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 practices like meditation, social activities, and volunteering. She debunks the myth that personality is "set like plaster" and reveals how our traits can be nudged in positive directions in as little as a few weeks.The conversation explores: How much of our personality is genetic versus changeable The surprising link between happiness and social connection Practical strategies for changing different personality traits Why experiencing difficult times often creates our strongest memories Grab Olga's Book, Me But Better, here.Read her viral Atlantic cover story here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Because having a microphone gets you more answers than having a uterus.In this episode Kate gets sucked down a rabbit hole of "hormone balancing" content on TikTok, and wonders...this whole time, have her cramps just been due to a hormone imbalance? She talks with Alex Sujong Laughlin (Normal Gossip, Defector) about her experience trying to balance her hormones with info from TikTok, and then gets real answers from Dr. Thara Vayali on hormone function, cortisol, and how our hormones ACTUALLY work.Read the transcript for this episode here.Listen to episode one of CRAMPED here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 should let employees hit the brakes occasionally, how to tell your boss you need breathing room without getting fired, and why finding a hobby you don't monetize might save your sanity.Read Christina's HBR piece on seasons of stepping back here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 children for the summer and take on the physical and mental load of parenting so that Elle could try to write her own book. That moment of receiving permission to do something for herself, completely changed Elle's life and put her on the path to writing her first book, to finding an agent, to publishing a book and then many books and then hitting the bestseller lists.And along the way Elle connected with other women who were also blowing up their lives to switch careers to become authors. Those women inspired her every single day to keep going.This is about women lifting each other up and supporting one another unconditionally. It is about the fear and shame and guilt many of us have about doing something that seems selfish, that is for ourselves.Elle Cosimano has inspired me so much on my own journey and I know that she is going to inspire you.Get a copy of Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave here.Learn more about Elle and buy all of her books here.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos of all episodes here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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's openness about mental health challenges and his approach to modern fatherhood have struck a chord with his predominantly female audience.Learn more about Tyler and grab a copy of Tidy Dad here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 build a bookish community, how we can use reading as self care during these trying times AND how to model good reading habits for your kids. Her simple tip, always have a book with you, is so easy and I still need the reminder.Follow Robin on Instagram here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 for a lot of us.This week I got to chat with Sarah Hoover, author of "The Motherload," for a candid conversation about the aspects of motherhood that often remain hidden: postpartum depression that manifests as rage, the grief of losing your pre-baby identity, and the challenge of connecting with your baby when nothing feels the way you expected.You can find out more about Sarah Hoover’s work here — and buy The Motherload here.Join our newsletter community here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Prize winning journalist and the author of Supercommunicators. He's giving us practical tips for improving communication in personal and professional settings, and explaining why curiosity and understanding are key to becoming a supercommunicator.Order Supercommunicators here.Follow Charles on Substack here.Join our newsletter coven here.Pre-order EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 LYING TO YOU here.Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joining the conversation is Glynis McNichol, a pleasure correspondent and author who explores the vibrant sexual renaissance among Gen X women. They discuss how this generation, in their 40s and 50s, is confidently embracing their sexuality, challenging outdated societal norms. The conversation critiques media portrayals of middle-aged women's desires and highlights shifts in dating dynamics, particularly influenced by social media. Through personal stories and humor, they illuminate the joy and empowerment of female sexuality at this stage of life.