The Bittersweet Life

"Are we brave enough to want our heart's desires?" One of the best parts about hosting this podcast is getting to meet amazing authors and talk about their books with them. A bonus is when the author agrees to read you your favorite excerpt from their book. On this mini-episode, our most recent author guest, Sheri Salata, reads one of the quotes that Katy appreciated and promptly highlighted durin...

The executive producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Sheri Salata and her cohost Nancy Hala on the popular podcast, The Sheri and Nancy Show join us on this very special episode! Sheri is the author of the new book, The Beautiful No, And Other Tales of Trail, Transcendence, and Transformation . They discuss the inevitable question that arrives somewhere in your 50s: what's next? In the midst of a maj...

On this week's Bittersweet Moment, Katy takes to the streets of Seattle to ask passersby if they've ever had a brief encounter with someone and never forgotten that person. Why was that? Why do some people stay with you even if they are not physically there? What makes some people stand out in your memory, despite the brevity of their time in your life? ---------------------------------------- ADV...

Today Katy recounts her relationship with a long-time listener, someone she never met but communicated with often, and how finding out about his death brought up unexpected emotions. Digging back through his emails, she finds an invitation to cherish memories without bemoaning the passage of time—perhaps the exact message that her nostalgic soul needed to hear. ------------------------------------...

In this week's mini-episode, Tiffany takes you on a virtual tour of one of the most fascinating and little-known sites in Rome, which also happens to be one of the greatest optical illusions in the world. ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started. BECOME A PATRON: Pledg...

SEASON 7  is opening with an announcement from Katy. Another move is in store for her! In fact, part of this episode captures some of the highlights of her journey to her new home. Where will it be, you wonder? I guess you'll just have to listen to find out. ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email t...

Every year on Labor Day, we take the day off to enjoy the fruits of our labors, and post one of our favorite episodes from the archives. Today we take you back in time to the summer of 2014, on Katy's very last morning as an expat living in Rome. She and Tiffany spend 20 minutes in walking the streets of Trastevere at dawn before Katy has to hop on a bus and make her way to the airport, where a pl...

On this mini-episode, Katy takes us back in time to the the Golden Age of radio, by re-broadcasting a piece she produced for the Radio Retrospective. In it, she looks at the way the news was manipulated and dramatized leading up to and during World War II, in segments that were aired at the cinema, right before the feature. ---------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats,...

This episode is Part 2 of an interview with bestselling writer Anthony Doerr, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning  All the Light We Cannot See, and Four Seasons in Rome . Be sure to listen to Part 1 if you haven't already! As the conversation continues, Anthony tells the story of finding out he had won the prestigious Rome Prize literally the same day his twin sons were born, and what it took for he...

In this very special episode, we are joined by the award-winning, best-selling writer, Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See, and Four Seasons in Rome , among others. Anthony shares his writing journey with Katy, from his earliest beginnings as an amateur writer to the challenges of writing from the perspective of a young blind girl in All the Light We Cannot See . He also shares ho...

This mini-episode finds Tiffany sitting on a bench on a crowded street corner in Rome's Prati neighborhood, observing the world around her—without her smartphone on hand. In a follow-up to last week's episode ADDICTION, Parts One and Two , Tiffany carries out Katy's assignment of spending some time alone without looking at her phone, and to notice the world around her instead. She points out five...

In part two of this week's double-header, we continue our discussion of addiction, this time focusing more on physical addictions, and specifically cigarettes. Katy reveals her struggles with smoking from a young age, and how she finally managed to quit. She also compares the physical and chemical addiction of something like a cigarette to the more psychological addiction of a smartphone. And what...

How do you know you're addicted to your phone? And more importantly, what can you do about it? Tiffany recognizes the signs of a looming problem and asks Katy for some advice. This leads to a conversation about addiction in general. Be sure to stick around for Part 2 of this conversation when Katy opens up about struggling with a very different kind of addiction. ----------------------------------...

Swiss cabin meets medieval hamlet meets art nouveau glass? As crazy as it sounds, this unlikely mash-up is not an abomination, but rather one of the most charming, yet little visited, museums in Rome. Tucked away among the greenery of Villa Torlonia north of the city, la Casina delle Civette, or the Owl House, was built in 1840 for an Italian prince, and added to over the decades that followed.  I...

Is it important to be on time? What does it say about you if you are often late? What does it say about you if it really bothers you when others are late? This week, we delve into the world of punctuality, and all of the expectations and resentments that can come with it (or the lack of it). This idea was suggested by a listener via Instagram. We love when listeners send us suggestions! Send us yo...

On this week's mini-episode, Katy captures the unique and festive sounds of a parade that is passing through her town. And she explains why she sometimes gets choked up when she attends a parade. She also wonders about the origins of the word "parade," and if it ever meant something different from the gleeful file of marching bands, floats, and military regiments that it has come to signify today....

This week, TIffany fills Katy in on her recent trip to the States, the best parts of the adventure, and how Aurelio is turning out to be an awesome traveler. She also remarks on the things about American life and culture that never fail to surprise her every time she goes back. Lastly, Tiffany reveals the surprising reaction she had upon flying back to Rome, as well as a thought she hasn't had in...

Rome in August. It's hot, it's sticky and it's surprisingly empty. August is the month in which Romans desert the city en masse and head for the seashore or the mountains, searching for a welcome respite from the sizzling city heat. Many shopkeepers and restaurant owners take part in the exodus as well, so shuttered shop windows and the ubiquitous " chiuso per ferie " (closed the for holidays) sig...

This week, we explore the underground world with Robert MacFarlane of Cambridge University in England. Robert is the best-selling author of Landmarks and The Old Ways, and was awarded the EM Forster Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His latest book, UNDERLAND, is an "epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land...

On this week's Bittersweet Moment, Tiffany interviews an old friend, someone who has had an influence on her writing in a very concrete way. The interview takes place in a gorgous house up in the trees on the cliff of Big Sur, but it was in Rome where Tiffany and India first met, and the place India was living ending up being one of the seeds that would lead to the idea for her first book, Midnigh...

Do you think traveling by rail is romantic? Or are we the only ones? We're digging into our archives this week to bring you this episode that we recorded on a train between Rome and Orvieto way back in 2014, the very first year of this podcast! Summer is a time of travel for many people, but if this week you happen to be stuck at home, come along with us as we discuss just why train travel is the...

On today's Bittersweet Moment, we check in with listener and friend Lynn Fortunato to hear her reaction to her session with a psychic medium. If you haven't listened to last week's episodes, be sure to do that first! Episode 266: Medium, Part 1 Episode 267: Medium, Part 2 -------------------------------------------- ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world....

Last week we were off, so this week, we're putting out two shows for the price of one! (That price being FREE—as always! :-) Make sure you listen to Episode 266 {MEDIUM, Part 1} first, to follow Katy and our longtime listener Lynn into a live psychic session! Visit the site of Felix Lee Lerma , the psychic medium who assists Lynn in this episode. -------------------------------------------- ADVERT...

And for this week, something completely new! Katy meets up with one of The Bittersweet Life's longtime listeners, San Francisco resident Lynn Fortunato. Lynn is standing on the precipice of change. She's bored of her job, she's not overly attached to San Francisco, her lease is up in September, and she's yearning for something new. But how do you know where you should go—or even if you should go?...

Katy and Tiffany take a much-deserved break this week, but we do stop by, if just to say hi. If you feel a twitch of disappointment that you don't get to hear the show this week, consider supporting us! If we bring value to your life every week, help keep the show alive by pledging monthly support on our new Patreon page ! We are offering fun and valuable prizes for patrons at any tier. Every sing...