The Mental Load of Family Life: The Work You Can’t See But Always Feel

The Mental Load of Family Life: The Work You Can’t See But Always Feel

Author: Jo Piazza September 25, 2025 Duration: 40:48
Why does it feel like moms carry a running scroll of everything — the playdates, the vaccines, the permission slips, the damn pile of laundry on the stairs? Sociologist Allison Daminger calls it cognitive labor — the invisible mental work of family life — and her new book What’s on Her Mind shows why women do so much more of it, even in couples who want equality. We talk about what cognitive labor actually looks like, why personality differences are really gender training in disguise, and how we can raise the next generation to share the mental load. Get Allison's book here. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Under the Influence with Jo Piazza, journalist and mother Jo Piazza pulls back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar world of social media influence. This isn't just another show about viral trends; it's a critical exploration of the aspirational marketing that haunts our feeds, where perfectly posed lives in spotless homes mask a complex economy. Jo examines how this ecosystem fundamentally reshapes our culture, our families, and our personal sense of self, especially for parents and kids navigating this curated reality. Each episode of this podcast digs into the forces that brought us here, asking what it means to live, parent, and consume under this constant, monetized influence. You'll hear specific stories and analysis that connect the dots between the content we scroll past and the larger societal machinery at work. The conversation naturally extends beyond the screen to question the real-world impact on our journals, our relationships, and our understanding of value. Under the Influence with Jo Piazza provides the context often missing from the comments section, offering a necessary perspective for anyone who has ever scrolled and wondered about the true cost of that airbrushed perfection.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza
Podcast Episodes
The Author Who Took On AI and Won [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:39
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…
You're Not Broken, Our Idea of Motherhood Is [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:27
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,…
All the London Recommendations with Three Feral Kids [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:19
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 recom…
Sunday Nice Things: Uncover [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:01
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.…
Do I Need a Hobby? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:38
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…
The Women History Forgets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:09
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.…
Can Instagram Ever Be Safe for Teens? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:40
Can parents ever really know what’s happening inside their kids’ phones? This episode takes a hard look at how Instagram says it’s protecting teens—and whether those promises hold up. Instagram’s Global Director of Publi…
Guns & Gossip: My So Called Life Rewatch Episode Three [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:07
We’re heading back to 1994 for My So-Called Life episode three, “Guns and Gossip.” A gun goes off at school, rumors spread, and Angela Chase is caught between wanting to be seen and wanting to disappear. Pop culture hist…
Rewatch My So Called Life With Me [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:08
It’s been thirty years since My So-Called Life premiered—thirty years since Angela Chase fell for Jordan Catalano and quietly redefined what teenage angst looked like. This week, Under the Influence rewinds to 1994 for a…
We’re Not Going Quietly Into Perimenopause [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:37
For decades, menopause has been treated like a medical afterthought—a punchline, a whisper, or something to “just get through.” But millennial women are starting to hit perimenopause, and we’re not going quietly. The hor…