The Bittersweet Life

When the only ancient Romans you've ever seen are gleaming white statues of gods, goddesses, and emperors, you might assume that the fashion trends in Ancient Rome favored clean lines, understated design, and an all-white color scheme.  Well, you'd be wrong. Today, with the help of a recent New York Times article, we debunk this persistent fashion myth, and explore what kind of threads the ancient...

Aurelio may be starting middle school this fall, but on this episode from our archives, we time travel back to a different new beginning, namely elementary school. He joined us for a mini-interview exactly five years ago, to answer: How's first grade in Italy going? Does he love it or hate it, what's his favorite subject, and does his English teacher actually speak English? We find out in this sho...

This week, we continue our conversation from last week's episode: Can living in a foreign country or even a different city from where you grew up dramatically change your life and even your personality? Last week we discussed the concrete life outcomes (like who you marry, what job you do, if you have kids) that often result from moving to one place or another (or staying right where you grew up)....

It's a much-told legend that Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci used to rob graves in order to dissect bodies in secret so they could achieve anatomical accuracy in their art. But is it actually true? On this mini-episode from our archives, we are joined by curator Jennifer Dasal of the Art Curious podcast, and author of the book, Art Curious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely...

Can living in a foreign country or even a different city from where you grew up dramatically change your life and even your personality? A letter from a listener sparked this fascinating topic. Katy and Tiffany muse on how their lives would be different if Tiffany hadn't moved to Rome and Katy hadn't moved back to Seattle. Also, can you ever really imagine how much a decision (like moving or stayi...

It's finally Halloween season, and to assuage the fears of anyone who is afraid of rats (like Tiffany!) Katy shares a fascinating and little-known recording of rat laughter (yes, you read that right) on this episode from our archives. On this mini-episode from years past, she also shares a touching piece of short fiction she wrote during lockdown that most likely many of our listeners can relate t...

A cringy AI-generated ad that touts a gimmicky protein pasta as "just like in Italy!" makes us wonder: what are the worst misperceptions around Italian culture, food, and lifestyle? We muse on how easy it is to fall prey to these misconceptions and end up having an inauthentic experience while in Italy, or not enjoying an authentic Italian meal because it's not what we were expecting. And it's not...

Some psychologists say that anticipation of a desired event can often bring more happiness than experiencing the event itself. And if that's the case, can we conclude that planning a trip is even more fun that actually taking the trip? In this episode from our archives, we take inspiration from a recent article in the New York Times, Travel and the Art of Anticipation by Stephanie Rosenbloom. We m...

The US mid-term elections are just around the corner, and it's important to know that Americans living or studying abroad can vote from whereever they happen to be! (And it's actually not that complicated to do!) This week Tiffany took part in a voter registration drive for American students at a study-abroad campus in Rome, and she chatted with Kelly Feenan, a volunteer at Votefromabroad.org , a...

On this episode from way way back in the early archives of the show, Tiffany and Katy take listeners on a walking tour of their favorite Roman neighborhood, Trastevere. *** The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives ! Enjoy!***...

Today we're joined by Katy's sisters, Dana and Sara, to chat about what's on the horizon for Dana, considering her diagnosis of terminal brain cancer last year.  As always, Dana shares inspiring words of hope and fortitude, proving that a terminal cancer diagnosis doesn't necessarily mean an instant end to a happy and rich life. They also attempt to address the question: would you want to know how...

In cities like Rome, tourists are part of the city's identity, its reality, its way of life. When they go away—and don't come back—the city will inevitably change and adapt. Will the countless AirBNBs turn back into regular rentals, and will that in turn cause locals to move back to the historic center? Will the souvenir shops that have crowded out the artisanal workshops close their doors? Will r...

It's a debate as old as time, and today Katy and Tiffany are tackling it: Which are better: dogs or cats? And perhaps more importantly, which make better pets? Is the loving loyalty of a dog a more important trait in a pet than the independent, low-maintenance lifestyle of a cat? And crucially: which animal is cuter? Katy had a dog as a young person, and now she has cats. Tiffany grew up with cats...

Are you tired of watching every one you know go to Italy? Florence-based food blogger and culinary tour guide Coral Sisk was, and she penned a viral complaint about it for the popular online foodie publication Eater , with the specific complaint that the media turns too much of its focus on Italy—particularly when it comes to food programming—so tourists think it's the "only" place to go. The comm...

Do you write in a journal? If you don't know, have you ever done so in the past? Have you ever used a journal as a means of self-therapy? These and other similar questions come to us in a two recent email from two long-time listeners, and we decided to devote an entire episode to this interesting topic. (Since we're both writers, you might not be surprised to hear our answers!) But listen all the...

On a past Bittersweet Moment, Tiffany remembered accidently smearing a bit of lipstick on the doorframe of one of the buildings she lived in her first months in Rome, and how that red streak is still there, 18 years later. And how, somehow, every time she sees it, it reminds her of her earliest days in Rome, almost an "I was here" moment. This episode from our archive is Inspired by this idea. Kat...

When a stranger online started badmouthing Rome, Tiffany's reaction was visceral. It was almost as if someone had insulted her mother. On this week's new episode, Tiffany and Katy chat about what it means to love a city so much that you are sometimes blinded to its faults. They also touch on why, despite popular opinion online, it's perfectly okay to romanticize living in Italy. (Tiffany has been...

What is wonder? And how does it affect your life? Perhaps most importantly, what can we do to harness it? In this episode from our archives, we are joined by Andrea Scher, author of Wonder Seeker: 52 Ways to Wake Up Your Creativity and Find Your Joy , a playful, practical, and effective guide to finding wonder and joy in your daily life. Andrea's passion and life's work is to cultivate a sense of...

Last week we aired a fascinating and inspiring conversation with Julian Shapiro-Barnum about his new book How to Grow up without Becoming a Grown-up and his strategies for resisting the pull of what can often end up being a constrictive and joyless adulthood. Today, Tiffany and Katy continue the conversation. They wonder: have they managed to remain childlike (or hey, even childish) despite the fa...

In this episode from our archives, we ask our listeners: What are the sounds you truly love, not for how beautiful they are, but for what they mean? Sounds that, for whatever reason, make you happy? Sounds that, when you hear them, you know something good is about to happen? We asked and you answered. We asked our listeners to send in the sounds that mean something to them, and we got so many, we...

What can kids teach us about how to live? This is a topic close to the heart of today's guest, Julian Shapiro-Barnum. An actor and comedian, Julian is perhaps most known for his web series Recess Therapy , in which he interviews children playing outside in New York City. He joins us this week to talk about his new book, How to Grow Up without Becoming a Grown-up . He shares what he has learned fro...

Does the language that we speak influence the way that our thoughts work? An article in the New York Times by Guy Deutcher, Does Your Language Shape How You Think? explores this topic in depth. Taking inspiration from the article, Katy and Tiffany muse on this topic on this episode from our archives. We consider how gendered nouns influences how we think about objects, how specific we choose to be...

What does it feel like to plan for the end of your life when your only in your mid-50s?  Could you plan your own funeral/celebration of life?  What about going through your childhood mementos to decide what your children would actually want, and what you need to ruthlessly trash. These are all things that Katy's sister Dana has had to thing about lately, after her diagnosis of stage-4 glioblastoma...

We are proud to say that we have some of the most engaged listeners in the entire podcast world! We get lots of mail from our listeners, both comments and questions about specific past episodes, as well as suggestions for future episodes and questions about life (often expat life) in general. Every so often, we grab a few of those letters and read them on air, address the questions and offer our s...

Today we sit down with David Epstein, environmental scientist, investigative journalist, and author of the new book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better . He joins us for a special interview to discuss a modern paradox that is plaguing today's society: how seemingly infinite choices and the illusion of absolute freedom bring overwhelm, paralysis, and uncertainty.   David Epstein uses sc...