, Nick and I bought a vintage trailer and christened it The Bookcase, a pop up mobile shop we’re rolling around the Catskills this winter. To figure out how any of this actually works, I called my friend Flannery of Bluebird Bookstop, whose own trailer grew into one of my favorite brick and mortar stores. We talk about why a trailer lets you test the market without dying of overhead, the brutal realities of book margins, how I’m curating a tiny but mighty selection, and why the magic is the experience as much as the sale. This episode is my love letter to community, discovery, and saying yes before I feel ready. Part two is coming. Visit Bluebird here. Find their clothing new arrivals here. (Use our code TRADWIFE20) Follow Bluebird on Instagram here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wharton economist Corinne Low wrote a viral article for The Cut titled “This Economist Crunched the Numbers and Stopped Dating Men.” Low, the author of the new book Having it All, is here to talk all about it. In this episode, we chat about the real economics of burnout, motherhood, and why gendered division of labor destroys intimacy. Corinne shares how she turned her own research into a blueprint for survival, left a marriage that wasn’t working, and fell in love again—this time, with a woman who gets it. We also unpack how social media’s tradwife aesthetic gaslights women into unpaid labor, why “having it all” is still a rigged game, and what it means to finally take ownership of your time, money, and happiness. Get a copy of Having it All here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jane Birkin invented effortless cool before Instagram, before influencers, before French-girl chic was even a thing. But behind the Birkin bag and the famous love affairs was a woman battling depression, heartbreak, and the relentless pressure of being an icon. Journalist Marisa Meltzer joins me to talk about her new book It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin, which peels back the myth to reveal the real Birkin: fragile yet magnetic, self-doubting yet endlessly stylish. We explore why her aesthetic still defines generations of women, how her personal struggles shaped her art, why she continues to haunt our cultural imagination and the surprising ways Birkin’s legacy speaks directly to our influencer-saturated world today. Get your copy of It Girl here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we're dropping an episode of Book Journey into the feed, a behind-the-scenes podcast from editor and Northern California Writers Retreat director Heather Lazar about how writers become authors. This conversation follows Alka Joshi, international bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy from first pages to agent to editor to a breakout debut. You will hear how a voice becomes a manuscript, what a real revision process looks like, how contracts and covers happen, and how a thousand book clubs powered word of mouth. About the Northern California Writers Retreat: a juried fiction retreat held four times a year in Carmel Valley. Each session brings together 18 writers, literary agents, an editor, and an author in residence for an intensive, practical immersion in the craft and business of publishing. Founded and directed by Heather Lazar, the retreat blends hands-on editorial guidance with real-world industry access. Applications are open until November 7. I’ll serve as author in residence for the third session, April 8–12. Listen to more episodes of Book Journey here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are living in peak nineties nostalgia. Everywhere you look there are slip dresses, scrunchies, bucket hats, even Tamagotchis making a comeback. But this revival is not just about clothes or hair accessories. It is about a collective longing for a pre-digital era, before we were glued to our phones and before algorithms decided what we should see, wear, and want. In this episode of Under the Influence, we dig into why millennials and Gen Z are craving the decade that gave us dial-up internet, landlines, and the last gasp of an unplugged childhood. From malls to music videos, beauty trends to sitcoms like Friends (and even the new series Osadid and Friends), the nineties are everywhere right now. Maybe that is not just nostalgia. Maybe it is the medicine we need for our current screen burnout. Read Glynnis's piece on why we are doomed to keep reliving the nineties here. (Gift Link) Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do you make sobriety cool? Suzanne Warye was one of the first influencers asking that question. On her account The Sober Mom Life and in her new book The Sober Shift, she shows why quitting alcohol isn’t about rock bottom, it’s about building a life you don’t want to escape from. A longtime lifestyle influencer, Suzanne used her branding savvy to reframe what it means to live alcohol-free. In The Sober Shift, Suzanne calls out mommy-wine culture, the myth of moderation, and the billion-dollar marketing machine that sold women on rosé as a personality. This episode is about what happens when an influencer puts sobriety through a full rebrand—and why so many women are ready for the shift. Buy The Sober Shift here. Join our newsletter community here. 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 Lo Mansfield's show Lo & Behold in the feed. Lo is a former labor and delivery nurse and current birth educator. You can follow her @TheLaborMama. I love Lo's informative, fact-based information about birth, postpartum and all things making babies. This episode is about whether a pain free birth is actually possible. This is something we see constantly on social media now, often posted by people with zero experience in the medical industry and it deserves a real convo. In this episode Lo dives into the complexities and realities of labor pain. No B.S. Listen to all of Lo's episodes here. Follow Lo here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why does it feel like moms carry a running scroll of everything — the playdates, the vaccines, the permission slips, the damn pile of laundry on the stairs? Sociologist Allison Daminger calls it cognitive labor — the invisible mental work of family life — and her new book What’s on Her Mind shows why women do so much more of it, even in couples who want equality. We talk about what cognitive labor actually looks like, why personality differences are really gender training in disguise, and how we can raise the next generation to share the mental load. Get Allison's book here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parenting is the hardest workout of all. Trainer and dad Andre Crews went viral for calling toddlers terrorists who hold their whole family hostage (so damn true), and he’s built a massive following by mixing fitness with brutally honest parenting advice. This episode dives into why motivation is a lie, how discipline actually sticks, and why the real goal isn’t a bikini body but a grandma body strong enough to pick up your kids' kids in twenty-five years. Follow Andre on Instagram here. Join his training community on Ladder here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we are revisting the second ever episode of UTI! Mom influencing is a multi-billion dollar industry. How the hell did we get here? How did influencing become a job? Why doesn’t Wikipedia mention mom bloggers in their history of women and what does the 19th Century economic philosopher Thorstein Veblen have to do with why we are so enchanted by people who seem wealthier than we are. Consider this your history lesson of women influencing other women to attempt to lead more perfect lives. We start in 1896 with the creation of Vogue, wonder if Lucille Ball was actually the first mom influencer, and scroll all the way to the the beautiful mess of the early Mom Internet. Moms have been commodified since the beginning of moms, the only difference now is who is making the goddamn money. And if past is prologue, will answering all these questions help Jo figure out how to become the influencer of her dreams? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Potty training has been sold to parents as a finish line — three days, one weekend, no more diapers. But what if that’s the wrong way to think about it? In this episode, Laura Birek, co-author of Good to Go: A Fresh Take on Potty Training for Today’s Intentional Parent, explains why potty training isn’t a binary, why “naked weekends” don’t work for every family, and how a rehearsal period can ease kids (and parents) into the process. We talk about readiness, deadlines, daycare pressures, and why social media has made potty training so much harder than it needs to be. If you’re in the trenches — or about to be — this conversation will change the way you think about one of parenting’s messiest milestones. Laura’s new book Good to Go is out October 2, 2025 from Bloomsbury and available for preorder now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So many women are exhausted by carrying more of the household labor, both the visible chores and the invisible work no one talks about. In this episode Jo and Nick sit down to map out how it really happens in their own home. They talk through who does the laundry, who puts it away, who manages school forms and grocery runs, and who gets stuck with the trash. And then there is bedtime, the nightly ritual that drains every ounce of patience and energy. What starts as a list of chores becomes a deeper look at marriage, parenting, and the hidden labor that shapes family life. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world loves to tell parents—especially moms—that kids and creativity can’t co-exist. Writer M.M. De Voe thinks that’s B.S. and so do I. M. founded Pen Parentis to help writers keep creating after they have kids. In this conversation, we get into what really happens to creativity when you add a baby to the mix: the productivity spurts, the guilt, the comparisons, the shame. And why community might be the single thing that saves your art. Learn more about Pen Parentis at penparentis.org. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patagonia isn’t just an outdoor brand. It’s a company that has quietly shaped how we dress, how we think about the planet, and how business can act in the world. Today we're talking to New York Times reporter David Gelles about his new book Dirtbag Billionaire, tracing Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s journey from dirtbag climber to the creator of a brand with outsized cultural influence. Grab a copy of Dirtbag Billionaire here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stephen and Bret—aka the Broadway Husbands—have spent their careers lighting up the stage, from The Little Mermaid to Billy Elliot. But their most moving performance is the life they’ve built together as husbands and now as dads. In this episode, they join Committed to share their story: how they met in sobriety, fell in love over Christmas parties and theater trips, and eventually tied the knot with a rooftop proposal at the Empire Hotel. They talk candidly about their four-year surrogacy journey, the emotional rollercoaster of becoming parents, and the ways fatherhood has reshaped their relationship, their boundaries, and their priorities. We also get into how they balance Broadway careers, creative projects, and parenting, while still making space for each other as partners. And yes—there’s singing, laughter, and plenty of joy. Stephen and Brett’s love story is not just a Broadway tale, it’s a human one—about resilience, partnership, and building a family against the odds. Follow the Broadway Husbands here. You can see Bret's Go Fund Me here. Binge all the episodes of Committed here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices