Why So Many Mothers Are Unraveling and Filled With Rage with Libby Ward

Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Jo Piazza, Influence Inc.

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

4.3 • 833 Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're often told or indoctrinated to believe motherhood is supposed to be magical, fulfilling, your highest calling, the thing that finally makes everything make sense. And yet so many women are quietly unraveling and filled with rage. This week we sit down with Libby Ward—the hilarious creator behind Diary of an Honest Mom, and author of Honest Motherhood—to talk about the reality of parenting colliding with the expectations we’ve all absorbed. Libby shares the moment she realized she couldn’t keep doing it all, the years of carrying everything for everyone, and how that eventually turned into a massive online community of women admitting the status quo isn’t working. We get into: the mental load and invisible labor no one accounts for the myth of the “good mom” and why it’s so hard to shake why loving your kids isn’t the same as having the capacity to care for them what it actually looks like to start setting boundaries why saying no feels so uncomfortable at first Order Libby's book Honest Motherhood 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.
0:09.3	Quick reminder to get your orders in for the Parisian heist, the book of the summer.
0:14.4	It is a bad-ass feminist art heist set in Paris that's going to make you want to travel to Paris.
0:20.4	And the untold story of
0:22.1	Joe Van Gogh, the woman who made Vincent famous. I love this book. You're going to love this book.
0:29.0	Your mom's also going to love this book, and your book club's going to love this book. Maybe even
0:32.9	your husband. Who knows? Men seem to like the book, too. It's Oceans 11 meets the Goldfinch. What more could you ask for?
0:40.7	Okay. Now on to today's episode, a lot of you probably follow Libby Ward on social media, or you've
0:47.1	seen her hilarious reels about motherhood. I first met Libby at a mom influencing conference.
0:53.5	About four years ago, I was pregnant with Eliza.
0:56.5	And she was just a person that I immediately wanted to spend more time with.
1:01.3	Libby's reals about motherhood are hilarious, but there's a lot else beneath them.
1:06.9	I truly believe that Libby is shifting the cultural narrative about motherhood in a way that we really, really need.
1:14.4	Libby's got a new book out called Honest Motherhood, and in it she candidly shares her journey of unlearning the myth of the ideal mother.
1:22.2	We talk about this myth all the time.
1:23.6	This myth is bullshit, and we just need more people busting it wide open and saying, hey, this is the
1:29.8	reality of motherhood, and it's great, and it sucks, and then it's great again, and then it sucks
1:34.2	again, and that is totally okay. In the book, Libby dives headfirst into the experiences that
1:40.2	many mothers have, but few feel like it's safe enough to say out loud.
1:46.1	This book is Equal Parts Memoir and Manifesto, and it's just one of those books that you want to read out loud.
1:51.8	And Libby's one of those people you just want to hang out with and shoot the shit with.
1:54.6	You're going to love our talk.
	...

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