The Puglia Podcast

Our Easter soundscape for 2020 starts with the morning chorus of birds recorded here in Puglia as the sun rises. A celebration of spring and the shape of things to come, as the day passes and the sun sets behind the olive grove and another day in the heel of Italy's boot ...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   As the covid-19 coronavirus goes global so do we. Our first conversation is with Alp in Istanbul before heading across the border to Greece where Fo is in Serres, Vicky in Thessaloniki and Amalia and her brother Hercules and sister Angela are in Egio, near Patras. We ask them how their countries are dealing with the current crisis,...

As news leaks that a quarter of Italy's population are to be put into quarantine, Puglia's President Michele Emiliano issued a dramatic appeal urging those trying to escape the quarantine zone, "Don't come to Puglia, go back." He urges "Get off at the first train station, don't take planes to Bari and Brindisi, go back by car, get off the bus at the next stop," he wrote, mostly addressing people f...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   In this mini-episode we speak to Antonio Nicoletti the Direttore Generale of Basilicata's tourist board, the Agenzia di Promozione Territoriale Basilicata. Antonio explains that there's no rest for Matera. After a full and splendid year as European Capital of Culture in 2019 Matera is preparing for another surge in tourism in 2020 a...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   Bond is back! We preview "No Time to Die" filmed in Puglia and in neighbouring Matera. With guest Gianluca, one of the organisers of the 2020 Salento Rainbow Film Festival we talk films showing off Puglia at its best and preview the 2020 Festival, now in its 6th year.

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   When you think of Italian men, you might well think dark and hairy. But the modern Italian man prefers to "manscape", waxing all over their body, from their chest arms and legs... and even more intimate bits. Scott thinks that for the sake of the podcast it's time to go the full "Italian", but ultimately decides that for his first w...

We take a detour from Puglia and our usual focus on LGBT+ life and culture when Scott represents Italy on a 10-day Erasmus+ course held in Reims, France...just north of Paris, where champagne comes from... If you don't know about Erasmus+ , Jus Gentium and the amazing learning and cultural (=the big party) experience that Erasmus+ provides, listen to the podcast and be sure to check out our post a...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   We meet Fabrizio in his adopted town, Grottaglie, famous for its ceramics. We learn about the ethos of the boutique/bar business that he runs and consider the benefits of being able to be your authentic self and the internal discrimination that exists within the gay community. Fabrizio is the proprietor of FCruciani, via Armando Dia...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   We visit Torre Guaceto, one of Puglia's most popular beaches, and one of its best known gay and nudist beaches. We speak to some volunteers from WWF working at the nature reserve and cleaning up the beach. DavidItalia92 is back to tell us how the local gays access the gay beach - which is much easier than the 50 minute plus walk des...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   We are in Matera, European capital of culture 2019, for the first ever Matera Pride. We take the chance to compare it with our experiences of Rome Pride, Bari Pride and Taranto Pride. Michele takes the test and we find out whether he is more a prosecco or peroni boy, with a preference for inside or outside...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   Part 2 of our gay travel guide to Ostuni, Puglia.  David, our guide to Ostuni, takes us to Ostuni's two local beaches where there is something more beginning with "S" going on than just sun, sea and sand... Lamaforca and Torre Pozzelle. David explains the protocol and the rules of engagement and helps us with the language! ADULT CON...

Like a game of football (AC Milan v Juventis), Part 1 of our guide to Ostuni is a game of two halves. With another new friend @davidgram92 we find out a little bit about Ostuni, its history and some of our favourite places to eat and hang out... Then in the second half, we find out a little bit more about our charming guest for this podcast, Mr Citta di Ostuni, the lovely David (@davidgram92 on In...

AKA the sleepover before the hangover… The boys take (another) trip to Lecce, this time to celebrate IDAHOT 2019 with their friends from Ra. Ne - the Rainbow Network. They have a sleepover at their best new friend's place in Lecce, grazie Adriano, and at 4am they try to make sense of everything. As we say here in Italy, siete ubriaco!

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   We review the triumph and tragedy that was our roadtrip to Perugia. We preview the three Prides of Puglia - Taranto Pride, Bari Pride and Salento Pride. And we launch our competition to win EUR100. Just listen to the episode for details and follow @ricchitoni and @gaypugliapodcast on Instagram when you send your answer and when the...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   So, this one is a little different. It's our Easter Soundscape. When people turn to religion, we turn to art. A tribute, vespers for Holy Week, or something else. You decide...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   We chat with professional dancer and voguer extraordinaire Kenjii Mizrahi, after his amazing Voguing Workshop for the Salento Rainbow Film Festival. Kenjii explains the history and culture of voguing - the houses, the old way, new way and vogue fem. We learn about European catwalk, American runway and the climactic dip. Follow Kenji...

We visit the Salento Rainbow Film Festival, Lecce's LGBT* film festival taking place 28-30 March 2019. But first Scott arrives in Lecce listening to his favourite podcast, Once Upon A Scream. He explains his craving for a kebab and, while trying to find the venue, ponders on whether he prefers Lecce to Bari. 12 minutes into the episode he finds CineLab Bertolucci, the festival venue, and tracks do...

With Michele still rehearsing for the play in Naples, Scott goes to his tamburello lesson, then moans about the inconvenience of the ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   This podcast contains some adult content. With spring in full bloom and summer seemingly around the corner Scott tests his Italian language skills with some useful Italian phrases for gay men visiting Italy this summer. Whether you want to take it p iù veloce or più piano, there are some interesting phrases for the gifted and talent...

In Part 1 Scott and Michele consider why Italians love their bidet and why Italian guys are proud to fiddle with their privates in public; we consider two anti-LGBTI stories recently in the Italian news and a third heartwarming one. Finally Michele learns how not to pronounce the word "beach". In Part 2 Scott takes a road trip to Florence to consider its beautiful art where he discovers that the m...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   While Michele rehearses in Naples, Scott takes a trip to Lecce and enjoys a caffè leccese and pasticciotto with Gianmarco from the Rainbow Network based there. They talk about gay life in Lecce, the work that Ra. Ne do to support Salento's LGBT community and Salento Pride, scheduled to take place this year on August 17 in Gallipoli....

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA. We are half way through the 69th Sanremo Music Festival, and it's so gay (ish). With Italian icons past and future - what's not to like? We highlight our favourites and reveal just where we put our money.

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   The boys chat about the Sanremo Music Festival just before the 69th edition takes place. Sanremo is an Italian phenomenon and institution. Italy virtually closes down over the 5 nights that the festival takes place. Just how gay is Sanremo? Who are these Italian legendary artists that no-one outside of Italy will ever have heard of?...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA.   Scott and Michele discuss the lack of rights and legal protections in Italy (a western European country and member of the EU) for LGBTI peoples. Michele explains what the best bits are about being gay in Puglia, and we talk art. Finally we consider, just why do so many Italian men pluck their eyebrows - is there a Vulcan conspiracy...

LEGACY EPISODE. For reboot start at season 2 WELCOME TO PUGLIA. With 800km (500 miles) of coastline Puglia, located in the southeastern region of Italy (the heel to the boot of Italy), is one of the top European destinations for LGBT and queer travellers. Over the last few years we have gone from being a hidden gem where only Italians came to vacation to one of the New York Times' top 20 places to...