The Italian Radio Hour

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Every family has stories. Some are passed down around the dinner table. Others disappear forever...unless someone decides to go looking for them. Today's guest has spent years helping thousands of people reconnect with their Italian roots, but his own story may be one of the most fascinating of all. His own research began with nothing more than a calling c...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Our guest has spent the last 30 years doing something remarkable: making Italians around the world laugh at themselves. Whether you're in Sydney, Toronto, London, New York, or right here in Pittsburgh, somehow Joe Avati knows your father, your mother, your uncle, your nonna, and that one relative who still won't talk to the family because of something...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Today we're traveling through Italy in a way that most tourists never do—not through famous landmarks or crowded attractions, but through the heart and soul of local communities: Italy's sagre, festivals, historic celebrations, religious processions, and food traditions. Our guest is Katerina Ferrara, travel writer, podcaster, and author of the acclaim...

What do Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, and Puglia have in common? Volcanoes. Ancient vines. Greek history. Rugged landscapes. And some of the most extraordinary wines in Italy — wines that, for far too long, have remained overlooked outside their own territories. While much of the wine world continues to focus on Tuscany and Piedmont, Southern Italy has quietly preserved something deeply authenti...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - It is my great pleasure to welcome the Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia, Nico Frandi. Since beginning his mandate in the fall of 2025, Consul General Frandi has focused on strengthening the ties between Italy and the Italian-American communities throughout the region, promoting Italian culture and language, supporting business and academic collaboration...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Today we’re traveling to Calabria—not only the Calabria of beautiful landscapes and family roots, but a hidden Calabria. A Calabria of caves, megaliths, forgotten civilizations, sacred symbols, ancient astronomy, and mysteries carved into stone. My guest today is Giuseppe Oliva, president of the cultural association Mistery Hunters, a group dedicated to resear...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - We are going on a journey across America—but not the America you think you know. Our guests are two Italian journalists who have lived in New York for over 25 years, writing for Corriere della Sera and La Stampa. But instead of staying in the familiar world of big cities, they decided to do something radical: they left it. Maria Teresa Cometto and Glauco Maggi...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Italy is not just as a place of beauty, but as a way of thinking. Today’s guest invites us to rethink something we often take for granted: the true power of Italy - the way it creates beauty. Luca Cottini is an Associate Professor of Italian Studies at Villanova University, a scholar of literature and culture, but also something more unusual… a storyteller of...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - With the NFL Draft just around the corner, today, we’re crossing the ocean—but not leaving Steelers Nation. Because believe it or not, thousands of miles away in Italy, there’s a passionate, growing community of fans who wake up at 2 in the morning… just to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers. How does that happen? Why the Steelers? And what does it mean to love a t...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - There is a moment—quiet, almost sacred—when someone stands in front of a small stone house in a village they have never seen before… and yet, it feels like home. For millions of descendants of Italian immigrants, that moment is not tourism. It’s not sightseeing. It’s identity. Today we explore the powerful world of “Rooting” — a movement that goes beyond trave...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Macaroni and cheese—creamy, comforting, and deeply American… or is it? What if this iconic dish actually tells a much older story—one that begins in ancient times, crosses continents, and reveals how food carries history, identity, and even myth? Today, we uncover the surprising journey of mac and cheese. We are joined by food historian Karima Moyer-Nocchi, wh...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - We sit down with Brooklyn-born Italian American artist John Avelluto, who with his work playfully and provocatively explores Italian American identity, memory, and culture through painting, trompe-l’œil, and multimedia installations. John’s latest exhibition, “AI e IO: Recent Works by John Avelluto,” curated by Dr. Caterina Pierre at the Kingsborough Art Museu...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour , we explore thepower of theatre to cross cultures, languages, and histories. Our focus is the work of legendary American playwright August Wilson , whose extraordinary cycle of plays chronicles ten decades of African American life in the United States. Wilson’s stories are deeply rooted in the Hill District of Pittsburgh , yet their themes—family, identity, mig...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - In Italy, cookies are more than sweets—they’re stories. They carry the fragrance of toasted almonds, the warmth of olive oil, and the quiet rhythm of hands shaping dough in kitchens where traditions have been passed down for generations. Today, on The Italian Radio Hour, we travel across Italy through its cookies with cookbook author and food writer Domenica M...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - What happens when Renaissance epic poetry leaves the page and begins to sing? What if the knights of Charlemagne had never left us — but simply changed stages? In this episode of The Italian Radio Hour, we travel from Renaissance courts to Sicilian puppet theaters, from the Apennine mountains to immigrant New York, guided by the luminous scholarship of Jo Ann...

In Nazi-occupied Italy, carrying a loaf of bread could mean carrying a message. Riding a bicycle could mean transporting a bomb. And being underestimated could save your life. Today, we uncover a hidden chapter of Italian history — the women of the Resistance who fought Fascism and Nazi occupation from within everyday life itself. My guest is Suzanne Cope, scholar and narrative journalist, and aut...

Most of us think we know Pinocchio . We think it’s a story about lying. But the original novel begins withhunger. Before the nose grows, before the fairyappears, before the moral lessons — there is poverty, injustice, and a childwho cannot learn because he cannot eat. Tonight, we’re stepping beyond theDisney myth and returning to 19th-century Italy — to a book that is far morepolitical, unsettling...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - “Venice doesn’t need souvenirs — she needs guardians. Today I’m inside a historic Venetian workshop to talk with Marco Jovon, from Eredi Jovon, a family operated Jewelry since 1934From the Mano Fico to the Gobbetto, from coral to hand-carved cameos, Marco Jovon explains why symbolic jewelry is more than decoration — it’s culture, protection, and identity. Acco...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - The 1000 Miglia—often called “the most beautiful race in the world”—has written a bold new chapter in its legendary history. In this episode of The Italian Radio Hour, we go behind the scenes of the 1000 Miglia Experience USA, including its thrilling new edition and the unforgettable moment when historic Italian automotive excellence met the iconic Sebring Int...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - “If you’ve ever been told: ‘Sit. Sit..Sit.’ — this episode is for you. Today, for you, I have Actor, writer, performer, and story teller Frank Ingrasciotta. With the acclaimed Off-Broadway solo play Blood Type: Ragu… things get very Italian, very fast.”With Blood Type: Ragu, Frank brings family, food, memory, and a lot of laughter to the stage — and today, rig...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - I am joined by Prof. Joseph V. Scelsa, Founder and President of the Italian American Museum of New York to discuss: Telling the Italian American Story—Ourselves. A scholar, educator, and lifelong advocate for cultural recognition, Dr. Scelsa transformed more than two decades of research, activism, and perseverance into the first permanent Italian American Muse...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - From the folk sounds of Abruzzo to the grand stages of Philadelphia 🎶 For our first episode of 2026, we could not have had a more special guest! If your childhood holiday memories are tied to the sound of "zampogna", meet Antonello Di Matteo — clarinetist, educator, innovator, and proud Abruzzese! 🇮🇹✨ Discover how this incredible young musician ble...

In this episode, I welcome Giulia Scarpaleggia, Tuscan-born home cook, food writer, and founder of Jul's Kitchen, to explore the heart and soul of cucina povera" — Italy’s timeless tradition of transforming humble ingredients into unforgettable meals. Joining us from the Val d’Elsa countryside between Siena and Florence, Giulia shares how place, family, and memory shape her cooking philos...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Susan Gravely, Founder of Vietri returns to The Italian Radio Hour with "Italy in a Glass", an exploration of the Italian ritual of aperitivo, where cocktails, mocktails, and small bites set the stage for festive gatherings. Inspired by her own experiences in Italy, Gravely shares the art of entertaining Italian-style, blending personal stories with...

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - I have the privilege of welcoming one of the most influential voices in Italian American studies: Anthony Julian Tamburri. A scholar, educator, administrator, and cultural advocate, Anthony has dedicated decades of work to elevating Italian and Italian American literature, cinema, language, and identity on the national and international stage. He is Distinguis...