Today, Professor Leah pulls back the curtain on a sneaky problem hiding inside your already overloaded brain: duplicated mental load. Drawing on her new book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, she explains why mental load is emotional thinking work, how it stretches across eight types and seven stages, and why so much of it is being quietly double- (or triple-) handled in our homes and relationships.

Leah shares a story about how one unpredictable morning (RIP Spuds) blew up her carefully planned day, then uses it to show why mental load is more like a limited bank account than an endless resource. You’ll learn how to spot where you and others are all worrying about the same tasks, when that duplication actually helps, and when it’s just burning you out. If you’re waking up exhausted, constantly planning for everyone, and wondering why you never feel “finished,” this conversation will help you see your mental load clearly and give you a simple first step: find the duplication, and drop what isn’t yours to carry.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

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If every conversation about housework, childcare, careers, and the mental load seems to end in frustration, resentment, or a full-blown fight, this episode is for you. Leah breaks down why these talks get stuck, how gender norms shape what each partner hears, and why leading with your dreams instead of your overwhelm can change the entire conversation.

Drawing from her research and her upcoming book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, Leah shares a practical approach for getting clearer on what you want, what support you need, and who is actually best equipped to help you get there. She also explains why both partners may be telling the truth about their fears, even when they feel like they’re speaking completely different languages.

This episode offers a powerful shift: instead of asking, “Why aren’t you doing what I’m doing?”, ask, “How do we support each other’s goals as a family?” Leah’s advice is equal parts honest, compassionate, and actionable, with a focus on reducing conflict, sharing the load more fairly, and building a relationship that makes room for both people’s ambitions.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

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Should kids be on social media? Or should we ban it entirely?

In this episode of Misperceived, we tackle one of the most complicated parenting questions today: social media and children.

Parents everywhere are struggling to figure out the right approach. Should kids have smartphones early so they can learn how to navigate the digital world? Should parents strictly monitor and limit access? Or should children stay off social media entirely until they’re older?

The truth is—there’s no simple answer.

As a social scientist who studies the mental load, I’ve heard from countless parents who say that monitoring their children’s digital lives is one of the biggest sources of stress and cognitive burden they face today. From worrying about online safety and misinformation to navigating addictive algorithms and social pressure, parents are being asked to manage something previous generations never had to deal with.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why social media creates a huge mental load for parents
• The challenge of raising kids in a digital-first world
• Why government bans on social media for teens may not work
• How algorithms and addictive content affect young people
• The growing problem of misinformation and polarization online
• Why parents cannot solve this problem alone
• What a society-wide response to social media addiction might look like

We also talk about what it means to help kids become responsible digital citizens, how to have honest conversations about what they see online, and why this issue requires solutions from families, tech companies, schools, and governments—not just parents.

If you’re a parent, educator, or anyone trying to understand how technology is shaping the next generation, this episode is for you.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah unpacks the “gray tsunami” and explains why the real future-of-work crisis isn’t just AI—it’s caregiving. She widens the lens on care beyond moms and little kids to include aging parents, partners, friends, disabled family members, and even our future selves, showing how this rising care demand is slamming into already maxed‑out mental loads and pushing especially women out of the labor market. Leah breaks down what an aging population means for our economies, workplaces, and daily lives, why relying on families’ unpaid labor and low‑wage workers is an unsustainable strategy, and how putting care—not just GDP and productivity—at the center could spark new policies, business models, and community solutions. You’ll be invited to imagine what a “care-first” society and workplace might look like, and how we can start building it before the wave fully hits.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah asks a deceptively simple question: Is it actually your fault—or did society make you do it? Drawing on her training as a sociologist and her book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, she breaks down what sociology is (and how it’s different from psychology) and shows how invisible social norms quietly script our choices, behaviors, and sense of failure. From the myth that women are “naturally” great multitaskers to the pressure to be the perfect mom with the perfect home—and the stereotype that dads are inherently bad at caregiving—Leah reveals how these stories overload women, sideline men, and keep everyone stuck. You’ll learn how to spot when you’re carrying the blame for broken systems instead of actual mistakes, how to question the “shoulds,” “musts,” and “what ifs” running your life, and how to start using sociology as your superpower so you can move through the world with more agency, less guilt, and a lot more self-compassion.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah gets honest about her late-night doomscrolling habit and why “just checking your phone” leaves so many women wired, anxious, and exhausted the next day. Drawing from her research and her upcoming book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, she explains how constant exposure to heavy news and social media pings our mental load to care, to keep our families safe, and to emotionally support others—draining the limited energy we need for work, parenting, and showing up in the world with any sense of power or hope. You’ll learn how to see doomscrolling as a mental load leak instead of a moral obligation, what to do in those 2 a.m. wakeups instead, and how to realign your time, feeds, and attention so you can actually rest and still have capacity to take meaningful action on the things you care about.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah pulls back the curtain on a powerful mental load category from her forthcoming book, Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More—dream building. She explains how women’s dreams get quietly starved as they carry invisible, boundaryless, and enduring thinking work for their families, workplaces, and communities, and why that’s a loss for everyone, not just women. Leah digs into why work and caregiving feel impossible to combine, why so many women are stepping out of the labor market, and how ageism and a rapidly changing, AI-driven economy make it so hard to get back in. You’ll hear why you cannot personally fix broken systems, why adaptability is now a core future-of-work skill, and how the Mental Load Audit can help you make small, strategic shifts toward the life you actually want—without burning yourself out trying to “do it all.”

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode Prof Leah breaks down why Valentine’s Day can feel less like a celebration and more like a mental load marathon for moms, partners, and singles. She talks about the pressure to plan the “perfect” day, the emotional exhaustion of dating apps, and the hidden expectations women carry around romance, gifts, and feeling seen. You’ll hear practical reframes for taking the pressure down, spreading love across all 365 days, and turning February 14th into a day of self-nurturing on your own terms

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Leah explores how generational messages have taught women to feel shame about their changing bodies—from tight jeans and bodysuits in the 80s and 90s to today’s high-waisted shorts and leggings. She reflects on growing up hyperaware of every outline and curve, and how that discomfort still echoes when she sees her own daughter getting dressed. Through personal stories, a feminist lens on choice and self-expression, and a look at how media and beauty culture have policed women’s bodies, Leah asks what it means to stop hiding, stop apologizing, and allow girls and women to exist in their bodies without embarrassment. In the end, she celebrates a new generation that seems less interested in shrinking themselves and more interested in living fully, visibly, and unapologetically in the skin they’re in.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone is sick right now—and somehow, you still feel bad for needing to lie down. In this episode of Misperceived, Leah unpacks why so many women feel guilty when they get sick, even when their families are fine, fed, and happily living on Hot Pockets and Uncrustables.

Drawing on global stories from the U.S., Australia, and Sweden, she breaks down how culture, capitalism, and the lack of a safety net teach us that illness is a personal failure and rest is something we have to earn. She then connects this to the mental load of motherhood: when you’re the keeper of everyone’s schedules, prescriptions, and needs, being “out of commission” feels dangerous—like everything might fall apart.

Leah offers a different script: letting others step in is not neglect, it’s necessary. You are one essential piece of your family, not the only one. You deserve rest in your body and your mind without narrating a guilt spiral the whole time. If you’ve ever felt anxious under the covers instead of actually recovering, this episode is your permission to be sick, be cared for, and stop apologizing for being human.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January isn’t a fresh start if you’re already running on fumes from making everyone else’s holidays magical. In this episode of MissPerceived, Leah unpacks why so many women swing from December over-giving straight into “new year, new me” overachieving—launching businesses, overhauling their bodies, and rewriting their whole lives before February even hits.​

She breaks down the mental load hangover, why perfectionist resolutions backfire, and how to set goals that are actually aligned with your values, your energy, and your real life. You’ll hear why you don’t need to shrink, hustle, or “upgrade” yourself to deserve rest, and how to enter 2026 from a place of “I’m already enough” instead of “I am the project.”​​

If you’re tired of vision boards, bingo-card resolutions, and self-improvement that feels like self-punishment, this one’s your permission slip to do less, eat carbs, and build a life that expands you instead of drains you.

Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.