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We've talked a lot on this podcast about using kids as content and where the line should be drawn. We've also talked about mothers posting pictures of their sick kids to get attention. But there is another side to the story. What if your child had a rare disease? What if one of the only ways to get the medical establishment and doctors to take notice of that disease was to shout about it at the top of your lungs, sometimes on social media? What would you do? It's an impossible question. Last November, Amanda Byerly's daughter Elin was diagnosed with retinol dystrophy, a disease that could ultimately make her go blind. And because the disease is so rare, there's not a lot of funding for it. So it is up to the parents to fund research and ultimately to find a cure. Amanda made the decision to post her daughter and the diagnosis on Instagram to raise both money and awareness. But it's tricky, and Amanda has to draw new boundaries for herself every day about the things she should share to help educate people about Elin's disease and what might invade her daughter's privacy.

On today's episode of Sunday Nice Things we are bringing you the series Momplicated where host Dana Phillips dives into the dumpster fire of motherhood with women who aren't afraid to swim around in the muck and pick trash out of your hair. Today she is joined by the hilarious Caitlin Murray, who is best known for her wickedly funny Instagram account Big Time Adulting! Dana and Caitlin discuss vacationing with kids, the awfulness of sick and snow days and why it is OK to not love the baby stage of childrearing.

Pandora's Box is open. We will never go backwards in terms of technology. Social media literacy is media literacy. There are more eyeballs on small screens scrolling through influencers than people reading political news or watching television shows. Influencers have more of an impact on people than most politicians and traditional celebrities. We need to talk about how to talk about them. Today we are joined by media critic and writer Caroline Burke about the different ways to parse the social media industrial complex to make it healthier for us. Our brains are not up to the task of dealing with the level of manipulation happening on the socials. We dive into: The lack of literacy in Congress around social media Why Ballerina Farm should be called a brand, not a person. Also, let's remember that its followers outnumber the population of many small countries. Why does our brain feel like it is overheating when we are on social media for too long Why don't we teach tech literacy in schools? How our parasocial Instagram relationships make us buy more stuff Why is jealousy inherently a moral negative?

The former family Youtuber and vlogger Ruby Franke has been sentenced to up to 60 years in prison for felony child abuse. And frankly, I'm just going to say it here—I hope she serves the maximum sentence. This comes after Ruby has admitted to punishing her children in a variety of horrific ways. Quick update on the news and the ripple effect it could have in the parenting influencing community.

Have you ever rewatched a beloved movie as an adult and then been shocked, absolutely shocked by the behavior of the parents in it? A great example is The Parent Trap (both versions) in which two parents choose to abandon one of the children because they don't like one another. Today we are getting into which pop culture representations of parents do and don't hold up with Andie Mitchell, and Sabrina Kohlberg, the hosts of the brand spanking new Pop Culture Moms (soon to be released). We're talking problematic parents and awkward parenting storylines. I also get them to go deep into a very important subject—hot TV dads. So sit back and relax and let's take a break from #tradwives to enjoy a little pop culture nostalgia.

Each week on the SSR (Shit She Read) podcast host Alli Hoff Kosik will challenge a guest to reread a literary throwback or to experience for the first time ever a book they may have missed as a kid. The show covers everything from The Baby-Sitters Club to Holes to Nancy Drew and Harry Potter. Guests are asked to spill all the feels and all the opinions about their throwback read for your podcast-listening pleasure. A glass of wine is not required, but it's certainly allowed. This week I happen to be the guest talking about none other than Little House in the Big Woods in all its prairie problematic glory.

Welcome to Friday Quickies....the Daily for influencer and social news with more foul language and swingers. This week we talk about Taylor Swift giving her boyfriend's podcast a boost, Minnesota joining the good fight to pay influencer kids and why Instagram is censoring your politics and how you can keep following the accounts you love. We also have the trailer for the new narrative swinger podcast (yeah you heard that right) Time Capsule: The Silver Chain.

Molly Winter recently hit the New York Times bestseller list with her memoir MORE, an account of the first ten years of opening up her marriage when her children were young. She is still happily married and she says her marriage and sex life is better than ever because she has been able to explore more facets of herself with her partners. Molly's account of the first 10 years of her open marriage is raw and honest and eye-opening. It has plenty of lessons for people who don't want to open up their marriages, but who do want to figure out how to be a better partner and how to follow their passions and desires as a wife and a mother. Society loves putting women into boxes, but the truth is that we want more and sharing these stories is the only way we can change the way the world sees us and treats us.

It's not pretty. But it is real. There's a new breed of the ANTI-TRADWIFE out there and they are sharing the raw and honest stories about living a life submissive to a man and what it looks like on the other side. Today we are talking to Enitza Templeton, a mom of four who was a tradwife for ten years before she left her husband to try to make it on her own. Entiza made a video from the food stamps office that went viral on TikTok where she warned young women against depending on a man for financial security. She compares being a trad wife to being a "domestic slave," and says that you are "sitting prey." She feels like her husband never liked her. She felt like his mommy. Life was miserable until she made the decision to leave. We are seeing more and more content pushing back on the tradwife trend. It doesn't always go viral like Enitza's story because it isn't traditionally beautiful and aspirational, but these are voices that need to be heard.

Welcome to a new episode of Sunday Nice Things. This week we are bringing you the new show Gratitudeology created by my friend Jamie Hess. When Jamie almost died, she woke up. As daughter of legendary broadcast journalist Joan Lunden, it seemed from the outside that Jamie had everything… so why did she feel so empty inside? She pondered that question as she fell into a life of drug addiction, and when she hit her bottom, it hit her: nothing feels good until we get grateful… but we often don’t feel grateful until we have a wake-up call. Are you searching for your wake-up moment? Tune in each week for an incredible story of turning pain to purpose, told by some of the most inspirational people on the planet. Through these stories, we’ll help you apply the study and practice of Gratitudeology to live a happier, healthier, more abundant life. You can listen to more episodes here.

Need some news you can use to talk about at your Super Bowl Party. We have Glamour reporter Steph McNeal here to explain the latest right wing conspiracy theory about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce faking their relationship to help Biden. Also all the updates on laws to compensate the kids of influencers and the new backlash against luxury stuff influencers on TikTok. Welcome to the world of DEINFLUENCERS.

Let's talk about anxiety, real talk about anxiety! Today we are joined by Julie Chavez, a librarian, mom of two and the author of the memoir Everyone But Myself. When you are a working mom, there is no time for debilitating anxiety. There's not. And the terrifying aftershocks of Julie's first panic attack left her grappling with questions about the causes of her mental health crisis and where it was going to lead next. This book resonated with me so deeply. This is a hopeful and honest account of love and loss and the husband who can't read your mind, about disastrous family outings and finding a new path. It is about the joy of a well-lived life and how hard it can sometimes be to enjoy that life. I think we're all going to feel better after this episode.