The Italian American Podcast

If any language proves that there's room at the linguistic table for everyone... it's Italian! This week, we continue our examination of the languages of Italy as we take a closer look at her many Regional Languages and Dialects, including the unique blend of Italian and English spoken by Italian Americans through the generations. We'll discus the state of Italy's diverse Regional Languages, both...

It's often said that language is the living history of a people, and the Italian language has had a very exciting life! In this week's episode, we dive into the history of the Italian language, from its Latin roots to its standardization straight through to its evolution into the languages of Italy's 100 million person diaspora. Our team also discusses the complex relationship between standard "Fl...

 Welcome to Italy—we're open for business. That's the message Allison Scola wants to share in this episode of The Italian American Podcast. With Coronavirus spreading throughout Italy and the world, we sit down with Scola, the founder, owner, and curator of Experience Sicily and the New York Cannoli Crawl (and 2019 New York Times Travel Show Expert) to get her thoughts on traveling to Italy in the...

 What IS America without pasta?  Without prosciutto?  Or parmigiano??  In this episode, we'll ask those very questions when we're joined by former Congressman Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, the new Chairman of the American Italian Food Coalition (AIFC), a consortium of over 450 Italian companies seeking to protect Italian pasta, coffee, biscuits and wafers from US's new tariff policies.   The "Prot...

It's all over but the counting! It's our final episode examining the results of our ITALIAN IDENTITY 2020 SURVEY, our amateur analysis of the present and future of the 25-million-person Italian American community. Drawing on findings from more than 1,600 respondents from throughout the nation, this final episode takes us into the traditions and trends of Italian America to understand how our cultu...

It's Part 3 of our four-part series examining the results of our ITALIAN IDENTITY 2020 SURVEY, our exploration into the hearts and minds of Italian Americans in the 21st Century. With results drawn from more than 1,600 respondents from around the USA, this episode takes us into the souls of Italian America, to understand what respondents felt were the most important touchstones of the modern Itali...

We're back with Part 2 of our multi-episode series examining the results of our ITALIAN IDENTITY 2020 SURVEY, our effort to ask the questions only we could ask of ourselves, and to understand what the Italian American community really looks like today, and what we will become in the future. With more than 1,600 respondents from around the nation chiming in, we're moving into more nuanced territory...

At the start of Italian American Heritage Month last October, we created the ITALIAN IDENTITY 2020 SURVEY, which is our effort to ask the questions only we could ask of ourselves, and to understand what the Italian American community really looks like today, and what we will become in the future. More than 1,600 passionate Italian Americans from around the country have made their voices heard, and...

From its humble origins in Newark, New Jersey, for nearly 90 years, the venerable 'Italian Tribune' has grown to become perhaps the most important English-language voice in Italian American media. We'll meet the inspiring couple who has made this multi-generational Italian family business into not just "the Paper of Record for the Italian American Community," but who has also bucked the trends of...

For 30 years Mary Ann Esposito has been a part of our lives on "Ciao Italia", American television's longest running cooking show on PBS. Undeniably, this is the First Lady of the Italian American kitchen. Yet while we all know and love this consummate educator, the Italian American Podcast is bringing you a chance to see the lady behind the lens... and to get to know the man who has been her lovin...

For years, America has gotten to know Eric Eremita as the no-nonsense builder who made hundreds of families' dream homes a reality on HGTV's "Love It Or List It" and "Brother vs. Brother". But now, we're sitting down with this proud Staten Islander to get to know a little bit more of his Italian American side. We'll discuss how this family man ended up as an internationally recognized face, learn...

A Happy Feast of the Epiphany to all of our paesani our there! Today is January 6th... La Festa dell'Epifania - which means if you were a good little Italian this year, you should have received a few extra treats in your stocking this morning courtesy of La Befana, the Italian Christmas Witch! This legendary lady flies on her broom all over Italy on the Eve of the Epiphany, sliding down chimneys t...

New Year's Eve is almost here and we at the Italian American Podcast thought we should bring in a special guest to help us point you in the direction of Italy's best "bubblies" so that when the Ball drops, and you pop the cork you could know exactly which Italian sparkling wine should be in your glass! But, Christian Galliani, Founder of 'Wine for the 99' (not to mention the co-founder of "Arthur...

Buon Natale Everybody! It's the most wonderful time of the year, a time for friends, food, famiglia... and the free-flowing conversations bound to come up when Dolores and Anthony get back on the mic at the Italian American Podcast. The duo that started it all have been pretty swamped these past few months, but in the days before Christmas they reunite with John and Pat and set out to record anoth...

Hoboken, NJ is considered a Mecca of Italian American Pastry, with something for everyone, from world-famous brands to the most authentic family-owned Pasticceria you could ask for! At Giorgio's Pasticceria Italiana, second generation pastry chef Mary Grace Castiello follows in the footsteps of her late father, the Pastry Shop's namesake Giorgio, in making sure that no matter how long the lines ge...

Why is Arthur Avenue, the Little Italy in the Bronx, NY, so unique amongst America's Italian enclaves? After a day of filming the newest episode of Greetings From Italian America, Rossella, Pat, and John sit down for a plate of fresh-made pasta with Danielle Oteri, the co-founder of 'Feast on History' and the 'Arthur Avenue Food Tours' to discuss just what makes this neighborhood so unique. They'l...

This week, in a special pre-recorded announcement, John and Pat will take a break from their Thanksgiving Eve preparations to sit down for a call to discuss the newest project from the Italian American Podcast... "Greetings From Italian America" a brand new web-series produced in conjunction with the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) in which your favorite Italian American podcasters wi...

As we approach Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas Season, John and Pat are spending an afternoon with one of their favorite Italian American friends, the award-winning singer, actress, and opera star Cristina Fontanelli, who brings her captivating personality into the IAP studio for an episode that's full of love and laughter from the very first moments... as Cristina tries to prevent Pat...

Rocco Deserto isn't blaming his mother for making him nuts... he's just revealing the humor behind his first generation Italian American upbringing! This week, Rossella and John are joined by the man known to the world as Rocco the Comic, and this triumvirate of Brooklyn Italians is setting out to understand why it feels so good when we Italian Americans can laugh at ourselves. They'll discuss the...

The United States population is equivalent to 4.27% of the total world population, yet we consume 90% of the opioids on earth.  Every single day we lose 150 Americans to opioid related deaths.  It's an epidemic that is ravishing our nation, and one that is little understood. This week, moderator John M. Viola sits down with longtime friend Dr. John Rosa, the founder of ' Overdose Free America ', a...

On this episode of the Italian American Podcast, we'll sit down with Filmmaker Antony Osso to discuss his award winning documentary  PIZZA SHOP: An Italian-American Dream - an intimate portrait of his family and the pizzeria and restaurant they have run for over forty years. Osso's film introduces us to his father Charlie and uncle Fred, poor immigrants from post-war Calabria, whose lives have rev...

Italian American Heritage Month is drawing to a close, and for our final episode of October, we're inviting in a few outside voices to join us as we try to untangle the often-in-the-news topic of Christopher Columbus, his legacy, the holiday that bears his name, and his meaning for the modern Italian American. As the "Columbus Question" continues to evolve within America's popular dialogue, many A...

This week we are coming at you from Cleveland, Ohio, one of America's most passionate Italian communities! In celebration of Italian American Heritage Month, our favorite moderator John M. Viola has been invited to speak to the Northern Ohio Italian American Foundation ( NOIA Foundation ) about the history of Southern Italy and its impact on the Italian American story. Recorded from a live present...

Happy Columbus Day everyone!  Or is it "Happy Indigenous Peoples Day"?  Or "Happy Italian American Heritage Day"? In recent years, a holiday that was celebrated for centuries without controversy (save for some of the garish green-white-and-red outfits it inspired) has become a hot-button issue that hits at the heart of Italian identity in America. As some communities opt to re-examine the legacy o...

For over one hundred episodes, we've talked, complained, gossiped, and wondered about the "Italian American Way", and now it's time to set pen to paper and see if we can't figure out exactly what that means in 21st Century America. As 'Italian American Heritage Month' kicks into full swing, John presents Pat with a project he's long sought to bring to fruition... an 'Italian American Identity Audi...