MissPerceived

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

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

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.