The Italian Australian Podcast

Sara’s unique and fascinating migration experience sounds like a story with so many twists and turns it could be from a film! From Adelaide to Perth, to Naples to Adelaide, back to Naples then back to Adelaide then to Milan! Her story includes an earthquake, unexpected romance and juggling life as a mother whilst working for NATO. We discussed her experience of defining her identity as an Italian...

Our good friend Joseph Sgambelluri AKA The Italian Aussie Cook joined us again for a chat about Italian traditions which are still carried on in Italian Australian families today. These traditions include pig day, sauce day and wine making. We always enjoy having a chat and a laugh with Joseph. Listen to this episode for some inspiration and motivation to carry on your family traditions.

Anthony Cortellazzi is back again for a chat about soccer, this time we are breaking down Italy’s performance in Euro 2024 and asking the question- what went wrong? Was it all Spalletti’s fault? Join us as we break it down game by game and discuss what needs to change for the Italian National team to be competitive in the World Cup 2026.

In this episode Lukas finally got a chance to tell Josie and the listeners about his extensive research into family history. Lukas explains how to access Italian records online and gives some advice on how people can start their own research. Often what is found in this research is surprising, the stories of our ancestors are just waiting to be discovered. Another way of finding answers about fami...

What a fun time we had recording this episode! We were joined by our new friend Adriana Cefalà, an Italian Australian from country Victoria who is now living in Piemonte, Italy. Adriana is the host of her own podcast, English with an Aussie. We had so much to talk about and no surprise we didn’t get through half of the topics on our list- partly due to the Malocchio caused by Lukas! Listen to the...

What an absolute honour it was to have a chat with an icon of Western Australia, the ‘Spud King Tony Galati. A proud Italian Australian and founder of a chain of successful farmers markets named Spudshed, Tony is famous for his long battle with bureaucracy which ultimately saw a change to laws which greatly benefited local farmers. Tony told us about his experiences as a child born to Sicilian imm...

We loved chatting with Ada Guglielmino, the host of a local radio show ‘Hashtag Italia Radio’ in this episode. On Radio Fremantle 107.9FM every Thursday 5pm-6pm, the show is spoken in Italian and includes music, news for the local Italian community, art, culture and movies, with guests and interviews from Australia and Italy. The great thing is if you miss the live show you can listen back via the...

Italians love the piano accordion, you hear the piano accordion, you hear Italy! So how great is it to know we have a very talented young piano accordion player right here in Perth. We were so happy to have Samuel and his mother Marina join us for a chat. Samuel is just 8 years old and we loved hearing the story of him choosing the learn the piano accordion, just like his Nonno. Josie was thrilled...

Biagio Versace, the host of the popular ‘Mindpositivo’ podcast and radio presenter joined us for a chat in this episode. Lukas has discovered we have a connection with Biagio through our shared Calabrese heritage, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring this as well as the importance of keeping our culture alive and the rise of podcasts in the changing world of media.

Our Dad Melo is back on the Italian Australian Podcast!! He was the person who taught us how to play Italian cards when we were kids and it was great to have a chat with him in this episode. He tells us about some of his memories of playing cards with his Dad and relatives. We also discuss the many varieties of Italian cards and how that reflects the regional differences of Italy as a whole. Plus...

It’s a big week for Perth! This Friday AC Milan and Roma play at Optus stadium so we decided this was a great time to have a chat about soccer. For this episode we were joined by our good friend Anthony Cortellazzi, originally from Sydney, he became our neighbour then our friend. He truly has a passion for soccer as a player, coach and spectator and we loved recording this episode with him. We als...

James Liotta is back for his 3rd episode on the Italian Australian Podcast. It’s exactly one month from the date of this episode until James kicks off his solo tour of his ‘Mamma’s not happy’ tour. The tour starts in our home city Perth at the Astor Theatre. In this episode James gave us a glimpse at some of the hilarious content the audience can expect, we are so excited for this show! At the tim...

Are you thinking about applying for Italian Citizenship but not sure where to start? Listen to this chat for some helpful info to get you started. We had a great time chatting with our guest and it is our first episode to feature a guest who does not have Italian heritage! Nik Kraljevic is a Croatian Australian and founder of Societates Civis a company which has developed a series of apps includin...

What an absolute thrill it was to have Italian Australian comedy legend Joe Avati join us for an episode! With a career spanning over 25 years Joe is an icon both in Australia and internationally. Listen to our chat to hear more about his story and his view on how ‘political correctness’ has impacted the comedy scene. We also discussed our shared heritage and our identity as Italian Australians. T...

Ever wanted to know more about your Italian heritage but didn’t know where to start? Our guest for this episode joined us from the USA- Mr Bob Sorrentino- and he has some answers for you! He has a wealth of knowledge and a passion for genealogy which he has shared for many years in his popular podcast ‘Italian Roots and Genealogy,’ In addition to his podcast, blog and facebook page, Bob is also an...

In this episode we are joined by the creator of ‘Heapost’ Diego Filippozzi. Born in Belgium to Italian immigrants, he is proud of both his Italian and Belgian heritage. Diego told us about the experience of Italians who migrated to Belgium post world war 2 and of his own experience as a backpacker arriving in Australia in 2018. As a backpacker Diego learned about the challenges for backpackers in...

Do you know why names are often repeated in Italian families? And do you know what Lukas’ name ‘should’ have been? We have a few fun facts for you! In this episode we discuss the Italian Australian experience of names including naming traditions from Italy and how they have both continued and evolved in the diaspora. We also talk about how names are abbreviated and/or translated. We also discuss t...

In this episode you will hear about our experience at the Perth Italian Festival which we attended on the weekend. It won’t surprise our listeners to hear that we had an amazing time! Listen to this episode to hear about how the idea for the festival became a reality and an achievement for Frank Miranda AKA Mr Accordion Man, the Perth Italian Festival Incorporated, the City of Perth and everyone i...

A few weeks ago we made it to ‘Woglife’ Nick Giannopoulos’ farewell tour at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco and it was an absolutely amazing performance. We have been fans of Nick and his work since we were children. As a Greek Australian performer, Nick has done so much in the entertainment business with a strong ethnic theme including Wogs out of Work, Acropolis Now and the Wog Boy films, here at t...

We are officially in Holy Week and for this episode we were joined by our good friend and unofficial co-host Daniel Italiano for a fun chat about our Easter traditions. You will hear a lot of laughs and it won’t be surprising for our listeners to hear that food was a big topic for discussion along with celebrating with family and observing traditions throughout the period of lent.

We are thrilled to have finally gotten our beloved Nonna Maria on the Italian Australian Podcast. We have grown up extremely close with her and she has heavily impacted our lives and identity as Italian Australians. Born in Rome in 1936 she immigrated to Australia in 1960 with our Nonno and mum Rosalba. Like so many others, her experience of immigration was a struggle, however in some ways her exp...

Our South Australian correspondent is back, invigorated after his recent trip back to Italy to attend the amazing Sanremo music festival. In his role as Station Manager at Radio Italiana 531, Marco and his team were proud to bring the energy and joy of Sanremo to Australia via the station and social media. If you haven’t already checked out the station’s updated app- follow the link below. https:/...

We feel very fortunate to be involved with the upcoming Perth Italian Festival and for this episode two of the organisers joined us for a chat. Frank Miranda, AKA Mr Accordion Man and Sandro Barzotto, president of the Laguna Club are some of the passionate and hardworking people who are putting this event together. There have been Italian events in Perth in the past but this is the Inaugural Perth...

Our NSW correspondent is back, many of you will remember Joseph Sgambelluri from episode 14. We had a great time getting together again for this week’s episode and we loved having a chat about Joseph and his wife’s exciting times recently with the creation of their unique instagram page ‘The Italian Aussie Cook’ https://www.instagram.com/theitalianaussiecook?igsh=MXNuNm5rN2p4anVjeA== We enjoyed a...

For this episode we were joined by Canadian comedian Giuseppe Meleca AKA Giuseppe the MC. This incredibly funny and creative man is known around the globe and famous for his hilarious videos and skits which are all the more hilarious by the way he includes his Italian language, Calabrese. In this episode Giuseppe described his family’s story of immigration and his personal story of how he found hi...