The Italian Australian Podcast

We were honoured to have the CEO and founder of Diamante The Italian Lifestyle TV as our guest on this episode. Adriano Ippoliti joined us from Abruzzo to tell us about his creation Diamante TV, a platform dedicated solely to streaming Italian content around the world. Diamante has something for everyone, content is available in both English and Italian and provides a fantastic opportunity for vie...

Our guest in this episode is Carla Anita Mattiazzo, a talented performer. Carla is the cabaret artist and founder of Carla’s Confessional Cabaret and her new show ‘That’s NOT Amore’ is featuring at Adelaide Fringe 2024. An exploration of growing up, Italian in Australia. This Cabaret speaks to the complicated layers of life, generational trauma, ones worth, expectations and the value of women. In...

In this episode you will hear something a bit different, our first interview recorded in Italian. We have the pleasure of introducing Giovanni, Lukas’ neighbour. Born in Saronno in 1930, he immigrated to Australia shortly after the end of World War 2. In this episode we discuss the joys of being able to speak with native Italian speakers and how special it is to hear their memories of Italy and ex...

Food and family are key parts of life in Italy and it’s no surprise that these values have travelled with those who left Italy and started a new life in a different country. In this episode we only scratch the surface in a light hearted discussion of ‘Italian Australian’ cuisine as we know it today, how it differs from cuisine in Italy and some of the reasons for this.

Our guest for this episode is the very talented singer and performer Etta D’Elia. From an early age Etta had a passion for music and performing, she studied classical music in Italy and has performed at the Vatican for not one, but two Popes! Since moving to Perth over 10 years ago she has continued her successful career as a jazz performer. Currently she is busy preparing for her next performance...

This episode originally aired 22nd August, now edited for improved sound quality. Lukas and Josie are back for their second episode to discuss self identification and explore the meaning of ‘Italian Australian’ Listen in and enjoy some funny stories including ‘how to do an Italian Australian bbq’ ,what the ‘real’ Italians think about our food, as well as some thought provoking discussion as to how...

Originally this episode aired 15th August 2023, now edited for improved sound quality. Lukas and Josie D’Aqui are excited to launch their first episode. First generation Italian-Australians on their maternal side with a Roman born mum who has family lines from Rome, Le Marche and the Valtellina. And second generation Italian-Australians on their paternal side having an Australian born father of Ca...

One of our main goals in doing this podcast is to motivate and inspire the next generation to embrace their Italian Australian identity, continue traditions, speak Italian and maintain a connection with the culture and loved ones in Italy. We are so proud to introduce an amazing young man, a member of our family who we can truly say embodies all of these qualities. Adam, or ‘Adamo’ as we affection...

For our first episode of 2024 we decided to talk politics. This episode discusses the 2017-2018 Australian Parliamentary eligibility crisis. Also you will hear Josie tell the fascinating personal story of Anthony Albanese, our first Italian Australian Prime Minister, discovering that the father he had believed to be dead was alive in Italy and his subsequent journey to find him.

Italian Australians love cricket and whilst it is a fairly new sport in Italy it has become increasingly popular over the past generation. In this episode we discuss the history of Italian Australians who have played cricket professionally and also chat a little about why we haven’t seen an abundance of Italian names wearing the baggy green.

It was great fun getting together with our friends Joseph Versaci and Daniel Italiano who first featured as part of the podcast family in Episode 7. Together we had a chat about Christmas and how we celebrate this time of year as Italian Australians. *** Spoiler alert- the main themes, as always- are food and family!

Introducing our official South Australian correspondent Marco Petta. Born in Milan to Sicilian and Tuscan parents, Marco immigrated to Adelaide 11 years ago where he is the Station Manager of Radio Italiana 531. In this episode we discuss the experiences of the current generation of Italian immigrants in Australia, including the joys and the challenges. Marco tells us about his observations of the...

In this episode we were lucky to have a conversation with our Sicilian born guest Joseph Millimaci. As a well known and highly respected member of the Italian Australian community in Perth Joseph tells us about his passion for all things Italian, including his work as an Italian teacher as well as his time spent as a musician. Join us for some great stories and some laughs in what was an inspirati...

In this episode we are delighted to be joined by our good friend Deanna Furze (maiden name Giumelli). Deanna is a proud Italian Australian, her father’s family come from Sondrio in the North of Italy, and we very much enjoyed examining some of the differences between Northern and Southern Italian immigrants in our conversation.

Melo and Rosalba are back on the Italian Australian Podcast with stories of their recent trip to Italy. This is the first episode the 4 of us have recorded together and there was some interrupting of each but that’s life in an Italian family. Melo and Rose tell us about some of the highlights of their trip which include food and time spent with both sides of the family in Fiumicino and Calabria as...

We are thrilled to introduce our good friend Joseph Sgambelluri to our listeners! Born and raised in Harvey, WA, Joseph’s path has taken him to Sydney, NSW where he has lived and worked for many years. During his time in Sydney Joseph (affectionately known as ‘Gecko’ by his friends) has explored the Italian Australian culture the great City has to offer. Joseph has kindly agreed to share these exp...

We are joined by our guest Bianca Santucci from Sydney. Bianca is a proud Italian Australian and we enjoyed hearing about her passion for the Italian culture and about her experiences visiting Italy. One of Bianca’s observations is how Italians love their pets, especially their dogs. She herself is a dog lover and has developed her own successful business as a dog trainer, dog sitter and dog walke...

Have you ever been to a place for the first time and felt like you had been there before? Or met a relative for the first time and felt as though you had known them your whole life? Perhaps this experience can be explained as blood memory. Lukas will also explain how developing a family tree and DNA testing can trace ancestry.

In this episode we are very lucky to be joined by Nikki Dagostino. Nikki is an Italian Australian who was born and raised in Perth WA. From a young age she had a love and talent for music playing multiple instruments however she is most famous for playing the piano accordion, hence her stage name ‘Little Miss Squeezebox’ As a professional musician Nikki has travelled and performed nationally and i...

Join us as we introduce our Mum Rosalba as a guest on the Italian Australian Podcast. Born in Rome she immigrated to Australia as a child with her parents. Rosalba, or Rose as we call her, shares her memories of life in Australia, learning to speak English and her family. We hear her experience of marrying into a Calabrese family and how it felt being one of the few Roman families around. We discu...

The laughs keep on coming as we get into part 2 of our chat with the very talented James Liotta. Listen as we continue to discuss Italian Australian culture and how current generations are speaking Italian in Australia today. James tells us about his work as an MC for weddings and about some of his upcoming work. James is coming to Perth November 3rd for the Sound of Italy Italian Song Contest Sou...

We often say we are excited for our episodes, but this was an especially exciting one for us! We are both long term fans of James Liotta and so pleased for him to join us as our first interstate guest on the Italian Australian Podcast. We discuss James’ successful career as an incredibly talented performer, comedian, actor, MC and radio presenter. His creativity and passion for the entertainment i...

It’s AFL Grand Final week and to celebrate we have brought on some of our favourite people- i nostri paesani Joseph Versaci and Daniel Italiano. The guys will break down the AFL Italian team of the century featuring players past and present. We so excited to have Joseph and Daniel make their first of what we hope is many appearances on The Italian Australian Podcast.

Through the course of history Italians have achieved so many amazing feats and many of the worlds most decorated people hail from our ‘Bel Paese’ so it’s no surprise that many Italian descendants have achieved success and fame here down under. However we have a list that might surprise you. The Unsuspecting Italian Australians! Lukas has prepared a long list which is bound to surprise you with som...

Join us as we reminisce about some of our fantastic and special trips to Italy. In this episode you will hear about trips taken with family, others and the very memorable time when we went together. We will tell you about times spent with our Italian relatives, our experiences visiting our ancestral towns and putting our Italian speaking to the test. No doubt this episode will leave you longing to...