The Italian American Podcast

When it comes to celebrating our Italian American culture, sometimes you need to capture every moment as it happens. Such is the case for this week's guest, Frank Di Piero. Frank is the host of "Keepin' It Real with Frankie D." at ItalianAmericanLife.com . With more than 100 "Italian American Moments" to his credit, Frank believes in making our culture accessible to all. In this week's episode, we...

For many of us who are active in the Italian American community, there exists a common, existential fear, a constant refrain that can be heard at Lodge meetings and Sunday dinners alike… "The young people aren't interested in being Italian!" But we decided to challenge this terrifying assumption by providing an opportunity for Italian America's most dedicated young leaders to meet, mingle, and con...

Panic has beset the Italian American Community!! Pastina -- the ultimate Italian American comfort food  -- has gone the way of the Dodo!!!  Only… it hasn't! When an Italian American thinks of pastina, especially during these cold winter months, it brings one back to the comforts of childhood, a cozy day in bed, and Nonna's healing touch. But this week, when Ronzoni pasta announced it was discontin...

Close your eyes and try to rate it.  That crunchy, sticky, subtly sweet cloud of confection… The pillowy perfection known as torrone candy… Whether at the holiday table, a wedding or feast, or on the ball top at a summer feast, it's a taste that every Italian American knows. This week's guests are responsible for bringing that taste to paesani near and far, thanks to their unique way of marketing...

Are YOU part of the Struffoli Squad? These beloved Neapolitan confections, deep fried and coated in a sticky sweet sheen of freshly warmed honey, are often considered an essential part of an Italian American Christmas, but for this week's guest, they're special enough to earn the title of "show stopper." Annie Petito is one of the incredibly talented culinarians behind Cook's Illustrated , perhaps...

Music always plays an outsized role in getting us in the "Holiday Spirit," and this year, Christmas in Italian America will have a distinctly Sicilian sound thanks to one very devoted Sicilian American songstress. In this conclusion of our two-part episode with special guest Michela Musolino, we learn more about her new Christmas album, "La Notti Triunfanti"… The Triumphant Night!  Michela tells u...

For many of us, the music of the motherland and the songs that Italian Americans have contributed to the American soundtrack serve as a way to reconnect to our heritage.  But for this week's guest, preserving and sharing that music isn't just a passion; it's a mission she has given her life to. Michela Musolino grew up in a household where Sicilian was spoken so that the children wouldn't be able...

Deep into a successful career in the exhilarating world of auditing, Italian American serial-achiever Michele Di Pietro decided she needed more out of life.  And so, at nearly double the age of most entrants, this life-long lover of the art of "feeding others" decided to head off to culinary school. Today, Michele is an entrepreneur, classically-trained chef, culinary consultant, food writer, cook...

Sometimes in life, we have occasions to pause and take stock of the good we can do in the world around us. For this week's guest, it was two particular occasions (when she received TWO double lung transplants at University of South Florida-Tampa General Hospital) that inspired her to say "Grazie" to both the hospital that saved her life and the ancestral island that gave it its culture! Dr. Rosema...

This week's legendary guest is no stranger to our show, and this week she's here to celebrate the release of her latest book, " Ciao Italia: Plant, Harvest, Cook! "  and celebrate her 30th season as TV's longest-running cooking show host! Chef, author, and Italian American icon Mary Ann Esposito is the creator and host of the nationally televised PBS series Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito™   an...

Food is Love! The concept might just be one of the few things every Italian on earth can agree on. But, for this week's guest, it's also a mission statement! Alessandra Aiello was born in Vico Equense near Napoli, and was minding her own business raising her three daughters, and focusing on her family when COVID quarantine inspired her to start filming herself as she cooked each day, as a way to p...

Ciao Paesani… and Greetings from the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets, at the heart of Manhattan's Little Italy, and the future home of the Italian American Podcast! That's right, we're on location in the soon-to-be world-class headquarters for all things Italian American, and before we even break ground on building our dream home, we wanted to kick the tires on life at the heart of New York's...

Italians have been a force in jazz almost since the music was born, and this week's guest is no exception! Vanessa Racci has dedicated her career to being an ambassador not only for her Italian heritage but also for the heritage of jazz music. Vanessa grew up in Westchester County, New York amid an Italian American family that steeped her in Italian song, theater music, and jazz, which allowed her...

On September 25, 2022, snap elections in Italy yielded two unprecedented results, as Giorgia Meloni is set to become Italy's first female Prime Minister, and her "Fratelli d'Italia" (Brothers of Italy) Party, which took the highest percentage of votes, will sit at the heart of Italy's most right-wing government since the end of World War II. This week, after considerable audience requests, we sat...

This week, the Italian American Podcast marks its 250th episode, and we certainly have a lot to celebrate as we kick off another Italian American Heritage Month! We discuss John and Dolores's recent trip to Sicily, where they experienced the island in ways few Americans ever get the chance to experience. They share their stories, and how they came to realize just why their — and countless other —...

Many of us have that "one" cookbook that we reach for whenever we want to make something special for our friends and famiglia… and for one of our hosts (and perhaps for many of you out there) that special book was written by this week's incredible guest. Award-winning author Arthur Schwartz (LINK) is a legend in the world of Italian cuisine, thanks to his definitive work "Naples at Table: Cooking...

When it comes to fashion, the phrase "MADE IN ITALY" evokes excellence in every step of the process.  From the world's most luxurious textiles to cutting-edge technologies in manufacturing, to the unparalleled sense of design that Italy has shared with the world for millennia, every aspect of the clothes we wear is defined by Italian ingenuity and taste. In this week's episode, we sit down with ma...

For many Italian Americans, the American Civil War, a seminal chapter in the history of the United States, can often feel like a chapter detached from their own American experience. Since the massive wave of Italian Immigration to the United States between 1870 and 1920, the brilliant thread of the Italian American experience has been indelibly woven into the tapestry of American history, but even...

He was the "King of Cool," an Italian American star whose casual magnetism and incomparable voice defined the Rat Pack style that influenced generations of American popular culture.  Now, Dean Martin's hometown is seeking to honor him for all time with a larger-than-life statue at the heart of this once-bustling community. In this week's episode, we are exploring the life and legacy of Steubenvill...

What does it mean to live "La Dolce Vita?" This week's guest is here to tell us how the answer to that question is just as varied as Italy herself! Carla Gambescia is a cultural "edu-tainer," award-winning author, travel journalist, lecturer and avid photographer. The author of " La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z ," Carla seeks to teach people about I...

"Viva San Rocco!" It's the last weeks of summer in Italian America, and in neighborhoods across the country, paesani are celebrating the Feast of Saint Rocco, one of the most venerated saint days in the Italian American year. For our part, we're sitting down with Stephen La Rocca, president of the St. Rocco Society of Potenza, to discover more about this saint and the feast that has been held in h...

We spent last week filming in one of the most overlooked (and criminally underappreciated) corners of Italian America… deep in the Ozarks in a little Italian village called Tontitown, Arkansas! In this week's episode of The Italian American Podcast, we're sitting down with two of the new paesani we met during our travels, Heather Ranalli Peachee and Kara Jo Engle. Both of these proud Tontitown Ita...

"What does Italy mean to you?" For those of us who think about Italy and our Italianness on a daily basis, it's a question that can force the mind into an exhausting array of mental gymnastics. To this week's guest, Nikki Taylor of  La Dolce Vita Lifestyle Magazine ,  it's the question she is asking the entire world to answer! The Australian Italophile behind the uplifting #MyItaly2022 social medi...

On Thursday July 21, 2022, Mario Draghi, Italy's technocratic Prime Minister, resigned from his role as Head of Government. With Italy facing a summer of unprecedented heatwaves, fires, draught, inflation, war on the continent, gas shortages, and the lingering effects of COVID shutdowns, the departure of this highly-regarded European technocrat has sent shockwaves across Italy and the world.  And...

In modern America, countless thousands of Italian American women and men practice every imaginable discipline of the law.  However, not so long ago, a vowel on the end of one's surname was likely a barrier to entry to most of the nation's elite law schools and most important law firms.  What exactly changed to allow so many of our fellow Italian Americans to proudly bear the title of Esquire? Perh...