15 with Fosca

“They share their lives, they go to school, do sports, and have experiences together. Ours learn the customs, traditions, and way of living in the States and theirs learn what we have in here in Italy and in Tuscany especially.” Rolando Galli on the annual student exchange program between sister cities Abetone, Italy and Aspen, Colorado.   I have known and loved Abetone, a year-round mountain para...

Italy in Vermont  featuring Lisa DeNatale “A lot of Italian immigrants came to Vermont to work in the granite and marble quarries, and they were actively recruited because they were skilled stone cutters from Carrara and other parts of northern Italy, and they settled in Barre. Many other immigrants followed, and connections and businesses started. They came to work on the railroads, they were fru...

I don’t exaggerate when I refer to this week’s guest, Paola Vojnovic, as a Renaissance woman. In addition to being a Renaissance art historian and an authority on culture management, Paola embodies the very spirit of the Renaissance with everything she does, especially with her Studiolo. The studiolo was a sacred inner sanctum for study, contemplation, and discourse inside Renaissance palazzi, and...

A SEAT AT THE TABLE  featuring Catalin Varela  I was studying how different cultures and countries approach gluten-free eating and what sort of impact that has on our quality of life, for example being able to socialize via food with other people. I felt more welcomed and included in Italy than I had ever felt anywhere else which was huge for me. Catalin Varela, The Celiac in Italy  My guest this...

Season 4, Episode 2  An Extraordinary Life  featuring Amira Makhlouf I want to talk to young women leaders, activists looking for their life purpose, women who are facing challenges, who want inspiration, or who are suffering from mental health issues. In this life we all need inspiration, we need tools. That’s why I’m doing this.   Amira Makhlouf on the upcoming EXTRAORDINARY SPEAKERS Conference...

Season 4, Episode 1  It’s our pleasure!  Meet La CLIT, Coffee Literature Inspiration & (sex) Toys featuring Giulia Heuser  *Explicit language and content warning* “We need a place where we can evolve, first of all as people, as single individuals, then as a community. La CLIT is an individual journey which is becoming collective.”  Giulia Heuser on La CLIT, Coffee Literature Inspiration &...

Travels in Hyper Reality (TV) featuring Fosca D’Acierno interviewed by Andrew Niklas Explicit language warning Today’s special bonus episode features yours truly being interviewed about my adventures in Italian reality tv land by Andrew Niklas, a friend, collaborator, filmmaker, and editor of this podcast. As many of you already know, I was cast on an Italian reality tv show, Best Weekend , produc...

“It was just a fascinating time, I was learning so much, and then my eyes were opened to the international side of it when I was working during the harvest in ‘97 at Kendall Jackson. I found out they had a winery in Tuscany and said, that's where I'm going, I'm going to have to try and go there.” Alyson Morgan  This week’s special, full-length episode features Alyson Morgan, winemaker and manager...

You have Time: Slow Life Lessons, Part 2 featuring Sandrine Kom  “We need to change our relationship with time because we really see time as our enemy. It's never enough and sometimes we get angry because we know we don't have enough time. We would like to have 30 hours of time and not 16, there is always this frustration. What we can do is repeat to ourselves that we have time, and this daily slo...

You have Time: Slow Life Lessons, Part 1 featuring Sandrine Kom  “We need slowness. We need it to enjoy our life, to enjoy the people who are around us, to avoid misunderstanding, to find harmony with ourselves, to take care of our values. And we also need slowness to take care of our deepest needs.” Sandrine Kom This week’s guest, Sandrine Kom, believes that slow life is quiet luxury. So much so...

“I think what’s most important is how you hold yourself. People make immediate assumptions based on it and keep them for a long time. That’s why I decided to do my TED Talk on some small tweaks that can radically change the way people view you and treat you.” Elia Nichols In this week’s episode with Elia Nichols, we speak at greater length about her recent TED Talk and what she was feeling as she...

“Nowadays we have 7 seconds to get the audience’s attention. It used to be 5 minutes. With the advent of social media, with all the swiping, our attention span has gone down to 7 seconds. If you don't get your audience’s attention in 7 seconds, that's it, they're gone.” Elia Nichols  Join me for the first part of my informative and lively chat with my charming guest, Elia Nichols, actress, public...

Approaching Dante  Inferno to Paradise, part 2  Featuring Riccardo Bruscagli   “Dante addresses the core of our humanity and his message is  your life matters. Take care of it. Your life matters .” Riccardo Bruscagli   Last week Professor Riccardo Bruscagli delighted us with his reading of and reflections on  The Divine Comedy , led us on a discovery of the poet’s masterpiece,and invited us into t...

Approaching Dante Inferno to Paradise, part 1 Featuring Riccardo Bruscagli “Dante at a certain point wakes up, looks around, and doesn’t recognize the physical and the moral landscape around him. This is a moment of fracture in his existence, and it is a moment of fracture which implies naturally not only his private life, but the life around him, which makes no sense anymore.” Riccardo Bruscagli...

“A bottle of wine represents culture and history and language and people, and my love affair for wine has come from getting to know the story behind every wine that I taste. I think that is just magic, that's the magic of wine.” Savannah Boylan This week’s episode takes us on an even more profound journey into the wonderful world of wine in the expert hands of Savannah Boylan and Ashwin Muthiah of...

Season 3, Episode 17 unPINNED! A Wine Revolution  featuring Savannah Boylan & Ashwin Muthiah   “Wine has brought people together since its invention 8,000 years ago. F*** the industry that’s using wine to drive people apart.” Ashwin Muthiah, unPINNED It’s the height of harvesting season here in Italy so what better time to tune in to my chat with Savannah Boylan and Ashwin Muthiah, who, with u...

Season 3, Episode 16 Riding the Tide in Venice  featuring Julia Curtis  “I think that there's an etiquette that every tourist that travels the world should have. And I think that there's a conscientiousness that cities like Venice or Florence, that are really unique in the world, need to step back and say, how do we have more sustainable tourism?” Julia Curtis   In this special, long episo...

Season 3, Episode 15 Fashioner of the Law: Craftsmanship, Luxury & Made in Italy, Part 2 featuring Claudia Del Re  Last week Attorney Claudia Del Re and I touched on how to protect one’s creations, intellectual property, and the world of luxury. In this episode we dig deeper into the above and reflect further upon the future of fashion and fashion beyond Italy.  We also discuss cultural proper...

“A lawyer is not just the one who is going to defend you in court but is also a kind of guide that pushes you in the correct way, to enhance and to explore your ideas. That is exactly my role in the context of beauty.” Claudia Del Re  In this first part of my conversation with Claudia Del Re, she shares with us why she thinks she’s one of the luckiest lawyers ever, defining herself as the “attorne...

Whether you are a first time voter, a seasoned one, or are voting from abroad for the first time, you will not want to miss this special episode of 15 with Fosca, featuring special guests, Leyani Redditi and Jane Zaloga, respectively Chair and Vice Chair of Central Italy for Democrats Abroad .    If you are a US citizen living abroad you can vote and this podcast episode gives you a simple, step b...

“Another way, in addition to Speakeasy, which I really suggest that worked for me is doing an activity that people who are like minded might do. That's the best way to build community because everyone's looking for it. It's one of those ironies of modern life that people feel disconnected and lonely, but we all have the same needs.” Miriam Hurley, on finding community in Florence.  In...

“Even if you've done it for 24 years, every translation, almost every sentence, is a challenge, and that's what makes it fun.” Miriam Hurley  It was such a treat to sit down with Miriam Hurley to discuss her path to Italy, why she came and stayed, the ins and outs, and challenges and rewards of her more than two decades of experience as an American Translators Association certified Italian...

“From my experience, there's a very different attitude towards careers here; generally speaking, your job doesn't define you. Whenever I speak to Italians, they never ask that as their first question, it’s never ‘what do you do,’ or ‘what's your job’? They're more interested in the life that you live around your job, which is a great thing, it's very commendable, so different f...

“My plan was to stay in Italy until I was due to go back to work on the 1st of November, because that was when the furlough scheme was due to end. So, I thought, ok, fine, I'm going to stay. I don't need to be back in London, I'm going to stay here. I'll take some Italian classes, visit some museums, live a life of leisure in Italy because why not?” Eleanor Walker  In the summer of...

Registrato il 12 Marzo 2024 a Musikalmente Firenze   “Chi di noi non si è trovato in una situazione di incertezza, sfiducia, incapacità di decidere, non vedere la strada, non riuscire a capire? Quali sono le cose per cui vale la pena impegnarsi? Chi di noi non si è trovato mai in una situazione di questo genere?” Matteo Perchiazzi   In questa seconda parte della mia conversazione con Matteo Perchi...