112 episodes

Under the Influence is a deep dive into social media, a place haunted by aspirational marketing where it feels like every other person is a social media influencer trying to sell you something, all while posed in perfect houses that never seem to get messy. And behind this airbrushed perfection is money, so much money. Billions and billions of dollars. Journalist and mom Jo Piazza looks at how we got here, what it all means and how the commodification of every single aspect of our lives is driving everyone (but mostly women and mothers) a little insane.

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza Jo Piazza

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.4 • 710 Ratings

Under the Influence is a deep dive into social media, a place haunted by aspirational marketing where it feels like every other person is a social media influencer trying to sell you something, all while posed in perfect houses that never seem to get messy. And behind this airbrushed perfection is money, so much money. Billions and billions of dollars. Journalist and mom Jo Piazza looks at how we got here, what it all means and how the commodification of every single aspect of our lives is driving everyone (but mostly women and mothers) a little insane.

    Midlife Career Switching to be a Post-Partum Doula

    Midlife Career Switching to be a Post-Partum Doula

    Today kicks off our miniseries of women who have switched careers in midlife. My friend Corynne Cirilli used to be a gossip columnist and entertainment journalist with me. After having kids she took a career pause and then trained to be a post-partum doula! We dig into how Corynne decided she was passionate about post-partum care and how she used that passion to make a massive change in her own life after taking a career pause to have her babies.

    • 43 min
    Magical Overthinking with Amanda Montell

    Magical Overthinking with Amanda Montell

    Why do human beings make terrible decisions? Is it our fault or is technology programming us to be irrational? Let's get into it with Renaissance Woman Amanda Montell, podcaster, linguist and author of the new book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality. Why do we develop parasocial relationships with influencers and celebrities? Why do people have a baby to save a marriage? We may not have all the answers, but we do offer a little bit of hope for a more rational future.

    • 48 min
    Who Wants to Work at Buckingham Palace?

    Who Wants to Work at Buckingham Palace?

    All the latest on the dumpster fire coming out of Buckingham Palace. Apparently the royals think NOW is a good time to hire a new communications assistant. And Jo has applied for the job! Also Donald Trump has weighed in on Kate-gate and he has thoughts....thoughts that might surprise you. All that and more with our resident Kate expert Caro Claire Burke.

    • 31 min
    Facing Setbacks and Fostering Ambition

    Facing Setbacks and Fostering Ambition

    Today we're going to talk about two things that we don't talk about nearly often enough—career setbacks and women's ambition. And these things have way more to do with one another than we might think. I genuinely believe that our ambition only increases or has the potential to increase after a setback. That's one of the reasons I wanted to bring on both of today's guests. We will be hearing from business strategist and all over hype woman Amanda Wagner about why ambition should never be considered a dirty word. We need to be allowed to be ambitious in all of the things—our careers, our parenting, our relationships etc. We are also chatting with the author and journalist Amy Shoenthal. whose book The Setback Cycle is all about working through life's inevitable setbacks and coming back stronger than ever.

    • 40 min
    #FarmLife in Real Life with Sayer Palmer

    #FarmLife in Real Life with Sayer Palmer

    A lot of things get fetishized on Instagram and #farmlife is one of them. Farm life on social media is often portrayed as hazy, beautiful, aspirational leisure. We rarely, if ever, see the hard actual work that goes into farming, the backbreaking labor and the intense costs of maintaining a farm. We do see a lot of chickens and beautiful blue eggs, but never the dirt under the fingernails or the fields that have failed due to unpredictable weather patterns. We don't see these things because they aren't always pretty and perfect. And social media thrives on pretty and perfect. Today we're talking about what it's really like to be a woman farmer. What it's really like to work your land and what it's really like to depend on your farm for a living. Our guest is Sayer Palmer, a vegetable farmer and a mom who tries to juggle work-life with mom life. This is the beautiful reality of living on a farm, not the dream of it.

    • 29 min
    Sunday Nice Things: Back to the Babysitters Club

    Sunday Nice Things: Back to the Babysitters Club

    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.

    • 1 hr

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
710 Ratings

710 Ratings

c_f_528 ,

Can we stop with the “old lady” comments?

Love listening but, given the content of the show, it’s surprising to me that Jo so often refers to herself as an old lady. I’m in my mid thirties, and just don’t think it’s necessary or helpful. Like in the latest episode — 30 year old butt vs 40 year old old lady butt? We don’t need this. You can be sexy and attractive at any age. Thanks for considering, and hope you can be kinder to yourself!

CO Native Snowflake ,

All the stars

Jo is the podcast host you’d love to continue the conversation with over coffee (or wine) and hear about all the tidbits that didn’t make the final edit.

Wine Fest. ,

Real #FarmLife is SO real!!

Most recent episode of the reality of #FarmLife has me screaming “YES! Yes! Yes!” And punching the rafters. As a #WomanWinemaker who lives in wine country, but not the #winecountrylife, I feel this SO hard. I own and farm my own vineyard. While I am definitely a privileged, white, cis-gender woman with some financial support, I am not rich and farming isn’t even my primary source of income right now! I work two other jobs to pay the bills so I can farm. And it’s dirty, sweaty, smelly, and uncomfortable, but I love it with my whole soul and I will keep working my other jobs for those sacred moments on the tractor seat when I feel alive.

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