Influenced to Death

About Influenced to Death

Your guide to surviving the wild world of wellness influencing. influencedtodeath.substack.com (https://influencedtodeath.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Hannah Wright & Victoria LaFont

Category

comedy · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Jun 2024

Latest episode

27 May 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 52 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   27 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode #52: MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution)

   Hosts Hannah and Victoria explore the dangerous history and deceptive promotion of Miracle Mineral Solution, interviewing experts on its toxic effects and the neuroscience of belief.

2. 

   11 May 2026

   Episode #51: Placentophagy

   In this episode, Hannah & Victoria are joined by now-regular podcast guest Sara Russell, PhD, to discuss placentophagy, aka the practice of eating the placenta after birth. A couple of notes before the show notes: * We had some tech difficulties, so this episode is audio-only and has some wonky edits near the end. We still think it’s worth publishing b/c Sara is a wealth of knowledge, and this topic is wild AF * We recorded this in January 2026, so some of our references are now a bit dated. We’ll be releasing new episodes as we can between Hannah’s school schedule and Victoria’s owning two businesses schedule On to the episode: * Quick opening discussion about rosacea and integrative ways to address it * Placentophagy might seem like a crunchy hippy throwback to how humans used to live, but based on what we know, traditional cultures didn’t eat placenta * What is the placenta, exactly? Sara explains. * Sara’s personal experience with placentophagy and why she stopped eating it after a short time * What are the dangers of placentophagy? * If you’d like, you can supplement with grass-fed beef placenta. 🤷♀️ * We clarify Brian Johnson (Liver King) versus Bryan Johnson (famous biohacker venture capitalist who doesn’t want to die) * Sara explains the importance of screening for and addressing group B strep in pregnancy and birth * Do other animals eat their placenta? * Quick discussion of the new dietary guidelines (published in January 2026) * Placenta research * Traditional history of placentophagy (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21888574/) and another study here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) * Placenta: Worth trying? (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6138470/) * A 2020 review summarizes the controversy: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/)“On the one hand, researchers attribute benefits like increased breast milk, weight gain in newborns, decreased postpartum depression and fatigue, and improved mothers’ mood. In contrast, bacterial or viral infections, hormonal, or trace elements that could become toxic for both the mother and baby are reported as possible health risks. Other reports argue a lack of scientific rigor to support the self-reported benefits of placentophagia. Also, the way the placenta is prepared (raw, cooked, dehydrated, processed, or encapsulated) alters its components, and thus the desired effects.” * Does placenta consumption happen in nature? (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) Is it natural? * Placentophagy may be a safety measure to keep the mother and infant safe (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) * But that hypothesis doesn’t hold water based on other observations. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) There are situations where mothers retrieve the placenta in spite of the fact that it would be safer to discard it, and situations where mothers consume the placenta even when they could just as easily abandon it and move with their young to a safe location far from where the placenta’s odor might attract the attention of predators. * Other species actively avoid the placenta altogether (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) * Possible benefits of placentophagy are discussed here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) and here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7059278/) * Read about the forces that drive placentophagy such as genetics, nutrition, and hormones here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/), here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/), and here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765311/) If you have a specific question, send us an email at influencedtodeath@gmail.com. Sara has eight full pages of citations. If you’d like to learn more about Sara’s work with pregnancy-specific blood work analysis, click here. (https://labsmarts.com/blood-work-in-pregnancy-masterclass/.) Or visit her website here. (https://sararussellntp.com/) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit influencedtodeath.substack.com (https://influencedtodeath.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   24 Jan 2026

   Episode #50: Coffee, Conspiracies, & the Cost of Certainty

   What started as a casual conversation about tea and coffee preferences quickly evolved into one of our favorite episodes yet…a wide-ranging discussion about science communication, tribalism in wellness spaces, and why being wrong in public might be the most important skill we’re not teaching. In this spontaneous episode, Hannah, Amanda, and Victoria explore the messy middle ground between absolutism and nuance in health conversations. From the Free Birth Society controversy to emerging research on mRNA vaccines and cancer treatment, they tackle why picking sides often prevents us from finding real solutions and why healthcare providers are increasingly facing hostility for presenting evidence that doesn’t fit predetermined narratives. This episode covers: * Why some people react dramatically differently to coffee versus other caffeinated beverages (plus Amanda’s near-death experience in a Mexican church) * The Free Birth Society investigation and the dangerous psychology of birth influencers * What it’s really like giving birth in a hospital * A new Nature study showing mRNA vaccines may boost cancer immunotherapy outcomes, and the hostile response it received * Why scientists being wrong is actually a feature, not a bug, of the scientific process * The vaccine-autism debate and why refusing nuance hurts everyone * How tribalism and emotion override facts in health conversations * The radicalization of wellness communities and what it means for practitioners Timestamps & Topics 00:00 - Tea, Coffee & Individual Reactions 07:10 - Cannabis Allergies & Adverse Reactions 09:30 - Cross-Reactive Foods & Celiac Disease 17:56 - The Free Birth Society Investigation 24:13 - Birth Experiences & Hospital Reality 30:32 - The Trad Wife Connection 33:01 - Sarah Ballantine & Being Wrong in Public 33:51 - Science Communication During COVID 39:10 - The Marketing of Health Information 39:29 - Dr. Kara Fitzgerald & the mRNA-Cancer Study 46:58 - When “Functional” Becomes Dysfunctional 52:16 - The Myth of the All-Knowing Expert 54:30 - Healthcare Providers Under Attack 56:39 - The Vaccine-Autism Debate 1:01:56 - The CDC Website Changes 1:04:17 - Radicalization & Tribalism 1:07:47 - AI Healthcare Coaches Resources & Links Studies & Articles Mentioned: * SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccines Sensitized Tumors to Immune Checkpoint Blockade - Nature, October 2025 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y) * The Guardian's investigation into the Free Birth Society (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/23/five-key-findings-from-our-investigation-into-the-free-birth-society) * CDC Page on Autism and Vaccines (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/autism.html) A note from the hosts: This spontaneous format felt like some of our best work—let us know if you’d like more episodes like this. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit influencedtodeath.substack.com (https://influencedtodeath.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Inside a recent episode

Episode #52: MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution)

Published 27 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] It's like, but these guys might really believe this. Yeah. And we're going to talk about that in a minute, about why people believe in miracles, maybe some potential why. Like, why do we have, because this is a present day thing, but there's been some weird miracle cures throughout history, like very far back. Things like eating mercury and radium and I found one record talking about they used to do milk transfusions instead of a blood transfusion because they thought it was better for you. I can you can guess how that ended up like that's a really bad idea. But at the time, people were like, this is great. […]

Who has been a guest on Influenced to Death

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Geoff Futch
• Kelsey Keener
• Jenny McGruther
• Dawn Whitten

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

2,991

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

39 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 66 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

67

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

85

Contact Influenced to Death

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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