The Bittersweet Life

Wondering what's going on in Seattle's police-free zone? The national media's reporting on the CHOP (Capital Hill Organized Protest) has, at times, been inaccurate. Today you can hear the truth from someone who's there every day.

On this mini-episode, we are joined again by Seattle-based NPR reporter Casey Martin for the inside story. Casey has been on Seattle's Capitol Hill since the protests began, and has spent all week in the zone talking to shop owners, protestors, residents, and armed civilians.

He shares his view from the streets, dispelling rumors of rioting and violence, and answering common questions about what exactly is going on in this ongoing organized protest. He also talks about the reactions of the area's local residents and business owners, the complaints from some Black Lives Matter activists that it's taking attention away from the movement, and how, perhaps surprising to some, he feels safer on the streets now than when the police were there.

Find Casey on Instagram and Twitter, and listen to his earlier interview on Bittersweet Moment No. 61: A Nation in Protest.

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NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Whether you regularly contemplate your own mortality (like Katy), or give it very little thought (like Tiffany), we all have death on the mind more than usual during this time of pandemic. We may be worried about losing the older members of our families, overwhelmed by the staggering number of lives Covid-19 has already claimed, or are simply more aware that life is all too fleeting.

Today we're joined by Jim deMaine, a retired pulmonary and critical care physician, a clinical professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and author of the upcoming book Facing Death: Finding Dignity, Hope and Healing at the End. As someone who has helped countless number of patients achieve a "good death," Jim shares his thoughts on healthy attitudes to have toward death as well as tips to navigate life in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. He also discusses the mental toll that extreme isolation and fear of Covid can have on people of all ages, and how to avoid it.

Facing Death is not yet available for pre-order, so click here to be notified by email when it becomes available.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

You've heard all about how Katy and Tiffany spent their quarantines (or are still spending them, in Katy's case), but what was quarantine like for a someone living alone in Rome's lively and quaint Trastevere neighborhood while working from home?

On this mini-episode, Tiffany checks in with her friend Amy Knauff (who appeared on Episode 27: UNSURE, way back in Season One), about her experiences with a completely solitary quarantine in the very heart of Rome.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

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 restaurants that once hawked mediocre fare to tourists be forced to raise their standards in order to lure Romans to dine?

On this episode, we hypothesize about what is in store for Rome in this post-Covid age, at least until the tourists return en masse. And we also muse upon the question: who is Rome for—at least, the historic center? With so few locals living and working in the center, has it become a kind of "Disneyland" for tourists, and will the sudden lack of tourists change that?

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Protests over the murder of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, have sprung up in cities across the United States. In Seattle, peaceful protests calling for justice have also generated violence, looting, and clashes with police, undermining from the message of the Black Lives Matters activists.

Public Radio reporter Casey Martin has been in the thick of it, and joins us to explain the view from the streets, and what it is like to cover a riot during a raging pandemic.

Find Casey on Instagram and Twitter.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Why does time pass more slowly or quickly depending on what we are doing? Why is it that we sometimes completely lose track of the time, and what does it mean to truly live in the present? Are the past, the present, and the future all happening at the same time (at least in our minds), and has the future already happened?

These are just some of the intriguing questions we ask ourselves this week, particularly given the unprecedented time we are all living in. (By the way, did you know that "time" is the most commonly used noun in the English language?)

We revisit an earlier episode, an interview with author and time expert Alan Burdick, to get some insight into our discussion.

Grab a copy of Burdick's book Why Time Flies, a deep dive into the mysteries of time, here.

Listen to Episode 148: TIME FLIES (with Alan Burdick) here.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

What can you expect when you go out to eat in Italy during Phase Two? What about if you want to go to a museum, get your hair cut, or just grab a coffee at your local bar? What's the deal with shopping and trying on clothes?

On this mini-episode, we give you the nitty-gritty on what to expect when you head out into the world again—at least for those of us living in Italy. And for the rest of the world, here's what might be in your future.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Italy has officially reopened for business. While masks are required in public places, social distancing is (supposedly) non-negotiable, and tourism is still non-existent, life is nevertheless quickly returning to normal. Perhaps too quickly?

After Tiffany's first aperitivo in Rome since the beginning of lockdown, she's a bit apprehensive about how carelessly many of her fellow Romans (and sometimes herself) are picking up their old habits. Will the irrepressible sociality of Italians cause a second wave of Covid cases? Have we learned anything at all or will 2+ months of quarantine have been in vain? We discuss this and more on our latest episode.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Memory is the buzz word on The Bittersweet Life this week! Monday's episode was all about autobiographical memory, and on this mini-episode, Katy's dad Dale stops by to talk about the challenges and rewards of memorizing a speech of prose as opposed to rhyming rhythmic poetry.

He also explains why he chooses to memorize things and what it means to want to have the words in him. He explains how, even after years of not revisiting a poem or speech he's memorized, parts of it never leave him, and continue to reinforce who he is.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Why do we remember certain things and forget others? Do some people simply have a better memory than others, or is it something we can practice and get better at? Perhaps most intriguing of all: how reliable are our memories really? Do our stories change to fit our perception of ourselves?

This week, we muse about the nature of memory, particularly in regard to the fact that we're all living through an unprecedented moment in living history. We wonder, are we more likely to remember the details of this time as opposed to our "regular" lives, or less so?

We're also joined by Susan Engel, psychology professor and author of, among other titles, forthcoming The Intellectual Lives of Children. Engel is an expert on memory who answers some of our most pressing questions, and debunks some of our long-held beliefs about memory.

***Find the book we talk about on the show, Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, here.***

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

TIP YOUR PODCASTER: Say thanks with a one-time donation to the podcast hosts you know and love. Click here to send financial support via PayPal. (You can also find a Donate button on the desktop version of our website.) The show needs your support to continue.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email here. You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Tag #thebittersweetlife with your expat story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!