Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Have you ever wondered if you could stop being so neurotic, or become more of an extrovert? Are our personalities set in stone when we are born or can we adapt them over time? To find out Atlantic journalist Olga Kazan set out on a year-long experiment to become more extroverted, less neurotic, and more agreeable. Discover how Olga successfully changed aspects of her personality through simple pra...

I'm a little obsessed with this week's Sunday Nice Things. I am very excited to bring you the CRAMPED podcast. Cramped is one nerd’s quest to find out why we know next to nothing about period pain. Tired of suffering from "death cramps" with no diagnosis for 20 years, Kate Downey has to look for her own answers. What she finds will change how you think about your own body and the medical system. B...

What if taking a step back from your career wasn't seen as slacking, but actually celebrated? Harvard Business School professor Christina Wallace discusses why we all deserve a season to dial it back at work. She'll make you question how you're measuring your life (spoiler: it's probably not just about that paycheck) and why the "lean in" mindset did women zero favors. We dig into why companies sh...

In celebration of the release of Elle Cosimano's latest book Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave we are re-releasing our much beloved interview with Elle about how she blew up her life to follow her dream of becoming a writer. This is a must listen for anyone looking to pivot or make a change right now. Elle was miserable in her job working in real estate. Then her mother offered to care for her chi...

Tyler Moore, better known as @TidyDad, accidentally became an influencer while maintaining his day job as a NYC public school teacher and showing off his housekeeping skills on his blog and social media. The episode covers practical organizing hacks like using denture tablets to clean water bottles and taking advantage of vertical door organizers for stuffed animals, but we also explore how Tyler'...

I genuinely believe that books bring people together and I want to create space for more book events, book clubs and book discussions. Robin Kall is amazing at this. She has been running the Reading With Robin series in Rhode Island for decades now and she regularly brings together hundreds of people to chat about books. Robin is first and foremost a book lover and today we are diving into how to...

Too many of us enter motherhood carrying expectations shaped by filtered social media posts, polished representations in media, and well-intentioned but incomplete stories from those who came before us. We're told we'll instantly fall in love with our babies, that we'll intuitively know how to be mothers, and that any difficulties will be outweighed by overwhelming joy. That’s not the experience f...

How good are you at communicating? The truth is that we can all be better at being heard and hearing others. Communicating well is not a super power, but rather a skill that any of us can learn. And in this age of intense digital communication, we all need to find ways to stop just shouting or whispering into the void and truly connect with one another. Our guest today is Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer...

On Today's Sunday Nice Things we are diving into the new book Romances & Practicalities, a love story in 250 questions by blindsiding my husband into answering some of these questions live on a microphone. We also hear about his Parker Posey/Sarah Silverman fetish, which makes all of the sense. Grab a copy of Romances & Practicalities here. Join our newsletter community here. Pre-order EVERYONE IS...

Are Gen X women having the best sex of anyone? Let's talk about this week's viral New York Times article about women in their 40s and 50s experiencing an unprecedented sexual renaissance. This is a generation that is rewriting the rules about pleasure, power, and partnership. Perhaps Gen X hit the perfect timing: mature enough to know their worth, young enough to embrace change, and shaped by an a...

What if we just stopped accepting the absurd beauty standards that society has created for women? What if we actually aged gracefully instead of just talking about it? That's what New York Times columnist Jessica Grose has decided to do. We chat about her viral article about choosing to "go full crone" in 2025, rejecting cosmetic procedures like Botox in favor of letting her face just do what a fa...

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What if summer vacation did not suck? Let's dive into the challenging reality of summer childcare in America and explore why planning for summer breaks has become increasingly stressful and expensive for parents, particularly working mothers. Katherine Goldstein writer of "The Double Shift" newsletter, joins us to discuss the historical context of America's unique summer childcare crisis (spoiler:...

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Join Jo and Glynnis as they dive into Joe's recent experience with pneumonia and the challenges of navigating the ER, explore the sense of dread permeating America right now, and discuss the importance of finding joy and community in challenging times. Also, Go Birds! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world is not fair. But it feels even less so these days. Today's we're diving headfirst into the pressing issue of gender equity in the workplace with special guest and senior researcher, Siri Chilazi from Harvard's Kennedy School. Siri is much more optimistic than I am about the future for women and I wanted to know why. We're chatting about practical strategies for hiring, performance evalua...

Why are the skincare girlies always washing their faces? Are all those products they push on social media any good or are they just getting paid to promote them? Today we're breaking down all the social skincare myths and tricks with skincare professional Jordan Samuel. What really works? What is all b.s." And what is the worst skincare product I was tricked into buying this year. Learn more about...

Marketing expert Mara Einstein reveals how modern marketing tactics mirror cult recruitment strategies. When she noticed the eerie similarities between the NXIVM cult and LuLaRoe's business practices, she began researching how marketers manipulate consumers through digital platforms. She breaks down why your late-night shopping sprees are no accident, how AI is making advertising even more decepti...

The myth of the good mother in absolute BS and it has pushed too many women into spirals of shame and guilt for not being "enough." Today we are debunking all of the pseudo science, flawed studies and media archetypes that contributed to the myth of the good mother so that we can talk about the reality of being a mom. Our guest is Nancy Reddy, author of The Good Mother Myth. The conversation also...

Everyone feels shame, but it also feels like a misogynistic construct that is more often placed on women. Nearly a decade ago, Melissa Petro was working as a public school teacher when the NY Post outed her as a former stripper and call girl. The media went wild and she was publicly humiliated and forced to resign from a career she loved. From then on, Melissa has dedicated her life to growing awa...

Protecting kids and teens on social media is one of the things I think about all of the time. What are the platforms doing to support parents and is it enough? How can the government do more and what do parents need to know about all of it. Today we're having a candid conversation with Nicole Lopez, Meta’s Global Director of Youth Safety. Nicole shares insights on how Meta is tackling online bully...

This episode will motivate you in all kinds of new ways. Amidst all of the chaos in our country right now we actually have an opportunity to completely blow up the way we view motherhood, caregiving, women’s labor and ambition. Neha Ruch is leading this revolution. The author of the new bestseller 'The Power Pause,' joins me to explore the outdated stereotypes of stay-at-home motherhood and propos...

Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of former YouTuber and convicted child abuser Ruby Franke, is on the media circuit right now to promote her new memoir, "The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom." Journalist and friend of the pod Fortesa Latifi just did an exclusive interview with Shari about Rolling Stone and is here to talk about all the reveals in the book from why Shari thinks f...

The number one question Dr. Jennifer Lincoln gets asked as an OB-GYN who gives fact-based information on Instagram is "IS THIS NORMAL?"  Because these days it is truly hard to figure out what is. Instagram and TikTok influencers are putting out more misinformation than ever about women's bodies. Dr. Lincoln joins us to dispel myths, provide fact-based advice, and talk about her journey to using In...

As she approached her fiftieth birthday, Debra Whitman, a globally recognized expert on aging, wanted to delve deeper into why so many Americans struggled to live well as they aged. And she began to wonder what was in store for her own second fifty. Suddenly, the questions she’d been studying for years became personal: How long will I live? Will I be healthy? Will I lose my memory? How long will I...