The Italian Radio Hour

By Viviana AltieriSociety & Culture

The Italian Radio Hour episodes

July 06, 2023 Sara Bonfanti, the ballerina that traveled Italy on foot
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Meet Sara Bonfanti, the ballerina that traveled almost 8,000km on foot across Italy in 7 months from Friuli to Sardegna on the Club Alpinisti Trails.
46 min
July 01, 2023 Dante's Wife (La moglie di Dante) with Marina Marazza
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Gemma, the woman Dante never wrote about. What personality did this Florentine woman that no one remembers had?
For love, she marries an inadvisable man: not rich, devoid of political power and moreover a poet. She doesn't let herself be dismayed when he finds himself on the wrong front, in a Florence where the bitter struggle between factions destroys lives and fortunes.
And the rival, the angelic Beatrice? Will Gemma ever confront Dante?
With this novel Marina Marazza brings us another historical novel that recounts the vicissitudes and strength of a woman of the past whose life has been overshadowed by the fame of her husband but that in reality is a true heroine of her time.
1 hr 18 min
July 01, 2023 Like Father, Like Son - The Sunseri Family and the creation of Pennsylvania Macaroni
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - This week, I am joined by Massimo and Bill Sunseri, a household name here in Pittsburgh for anything Italian food related.
The story of the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company is filled with pride, tradition, determination and much more. In the traditional Italian village of Trabia, Sicily there were three brothers of the proud, hard working Sunseri family who wanted to open an Italian food shop and bring their admirable work ethic to America. In 1902, Augustino, Salvatore and Michael Sunseri formed the company that is now known as the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company. They started out by manufacturing pasta and it was not easy, as it never is. But after going through the normal growing pains of starting out, things started to look up.
Even a devastating fire that might have knocked the life and determination out of many did not stop the Sunseri brothers.
From an Italian Pasta Shop to an Italian Imports Shop
With incredible guts and will, they rebuilt the store and soon pasta manufacturing blossomed into olive oil and spice retailing along with offering specialty food products and Italian cheeses. The company’s nucleus was formed and in the late 1940's, Augustino's sons, Robert (Uncle Bob) and Salvatore took the reins. At this point, Uncle Bob and Salvatore could see today’s phenomenal success begin to develop.
Two generations later, Pennsylvania Macaroni is a very successful business and the family is keeping it together to maintaining traditions and a strong work ethic.
34 min
June 16, 2023 La corsa dei Ceri and Italians in Lackawanna County with Stephanie Longo
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - La Corsa dei Ceri and Italians in Lackawanna County with Stephanie Longo.
What do Gubbio and Jessup (PA) have in common?
Join our conversation with Stephanie Longo, as we explore old and new traditions and how diverse Italian American populations join old and new with events such as La Corsa dei Ceri or St. Ubaldo Day in Jessup and La Festa Italiana on Scranton's Courthouse Square.
Stephanie Longo, an expert on the Italian American history of northeastern Pennsylvania and author of Italians of Lackawanna County tells us that every town in the county with an Italian population has its own story. Whether the people can trace their origins to Guardia or Gubbio, Felitto or Perugia, the Italians of Lackawanna County all share one thing in common: a strong sense of pride in their ethnic origins. In Images of Modern America: Italians of Lackawanna County, readers will find familiar images of summertime traditions, as well as new representations of how the region's Italian community seeks to preserve its heritage.
40 min
June 08, 2023 ATTOMBRI Brothers and the art of Venetian Glass Jewelry
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Venice, the city of water. For centuries Venice has been made famous by the material that most profoundly represents its enchanting history and fluid terrain, glass.
As early as the nineteen eighties, Stephano and Daniele Attombri caught much attention and acclaim with their unique design that seems to move amid the fertile terrain of both fashion and fine art. The Attombri brothers work within a particular contemporary key. A skillful balance has been struck between the materials of old and new and the blend of both traditional Venetian technique and innovation. Venetian antiquity merges with ethnic patterning, mythology and avant-garde style. The surprising selection of materials such as copper, silver and Murano glass beads of old intertwine to render a look that is timeless.
41 min
June 06, 2023 ANDAR PER BACARI - Where to go to try authentic Venetian finger foods with Monica Cesarato
This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Ready to pack your bags and head to Venice?
This week, we connected with Monica Cesarato, food blogger, guide extraordinaire, podcaster, and much more to talk about "Andar per bacari"...aka, how and where to go to try authentic Venetian "finger foods" (cichetti).
Her tours and also book with the same title, will be a great (and delicious) way to discover Venice in a more authentic way.
58 min
May 25, 2023 "Tracing threads and weaving stories" with Luci Callipari-Marcuzzo
This week on The Italian Radio Hour: "Tracing threads and weaving stories" with Luci Callipari-Marcuzzo
Of Calabrian origin, Luci Callipari-Marcuzzo is a multi-disciplinary artist, mother, researcher, arts worker, curator, and writer, based near Mildura in Northwest Victoria, Australia.
Via a variety of disciplines, Luci makes artifacts utilizing traditional women’s modes of making: sewing, embroidery, and crochet, reinventing these notions through her practice, reclaiming these practices through memory and intention. The work is a manifestation of the hopes, dreams, and desires of migrant women, and also, their lived realities. It strives to honor their voices which were often silenced by the dominant gender roles within the Italian Calabrian diaspora.
1 hr 10 min
May 19, 2023 POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS - When it was a crime to be Italian with Zach Baliva
"POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS" - Directed by Zac Baliva (Executive Producer John Tuturro), this full lengthy documentary gives voice to the untold stories of families what were victims of the Proclamations by President Roosevelt which authorized the United States to detain allegedly potentially dangerous enemy aliens. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies arrested thousands of suspected enemy aliens, mostly individuals of German, Italian, or Japanese ancestry, living throughout the United States.
WINNER - 2021 Russo Bros. Italian American Film Forum
BEST DOCUMENTARY - 2022 Ferrara Film Festival
53 min
May 12, 2023 PASTA VELOCE - Under the Tuscan Sun inspired recipes with Frances Mayes
This week on The Italian Radio Hour -
Let's cook with best selling author Frances Mayes, who returns to The Italian Radio Hour to talk about her new cookbook: PASTA VELOCE - Under the Tuscan Sun inspired recipes easy to make in a cinch!
During our conversation, we will talk about the making of Under the Tuscan Sun and her residence Bramasole, her life in Cortona (Italy), and a special appearance by Frances' husband Ed to talk about Extra Virgin Olive Oil!
1 hr 17 min
May 04, 2023 TINA, MAFIA SOLDIER
This week on The Italian Radio Hour: TINA, MAFIA SOLDIER.
In conversation with Sicilian writer Maria Rosa Cutrufelli and Robin Pickering-Iazzi, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and translator of the book.
Sicily, 1980s: When she was just eight years old, Tina watched as her father, a member of Cosa Nostra, was murdered in cold blood. Now a teenager, she terrorizes her hometown of Gela, having made it her mission to join the mafia, an organization traditionally forbidden to women as made members. Nicknamed ’a masculidda, or “the tomboy,” Tina has taken charge of her own clan, and is notorious for her cruelty and reckless disregard for societal expectations.
When a news article is published about Tina’s latest crimes, a teacher living in Rome feels compelled to write a novel about her—even though it means returning to her native Sicily to gather material. She and Tina circle around each other in a dangerous dance of obsession and violence until their first, and last, explosive meeting.
This groundbreaking exploration of gender identity and clear-eyed presentation of an unseen side of the mafia is a landmark literary achievement by one of Italy’s feminist icons.
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Maria Rosa Cutrufelli
Robin Pickering-Iazzi Italian-Program UW-Milwaukee
Istituto Mondo Italiano - Centro di cultura italiana The Italian Radio Hour
1 hr 2 min