Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Latest Episodes:

Sunday Nice Things: Inside the World of a Teenage Tik-Tok Star Dec 14, 2025

Show notes

In light of the news about Australia's social media ban for teenagers we are resurfacing an episode with a young creator.

This is a deep dive into the world of a 16-year-old TikTok star who wants to change the industry as we know it and ensure that the next 20 billionaires are females under 25. Sloane Price is wildly ambitious in ways I couldn't have imagined possible when I was a teenager. And today we're talking about her business plans, the ways that brands and agencies take advantage of teen girl influencers (plus how she wants to fix it) and why the teenage influencers today are the future of celebrity marketing.

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Australia Just Banned Social Media for Teens. What Happens Next Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

Australia just became the first country in the world to ban social media for anyone under sixteen. It’s a sweeping, messy and imperfect law. But it's also one of the first real attempts to hold tech companies accountable for the impact their platforms have on kids. We dig into what the ban actually does, why it matters even with all its flaws, and what the early backlash from teenagers and tech companies reveals.

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The Books by Women History Tried to Forget Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

Quite Literally Books is doing something rare in publishing. They are bringing back books by American women who were once widely read, widely praised, and then quietly erased from the literary conversation. These writers were bestsellers a hundred years ago. They were reviewed by the major outlets. They shaped cultural debates. And then, because the canon was built and maintained mostly by men, their work disappeared from classrooms, bookstores, and the public memory. Republishing these books is not just a literary project. It is a way of restoring voices that should never have been silenced in the first place.

In this episode, I talk with the two women behind Quite Literally Books. They explain how they track down these lost authors, what it feels like to hold a great book that history forgot, and why stories about motherhood, marriage, mental health, labor, and identity from the early twentieth century still feel shockingly current.

Check out ⁠Quite Literally Books⁠.

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Sunday Nice Things: The Nanny Wars Dec 07, 2025

Show notes

This week we’re bringing back one of my favorite episodes because it has only become more relevant. On the surface, it is a story about “bad nanny” posts in mom groups. Underneath, it is a story about money, power, and the invisible labor that holds up our entire childcare system.

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The Author Who Took On AI and Won Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

What happens when a thriller writer discovers her novels have been quietly fed into AI without her consent and decides to fight back. In this episode, Jo digs in with Andrea Bartz, author of The Last Ferry Out and Reese pick We Were Never Here, to unpack how pirated books ended up inside massive AI training datasets, what it was like to be deposed and to face down an AI giant, and how that fight led to a proposed 1.5 billion dollar copyright settlement that lawyers are calling the largest in history. They trace every step of the case, explain how authors can check whether their own books are eligible for payouts, and ask what this moment might mean for the future balance of power between artists and AI.

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You're Not Broken, Our Idea of Motherhood Is Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

W're told that motherhood is supposed to feel natural, fulfilling and instinctive. If it does not, our culture tells you the problem is you. Jo and licensed psychotherapist Vanessa Bennett, author of The Motherhood Myth, are here to rip that story to shreds.

They trace how impossible standards for mothers were built, from the Virgin Mary as manufactured ideal to helicopter parenting and the avalanche of parenting advice on social media. Vanessa explains ego death in early motherhood and what separates true intuition from anxiety.

They also talk about martyrdom as a trap, internalized misogyny, why women turn on each other online, and how asking for help can be an act of rebellion. If you have ever felt like you are failing at a role you know you are actually good at, this episode is an invitation to start living it on your own terms.

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All the London Recommendations with Three Feral Kids Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

This episode dives into the joy of planning a trip, because there really should be a German word for the absolute delight that the anticipation of travel brings you. Perhaps also one for the thrill of getting great recommendations.

Jo is in London with her entire crew and she taps into one of her most trusted tastemakers to build some ideal itineraries—a proper Sunday roast, the best pubs, where to walk when the weather turns, the museums that keep kids engaged and the shops worth packing an extra bag for.

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Sunday Nice Things: Uncover Nov 23, 2025

Show notes

You may think you know the NXIVM story. The secretive self-help empire. The sex cult headlines. The downfall of its leader, Keith Raniere. But the most famous woman at the center of the story has remained largely silent. Allison after NXIVM tells the story of Allison Mack: former Smallville actress, high-ranking NXIVM member, and convicted felon. With exclusive access following her release from prison, this series traces her astonishing path from Smallville fame to NXIVM’s inner circle—and her effort to rebuild a life in the wreckage. Through raw interviews with those who knew her before, during, and after NXIVM, the show dives deep into the gray zones of influence, accountability, and redemption. And how we as a society treat women who have done bad things, often fueled by social media.

In this episode, Allison Mack heads to court to be sentenced. When the judge hands down his sentence—three years in federal prison—Allison must begin to unravel the beliefs she once evangelized, parsing what was true and what was manipulation.

You can find Allison After NXIVM here.

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Do I Need a Hobby? Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

Do you actually have hobbies, or do you just have things that feel like self-improvement projects? In this episode, Jo kicks off an “Adventure Year” with her best friend Jackie, a grad student in positive psychology who went through a midlife crisis that left her feeling like a houseplant in the corner just watching everyone else enjoying their lives. Therapy, research, and a Mahjong class later, Jackie is obsessed with how women both need and lack true hobbies that are not about weight loss, productivity, or caregiving.

Jo and Jackie talk about intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, why yoga and Pilates usually don’t count as hobbies, how play boosts wellbeing, and the idea of “psychological richness” that comes from trying new things.

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The Women History Forgets Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

The stories we tell about women matter. How we amplify and promote those stories matters. To that end we are considering how to resurrect a history series we did years ago about bad ass women that history has forgotten. We're dropping one of those episodes in your feed today. This is an episode of Fierce: Stories of Women Who Changed the World.

In this episode meet Clementine Paddleford, the forgotten food journalist who elevated food writing from dull and mundane to a delicious art form. The way we write about food today is largely due to Clementine, the roving reporter who taught herself to fly a plane so she could report on every aspect of food across the country and around the world.

Afterwards, hear Jo’s conversation with Yasmin Khan, the best-selling food writer whose books on middle eastern cooking, The Saffron Tales and Zaitoun, expertly carry on Clementine’s legacy.

Listen to more episodes of Fierce here.

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