The Italian American Podcast

The Italian American Podcast


Latest Episodes

IAP 206: Simmo 'e Napule, Paisà! Six Volumes, Eight Scholars, 2,322 Pages... A History of Napoli
October 26, 2021

Napoli… the great urban amphitheater spreading out across its picturesque bay.  Anchored by the steaming hulk of Vesuvius and pushed up to the heavens from the shimmering Mediterranean Sea, it's a city so vibrant, so full of history that the que

IAP 205: The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles: A Place to Tell Our Story, with Special Guest Marianna Gatto
October 19, 2021

Imagine a place where you could go and spend the day surrounded by the art and artifacts of the Italian American experience, where you can immerse yourself in our story, and learn new and surprising facts about the history of Italians in America… all free

IAP 204: Ritornato: Michael Cavalieri's Film to Honor His Ancestors
October 05, 2021

Filmmaker Michael Cavalieri doesn’t want to make just another movie.  The passionate and proud Italian American, whose career as an actor spans three decades, decided he had had enough of the stereotypical “Italian tough guy” roles that his shar

IAP 203: Saving Southern Italy with Special Guest Valarie D'Elia
September 28, 2021

It’s no surprise to longtime listeners of the Italian American Podcast just how much we love our Southern Italian roots and this week’s guest, Valarie D’Elia, is seeking to bring our ancestral home to people in a tangible, living way. Valarie is an award-

IAP 202: La Sceneggiata: Neapolitan Musical Drama From Napoli to New York City
September 21, 2021

This week’s episode of The Italian American Podcast takes listeners on a journey through the Neapolitan Sceneggiata with special guest Dr. Reba Wissner, who is assistant professor of the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Columbus, Geo

IAP 201: Requiem for a National Airline: Saying Arrivederci to Alitalia
September 14, 2021

If you’ve visited Italy at some point in the last 75 years, and if you arrived in ‘il Bel Paese’ by air, chances are you’ve traveled with Alitalia, which has been the official Italian national airline since 1947. And, if you’re like co-hosts Rossella, Joh

IAP 200: A Thousand Years' Worth of Stories: Robert Barbera and the Mentoris Project
September 08, 2021

If you were set out to tell the stories of every great Italian and Italian American to leave their mark on human history, you could probably speak for a thousand years without even scratching the surface of such an illustrious list. And for businessman an

IAP 199: Greetings from Italian California!
August 24, 2021

Ciao paesani… and Greetings From Italian CALIFORNIA! This past July, we made our way out West to explore the Italian side of the Golden State, as we set out to film four brand-new episodes of our popular YouTube web series, “Greetings From Italian America

IAP 198: Do Italian Americans Read? Novelist Christopher Castellani on Writing the Story of the Italian American Experience
August 11, 2021

For author Christopher Castellani, the proud son of Italian immigrants, the desire to tell the Italian American story through his writing has been a constant motivation. Yet, despite his abundant talent, irrepressible passion, and keen sense of his ethnic

IAP 197: In Every Song A Story with Tenor Michéal Castaldo
August 03, 2021

When sitting down with a singer of the caliber of Michéal Castaldo, one would expect the conversation to center around the long list of accomplishments he’s racked up during his celebrated career.  But, in the tradition of Italy’s countless “Renaissa