The Italian American Podcast

This week we're bringing you Part Two of our first ever "Live" question-and-answer episode direct from our "New Neighborhood" online membership group! The New Neighborhood is a place for all Italian Americans… a vibrant, close-knit community centered around our private Facebook group, where our most passionate listeners and supporters gather together each day to maintain and deepen their sense of...

With Election Day tomorrow, it's a star-spangled celebration on this week's episode as we're joined by special guest Thom Woodley of the "Fail to the Chief" podcast to discuss the Italian American "Almost-Weres" of United States Presidential history. Sure, we have yet to see a Paesano or a Paesana take up residence in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but there have been more than a few who have tossed th...

As Italian American Heritage Month draws to a close, we're presenting our first ever "Live" question-and-answer episode direct from our "New Neighborhood" online membership group! The New Neighborhood is a Place for all Italian Americans … a vibrant, close-knit community centered around our private Facebook group where our most passionate listeners and supporters gather together each day to mainta...

For young Taylor Taglianetti, founder of the National Organization of Italian Americans in Film and Television (NOIAFT), her many encounters with the generosity of the Italian American community have made her life's work about paying it forward. This week, we sit down with Taylor to discover how this philosophy drove her to found a new, booming organization for professional Italian Americans in th...

Happy Columbus Day, everybody!  That is, if you're one of the folks who still celebrates Columbus Day because, appropriate to today's often contentious designation, we're presenting the sixth and final segment of our "Conversations on Columbus" series exploring the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus! This week is our attempt to tie a nice big red-white-and-green ribbon around this complex dis...

Happy Italian American Heritage Month, Paesani !  We're kicking off our favorite month of the year by bringing you Part Five of our "Conversations on Columbus" series exploring the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus.  This week we're presenting the voices who've set out to defend the legacy of this complex Italian figure. We'll begin by running down the charges established in Part Three of ou...

As October approaches, we're returning for part four of our "Conversations on Columbus" series exploring the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus, and this week we're examining the long and complex relationship between the Italian American community and the Genovese navigator who has become a symbol of Italian American pride. We'll begin with an exploration of the history of Columbus Day in the...

As the air begins to chill, and the days grow shorter and shorter, it's the perfect time of year to snuggle up with a good book— and if you love to read about your Italian American heritage and culture, Nicola Orichuia of Boston's I AM Books is the man to help you pick the perfect page-turner! I AM Books is Boston's first—and only—bookstore created specifically for the nation's 25 million Italian...

Well Podcast fans, its time once again to turn our eyes to our beloved Motherland for the continuing drama that is Italian politics, as our cousins across the Atlantic are gearing up for the latest constitutional referendum facing voters in the Italian Republic --including those living abroad like the many Italian American dual citizens here in the United States.  On September 20-21, Italians will...

As August begins to creep into September, families everywhere are preparing for winter by gathering together to partake in a much-loved Italian American tradition… gather the whole famiglia as we take your through the history and how-tos of the art of tomato jarring! This New World fruit has become the staple of Italian and Italian American cuisine and now with the tomato harvest happening, our te...

In this week's episode of the Italian American Podcast, we're presenting part three of our "Conversations on Columbus" series exploring the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus, and this week we're examining the major accusations which Columbus' critics charge him with. We'll begin with an examination of when and how Columbus' reputation began to suffer, and just what caused a figure that was o...

In this week's episode of the Italian American Podcast, we're picking up with Part Two of our "Conversations on Columbus" series exploring the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus and we're starting right from the beginning! As we set out to find truth in the current debates around the famed Genovese navigator, we're seeking to understand just what primary historical documentation exists to pro...

In this week's episode of the Italian American Podcast, we're setting out to tackle an issue that has been at the forefront of conversations surrounding the Italian American identity in the 21st Century. This issue is one that hits at the heart of our national mythology for Americans of all ethnicities -- the life and legacy of Christopher Columbus. Many of our listeners have called for us to weig...

Please listen to this Special Announcement from The Italian American Podcast concerning our upcoming episodes entitled "Conversations on Columbus."

I scream, you scream, we all scream for… gelato? Or is it ice cream? And what's the difference anyway? How about we find out? In this week's episode, we're celebrating "National Ice Cream Day" with a look at how Italians all over the world have influenced that frozen treat we all know and love. From Ancient Rome to Marco Polo, from Sicily, to England, to Hoboken, New Jersey, our team gives you the...

For millions of Americans, hope springs eternal every April when baseball returns!  In this craziest of years, fans of the national pastime are gearing up for the first-ever July opening in baseball history. We're so excited to have baseball back that in this week's episode our entire team is taking YOU "out to the ballgame" with our special guest, Lawrence Baldassaro, author of "Beyond DiMaggio:...

We have all learned about America's Founding Fathers… but what about our "Founding Padres?" In celebration of Independence Day, we're taking a look at Philip Mazzei, the Italian physician, winemaker, and philosopher whose close friendship with Thomas Jefferson inspired the phrase "all men are created equal" and other doctrines he added into the Declaration of Independence. For a contribution of su...

In this final installment of "Updates from Italy," host Patrick O'Boyle tries to find out what's next for the Bel Paese as it continues to recover from COVID-19 for the rest of 2020 and beyond. This week, Pat is joined by Antonio Amendola of Agropoli, Campania, who has lived in four countries, including the United States. Pat and Antonio talk about the differences between European Union nations as...

Buona Festa del Papà, Paesani! A Happy Father's Day to every Dad, Papà, Nonno, Father-in-Law, and any special guy out there! There's no blessing like having an Italian American father -- this week our moderator, John M. Viola, is turning his microphone on his very own Italian American dad, Vincent, when he sits down with him for a special Father's Day interview. Vinnie Viola, as he's known to thos...

What is it like to be a resident of a popular Italian tourist destination as Italy reopens? That's the question Pat O'Boyle asks Silvia Giagheddu, who resides in Northern Sardegna, in this week's episode of Reopening Italy. Pat and Silvia discuss what it's like to witness people coming back to the island after time in quarantine and how this is affecting post-COVID-19 life. While Sardegna wasn't a...

Almost 900 years ago, there existed a land where peoples of all cultures, creeds and colors lent their talents to the building of a nation at the forefront of science, art and civic life.  It was a kingdom in the sun… an island at the center of the world.  That nation was the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, and in this week's episode, renowned historian and medievalist Lou Mendola joins us from Sicily's...

In our latest episode of "Updates from Italy," Prof. Patrick O'Boyle sits down with Giovanni Trotta, an Italian young professional who witnessed first-hand the changing dynamics of the European workforce as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Giovanni works for Amazon's offices in Luxembourg, but returned home to his village of Laurino, Campania, for quarantine. Giovanni tells us how other young Ital...

Mary, Mary... How does your garden grow? If you're an Italian American, Mary Menniti is the person to answer this question—and many more—in this week's episode of the Italian American Podcast. We're sitting down with Italian America's Number 1 Green Thumb to discuss her groundbreaking Italian Garden Project . Mary will share her appreciation for the centuries-old Italian American connection to the...

For many months, Italy and her healthcare system have been at the epicenter of the most significant global health crisis in modern history.  But, now that the crisis is beginning to ebb, how has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the face of medicine in Italy? That's the question Prof. Patrick O'Boyle poses in this week's episode of "Updates From Italy," where he interviews Rome-based physician Dr. Giu...

For many Italian Americans, the start of summer means the start of "Feast Season," but the summer of social distancing looks like it's also destined to be the "summer of no feasts"… or is it? In this week's episode, our team discusses how the current COVID-19 crisis has affected the most tangible representation of the Italian American community at large—our feasts. Yet, while most feasts have alre...