The Italian Radio Hour

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - “My mom left Italy for America. I headed for Sicily and built my own culture.”“In Italy, I learned about my American self.”“Is my daughter Italian-American?”Three sentences. Three questions about identity, belonging, and what happens to us when cultures cross borders and generations.Who are we when we belong to more than one culture?Are we defined by where we were born? By our parents? By the language we speak? By the traditions we keep? Or by the identity we create for ourselves along the way?My two guests is that, in many ways, they have crossed the Atlantic in opposite directions.Anna grew up here in Pittsburgh with Italian roots and eventually moved to Sicily.Cristina grew up in Italy and built her adult life in New York.One went toward Italy.The other went toward America.And somewhere along the way, both began asking new questions about who they are.If you have ever felt caught between two cultures — or lucky enough to belong to both — you don’t want to miss this conversation.For this episode, we really would like to hear your comments on what "identity" means for you!

Ready Anna's story at: https://www.publicsource.org/palermo-fulbright-sicilian-american-identity-pittsburgh/

Read Cristina's story at: https://www.cartolinedacristina.com/perche-anno-sabbatico.html

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - What happens when a love story becomes a journey into the heart of Italy?In this episode of The Italian Radio Hour, I’m joined by Emmy-nominated, award-winning filmmakers Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno, the husband-and-wife creative team behind Amore nel Sannio, a 35-minute fiction-documentary premiering nationwide on PBS beginning October 1 in celebration of Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month.Together, we travel to Sannio, accompanied also by Maria Nuzzolillo and Dan Stemmer, founders of Vita Villaggi , and actress Isabella Chiantone Mustilli (Cantine Mustilli) to discover a beautiful and often overlooked corner of Campania, where a story inspired by love and marriage unfolds against a landscape of vineyards, ancient traditions, food, family, and deeply rooted connections.Marylou and Jerome take us behind the scenes of the film—how the idea was born, why Sannio became such an important character in the story, and what they discovered about this remarkable part of Italy along the way.It’s a conversation about love, heritage, filmmaking, Italian-American identity, and the unexpected stories waiting to be discovered beyond Italy’s most traveled roads.🎙️ The Italian Radio Hour — Food, Culture & Lifestyle of Italy#TheItalianRadioHour #AmoreNelSannio #Sannio #Campania #DiscoverItaly #ItalianCulture #ItalianAmerican #ItalianHeritage #ItalianCinema #PBS #HiddenItaly #ItalyBeyondThePostcard

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 card brought from Italy by his grandmother. That single artifact eventually led him from humble farming families in Puglia to an astonishing noble lineage connected to dukes, princesses, European royalty—and even a pope. Bob Sorrentino is the creator of the internationally followed Italian Roots & Genealogy Podcast, founder of the Italian Genealogy Blog, and author of Farmers & Nobles.Before becoming immersed in genealogy, Bob had an accomplished career as a banker. Today, instead of managing people's money, he's helping people reconnect with something equally important: their real wealth, aka their identity.To learn more about Italian Genealogy, visit: https://italiangenealogy.blog/

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 that happened in 1987.Born in Australia to Calabrian parents, Joe has become one of the most successful ethnic comedians in the world, selling out theaters across multiple continents while proving that Italians everywhere share the same stories.And recently, after decades of talking about Calabria on stage, he traveled there to retrace his family's roots in an emotional journey that connected him to the villages his family left behind.Joe Avati will be performing live in Pittsburgh on Sunday, July 26 at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. If you've ever had an Italian parent, an Italian grandparent, an Italian aunt, or even an Italian neighbor who thought they were your parent, this is a show you won't want to miss.TICKETS: https://kelly-strayhorn.org/events/joeavati/#JoeAvatiLive #ItalianComedy #ItalianDiaspora #PittsburghEvents #Calabrese #ItalianCulture #ItalianCommunity #TheItalianRadioHour

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 acclaimed Ultimate Festival and Travel Guide series. For more than twenty-five years, Katerina has explored Italy one festival at a time, documenting everything from centuries-old religious celebrations and medieval reenactments to truffle fairs, wine festivals, and village sagre that preserve traditions passed down through generations. Through her books, podcast, and travels, Katerina helps visitors experience an Italy that exists far beyond Rome, Venice, and Florence—an Italy where entire towns come alive to celebrate their history, their food, their saints, and their identity.

#TheItalianRadioHour #KaterinaFerrara #ItalyTravel #ItalianFestivals #Sagre #TravelItaly #ItalianCulture #VisitItaly #HiddenItaly #AuthenticItaly #ItalianTraditions #FoodFestivals #ItalianFood #ItalyPodcast #SlowTravel #CulturalTravel #DiscoverItaly #ItalyLovers #ItalianHeritage #festivaltravel To learn more about Katerina's giudes, visit: https://katerinaferrara.com/

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 authentic: indigenous grapes, ancient farming traditions, dramatic volcanic terroir, and a profound connection between wine, culture, and identity.Our guest today has dedicated more than twenty years to documenting that world.Maria Christina Liotta is the author of the newly published Places of Origin: Wines of Southern Italy — Campania, Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia, an extraordinary journey through the vineyards, villages, volcanic slopes, and hidden wine territories of Italy’s South.Through years of travel, hundreds of producer interviews, and visits to all 65 protected wine appellations of Southern Italy, Maria has created one of the most comprehensive explorations ever written on the wines and cultures of the Italian South. Today we’ll explore not only wine, but also the deeper meaning of place, heritage, resilience, and what Southern Italy can still teach us about authenticity in a rapidly globalizing world.#MariaChristinaLiotta#PlacesOfOrigin#WinesOfSouthernItaly#ItalianWine#SouthernItaly#CampaniaWine#CalabriaWine#BasilicataWine#PugliaWine#ItalianCulture#WineStories#ItalianHeritage#Terroir#IndigenousGrapes#VolcanicWine#WineTravel#TheItalianRadioHour#MadeInItaly#ItalianWineCulture#DiscoverSouthernItaly

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 collaborations, and highlighting the enduring friendship between Italy and the United States.With a diplomatic career that has taken him from multilateral economic negotiations to public diplomacy here in the United States, he brings a global perspective — but also a deep appreciation for local communities and cultural connections.🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations celebrating Italian culture, heritage, food, language, travel, and community.#TheItalianRadioHour #NicoFrandi #ItalianAmerican #italianculture #ItalianAmerican #ItalianHeritage #ItalyUSA #ItalianLanguage #MadeInItaly #RootsTourism #Diplomacy #ItalianIdentity #Philadelphia #Pittsburgh #ItalianCommunity #culturaldiplomacy

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 researching and documenting the hidden historical and symbolic heritage of Calabria and beyond.Through documentaries, field research, photography, and storytelling, they explore places that seem suspended between archaeology, memory, myth, and mystery.To learn more about the Association and/or to donate, visit: https://misteryhunters.it/#Calabria #Italy #ItalianHeritage #ItalianAmerican #MisteryHunters #GiuseppeOliva #Templars #KnightsTemplar #AncientMysteries #LostCivilizations #Megaliths #AncientHistory #Archaeology #HiddenItaly #SouthernItaly #Castrovillari #Zungri #SacredGeometry #ItalianCulture #CalabrianRoots #HistoryMystery #AncientCivilizations #TravelItaly #DiscoverCalabria #ItalianPodcast #TheItalianRadioHour #CulturalHeritage #Mystery #AlternativeHistory #italytravel

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 took a 105-day journey—over 30,000 kilometers—through what many call ‘flyover country,’ the America that is often ignored, misunderstood, or simplified. Their book, “Qui non è Nuova York”, now in English as (Re)Covering America, is not just a travel diary—it’s a sociological, political, and deeply human portrait of a country that may be far more complex—and far more united—than we are led to believe.But today, we’re not here for the usual questions.We’re here to go beyond the postcard—and maybe challenge a few assumptions along the way.”Order you copy here: https://asterismbooks.com/product/recovering-america-two-italians-one-epic-roadtrip-from-new-york-to-the-pacific-105-days-breaking-stereotypes-maria-teresa-cometto-glauco-maggi?fbclid=IwY2xjawRgrl1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFlc0VsS1MzcVAyTlV6dGhFc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHkzXpuORg84xENyQ7XAgFKSlgRbtouT6nSmZYmy-OQ_OzMtpi5v8Ma4w2UjD_aem_Hu62yjvIKiFTqfksyki8-w

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 innovation.As the creator of Italian Innovators, Luca explores a fascinating idea: that Italian excellence is not accidental but comes from a unique way of thinking—where even an object, a product, a simple everyday thing can carry meaning, memory, and imagination. From the story behind Nutella to the philosophy of design, from literature to business, he shows us how Italy doesn’t just produce things… it creates stories that last.And perhaps most beautifully, he reminds us that innovation doesn’t always mean moving faster— sometimes, it means going deeper.So today, we’re not just talking about Italy.We’re exploring a mindset… a way of seeing the world.https://www.youtube.com/@ItalianInnovators