The Italian Australian Podcast

In this episode we talked about immigration, mental health and in particular how it affects teenagers. Our guest is Federica Zamboni a psychologist and psychotherapist who immigrated to Perth as a teenager. We chatted about Federica's own experience and how her practice- Tailoring Therapy- has developed a program which focuses specifically on the needs of adolescents immigrating from Italy to Aust...

We were thrilled to have Italian Australian icon and comedy legend Joe Avati join us for his second episode on the Italian Australian Podcast. It was great to catch up and hear what Joe has been up to, in particular the recent work he has been involved in with Italea, a platform dedicated to helping people rediscover their Italian origins. Italea on Instagram: Italea (@_italea) • Instagram photos...

We are excited and proud for this milestone!! For this episode we wanted to go back to where it all started, a brother and sister having a chat. We share some memories of our experiences since starting the podcast, the good, the bad and what we have learned along the way. It was great to look back at some of our previous guests, people we have met and friends and connections made. Thankyou to ever...

This was an incredibly fun episode to record with fellow a very proud Italian Australian, Perth's favourite real estate agent Justin Merendino!! We have a lot in common with Justin and hearing about his Italian heritage, being both Calabrese and Sicilian. Justin's passion for his culture is so strong and his regard for the language, including both dialects, is inspiring. We shared our thoughts of...

We had a lovely time chatting with our guest in this episode Taysha Farrugia. Taysha is a young Italian Australian based in Melbourne who at just 14 years old is already on her way to becoming a successful singer and actress. You will hear 2 of her songs in this episode and you can find her music on Spotify via the links below. We love chatting with the next generation of Italian Australians and w...

We loved chatting with fellow Italian Australian Daniele Foti-Cuzzola in this week's episode. Daniele has grown up with a strong connection to his Italian heritage and we had lots to chat about including language, food and spending time in Italy. Daniele's connection to his culture has influenced his professional life as a Creative Director. He now has his own studio named 'Studio Musaicu' and div...

Our friend and return guest, the talented James Liotta is back ! We loved catching up with James and hearing about what he has been getting up to. We are looking forward to seeing James when he is back in Perth touring with the Uncle Louie Variety Show in July, see the links below for more details. James also helped us answer an extremely important question- how much do you put in the Busta? Same...

This was a very fun chat for us, we were joined by Lou Greco and Carlo Russo, the stars of The Uncle Louie Variety Show. They are comedians based in America and entertain millions with their hilarious videos on social media, they are also skilled stage performers and they are bringing their show to Australia this July with shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, our friend- the talented and extremel...

We are so grateful to our friend Elena Di Fiore for introducing us to our guest in this episode!! In this episode we are joined by Elizabeth Rocca, an Italian Australian from Adelaide. Elizabeth's Instagram page 'Adelaide Gal' is dedicated to showcasing current events in Adelaide. She works as an MC and is a radio host for Radio Italiana 531 where she co-hosts 'Feel Good Friday' every Friday after...

In this episode we chatted with Rosemary Gattuso, a trauma informed family mediator who has written an Inspiring self-help book 'It's Not You, it's Me. We quickly bonded with Rosemary- over our shared Calabrese heritage- including our stereotypical Calabrese appearances- and our love for spending time in Italy. Rosemary told us all about her time spent living in Italy to consolidate learning the I...

It was an absolute pleasure to chat with Australian Idol Grand Finalist Gisella Colletti and her father Luke. Gisella is incredibly talented with an impressive vocal range and a powerful stage presence. We loved hearing Gisella tell us about her journey with Australian Idol, including having Marcia Hines surprise her at her house and performing with fellow Italian Australian, Tina Arena. It was ea...

We were so excited to chat with this week's guest, Melbourne based internationally best selling author Jenna Lo Bianco. We are big fans of Jenna's work, reading her books will instantly make you feel as though you are in Italy. This is why are so happy to share her story with our listeners, if you haven't read her books yet then get your hands on one ASAP, you will not be disappointed! (see link b...

We are joined by return guest, our friend Mario Daviddi for a chat about how April 25th has a double significance for Italian Australians. We both learned a lot in this episode and enjoyed discussing how for Italian Australians April 25th is especially significant as we have a connection to this day through our Italian Heritage and also through our country of birth/adopted country. This date marks...

In this episode we continue our chat about how Italian immigrants were viewed in terms of race and how this shapes our experience in current times. Looking back in time, the cultural landscape of Australia was very different than in present times. The White Australia Policy was in effect during the post war era when many Italians were immigrating to Australia. There was a lot to discuss and was wo...

Comedian Anthony Locascio is back to chat with us in this episode. Anthony is a well known and very talented Australian comedian with Italian and Greek heritage, our listeners will remember the chat we had with Anthony last year Episode 62: Are Greeks and Italians the same? Featuring Anthony Locascio - The Italian Australian Podcast | Podcast on Spotify It was great to chat with him again and hear...

We had a great time chatting about growing up Italian Australian with our guest in this episode- Elena Di Fiore. Elena is a business consultant, wife, mother of 3 children and a proud Italian Australian. Elena is the manager of our previous guest, the incredibly talented musician Michael Cristiano. You will hear some of Michael's music in this episode and we chatted about our appreciation of his w...

We think we have found the most Italian Australian person in Australia and he joined us our guest in this episode! After a couple of failed attempts, the Malocchio finally lifted and we were able to have this chat. Daniel Siani is based Melbourne, we always enjoy getting a perspective from a different part of the country. Daniel was born in Australia to Italian immigrants, when he was a baby they...

It's not long now until the Perth Italian Festival is back, it's April 5th 11am-10pm at Langley Park. The Festival is back for it's second year following the enormous success in 2024 thanks to Frank Miranda aka Mr Accordion Man and the hard working committee members who volunteer their time and skills to put this event together. This year Alexander is part of the committee and is one of the MCs of...

We loved having another chat with Melbourne based content creator Massimo Corrente, this week we had a light hearted chat about our favourite 'Nonni words' and funny things Nonni say. This is a topic children and grandchildren of Italian immigrants can all relate to, in Australia and anywhere there are Italian immigrants. We loved remembering our Nonni in this episode, they are so special...

This is Part 2 of our chat with Vince Garreffa- if you missed Part 1 we recommend starting there so you don't miss out of any of Vince's remarkable story. In this episode we chatted about Vince's work as a butcher, how the Mondo Butcher business started and how they came up with the name. It was heartwarming to hear about Vince's love and respect for his wife Anne who he acknowledges as a huge par...

What an absolute honour it was for us to have a long chat in person with Vince Garreffa. Vince is an icon in the Perth Italian Community, he is most well known for launching Mondo Butchers in 1979 but there is so much more to his story than the business. Born in Calabria in 1951, Vince and his mother and brothers immigrated to Australia in 1956 to join his father who was waiting for them in Perth....

We love getting to meet new friends through this podcast and this week we have another to introduce to our listeners- Denise Renzi. Denise is originally from the beautiful city of Modena in Italy and is now based in Bendigo where she is pursuing her dream of becoming a professional boxer. Currently she is an amateur boxer and competes in the Victorian Amateur Boxing League. It was so interesting t...

It's almost Valentine's Day so for this week's episode we caught up with a couple who just love to celebrate this occasion, our Aunty Mimma and Uncle Rolly. Aunty Mimma is our Dad Melo's youngest sister and her husband is our Uncle Rolly. We love their story of an Italian Australian woman marrying an Australian man. It was a lot of fun going listening to the story of how they met, meeting each oth...

We love having our friends join us on the podcast, this week we are joined by Laura Cortellazzi. Laura's story is unique and fascinating. Laura immigrated to Australia with her parents at the age of 18, she was born in France to parents of Sicilian heritage however her dad was actually born in Australia before moving back to Italy as a child. Living in France Laura grew up with French as her f...

Our dad Melo joins again on the podcast, this episode is in honour of our Nonni, those who we are still lucky enough to still have with us and those passed. We thought it was good timing as this episode airs a few days after what would have been our Nonno Rocco's 100th birthday and also the birthday of our Nonno Benito, he has also passed. We heard Melo's memories of the Nonni he had in Australia...