The Heated Rivalry Episode

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Jo Piazza, Influence Inc.

Personal Journals, Kids & Family, Technology, Parenting, Society & Culture

4.3 • 833 Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Three things are happening in the group chat right now: perimenopause, ICE, and Heated Rivalry. That’s it. That’s the list. And yes, I am late to this particular party because this is a show I have to watch alone, in the daylight, with no children within a one mile radius. So let’s talk about why this Canadian, low-budget, nipples-everywhere hockey romance has basically taken over the brains of American women in this exact moment. I brought in the only person I wanted to unpack it with: Sarah Wendell, co-founder of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, who has been taking romance seriously since before the rest of the world decided it was cool. We get into what makes the show feel so different from American TV, why it probably couldn’t have been made here, and how it became a global obsession without a celebrity tentpole (hahaha tentpole). We talk about what it means to watch two men do their own emotional heavy lifting for once, with no woman managing the feelings, and why that turns women on. This episode is funny, smart, extremely not safe for kids, and designed for anyone who has ever loved “delicious trash” and also wanted to talk about it like it's Proust. Read EVERYTHING Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 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

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey all, Joe here, and you are listening to Under the Influence.
0:10.8	There are three things that the women in my life are talking about right now.
0:15.8	We're talking about perimenopause, ice, and heated rivalry.
0:24.8	And that's it. Those three things are our entire personalities right now. I can't believe I am so late to the game in making a podcast or two
0:32.8	podcast episodes about heated rivalry. But you know what? I'm here now, and that is all that matters.
0:39.0	It took me a beat. It took me a beat to get through all the episodes because it is something that I
0:43.9	have to watch on my own. I have to watch it on my own when my house is empty, because let's be
0:49.8	honest, it's pretty porny. It's pretty porny. It is not a show that I want to watch with my husband,
0:57.5	and I definitely can't have my kids around. So it's taken me a little while to get through all
1:01.0	the episodes, but I'm there. I'm finally there, and I'm ready to get into all of it. All of it.
1:07.4	I have so many questions. I have so many questions. I have so many thoughts. I am so curious
1:12.2	about why this show that essentially looks like a low-budget C.W. Teen drama? It does. Let's
1:19.7	be honest about that. It truly does. No shade. But that is the truth. Why it has captured the
1:27.4	hearts and minds of American women during this
1:30.9	particular timeline. I have to talk about all of it today with me. I have a very smart lady coming on.
1:36.9	Sarah Wendell is one of the co-founders of the website, Smart Bitches Trashy Books. Yeah. Yeah. If you, if you have not followed them, which I have for more than a
1:48.3	decade, go and read everything that they've ever written because I've got to tell you,
1:53.5	smart bitches trashy books was one of the first media platforms to take romance seriously.
1:59.7	And now, look, we've got Romanticie everywhere, we've got romance
2:02.8	everywhere, but Sarah has been doing this for a long time, and she knows her shit. Sarah is hilarious.
2:08.7	She's a little spicy, and we're getting into it. Are you Team Hollander? Are you Team Ilya? And we're
2:15.2	going to get into all of it today. This episode is probably not that
	...

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