Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Who wants to enjoy a little bit of nostalgia this Sunday morning? Join Jo on the magical and wonderful happy-making Stuck in Stonybrook podcast where they revisit our favorite childhood series through a modern (and often feminist) lens. Subscribe to more Stuck in Stonybrook here. 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

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

"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

Gen X is the scrappiest generation and we might just be the generation to change how we think about and treat perimenopause. Today we get to talk to my dear friend Stacy London about perimenopause and perimenopause influencers. When Stacy was going through perimenopause herself advocacy and education for women's healthcare became her new passion and her new business. Stacy has worked her ass off to break through the noise and the b.s. around perimenopause and we are going to get into all of it. ALL OF IT. There is value in age. As Stacy so wisely tells me in this episode: Menopause is Mother Nature's biological fail safe to make you sit up and realize that you don't have an expiration date but the values that you held when you were younger do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is nothing better than leaving your children and going on vacation with your best friend. My own BF Jackie crashed my reporting trip in Sicily this week (much to my delight) and it reminded me of the importance of both travel and girlfriend time. This does not sound like every other episode of UTI, but I thought maybe you might like to be in a car with us on this weird journey in Sicily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Social media is incredibly toxic for women and girls. I say this all the time, and sometimes I start to feel like a real conspiracy theorist, like the social media version of a prepper telling you to build a tunnel under your house with lots of canned goods, but it is still something I truly believe. My guest today is Kara Alaimo, the author of OVER THE INFLUENCE (a book, not my substack). It looks at how social media is affecting every single aspect of the lives of women and girls from our parenting to how we date to our careers and our physical safety. But it also gives practical tips about what we can do about it, as users, as creators and as lawmakers to solve a problem that is not just going to go away. You can order OVER THE INFLUENCE (the book) here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's Sunday Nice Things has everything that you want in a Sunday listen—swingers, the seventies and puritanical Minnesota. From my friends who bring you the Terrible Thanks for Asking podcast comes a new show called Time Capsule: The Silver Chain. This is an 8-episode “true no-crime” documentary podcast that delves into the secret world of partner-swapping suburbanites in 1970s Minnesota. Newsletters from an abandoned safe deposit box set host Paul Ditty on an investigation to learn all he can about The Silver Chain – a suburban Minnesota swing club from the 1970s – and its members. Paul attempts to reach several of the club's members. No one will talk until finally he reaches Carol, one of the club’s founders who eventually agrees to talk. But just as Paul is on his way to Modesto, an email from Carol's daughter changes his course. Subscribe to Time Capsule: The Silver Chain 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

We've talked a lot on this podcast about using kids as content and where the line should be drawn. We've also talked about mothers posting pictures of their sick kids to get attention. But there is another side to the story. What if your child had a rare disease? What if one of the only ways to get the medical establishment and doctors to take notice of that disease was to shout about it at the top of your lungs, sometimes on social media? What would you do? It's an impossible question. Last November, Amanda Byerly's daughter Elin was diagnosed with retinol dystrophy, a disease that could ultimately make her go blind. And because the disease is so rare, there's not a lot of funding for it. So it is up to the parents to fund research and ultimately to find a cure. Amanda made the decision to post her daughter and the diagnosis on Instagram to raise both money and awareness. But it's tricky, and Amanda has to draw new boundaries for herself every day about the things she should share to help educate people about Elin's disease and what might invade her daughter's privacy. You can learn more about the disease here. You can follow Amanda and Elin here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode of Sunday Nice Things we are bringing you the series Momplicated where host Dana Phillips dives into the dumpster fire of motherhood with women who aren't afraid to swim around in the muck and pick trash out of your hair. Today she is joined by the hilarious Caitlin Murray, who is best known for her wickedly funny Instagram account Big Time Adulting! Dana and Caitlin discuss vacationing with kids, the awfulness of sick and snow days and why it is OK to not love the baby stage of childrearing. Follow Dana on Instagram @dana.p.phillips Follow Caitlin and Big Time Adulting here. Subscribe to Momplicated on your favorite podcast app! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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

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

Welcome to Friday Quickies....the Daily for influencer and social news with more foul language and swingers. This week we talk about Taylor Swift giving her boyfriend's podcast a boost, Minnesota joining the good fight to pay influencer kids and why Instagram is censoring your politics and how you can keep following the accounts you love. We also have the trailer for the new narrative swinger podcast (yeah you heard that right) Time Capsule: The Silver Chain. You can subscribe to Time Capsule here. Follow Emily Amick of @EmilyInYouPhone here. Follow Fortesa Latifi here. And pre-order The Sicilian Inheritance here. You can also subscribe to our substack Over the Influence 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

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

Welcome to a new episode of Sunday Nice Things. This week we are bringing you the new show Gratitudeology created by my friend Jamie Hess. When Jamie almost died, she woke up. As daughter of legendary broadcast journalist Joan Lunden, it seemed from the outside that Jamie had everything… so why did she feel so empty inside? She pondered that question as she fell into a life of drug addiction, and when she hit her bottom, it hit her: nothing feels good until we get grateful… but we often don’t feel grateful until we have a wake-up call. Are you searching for your wake-up moment? Tune in each week for an incredible story of turning pain to purpose, told by some of the most inspirational people on the planet. Through these stories, we’ll help you apply the study and practice of Gratitudeology to live a happier, healthier, more abundant life. You can listen to more episodes 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

Let's talk about anxiety, real talk about anxiety! Today we are joined by Julie Chavez, a librarian, mom of two and the author of the memoir Everyone But Myself. When you are a working mom, there is no time for debilitating anxiety. There's not. And the terrifying aftershocks of Julie's first panic attack left her grappling with questions about the causes of her mental health crisis and where it was going to lead next. This book resonated with me so deeply. This is a hopeful and honest account of love and loss and the husband who can't read your mind, about disastrous family outings and finding a new path. It is about the joy of a well-lived life and how hard it can sometimes be to enjoy that life. I think we're all going to feel better after this episode. You can order Everyone But Myself 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

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

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

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

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

If you want more of She Pivots you can find all the episodes here. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if we recognized the ambition inherent in motherhood? What if we normalized corporate career pauses? What if we didn't let ourselves be defined by the false mommy wars created by the media between work at home moms and work outside the home moms? Today we have Neha Ruch, creator of Mother Untitled, the leading resource for ambitious women leaning into family life. They are on are on a mission to update the perception of career pauses and downshifts for motherhood, infusing this life chapter with ambition, dignity, growth, and potential. We are on the cusp of a new feminism and a new narrative made up of so many different kinds of multi-hyphenated women. Learn more about Mother Untitled here. 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 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

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

Until about six months ago I didn't know that the Mrs. America pageant existed. And when I did some research and found that it originally judged contestants on their domestic acumen it felt a little trad wifey to me. When I talked about it on an episode I was contacted by a listener named Chloe Rosen, AKA Mrs. New York. And she wanted me to know I was wrong. She wanted me to know that there is way more to the pageant than I talked about and that the contestants are bad ass women who deserve recognition in numerous ways. I love being told something I don't know. I also love civil conversations about bias and the things that might be outside our own worldview. So welcome to Under the Influence Mrs. New York. Let's talk about all things Mrs. America! You can follow Chloe here. 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

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

Social Media anxiety is now a staple of many, many, many conversations in therapy. People come to the couch to talk about how Instagram and TikTok make them feel left out, make them feel left behind, make them feel shame and guilt. It's a lot. Today we have on clinical therapist Lauren A. Tetenbaum, LMSW, JD, PMH-C. Lauren works with women (usually post-partum) and other caregiver she has seen a massive spike in people wanting to talk about how to deal with all of the crap they feel because of social media. In the spirit of having a renewing January Lauren is here to give us some tips for getting rid of our own social media baggage. It's just like therapy....without the bills. Learn more about Lauren 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

Who chooses what we see on social media? Instagram (META) and other social media companies have the power to pick and choose what images they want to show. They also have the power to stop showing your posts to people if they don't like the content. The problem is that there are no real rules for what they don't allow you to post. This week Jo posted a picture of a book cover (Glynnis's new book I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself) that showed a beautiful painting of a naked woman's backside. Instagram sent her a warning to remove it or risk losing engagement and followers. Why is Instagram choosing to censor this image when they don't limit much more salacious photos that tend to make them money? The rules are ambiguous so they can change them all the time. In this episode we get Glynnis on the phone to talk through Instagram's decision to censor her book cover and Jo's feed. You can check out and order I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself HERE. As always, pre-order The Sicilian Inheritance this month and get a free subscription to the Over the Influence newsletter. 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

Why do we care about an influencer baby we will never meet? Ballerina Farm just gave birth to her eighth child.....and the Internet can't handle it. Well, social media can't handle it. The famous influencer's mom announced the birth and now all the influencer message boards are going crazy over it. But why do we care? Why do we care about a woman we don't know and a baby we will never meet? I would argue that influencer babies are the new celebrity babies. They command the same kind of attention. They are also big money. It reminds me of the days when I worked for celebrity weeklies and we all paid millions of dollars for celebrity babies. So let's travel back to those days...back to the magazine wars over celebrity babies before we dissect why we care about this Ballerina Farm baby. 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

Is there anything lamer than New Years’ resolutions? Part of me thinks that New Year's resolutions are bs. And the other part of me thinks, you know what I’ll try anything to make life easier and better and more enjoyable. As I always say, many things can be true at once. It IS nice to have a time of year when we can renew and revive and just set some goals for ourselves. And so I have gathered some very smart women to tell me their plans and intentions for the coming year. 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

A story went viral on the NY Post and Reddit in the past 24 hours claiming that a husband left his wife because he became OBSESSED with a #tradwife on TikTok. This is the headline: TikTok ruined my husband of 12 years — now he wants a ‘tradwife’ and we’re getting divorced. We clearly had to do an emergency episode about this and I couldn't think of a better guest than my own husband, Nick Aster, who is constantly confused by #tradwives and social media in general. Is this for real? (probably not) Is it hilarious and totally worth talking about? (Absolutely). Should we turn it into a domestic thriller television series? (working on it right now). And how can we use this topic to talk more with our spouses about equality and sharing the burden of domestic labor? (It is all in this episode). You can read the NY Post story here. Subscribe to the Over the Influence Substack here. Pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Breaking news over here. After months of anticipation, Ruby Franke, the mom influencer who was charged with abusing and starving her children, finally pled guilty to child abuse. In court, she expressed regret and sorrow for her actions, revealing that everything she did was, disturbingly, an act of love. New details of her abuse emerged in Franke’s plea agreement and they are terrible! But the story keeps getting weirder. As part of her plea deal Franke will testify against her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. According to reports Franke is going to testify against Hildebrandt, and allege that she is some kind of Svengali who was controlling her during the periods of disgusting abuse. This mini episode is everything you need to know about this bananas case. You can subscribe to our newsletter OVER THE INFLUENCE here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will daycare give your kid attachment issues? Are you breastfeeding wrong? Is sleep training the worst thing you can do as a parent? Being a mom often feels like you've failed at something at least once a day, sometimes more. Women are judged and shamed for so many of our choices. How we deal with that judgement and shame is often up to us. I have turned to experts like today's guest Emily Oster so many times during my parenting journey to dispel my own guilt, shame and the misinformation surrounding parenting. Emily is a professor of economics at Brown University. She's also the author of three incredible books that you should definitely get for any new parent in your life. Expecting Better, Crib Sheet, and The Family Firm. Her website and podcast, both called Parent Data, are guides for parents that give you numbers and decision-making tools to feel more empowered about the decisions you make as a parent. All of which are hard. Listen to Parent Data Here. Order all of Emily's books 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

How many of you remember the Katie Sorensen story? Maybe you don't remember the name, but you might remember the episode we did a couple of years ago about the mom influencer in the Michael's parking lot who falsely accused a Latino couple of trying to kidnap her kids to get more viral attention for her Instagram account. Katie's trial for making false claims only happened this year and reporter Emily Guerin has been covering it for the LAist podcast Imperfect Paradise. Today we get all the updates from Emily about Katie's case in addition to shifting the lens onto the couple that she falsely accused, Sadie and Eddie Martinez. You can find Imperfect Paradise here. Here is the original episode of UTI on this story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No one should ever shame you for how you parent on Instagram. I have said it before and I will say it again—if you feel shamed then it is time to unfollow. Today we talk to Dr. Cara Goodwin, PhD, a licensed psychologist and mother of four, with a passion for parenting grounded in science and love to debunk the biggest Instagram myths and lies. We're going after whether screentime breaks your kids' brains (nope), whether you should make your kids say thank you (I still think so), Whether time outs are effective (yes) and the best way to potty train (no one knows). All of Dr. Goodwin's posts and advice are grounded in research and not pseudoscience like so many of the parenting influencers and coaches who are flooding your Instagram accounts. Follow Dr. Goodwin @parentingtranslator And visit her website 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

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

Does the Internet fundamentally hate women? Social media platforms can be a battleground, often subjecting women to harsh criticism and verbal violence. And no one knows that better than tech reporter, author and general Internet bad ass Taylor Lorenz. Taylor has been called a lot of things online. She has been lauded as one of the nation’s preeminent tech reporters for places like the New York Times and the Washington Post. She has also been called the scum of the Earth. Told she was ugly. Told she was stupid. She once received a comment that said. "I hope you cry yourself to sleep every night. I hope you take your own life. I hope you live all your days in fear. You are the scum of the Earth. Why are you still breathing?” This kind of online harassment is not unique to Taylor. Women are constantly subjected to it online. Female influencers, female journalists, any woman who dares to have an opinion about just about anything. The Internet is a nasty and toxic place to be a woman. It is even nastier if you are a person who is extremely online, which is the title of Taylor’s latest book. Extremely Online in which she chronicles the rise of social media’s power and influence and doesn’t shy away from the dark places it has taken all of us. I got to chat with Taylor about what it is like being a woman who is extremely online and covering communities that are extremely online. We dove into all of it from her public feud with Fox News' former resident woman hater Tucker Carlson to Gamer-gate to why TikTok isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Grab your copy of Taylor's book EXTREMELY ONLINE here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mini bonus for anyone who needs a post holiday reminder that you're amazing and no one should tell you any different. Parenting advice influencers are ubiquitous these days. And they are spending thousands of dollars to boost their posts to get them in front of you so they can shame you into feeling like a crappy parent and then sell you their courses where they teach you to be your kids' therapist. You really don't need to be their therapist. You need to be their parent and Jo is getting off the parent advice influencer bandwagon by blocking these snake oil peddlers and accepting that maybe her feral children will eventually just grow out of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices