Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

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

In our constant quest to stay connected, Instagram and other social media platforms have become staples of our daily lives. Yet, there is a growing counter-movement of folks who have chosen to break free from the shackles of these platforms, daring to live a life beyond the 'like' and 'follow' buttons. But what does life on the other side of social media look like? The writer, author and bad ass creative Marlee Grace is one of the brave few who have dared to step off the social media stage. The decision to unplug, as Marlee puts it, did not come lightly- it was a long and challenging journey fueled by the need to reclaim their time and creativity. They were uncertain about a world away from the constant validation, but they pressed on, curious about the freedom that lay beyond Instagram's borders. Marlee Grace’s journey through the social media detox reveals that breaking away from these platforms, despite their seemingly inevitable clutch, is possible. The life that lies beyond is quieter and slower, but it offers a chance for us to regain command over our time, attention, and most importantly, our minds. You can follow Marlee on Substack at Monday Monday. Listen to Marlee's COMMON SHAPES podcast here. Subscribe to Jo's OVER THE INFLUENCE newsletter here. Order THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE early and often. It makes a great gift and paperweight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back in July, an Ohio plastic surgeon lost her medical license after the state medical board investigated her for live streaming operations on TikTok and causing harm to patients in the process. TikTok fans may know this doctor by the name Dr. Roxy. She gained millions of views and followers over the past few years by live streaming plastic surgeries from her office. Surgeries like liposuctions, implants, and butt lifts. You can read Judith Newman's piece on Dr. Roxy on The Cut here. To sponsor this podcast contact: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jo has made a new podcast and here is a sneak peak of the first episode. From Jo Piazza and Doree Shafrir, the host of the hit podcast Forever 35 comes TOO MUCH MONEY. Too Much Money is a podcast that attempts to answer this question by telling stories about people who have more money than they know what to do with, and use it in ways that are sometimes foolish, often petty, and often ridiculous. Each week, Jo Piazza and Doree Shafrir go deep into the story of one of these extremely rich people and how they’ve spent their money: like $500 million yachts, $250,000 dinosaur fossils, and years-long feuds with their neighbors over ocean views. After all, maybe you CAN be too rich. You can subscribe to TOO MUCH MONEY here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are you afraid of? Today we are talking about fears and finances. Because our phones are listening to us all the time they can probably hear us when we voice these fears out loud. Jo has recently been served a bunch of financial influencers who want to sell her advice to be a millionaire in a $500 course. These finance charlatans are preying on all of our very real fears. Thankfully we were able to call up an actual personal finance expert and the author of the new book on fear, A HEALTHY STATE OF PANIC to talk Jo off the ledge and tell us who we should actually follow (or not follow) when it comes to our money terrors. Welcome Farnoosh Torabi to UTI. Order Farnoosh's Book A HEALTHY STATE OF PANIC here. Follow Farnoosh on Instagram here. And pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance so I don't need to sell plumbing supplies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I want to tell all of you moms out there something very important today. You are a good mom, a good parent, a good caretaker. You are good. You are good at taking care of your children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are trad wives happier than the rest of us? So many of the women I know who are bad-ass boss babes struggling to juggle it all—career, relevance, fulfillment, being a good mother, being good at work, being OK at being a wife—are really unhappy and anxious. I don’t believe in being submissive to your husband and I don’t particularly want to stay home and be the sole caregiver for my children and the only one taking care of my house. But I have been hearing from many traditional wives who say THEY LOVE THEIR CHOICE. They are happy and in fact they believe their decision to opt out of the system where women work their asses off outside of the home IS RADICAL. Today we will be hearing from some of these women in their own words. Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter HERE for episode transcripts, bonus content and more of my ramblings about weird stuff on and off the Internet. And order your college roommate a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance to make up for that Pearl Jam CD you never returned. You can subscribe to the Radical Mom's Union Substack HERE.You can also follow Andrea at @instinctualmothering and Nicki @Nicki.french You can follow Bianca Saeed on her Instagram @motherhoodempowerment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter HERE for episode transcripts, bonus content and more of my ramblings about weird stuff on and off the Internet. And order your college roommate a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance to make up for that Pearl Jam CD you never returned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Order Devorah's Book HERE Subscribe to the Over the Influence newsletter HERE for episode transcripts, bonus content and more of my ramblings about weird stuff on and off the Internet. And order your college roommate a copy of The Sicilian Inheritance to make up for that Pearl Jam CD you never returned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A couple of years ago, Kelli Stuart was diagnosed with breast cancer after she went in for a routine mammogram and it did not go the way she expected. Once Kelli got her diagnosis she wanted to find one thing in her life that she could control. Like a lot of women that I know and love, Kelli is a doer and a fixer. She talked to all of the doctors and did the treatments that they recommended, but she also wanted to do more. She wanted to know more. While Kelli was waiting for her treatments to do their thing, she went down a deep rabbit hole of cancer influencers. Some of it was helpful, because finding community when you are going through it can be a wonderful thing. But some of it got dark, and unhelpful, and even scary. Some of the influencers she found were recommending treatments that were so expensive people were mortgaging their homes. I asked her to come on today to share her personal story with diving into this cancer influencer rabbit hole and the moment that she realized she had to dig herself out of it. You can follow Kelli here and order her book The Master Craftsman here. And if you want to surprise all your family members with copies of The Sicilian Inheritance come Spring you should definitely do that. I won't stop you. In fact, I'll come make dinner...or at the very least I'll order the Hello Fresh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A lot of parents are putting really gross shit of their kids online every single day. And millions of people are watching it. Millions! Millions. We are talking about poop blowouts and booger picking videos and vomit and pee and every possible bodily fluid you can imagine. Sarah Adams is the unfortunate recipient of many of these videos. Ever since Sarah started the anti-sharenting account, Mom Uncharted, where she discusses the perils and pitfalls of sharing your kids online, her audience have been sending her every single gross video that they come across, including the ones that feel a little (sometimes maybe a lot) dangerous. This is one of THOSE episodes....the kind where you will never want to share your kids online again. It's gross, but also it's scary, and sometimes even dangerous videos of children. Subscribe to the OVER THE INFLUENCE substack here to get full transcripts, bonus content and ME in your inbox on a regular basis. Follow Sarah Adams of Mom Uncharted on Instagram here. You can pre-order THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE here and I will love you forever and never have post booger videos of my kids on the Internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can read Minna's original piece in the New York Times here and buy Mom Rage here. As always, grab your Sicilian Inheritance often and early. I need to know how many cannolis to make for the launch! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Earlier this week we asked whether the "traditional wife" Lex Delarosa was trolling us with her Instagram account. So many of you were convinced that her content was satire. UTI is here to clear up the confusion once and for all. You'll have to listen to find out the answer. But what I can tell you is that this conversation veers off into so many different tangents, including the massive levels of hate Lex gets on her account. The comments she gets vary from things like, "I don't like your hair," to "you should be murdered." I think this Friday bonus episode (to close out #Tradwife Week) will surprise you and give you plenty to think about. Happy Friday all! You can follow Lex here. You can subscribe to our substack OVER THE INFLUENCE here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you heard about #softgirls? They're young women who want to check out of hustle culture. Their greatest dream is to achieve nothing. She doesn't want to be a girl boss. In fact, a lot of them do not want to work for pay at all. She just wants to perfect her skincare regime and do all the Pilates. Are these women aspiring to be little more than trophy wives? Are they the gateway drug to #tradwives and a life of submission to men? We're here to find out with Glamour reporter Stephanie McNeal who wrote a truly excellent piece on the #softgirls for Glamour mag. Read all of Steph's Glamour pieces, but especially her one on soft girls here. You can buy her book Swipe Up For More here. As always, you can pre-order the Sicilian Inheritance and I might just show up at your house with Sicilian wine and cannoli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices