Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

There are 30 million romance readers in the United States and 50% read a book a week. That is a lot of books my friends! Today we are talking to our friends Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo about their brand new romance publishing venture 831 which is delivering sexy, smart and spicy romances for the modern woman. I’m obsessed with their first book Big Fan which not only features a kind male protagon...

There's a fine line between marketing and creating false desires and influencers stomp all over it. Influencers often convince women they have problems that can only be solved by buying things. But this holiday season we don’t have to give in. Today we’re talking about the historical context of marketing and its impact on consumer behavior, emphasizing the emotional triggers behind impulse purchas...

For today's Sunday Nice Things we are dropping in an episode of Mom to More. Join Sharon Macey, former SAHM and mother of 3 as she dives deep into conversations with inspiring moms who successfully reinvented themselves, forging impressive next acts. If you're seeking practical tools, actionable tips and that loving kick in the pants to create your "MORE," this show is for you. Get ready for a sup...

Why is everyone so burnout? Modern parenting has shifted towards a focus on status and achievement, often at the expense of genuine happiness and well-being. How did we get here? How did our kids' childhoods end up so different from our own? Can we find some kind of middle ground between overstressed parents killing themselves to help their kids achieve and our own parents who drove us around in a...

The Mormon #MomTok ladies are making serious bank and I want to talk about it. Many of these women are the breadwinners in their families and that is shaking up the patriarchy of the Mormon Church. Joining us today is Bobbi Rebell of Financial Wellness to talk about everything from product placement to brand integration to royalties. Money has given these women options and power in spite of their...

Lauren Sisler’s journey of overcoming the shame of losing her parents to opioid addiction hasn’t been easy, but she has allowed it to give her purpose and help her find resilience. In her new book Shatterproof the ESPN sideline reporter details how her mother and father died within hours of each other, victims of their hidden battle with prescription drug addiction. Today we're talking about her p...

What has digital culture done to our standards of beauty and to our wallets when we have to spend to reach those standards of beauty. The proliferation of all digital media has wildly influenced how we perceive ourselves and our bodies, often to our detriment. Today we're joined by Elise Hu, a journalist and author who used her time as an NPR correspondent in Korea as a launching pad to explore th...

So many of you have been asking me for true crime podcast recommendations and I have a few I can drop in the feed. Let's start today with REDRUM. REDRUM is a podcast focusing on the true victims of crime. Each episode focuses on a new story. Real life, real victims, real crime presented by Grace Cordell. REDRUM True Crime is available wherever you get your podcasts. Spotify link Apple link Learn m...

This is our first episode taking a look at the rise of "independent journalist" Jessica Reed Kraus through the lens of the recent RFK Jr. sexting scandal with journalist Olivia Nuzzi. What does it mean to be an independent journalist and how is House in Habit impacting the news cycle. This is an excerpt from my new show with @EmilyinYourPhone We've Got Issues. So much more on this topic to come. Y...

As a former history and government teacher Sharon McMahon thought she could do something to help combat all the misinformation and confusion she was seeing online in 2020. Since then her social media presence @SharonSaysSo has filled a vital need for clarity during complex times. Sharon cuts through the outrage, online vitriol and B.S. Her new book The Small and the Mighty is a hopeful and inspiri...

When we see images of #tradwives on social media we see beautiful images of domestic bliss. Young women looking at this content could be easily tricked into believing this is a more aspirational path than getting an education or their own work experience. But the real women who have escaped real tradwife situations paint a very different picture of abuse, submission and control. Today's guest was...

Let's take a deep dive into the intensely dramatic and overly scandalous new reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Joining me today is New York Times columnist Jessica Grose to dissect the deeper meanings behind all the Botox, swinging scandals and brattiness. Like them or not, these women are attempting to dismantle the patriarchy in their own way and they've gained a ton of power and mo...

It's Jo's 44th birthday. We've got a little advice, a little hilarity and a brand new podcast to share with you. Jo has been working on a new show with @EmilyinYourPhone called We've Got Issues. It's a politics show that will actually give you some hope again, will make you laugh a little and will help you start hard conversations with friends and loved ones about this insane election. This week w...

Raised by a single mother in Dayton, Ohio, Macy Eleni began thrifting at age 12 out of financial necessity and to help escape anxiety from bullies and an estranged relationship with her father. Over a decade later, Macy has built a massive TikTok platform around her love of second hand and vintage finds, and the belief that authentic self expression is crucial for mental health.  Macy has created...

When you're a mom two things can feel impossible, making new friends and making dinner. In today's episode we are joined by NYT bestselling author Caroline Chambers of the What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking substack to talk all about her book of the same name. We're digging into how hard it can be to build community, but how wonderful it is when you do it. We will also chat about how Ca...

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Let's dive into a gothic true tale of murder, sex, jealousy and mayhem in paradise. In Eden Undone Abbott Kahler tells the story of the German ex-pats who tried to build themselves a utopia in the Galapagos Islands with dire consequences. This story has so much to tell us about fame and infamy and the pursuit of both. Just like today's homesteading influenc...

It's been a year since the release of the Wilder podcast about the life and legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder! Thousands of people have listened to the Wilder podcast and continue to keep the dialogue about Laura’s life and legacy alive. Glynnis and Jo published books. But perhaps most importantly, the Little House on the Prairie TV show turned 50! To prepare for this momentous anniversary in early S...

Astrology is all over the social medias, for better or worse. Here to guide us through it today is a woman who has been reading the stars for women's mags since before Facebook was a glimmer in Zuck's eye. We're joined by Ophira Edut, one half of the AstroTwins, the official astrologers for ELLE magazine and the matchmakers on Amazon Prime Video’s Cosmic Love. What can astrology tell us about what...

In light of the recent attacks on Gus Walz for showing a beautiful display of emotion when his dad took the stage at the DNC we are discussing how dangerous it is when men are not allowed to show a wide range of emotions. Too many men are taught that they can't experience anything except for rage and that is simply unacceptable. Today we are joined by our husband in residence Nick Aster to talk ab...

Do #TradWives have any real basis in American history? Are they nostalgia or mythology? Here to unpack it is journalist Clara Bingham, the author of The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973. What made #TradWives so popular in the 50s and 60s? Was it real or was it advertising? Aren't today's social media #TradWives just performing and creating advertisements of domesticit...

Never forget that if it exists in the world there is an influencer for it. Welcome to the world of HENFLUENCERS where people dance and drink and sing with their chickens for their millions of followers. They're selling $20 chicken coops and shipping baby chickens through the mail. Once you go down the henfluencing rabbit hole you might not come back and culture reporter Tove Danovich is here to te...

What will the future really look like under Project 2025? Tia Levings escaped an abusive marriage and has since transformed her life through years of trauma therapy. With her new book, A Well-Trained Wife, she's shedding light on the dangers of the Christian patriarchy and its insidious infiltration into American politics. Complacency is not an option. Whether you're a die-hard feminist or just be...

Today's Sunday Nice Things manages to combine two of my favorite women to listen to—Krista Tippett, the journalist and creator of On Being and Kelly Corrigan, NYTimes bestselling author, radio host and all around funny and brilliant lady. This is an episode of a truly wonderful podcast called Kelly Corrigan Wonders. This is a place for people who like to laugh while they think and find it useful t...

How can parents save their kids from social media addiction? What can we be doing right now to make the digital world better for all children? The answer is that there is so much we can be working on. Today we're chatting with Julie Scelfo, the founder of MAMA. MAMA is a grassroots group of parents standing up to big tech and reclaiming the power of parents to fight media addiction in our homes, o...

Being a woman in the world isn't easy. Being a mom isn't easy. How do we find time for ourselves when we're caring for everyone and everything around us? Today's we're talking to Liz Tenety, co-founder of Mother.ly about the impossible standards society places on mothers and how to redefine success and ambition while juggling tiny humans. Follow all things Mother.ly here. Subscribe to the Over the...