The Italian Radio Hour

By Viviana AltieriSociety & Culture

The Italian Radio Hour episodes

December 01, 2023 All about rice with Rice Sommelier Valentina Masotti
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Have you ever wondered what a rice sommelier does? Could you exactly tell how many different types of rice are out there and what they are used for? Last but not least, what is the name of a very famous rice variety that was born by breeding a Californian rice variety and an Italian one? (Thank you America! )
Listen to our episode to become a rice expert too and learn the steps to make an excellent risotto!
Valentina Masotti is considered one of Italy’s most respected food authorities, She is both a certified Rice Sommelier and Wine Sommelier, has published cookbooks on rice, and offers online classes in Italian and English.
Instagram: @rice_sommelier
www.facebook.com/thericesommelier
e-mail: [email protected]
https://www.ricesommelier.com/ (Select English version.)
49 min
November 20, 2023 Food and Fashion with Melissa Marra-Alvarez and Elizabeth Way
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Both food and fashion are central to our daily lives. They speak to people’s most basic needs while also expressing our individual and cultural identities. The exhibition Food & Fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York explores how food themes and motifs are used to comment on critical topics from luxury, gender, and consumerism to sustainability, social activism, and body politics. Food has influenced fashion design from the eighteenth-century to today. So while the connection between the two genres is hardly new – think of woven pomegranates, embroidered ears of wheat, or fruit-trimmed hats – just this year, in 2023, the New York Times reported that food motifs are “the new florals” in fashion. Food & Fashion is an exciting and timely exhibition that includes over eighty garments and accessories by designers including Chanel, Moschino, and Stella McCartney. It is a multifaceted look at how intertwined these genres are and what they can express about our culture and society.
Food & Fashion is co-curated by Melissa Marra-Alvarez, curator of education and research, and Elizabeth Way, associate curator of costume at MFIT.
HURRY! The exhibit runs until November 26, 2023
To find out more information, visit: https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/food-and-fashion/index.php
35 min
November 16, 2023 AP Giannini - Bank to the Future with Valentina Signorelli & Cecilia Zoppelletto
This week on The Italian Radio Hour: What do Hollywood, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Bank of America have in common?
Join me in conversation with the Directors of the new documentary "AP Giannini - Bank to the Future" Valentina Signorelli and Cecilia Zoppelletto as we explore the incredible true story of Amedeo Peter Giannini, the son of Italian immigrants in San Francisco who not only revolutionized the world of finance by lending money to low-income workers during the worst economic crisis of all times, but also without him, we would not have had the Marshall Plan, and the financial support to produce many of Hollywood productions such as Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid", Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night", and Walt Disney "Snow White".
This inspirational biopic features rediscovered archived material, exclusive interviews and iconic locations, tracing over a century of American history: from the Gold Rush to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, living through the Great Depression and World War II.
https://youtu.be/MtgPCin1gWQ
A.P. Giannini #GoldRush #hollywood Bank of America Walt Disney #GreatDepression #SanFrancisco #FrankCapra #snowwhite #MarshallPlan
@followers
52 min
November 10, 2023 Golfing Italia: Celebrating the 2023 Ryder Cup Rome with Robert Sidorsky
The fall of 2023 marked Italy’s debut on the world stage of golf as it hosts the 44th Ryder Cup Matches, played between 12-man teams from the United States and Europe. This year’s Ryder Cup was contested from September 29 to October 1 over the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club located in Guidonia Montecelio, ten miles outside Rome.
It marked the first time that Italy as the hosted country of the Ryder Cup as it continues to expand its international appeal. The event has grown over the years to become an international sporting spectacle attracting the largest worldwide TV audience after the Olympics and World Cup, with the last European edition played in Paris reaching more than 600 million homes in over 160 countries.
To talk about the long standing golfing traditions in Italy, we caught up with Robert Sidorsky, the curator of the Exhibit "Golfing Italy" held at the IIC of New York this past October.

The artwork on display included vintage travel posters and an array of colorful pre-War brochures highlighting the pleasures of golfing in the Italian lake district and the mountain-passes of the Dolomites. The featured historic courses range from San Remo on the Italian Riviera to the glamorous Adriatic Island resort of Brioni, where the golf course has been restored as Brijuni Island in present-day Croatia.
Robert Sidorski is a lawyer in New York City and is on the board of the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA). He has written extensively about golf travel and golf course architecture and is the author of Golf Courses of the World 365 Days and Golf A History 365 Days, both published by Abrams.
53 min
November 01, 2023 All about CHOCOLATE with Francine Segan
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - we welcome back food historian, one of America's foremost experts on Italian cuisine, Francine Segan to indulge in a conversation about CHOCOLATE.
Francine brings a wealth of knowledge about food traditions in Italy that one hour together is never enough.
She has also graciously shared the recipe of TORTA TENERINA (see below), and a "Friends and Family discount of 15% OFF any Venchi Chocolate online orders by going to their website and entering coupon: venchi4francine.
www.us.venchi.com
TORTA TENERINA
Moist Chocolate Cake of Emilia-Romagna
Serves 8
This, virtually flourless cake, which has a crisp, macaroon-like outer layer and a dense, incredibly moist center, is by far one of the best tasting chocolate desserts I’ve ever tried. As the cake cools, it collapses just a little, creating a pretty webbing on the delicious crust.
It’s made with only 5 ingredients, so be sure to use only quality chocolate, as it really stands out. A must-try classic!
7 tablespoons, 3 1/2 ounces, unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
7 ounces dark chocolate, 60% cacao or higher
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons potato or cornstarch
Confectioners’ sugar, optional
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form cake pan (Note: You can also make this cake in a square or rectangular pan, or even in individual serving ramekins. Just adjust the cooking time accordingly.)
Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl, either in the microwave or over a pot of gently boiling water.
In a large bowl beat the sugar and egg yolks with an electric hand held mixer until creamy and pale yellow. Beat in the chocolate-butter mixture until creamy. Add the potato starch and mix until well combined.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Slowly, using a spatula, fold the egg whites, a little at a time, into the chocolate mixture until combined.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for about 24 minutes, until just set in the center. Don’t over-bake. The cake will continue to set as it cools. Allow it to rest for about 30 minutes before cutting it until it collapses and the top crust cracks a bit.
Serve warm or at room temperature topped with confectioners’ sugar, if you like.
From: Dolci: Italy’s Sweets by Francine Segan (Stewart, Tabori & Chang)
41 min
October 26, 2023 Your Italian sabbatical and living your Italian Dream in Grottole
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Do you remember the Italian sabbatical campaign launched by Air B&B to spend three months in Grottole (Basilicata)?
Well, 290,000 later, we caught up with one of the Co-Founders of Wonder Grottole Andrea Paoletti, and Dan Kidson who traded his frenetic life in San Francisco to fullfil his "Italian Dream" in Grottole.
Wonder Grottole:
A project that involves people from all over the world to rehabilitate the historic centre of Grottole in Basilicata that is only 30 km from Matera and the European Capital of Culture 2019.
To learn more about WONDER GROTTOLE, visit: https://www.wondergrottole.it/en/
53 min
October 18, 2023 The Barber of Seville - fun facts
This week on The Italian Radio Hour: The Barber of Seville explained!In conversation with Samuele Bozzolla as we bring to you most famous areas and anecdotes of this opera buffa by Rossini.- Did you know that The Barber of Seville was a huge fiasco when it made its debut?- Did you know that Rossini completed two operas every year for 19 consecutive years?- Did you know that when the tenor, Manuel Garzia, was supposed to start his second aria of the first act, playing the guitar himself, all of the cords snapped?Well, thank goodness, none of these incidents occurred in the wonderful rendition of The Barber of Seville, currently performing at the Pittsburgh Opera. Two more performances on Oct 20th & 22nd. Use coupon code: POIMI to receive 50% OFF your tickets: https://www.pittsburghopera.org/season/the-barber-of-sevillehttps://youtu.be/QTOCg0E5-hsThe Italian Radio Hour will be attending on Friday Oct. 20th. Stop by and say "Hi".Pittsburgh Opera Istituto Mondo Italiano - Centro di cultura italiana The Italian Radio Hour
1 hr 14 min
October 12, 2023 Marianna Gatto on Taste of Italy, Pinocchio, and Rediscovering Louis Prima
This week on The Italian Radio Hour we caught up with Marianna Gatto, Founder and Executive Director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles.
IAMLA has just presented the twelfth annual Taste of Italy, an upscale food and wine festival that has drawn crowds from all over the United States, and Italy.
As IAMLA is getting ready to present their new exhibition, “Louis Prima: Rediscovering a Musical Icon,” we were fortunate enough to see some of the key pieces of exiting exhibit of Pinocchio.
in collaboration with the Gia Maione Prima Foundation, the Louis Prima (1910 to 1978) exhibit explores the legacy of an extremely skilled jazzman, a songwriter and performer whose music is still found in film and television, TikTok videos, Disney tunes, and hit covers by contemporary artists.
Visit The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles at: https://www.iamla.org/
44 min
October 05, 2023 ITALY IS OUT - Mario Badagliacca, Derek Duncan, Edvige Giunta

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - 'Italy is Out" is the fruit of the collaboration between Mario Badagliacca, established documentary photographer, and Derek Duncan, Professor of Italian at the University of St. Andrews and whose objective was to explore the implications Italian migration in a global perspective tracing cultural transformations across borders, generations, and languages.Badagliacca visited the project's key locations conducting interviews with Italians or people of Italian descent before photographing them in familiar locations. The subjects of the portraits were invited to bring along three objects representing their attachment to Italy. The sheer variety of the objects which appear alongside the portraits suggests the diversity of the migrant experience.Joined in the conversation by Edi Giunta, Professor of English at New Jersey City University, whose story, essay, and objects appear in the book, she shares the story of her family, and her journey between the different stages of being an Italian living overseas, and what her chosen objects represent to her..
Fiction, autobiography, and academic reflection sit side by side adding to Badagliacca's multifaceted exploration of Italian abroad.
https://www.mariobadagliacca.com/italy_is_out-s3362

1 hr 20 min
September 27, 2023 NEXXT Expo - The biggest Made in Italy Expo in Los Angeles, Oct 19-22, 2023
This week on The Italian Radio Hour we caught up with Lorenzo Lisi, to talk about NEXXT Expo, the biggest Expo of Made in Italy that take place Oct. 19-22 at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles,.
Nexxt Expo will feature over 120 vendors, meticulously curated to offer an authentic and immersive Italian experience. Also, this expo serves as an opportunity not only to showcase the best of Made in Italy but to offer a view into the US market for Italian companies that would like to expand their reach to the US. So, it is both a great B2C and B2B opportunity to learn, buy, taste and try!
The event is FREE to attend. Tickets available at madeinitalyexpo.eventbrite.com
Get ready to savor the flavors of Italy at Nexxt - Made in Italy Expo
For more information, visit: https://www.nexxt-expo.com/primaedizione/nexxtexpo.com/index.html
29 min