Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Jaksot

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  The Lone Liberal on Fox News Wrote the Book on Disagreeing Better 15.09.2026 47min

  Jessica Tarlov has one of the strangest jobs in American media. Five days a week she sits at a table on Fox News' The Five as the lone liberal, arguing in front of millions of people who mostly do not agree with her. Everyone asks her the same question, and it comes from both parties: how do you do that without losing your mind? Her new book, I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, is her answer. This week we talk with Jessica about building a data-based worldview, the hardest days she has ever had on air, and why staying silent is often the most powerful move in an argument. We also get into the lie our generation was sold about leaning in and having it all and the tightrope women walk every time they open their mouths at work. I Disagree is out now wherever books are sold, and it belongs in your book club, ideally with people you disagree with. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  How Can We Save Child Stars ? Would You Buy Sydney Sweeney's Underwear? And a New Royal Tell-All 10.09.2026 45min

  We're dropping an episode of a brand new celebrity news podcast in your feed today. Celebrity Intelligence: The Lowdown. Jo's a lead producer and host on this one and she's joined by her longtime colleague and dear friend, Dan Wakeford. What happens when you become famous before you know who you are? This week on Celebrity Intelligence: The Lowdown, we dig into the darker side of growing up famous and ask whether there's any way to make child stardom less toxic. Could AI be the answer? One expert says yes. We're also talking about Sydney Sweeney's lingerie brand and whether it can compete in a very crowded celebrity market, the strange business of the Beckhams owning the commercial rights to their children's names, and whether the British royals are ever going to kiss and make up. Plus a new royal tell-all from Diana's brother. And finally, the answer to a question no one asked: what does Harry Styles think about in the shower? ⁠Subscribe the Celebrity Intelligence newsletter here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  "How Not to Look Like Shit": Bobbi Brown on Makeup, Aging, and Being Scrappy Forever 08.09.2026 44min

  Bobbi Brown started Bobbi Brown Cosmetics out of her garage while pregnant in 1990. Four and a half years in, Estée Lauder called and said we want to buy you, and she said okay, mostly because she did not really know what a brand was yet. She stayed on for 22 years as an employee of the company that owned her own name. When she finally left, she still had four and a half years left on a non-compete, which meant she was legally not allowed to make a single beauty product. So she renovated a hotel, sold vitamins at Walmart, did an eyeglass line, and then launched Jones Road in October 2020, one week before the presidential election, when everyone told her she was out of her mind. Bobbi is a force of nature and her memoir Still Bobbi: Lessons on Building a Beautiful Life is a book club must read. We talk about the lab screwup that turned into Miracle Balm, what she does instead of Botox and which laser she will never touch again, why the phrase anti-aging makes no sense to her, and what 38 years of marriage plus running a company with your husband actually looks like. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Sunday Nice Things: Did Emily Ruin Paris? 06.09.2026 33min

  Today we're sharing an episode from another podcast I think you'll enjoy: The Global Story from the BBC. The question they’re tackling is a great one: Did Emily Ruin Paris?Whether you love Emily in Paris, hate-watch it, or just can't escape it, there's no denying it's had a huge impact. The show has turned cafés, streets and neighbourhoods into tourist hotspots, and even won praise from French President Emmanuel Macron for putting France in the global spotlight.But what happens when a TV show becomes so popular that it starts changing a city in real life? Are all those new visitors a blessing... or a headache for the people who actually live there? In this episode, co-hosts Asma Khalid and Tristan Redman - who lives in Paris himself - dig into what’s been named the "Emily effect”, and explore the surprising ways TV shows and movies can shape how we see places, sell places, and sometimes transform them altogether. Have a listen, and if you enjoy it, search for The Global Story wherever you get your podcasts - every day they cover one big story at the intersection between America and the world. Here's Did Emily Ruin Paris? from The Global Story. Listen to more at https://link.mgln.ai/Influence-TGS Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  The Tradwife Era Is Over. So Why Are We Still Obsessed? 03.09.2026 37min

  Why are smart, progressive, left-voting women are still watching tradwife content? Even after the trend has peaked? Author Claire Swinarski has also written a tradwife novel entitled The Supper Club Saints. Today we're chatting about how Yesteryear became such a phenomenon and whether the book's success is really about giving women a socially acceptable place to put their rage. We also get into why the girlboss-versus-tradwife binary is failing everybody. Claire's new novel is The Supper Club Saints. Find her at claireswinarski.com. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  An OBGYN's Cheat Sheet for Getting Taken Seriously 01.09.2026 38min

  Dr. Tracy Shevell is an OBGYN who has spent 25 years in women's intimate spaces, and she has watched the system fail women over and over. Her goal is to help women get them better care by telling them how to work within a broken system. Tracy tells us the exact phrasing to use going to the doctor or walking into an emergency room, and why describing your symptoms honestly and expecting the system to respond correctly is not always the best strategy. She talks about why many OBGYNs are not trained to treat menopause, what is genuinely changing in endometriosis research right now, and the maternity care deserts spreading across most of the country. Her first book, Labor and Deliverance: Reclaiming the Healing in Women's Health, is out January 26. It's nine patient stories plus the decade she spent being dismissed by other doctors while working as one herself. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Pour Yourself a Cup of Ambition: Remembering Dolly 26.08.2026 49min

  Dolly Parton died on Tuesday at 80, and she may have been the last thing Americans agreed on. We're replaying this episode in her honor. Our conversation with Will Bonfiglio, the WashU lecturer behind a wildly popular college course on Dolly, is about how the country icon became a cultural unifier across politics, class, gender, and generations. From Dollywood to "9 to 5" to her million-dollar vaccine donation, this is a conversation about kindness, capitalism, and why Dolly Parton was an uber influencer in the best possible way. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Why We Need Paid Leave Right Now 25.08.2026 35min

  The United States is basically the only country in the world without paid family and medical leave, and we are not okay with it. This week, Dawn Huckelbridge of the Paid Leave for All campaign joins us to break down what paid leave actually is (no, FMLA doesn't count), who it's really for (everyone — parents, the sandwich generation, gig workers, you), and why it's a winning issue with 91% of Americans behind it. We bust the biggest myths, including the lie that it hurts small businesses, celebrate the wins in 42 states and DC, and talk about why paternity leave might help fix the male loneliness crisis. Plus: raising boys in the age of the manosphere, AI anxiety, and exactly how to hold your elected officials' feet to the fire. Learn more about Paid Leave for All here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Sunday Nice Things: A New Book You'll Absolutely Love 23.08.2026 19min

  This week on Under the Influence Sunday Nice Things, we have a book rec you will LOVE. Jennifer Herrera’s Siren Says, a magical, sexy, gloriously witchy novel about embracing your power and finding your confidence as a woman. We have a quick chat with Jennifer about the ancient story that inspired the book, botanical magic, the wisdom women pass down through generations, and why so many of our myths about powerful women have been lost or overlooked. Plus, spell jars, the power of belief, and why we could all use a little more magic and sparkle right now. If you love Practical Magic, fierce women, gentle men, plant magic, mythology, and a delicious escape from the dumpster fire of the news, add this one to your fall reading list. ORDER SIREN SAYS HERE Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Why We Keep Underestimating Conservative Women 20.08.2026 40min

  For years we've been laughing at tradwives. We've mocked the prairie dresses, the sourdough starters, the "submit to your husband" content, and the endless parade of blonde influencers telling women to embrace traditional femininity. Meanwhile, conservative women have been building one of the most effective political movements in modern American history. Today's guest, sociologist Katie Gaddini, spent nearly a decade embedded with Christian conservative women across the country. What she found challenges almost everything we think we know about who these women are and how they wield power. We chat about the influencer ecosystem shaping political beliefs, the pageant-to-politics pipeline, why appearance can be a political strategy, and why reducing conservative women to tradwives may be blinding us to what's actually happening. Because while everyone was busy making fun of the aesthetic, these women were building institutions, winning elections, shaping culture, and changing the country. Order Esther's Army here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  The Joy of Giving Fewer F*cks 18.08.2026 45min

  What happens when good girls grow up and stop apologizing? For generations, women have been rewarded for being agreeable, being accommodating and being grateful for what they have instead of asking for more. And yet many women reach a certain age and find themselves less interested in being nice. Our guest is comedian, storyteller, and longtime public radio host Ophira Eisenberg, whose new comedy special is called I Used To Be Nicer. We're chatting about the cultural expectations placed on women, the pressure to be endlessly grateful, and why so many of us are pushing back against the idea that being pleasant should be our highest calling. Find Ophira here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  The Dark Side of Being a Good Girl 13.08.2026 38min

  For years, women have been told that success means being chosen. Chosen by a partner. Chosen for the promotion. Chosen by everyone except ourselves. This week we're joined by Sabrina Bendory, author of The Feminine Code, for a conversation about self-worth, attachment styles, toxic relationships, and the ways women are conditioned to over-give, over-accommodate, and lose themselves in pursuit of love and validation. We talk about why so many smart, successful women stay in unhealthy relationships, what Sabrina calls "light" and "dark" feminine energy, the mother wound, people-pleasing, and how childhood experiences shape the way we show up in adult relationships. Along the way, we unpack anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, why emotionally unavailable people can feel so magnetic, and what it actually takes to build healthy relationships without abandoning yourself in the process. Order The Feminine Code here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Grudges, Revenge, MLMs and Book Recs with Emily Paulson 11.08.2026 43min

  This week on Under the Influence, bestselling author and recovering MLM insider Emily Paulson joins us for a rage-filled chat about revenge fantasies, influencer culture, tradwives, motherhood, social media lies, and the absolute exhaustion of watching terrible men fail upward forever. Plus: a huge stack of summer reading recommendations, including books about momfluencers, bad mothers, feminist rage, internet culture, and the patriarchy’s long, weird history of ruining everything. Grab Emily's new novel The Revenge Party. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Book Tour Brain & Majoring in Influencing 06.08.2026 36min

  It's been a blurry week. Jo and Nick share behind-the-scenes moments from The Parisian Heist tour, announce the Catskills Book Festival, and talk about what' books Jo is working on next. Then Nick leaves to pick up the kids and Jo digs into Arizona State's groundbreaking degree in content creation and why she actually thinks it is a brilliant idea. (And they should hire her to be a professor). Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  The Art of an Adventurous Life 30.07.2026 41min

  This week, we're sharing a special crossover episode with Get a Life, the new podcast from Jo's best friend, women's wellness coach and positive psychology practitioner Jackie Cascarano. Together, they explore the forgotten women who inspired The Parisian Heist, the myth of the male genius, why travel has shaped Jo's life and writing, and how curiosity, creativity, and adventure can help women build richer, more interesting lives. Binge Get a Life here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Get Out of the Waiting Room of Your Life 28.07.2026 48min

  Jess Ekstrom, the author of Making It Without Losing It: How to Stay Motivated in a World Where We Are Never Done, grew up in the shadow of one of the biggest financial scandals in American history. After her family lost everything to Bernie Madoff, she eventually sat across from him in prison and asked him why he did it. His answer was slightly heartbreaking and it became the lynchpin of Jess's personal transformation. What if the next promotion, bestseller list, milestone, or parenting phase isn't the thing that's finally going to make you happy? This week we're talking about the pressure women feel to constantly strive for more and to achieve external validation. We chat about the "arrival trap" that keeps so many of us convinced that real life begins after the next achievement, why motherhood can completely upend our sense of identity, and how to stay ambitious without tying your self-worth to your accomplishments. Order Making It Without Losing It: How to Stay Motivated in a World Where We Are Never Done here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  The Best Ideas Come at 3 in the Morning with Allison Winn Scotch 23.07.2026 38min

  Nobody talks honestly enough about the 3 a.m. wake-up—the sweating, spiraling and sometimes creative genius that strikes women in the wee hours of the morning. This week we’re joined by bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch to talk about insomnia, midlife, creativity, and how all of it inspired her latest novel, The Insomniacs. What starts as a conversation about melatonin, mouth guards, indica gummies, and why husbands seem biologically engineered to sleep through anything turns into a much bigger discussion about ambition, burnout, publishing, found family, and why some of the best ideas arrive in the middle of the night. Buy The Insomniacs here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  How to Thrive Through Life's Plot Twists 21.07.2026 49min

  Eliza Reid never expected to become the First Lady of Iceland. The Canadian-born writer and mother of four was living a hectic, but totally normal life when her husband launched a presidential campaign during a political crisis. Seven weeks later, she was a First Lady of a small Arctic nation. Eliza is a magical human who speaks so candidly about the strange experience of becoming publicly known as someone's wife, and the challenge of holding onto your own identity while navigating a role with no job description. We chat about Iceland's approach to gender equality, the famous Women's Day Off, social media's effect on how we see ourselves and one another, and why Eliza came away from her years as First Lady feeling more optimistic about humanity than ever before. Pick up Eliza's book The First Lady Nextdoor here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Why We Keep Falling for Paris 16.07.2026 47min

  Why are we so obsessed with Paris? It is the f*cking best, but long before Instagram convinced us that a destination could transform our lives, Paris had already perfected the art of selling a fantasy with the promise that if we could just get there, we'd somehow become a more sophisticated version of ourselves. This week, we sit down with bestselling author Danielle Trussoni (writing as Danielle Postel-Vinay) to unpack the phenomenon known as Paris Syndrome, the very real psychological crash that happens when reality fails to live up to our fantasies about the City of Light. Together we explore why Paris remains one of the world's most powerful forms of escapism, why women are increasingly drawn to stories centered on pleasure rather than productivity, and what our obsession with escape says about our modern lives. We also discuss Danielle's delicious new Paris-set mystery Murder Most Delicious, plus: French lingerie, literary ambition, writing routines, perimenopause, and why we all need to be doing more nothing. Order Murder Most Delicious here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  Heists, Billionaires, and the Untold Story of Jo van Gogh 14.07.2026 38min

  The art market is one of the most secretive, least regulated wealth machines on the planet. Billions of dollars change hands between billionaires, oligarchs, and dynasties with almost no oversight, and behind almost every famous man in that world is a woman who did the work and got written out of the story. This week I'm sharing my conversation with my brilliant friend Farnoosh Torabi from her podcast So Money, where we get into: the shadowy families who control what art is worth, the real-life scandals that inspired the rich people behaving very badly in The Parisian Heist, and the untold true story of Jo van Gogh-Bonger, the widow who single-handedly made Vincent van Gogh the most famous artist in the world. We also talk about why women still hand over financial control to the men in their lives, what the end of the tradwife era means for all of us, why I love writing unlikable women (who I still want to have drinks with), and my honest thoughts on Belle Burden's Strangers. Binge more episodes of So Money here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER The Parisian Heist here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices