What to Read After Watching Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (SLOMW) | Too Blessed to Stress by Alli Hoff Kosik

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This podcast originally aired March 2026

What happens when influencer culture, megachurch ambition, and algorithm-driven community collide?

This week, I’m joined by longtime friend and fellow early-podcaster Alli Hoff Kosik to talk about her debut novel, Too Blessed to Stress — a sharp, nuanced story about faith, friendship, ambition, and the very online world we’re all living in.

We talk about how her MFA journey led her here, why religion in fiction felt like a “risky” topic just a few years ago, and how influencer culture (hello Mormon wives and MomTok 👀) makes this story more relevant than ever. If you love messy friend groups, big institutions, powerful men, and complicated women trying to build something meaningful — this one is for you.

Bonus Book Recommendations Check out my latest Substack episode with 2 additional bonus recommendations and my thoughts of the latest SLOMW episode drop of Season 5.

https://whattoreadnextpodcast.substack.com/p/books-like-mormon-wives

🕒 Timestamps[00:00] Early podcast days & friendship origin story

[02:00] Alli’s MFA journey and first abandoned manuscript

[05:00] The Christian influencer rabbit hole

[07:30] Influencer monetization & megachurch power

[10:00] Religion, algorithms & modern politics