We’re in North Eastern Pennsylvania, to explore the Italian American side of the city of Scranton and the surrounding areas! We’ll meet the people behind one of Italian America’s most unique Feasts, visit monuments to religion and the arts, and try some of the best Italian food around… including a memorable meal in the self-professed “Pizza Capital...

One hundred and ten years ago, on March 25, 1911, a conflagration engulfed the top three stories of a nondescript building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.  The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, most of whom were recent Italian and Jewish immigrant women and girls. The aftermath of this event changed Americ...

We’re celebrating International Women’s Day by exploring one of Italian history’s most-neglected protagonists, Margaret of Navarre, the Norman Queen of Sicily. We’re joined by Jacqueline Alio, an Italian American now living in Palermo, Sicily, who has written a dozen books on Sicilian history, focusing on the island’s long-overlooked queens.  She’l...

On this week’s episode of the Italian American Podcast, we’re going back to the Big Easy to chat with our friends Lena Prima and Charles Marsala to get an inside look at their new web-TV series, “Buona Sera Louisiana,” a weekly show about the Italian culture of the Pelican State and beyond! These two Italian American champions are no strangers to o...

For many visitors, the stereotypical image of Venice is, perhaps, the famed Venetian mask; but most casual observers are probably unaware of the fact that this postcard-perfect symbol has its roots in the centuries-old festivities that are the Carnevale of Venice. In this week’s episode, we’re joined by famed photographer and lecturer Anita Sanseve...

In the last United States Census, 18.25 million people self identified as Italian or Italian American. Demographers believe there are more than 21 million Americans of Italian descent spread throughout the nation.  By some calculations, we are the fifth-largest ancestry group in the United States… but when it comes to making our voice heard in the...

If you were to ask those of us behind the Italian American Podcast what it is that drives us or what keeps us coming back to create a new show week in and week out, it’s a safe bet that you’d get a unanimous answer… Passione! That borderline-obsessive passion that we share for what we do is a familiar feeling to Italians of all stripes, and best-se...

On December 11, 2020, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the outgoing Archbishop of Naples, Italy, announced that he was opening a case on the beatification of King Francesco II of the Two Sicilies. If approved, the Vatican will begin an investigation into the “heroic virtues” of the King, which is the first step towards canonization; His Majesty will then...

Since this is the final episode before the Feast of the Seven Fishes and Christmas arrive in earnest, we’re sending you into the holiday in style with our Italian American Christmas Musical Revue! As many of us will be celebrating a more sedate version of our favorite holiday this year because many families are kept apart in these unprecedented cir...

It’s Christmas time in Italian America, and with many of us hunkered down in the house this year, there’s a good chance you’re burning through your favorite holiday movies at a faster pace than normal. What if there was a Christmas movie out there made by and for Italian Americans?  Well, look no further, because in this episode we’re sitting down...