“She Wants More” Podcast: Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater?

Are more women having affairs? Or are they finally just talking about it? Throughout history, women have been stigmatized, ostracized, and so much worse for committing adultery — while men have too often been given a pass. But the truth is that women have the same wants, needs and desires as men despite cultural assumptions.

Hosted by journalist Jo Piazza, this groundbreaking podcast series features real women of different ages and backgrounds telling the stories of their affairs, many for the first time. After five years of reporting on marriage in the wildly popular Committed podcast, Jo is now uncovering the other side of monogamy and finding some surprising answers about the motivations behind female infidelity — from sex, to empowerment, to self-esteem and even love.

In She Wants More, Jo explores the double standard of cheating, unpacking the guilt, shame and the expectations placed on women. She has candid conversations with women about the affairs that have either strengthened or broken their marriages that will make you feel like you’re eavesdropping on an intimate conversation between two friends.

These stories will make you question everything you thought you knew about desire, monogamy, and marriage. She Wants More was inspired by the book A Passion for More (Meridian Editions) by Susan Shapiro Barash.

This Week’s Episode

In the final episode of “She Wants More” we look at the darker side of an affair. While many of the women we talked with found empowerment and fulfillment through infidelity, today’s guest, “Karen” has a different kind of story. “Karen” fell in love with her kid’s pediatrician when she was married to another man. She had an affair, left her husband and got married. But then, her story took an unexpected twist, leaving her devastated and vindictive. Her story serves as a reminder of the real stakes of choosing infidelity and the lies we often tell ourselves in the moment in order to justify our actions. Susan Shapiro Barash shares her final thoughts.