The Bittersweet Life

Can you talk about hard things? Can you negotiate your salary with a new boss? Can you tactfully comfort someone who's just had a devastating loss? Can you be open about your sexual needs with your partner? Anna Sale is the host of the Death, Sex, and Money , a award-winning podcast that "explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation." She's also the au...

What was it like to work in an international airport in the time of Covid? For this mini-episode, we're joined by someone who can answer that question with first-hand experience. Today's guest is Valentina, a staff member for a major Italian airline who worked at Rome's Fiumicino Airport throughout the pandemic. She shares her unprecedented experiences during this time, as well as how she feels ab...

One year ago, we asked our listeners, What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? Listeners from around the world sent us a peek into their lives in the form of voice memos, and we included our own auditory snapshots as well. This year, we once again sent out a call for recorded snippet of our listeners daily lives to see what has changed in one year—and what has stayed the sa...

Have you ever taken off your clothes for the camera? Today Katy reaches back into the archives of her long career as a radio producer and pulls out an interview with a boudoir photographer, and one of her clients. On this mini-episode, you'll learn who is likely to get a boudoir photography session, and why you should do it.  The photographer interviewed in this episode is Christina Mallet, who no...

The wait is over—at long last, you can finally go to Italy again! But is it a good idea? According to a recent announcement, the Italian government is not waiting for the EU "green pass" to welcome travelers from outside the EU this summer, but are instead launching their own version a month earlier, that could see the country open up to tourists from around the world in less than a week. It's a h...

Tiffany joins us from the Spanish Steps for this mini-episode, where glorious azalea plants are spilling down the steps and there is nary a tourist in sight. May 2021 the first—and most likely the last—time it will be possible to see the Spanish Steps this way. As Tiffany marvels at the spectacle, she also marvels at how fast Italians seem to be able to transition in and out of the country's vario...

This week we sit down with Riley Morton , a freelance documentary producer and cinematographer who kicked off his career two decades ago in the adventure sports space, producing documentaries and television about climbing, skiing, trail running, and adventure travel. Over the past decade, he has branched out, producing his own documentaries and collaborating on major projects. His newest creation...

Bestselling author and friend of the show Jess Walter joins us for this mini-episode to talk about the reluctance so many people seem to have over getting the Covid vaccine. Jess shares a great tip for convincing the vaccine-hesitant people in your life to get the vaccine. ------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send u...

Over in the US, Katy is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Hurrah! Tiffany in Italy, meanwhile, still has a long wait ahead of her. How long is anyone's guess. Today they discuss how Katy's life will change now that she's vaccinated—perhaps a lot, perhaps not much, it's not easy to know just yet. As well as if she even wants to go back to life as it once was. And Tiffany shares her frustration...

Want to write a 90k-word novel? If you've got 46 days (the length of Lent) Tiffany will tell you how to do it. This year during the period of Lent, Tiffany came up with the crazy idea to draft her next novel by Easter. That meant writing nearly 2000 words per day and, if that weren't challenging enough, schools in Italy closed halfway through! In this mini-episode, Tiffany shares her tips for comp...

One year ago, we asked our listeners, What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? Listeners from around the world sent us a peek into their lives in the form of voice memos, and we included our own auditory snapshots as well. Today we replay that episode to see what has changed in one year—and what has stayed the same. From Lynn in San Francisco as she studies Italian to Jill...

Want to move abroad but have no idea how to support yourself when you get there? For this mini-episode, we are joined by David McNeill, creator of Expat Empire , a consulting service for aspiring expats, and host of the Expat Empire podcast (check out this recent episode in which he interviews Tiffany). From finding a local job in the country you are moving to, to getting a transfer through the co...

Inspired by our conversation with Elizabeth Miki Brina , author of the new memoir Speak, Okinawa , we turn again to cross-cultural relationships and families, and the challenges that they bring up for those involved, many of them unexpected. We also consider how much those problems can change and worsen, depending on which country the immigrant spouse is from, and how that country is perceived in...

Inspired by  last week's episode , an interview with Elizabeth Miki Brian, the author of the new memoir Speak, Okinawa, and the challenges she faced growing up the daughter of an American father and an Okinawan mother, Tiffany looks at pitfalls that can crop up in any cross-cultural relationship, particularly when one member of the couple leaves his or her home country to move (often permanently)...

Elizabeth Miki Brina's new memoir Speak Okinawa is a "searing, deeply candid memoir about a young woman's journey to understanding her complicated parents—her mother, an Okinawan war bride, her father, a Vietnam veteran—and her own, fraught cultural heritage." We sit down with the author for a probing interview that looks at the pitfalls of cross-cultural marriage, as well as Brina's own guilt and...

As a follow-up to Monday's episode, What Do I Want to Do Today? , on this mini-episode, Katy presents a radio piece she produced several years ago, in which she is physically present—and recording in audio—the birth of a child. First she chats with the parents-to-be about their decision to attempt a natural childbirth, as well as the doula who will be assisting the birth. Sometimes coming up with...

When trying to come up with an idea, whether it's for an article you're trying to pitch, a school assignment, a book you want to write, or any creative endeavor, have you ever just asked yourself: What do I want to do today? Today we talk about how this seemingly simple question can not only open up an opportunity to do something totally new to you and perhaps even out of your comfort zone, but it...

Italy is in lockdown (again), but this time it feels very different. The rules are mostly the same, but the mood on the street is completely changed. The restaurants and many of the shops may be closed, movement may be restricted, but the citizens are rejecting the call not to socialize, and (so far) the authorities have chosen to ignore it. Aurelio also stops by to chat about why he's fine with I...

So, you've decided you want to move abroad but... where do you start? It's not an easy subject to tackle, so today we've asked an expert. On this week's episode, we sit down with expert expat Jessica Drucker, author of  How to Move Abroad and Why it's the Best Thing You'll Do .  She's also the host of the Adventure Calls podcast. We get into the nitty-gritty of how to go about achieving your expat...

Today we celebrate seven years of The Bittersweet Life! To mark this milestone, on this mini-episode we ask each other seven questions, each one inspired by the legendary seven hills of Rome! Listen in and you may just learn something new about us! **This episode was sponsored by Lingoda — the #1 trusted European language school with very affordable prices. The small online classes, available 24/7...

For much of the pandemic, Italy has been keeping their numbers (relatively) under control, and the United States, on the other hand, has seen their numbers climb and climb without an end in sight. But now the shoe is on the other foot, so it would seem. The vaccination roll-out in the US is actually ahead of schedule, and things are slowly, finally, beginning to turn around, meanwhile most of Ital...

Tiffany looks back on the week that it all changed in Italy—one year ago right now. Did any of us think, a year later, that restrictions, yellow, orange, and red zones, masks and all the rest of it, would still be a part of our lives one year later? She muses on what was going through our heads at that unprecedented time, what, if anything, we have learned since then, and the ways in which have we...

Walking through the halls of a museum like the Uffizi Gallery in Florence—when we're not in the middle of a pandemic, that is—is generally about as artistic an experience as rush hour at Grand Central Station. Florence, a relatively small city, is overwhelmed by the number of tourists who visit it (in a normal year) and almost all of those tourists visit the Uffizi Gallery. The director of the Gal...

Katy gets into the nitty-gritty of feedback from her own point of view, digging into her own past as a senior radio producer. Today's mini-episode features part of the conversation that was cut from Monday's full-length episode, an interview with Dr. Therese Huston, author of Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower.  Katy looks back at her former job and wonders: did I give good feedba...

How can effective feedback change your life? Today, we sit down with Dr. Theresa Huston, author of the new book Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower , a "game-changing model for giving effective feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss—without offending or demotivating." In it, she explains how to tell someone that they're not meeting expectations without crushing their spiri...