Under the Influence with Jo Piazza Podcast Review

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza Podcast Review

It’s no secret that I am a Jo Piazza fan girl and I have been for years. Jo is a seasoned journalist, a fantastic writer. Fitness Junkie, Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win & her latest novel, The Sicilian Inheritance is incredible. I was a big fan of her Committed podcast which dove into the nitty gritty details of relationships and some powerful stories of love. But I haven’t shared how much I love her podcast, Under the Influence until now. 

What is the Under the Influence Podcast about?

In a direct phrase from Jo’s podcast bio, the Under the Influence Podcast is a deep dive into social media. But it goes deeper than that. Jo dissects influencers, social media trends and asks tough & important questions to get to what and who is behind the facade of social media. 

Did You Say Trad Wives?

The first things that come to my mind when I think about this podcast are trad wives, society’s expectations of women and how social media impacts each of us whether we want it to or not. Jo’s questions and insight into the discussion about trad wives are what drew me into the podcast. What is a trad wife you might ask? There is no one trad wife and I’ll be the first to say I’m not an expert on the topic. My understanding is a trad wife is someone who espouses the 

“Traditional” gender role society has of women in that they’re a homemaker, a stay at home parent, are somewhat subservient to their male counterpart. There are so many nuances of the trad wife its difficult to have one clear definition. 

If you’re on social media, you’ve undoubtedly seen the rise of the trad wide content over the last four years. Whether it’s wives homesteading, making sourdough bread, making homemade baby food and more, there are aspects of trad wives all up and down my algorithm. This is a frequent topic for Jo as she brings on guests and discusses how these creators influence young people, which influencers have sponsored content behind the scenes, how many of these influencers are actually brands and what groups and individuals serve to promote these brands. Jo takes a deeper look into why these accounts are on the rise, what makes a trad wife, the impact these accounts have on society and more. It’s a topic I find endlessly fascinating and on that I’m glad Jo covers. 

Under the Influence Podcast – My Favorite Episodes

Well, it’s hard to narrow down. Jo talks about so many great things. But here we go: 

Ballerina Farm is a Brand & Other social Media Literacy We Need to Talk About – This is a great intro to the podcast as it taught me a lot more about dissecting & digging deeper into accounts that come across my page. No, I don’t mean that in a stalker type of way, but asking questions like, is this a brand? Who is behind the account? Am I getting the full story? Am I being sold something? Am I learning anything?

Escape from the Trad Wife Life with Tia Levings – I recently read Tia’s book & all I can say is it is a must read. This episode is a really great primer for the darker side of trad wives and specifically how trad wives are often tied to Christian Patriarchy. I would also like to highlight this episode with Tia as it was released between me writing this post and actually publishing it. I listened yesterday & it’s so good!

Is Social Media Breaking Our Brains? Let’s Ask a Neuroscientist – This episode tackles the fact that we weren’t meant to consume any and all the information that is constantly thrown at us. I really liked the insight from Jo’s guest, Dr. Alison Yeung.

Inside a Mother’s Open Marriage with Molly Winter –  Molly recounts the first ten years of her open marriage and the challenges and triumphs she faced opening her relationship and the impact it had on her. A very insightful and thought provoking look into Molly’s marriage. 

Life as an OG Influencer– I love listening to people’s stories and learning from them & this was a great episode about Julia Dzafic, an OG influencer.  Julia talks about the ever changing aspects of social media and how being an influencer has changed in the last decade. 

Don’t Forget Jo’s Substack

Jo is such a prolific writer, she has a substack too! I highly recommend checking it out. Here she shares what she is working on, including a Trad Wife Murder Mystery, social commentary and more. It’s a great addition to the work she is doing on the Over the Influence Podcast & I look forward to it hitting my inbox.

The Verdict

Yes, of course I am Really Into This. If you’ve listened to the Over the Influence Podcast please let me know what you think. Jo is wonderful and she’s had such incredible guests, I often find more creators to follow and/or books to read.