Shows
Literary ItalyEp. 63: Castiglione's Book of the Courtier / Urbino, Le MarcheBaldassare Castiglione's Book of the Courtier raises questions such as "What are the qualities the perfect gentleman?", "What are the qualities of language that are suitable for writing?", and "What is the proper balance between artifice and sincerity?". Wake up, Yana!2023-11-1345 minLiterary ItalyEp. 62: Purgatorio, Canto I2023-08-0744 minLiterary ItalyEp. 61: Dante's Vita Nuova / FlorenceCan't get enough of your love, babe. Or of Dante. This episode we read Dante's New Life , a prelude to The Divine Comedy. Written in prosimetrum, a form that combines poetry and prose, we get to see a little more of Beatrice, and a lot more of young Dante in Florence.Catherine ProjectFrisardi's translation of Vita Nuova (online)Dante Gabriel Rossetti's translation on Librivox (online audiobook)Mark Musa's translation in paperbackCervigni and Vasta's translation in paperback2023-06-1938 minLiterary ItalyEp. 60: Italo Calvino's "Italian Folktales"Italo Calvino was one of the best known Italian writers throughout the world in the late 20th century. In the 1950's he set about working with Italian folklorists to collect, shape, and assemble Italian fables or fairy tales. The result was Fiabe Italiane (Italian Folktales), a compendium of stories from different parts of Italy. This week we dip our toe into the life and work of this fascinating man.2023-03-2731 minLiterary ItalyEp. 59: Frances Mayes’ “Under the Tuscan Sun” / CortonaLiam Neeson or Leslie Nielsen? You decide.Things to know about Cortona:Ancient city - Etruscans - walls go back to 5th c. BCRomansAlso long history as a tourist destination, even before Under the Tuscan SunWhat to see in CortonaCathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built in 1456MAEC - Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di CortonaDiocesan Museum — The Annunciation by Beato Angelico (From 1408 to 1418, Fra Angelico was at the Dominican friary of Cortona, where he painted frescoes, now mostly destroyed, in the Dominican Church and may have been...2023-03-0750 minLiterary ItalyEp. 58: Veronica Gàmbara / BresciaAnother episode in Lombardy, this time featuring poet, politico, and salon host Veronica Gàmbara.2023-02-2742 minLiterary ItalyEp. 57: Cesare Beccaria / MilanCesare Beccaria, author of On Crimes and Punishments (Dei delitti e delle pene) political philosopher, forgotten philosophe, 18th century influencer extraordinaire, arguably had more citations by the first American presidents than John Locke had. We talk about his life and his native city of Milan. (Also -- James Madison's height: 5ft 4in. ) Enjoy!2023-02-2047 minLiterary ItalyEp. 56: Leonardo notebooks - Milan and FlorenceComing from their recent travels in Lombardy, Anne and Jim chat about Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. Why do we keep a notebook -- for ourselves? Our contemporaries? Posterity? Leonardo (who was often commissioned by the Sforza's, the ruling family of Milan) is arguably the most famous polymath of all time, painting, writing, designing inventions, even working as an arms contractor! We also talk about Milan, a lively and exciting modern city, as well as Leonardo's birthplace in Tuscany.2023-02-0644 minLiterary ItalyEp. 55: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard, Palermo, SicilyWe read The Leopard, a novel of the Risorgimento, a tragic-comic story of romance, war, and a stuffed dog.2023-01-2329 minLiterary ItalyEp. 54: Vincent Schiavelli's "Many Beautiful Things" / Polizzi Generosa, SicilyVincent Schiavelli, character actor, chef, and author is the our subject! We look at his book Many Beautiful Things, his wonderfully idiosyncratic memoir/cookbook/fable anthology. Anne and Jim are still scheming to get to Sicily. Maybe we're closer to pulling the trigger. Who knows? In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this feast.2022-10-0338 minLiterary ItalyEp. 53: Dino Buzzati / The DolomitesYou got horror in my magical realism. You got magical realism in my horror. -- It's delicious! This week, we talk Dino Buzzati (whom Jim distressingly insists on referring to as "Dee Butts") and his short story "The Bewitched Jacket." Then, we longingly look to the northeast and contemplate the beautiful Dolomite sub-range of the Alps. Plus random musings. Enjoy!2022-09-1236 minLiterary ItalyEp.52: Anthony Doerr - Four Seasons in Rome2022-08-0833 minLiterary ItalyEp. 51: Elena Ferrante - The Lost DaughterThis week, we read Elena Ferrante’s novella The Lost Daughter, set on the Ionian coast. We also watch Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film adaptation. Join us!2022-08-0132 minLiterary ItalyEp. 50: Tozzi and Siena, TuscanyThe Dynamic Duo are back, this time with a feature on novelist Federigo Tozzi. We read his short story "A Bender"2022-07-2527 minLiterary ItalyEp. 49: Abandon all hope, ye who listen to this podcastThis week: Canto III of Dante's Divine Comedy!2022-06-1349 minLiterary ItalyEp. 48: Daphne Phelps' "A House In Sicily"This week we talk about A House in Sicily, a 1999 memoir by Daphne Phelps. Phelps was the owner of Casa Cuseni, a hotel for artists and writers that opened in 1947. It takes guests to this day while also serving as a museum in Taormina.2022-05-3131 minLiterary ItalyEp. 47: MichelangeloWe all know Michelangelo as a giant of sculpture and painting, but, a true "Renaissance Man," he also wrote hundreds of poems. Anne and Jim dip into the life of this fascinating figure.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation show on Michelangelo's poetry2022-05-2337 minLiterary ItalyEp. 46: Interview with Wendy Holloway of Flavor of ItalyOur guest this week is Wendy Holloway, host of Flavor of Italy, a weekly podcast focused Italian food, culture, and travel. Wendy shares with us springtime foods and traditions of Rome and beyond. What could be better than a picnic of fava beans and pecorino cheese? Be sure to check out Wendy's website for stories, travel tips, and some pretty amazing recipes!2022-05-0242 minLiterary ItalyEp. 45: E. M. Forster's A Room with a ViewAnne and Jim are back in Tuscany for E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, which helped them love Italy and Florence before they had ever set eyes on it.2022-04-0437 minLiterary ItalyEp.44: Goldoni's Servant of Two MastersOur guest today is Jay Malarcher. Jay is Associate Professor and Program Director of Theater History and Criticism at West Virginia University. Also, he first introduced Anne and me to each other, many years ago at St. John’s College. He’s a dramaturge, director, actor, and a great friend of the show. Anne and I reflected on a performance we saw a few years ago of Carlo Goldini’s Servant of Two Masters, and we knew Jay would be the perfect person to talk about this play, as well as commedia dell’arte more broadly. He’s graciously agreed to...2022-03-2845 minLiterary ItalyEp. 43: Dacia Maraini / Bagheria, SicilyWe're back with an episode on Dacia Maraini, one of the most fascinating and prolific Italian writers today. We talk about her memoir, Bagheria, named for the town of the same name just outside Palermo on the northern coast of Sicily.2022-03-1435 minLiterary ItalyEp. 42: Minucius Felix / Ostia AnticaOur guest today, Mike Aquilina, has been a friend of ours for years. A prolific writer and authority on Patristics (the writings of the Church Fathers). He’s also a lyricist with rock and roll icon Dion. Mike is the host of the Way of the Fathers podcast, and when we heard his episode on Marcus Minucius Felix and his dialogue Octavius, set in Ostia Antica just outside Rome, we thought, that ought to be an episode of Literary Italy. And now it is.2022-02-1423 minLiterary ItalyEp. 41: Verga / CataniaThe short story "Cavalleria Rusticana" (translation online). Later, a tour of Catania, Giovanni Verga's birthplace.2022-02-0735 minLiterary ItalyEp. 40: The Sicilian School, Frederick II of Sicily, and Giacomo da LentiniIn this episode, we talk about the importance of the Sicilian School, and read from the sonnets of Giacomo (Jacopo) da Lentini (alas, only in Tuscan and English -- the original Sicilian is lost to us). We also touch on the life of Frederick II of Sicily. Enjoy! 2022-01-3137 minLiterary ItalyEp. 39: Pirandello / AgrigentoWe get META all over the place. Luigi Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author is one of the most famous and most influential dramatic works of the 20th century. We talk about Pirandello, his hometown of Agrigento in Sicily, and, of course, those Six Characters...2022-01-2536 minLiterary ItalyEp. 38: Ungaretti / Lucca, Tuscany and Sagrado, Friuli-Venezia GiuliaIn this episode we discuss poet Giuseppe Ungaretti's early collection, Allegria, recently translated into English by Geoffrey Brock. A poet of few words, but so much feeling. We also talk about Lucca in Tuscany, where Ungaretti's family was from, and Sagrado in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, in northeast Italy, where Ungaretti fought in World War I, and wrote many of these amazing poems.2022-01-1833 minLiterary ItalyEp. 37: I Promessi Sposi / Lake Como2022-01-1039 minLiterary ItalyEp. 36: La Befana - PascoliBuona Befana! We celebrate New Year's and Epiphany with the a poem by Giovanni Pascoli.2022-01-0331 minLiterary ItalyEp. 35: Piazza Navona at Christmas - BelliChristmas markets in Italy! We talk about the Piazza Navona market in Rome, and the poet Giuseppe Gioacchino ("GG" to his friends) Belli, author of over 2,000 sonnets about priests, prostitutes, paupers, princes...and Piazza Navona!2021-12-2427 minLiterary ItalyEp.34: Interview with Elizabeth Namack of My Italian TreasuresThis week we interview Elizabeth Namack and discuss her unique approach to Italian travel planning. Liz shares her perspective on trends in Italian travel as she tells the story of her personal journal from the United States to her life in Florence. Visit My Italian Treasures to learn more about her services and her attitudes toward travel!2021-12-1344 minLiterary ItalyEp.33: Mathilde Serao's "To the Tenth Muse" / Neapolitan ChristmasChristmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and we are getting dizzy from the evocation of the street scenes of Naples, with butcher shops dangling carcasses, the perfumed scents of flowers, herbs, vegetables, cod and eels! We read Mathilde Serao's "To the Tenth Muse." And Jim has a vivid hallucination of a mechanical monkey banging a cymbal. Please get us some help.2021-12-0639 minLiterary ItalyEp. 32: Pliny the Younger - PompeiiAnne and Jim travel south geographically and backwards in time to the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, witnessed by Pliny the Younger.Cynthia Damon's translation of Pliny's letters on PompeiiMap of Vesuvius, Misenum, Herculaneum, and PompeiiPliny's letters from Volcanoes of Europe by Scarth and Tanguy2021-11-2935 minLiterary ItalyEp. 31: Dante, Inferno Canto 2, and FlorenceIn this episode we return to Dante and to Florence with Canto 2 of the Inferno! Dante is sort of like the middle of the Bingo card of Italian literature--plus this year marks the 700th anniversary of his death (Jim asks Anne during the podcast what the precise date is, and she fluffs and fumbles, but the answer is September 1321). In addition, we talk about some of our favorite slightly-off-the-beaten-path places to visit in Florence. Enjoy!2021-11-2242 minLiterary ItalyEp. 30: Ortese / Naples, RapalloJoin us for Anna Maria Ortese's "A Pair of Eyeglasses" in Neapolitan Chronicles (Italian: Il mare non bagna Napoli ). Published in English for the first time in decades in 2018, Ortese gives us a gritty glimpse of postwar Naples in a slice-of-life tale about . . . optometry. Ortese retired to Rapallo in Liguria and died there in 1998.Un paio di occhiali short film adaptation on YouTube.Neapolitan Chronicles on Amazon.com2021-11-1534 minLiterary ItalyEp. 29: Spooky ItalyAnne and Jim note their disappointing lack of Scooby Doo-like adventures in Umbria. Then they talk about 6 (5 1/2?) scary places in Italy!PovegliaLucca and the legend of Lucida MansiBenevento, the City of the WitchesCapannori and the Oak of the WitchesTriora, the Salem of ItalyWerewolves of Puglia2021-11-0818 minLiterary ItalyEp. 28: Capuana, "Un Vampiro"Erin O'Rourke's translation as read by her. In this episode we talk about Halloween traditions in Italy (especially Sicily and Sardinia) and the ghost/vampire story by Sicilian writer Luigi Capuana.2021-11-0131 minLiterary ItalyEp. 27: Return to the Via FrancigenaJim's back from his walk on the Via Francigena from Siena to ROME! And a mere hours after his plane touches down on American soil, Anne interviews our jetlagged traveler to find out more about the experience, the towns he visited, the people he met, and (of course) the food he ate. And maybe it's true that, "No matter where you go, there you are." How would you like spend a two-week sabbatical walking two hundred miles in Italy? 2021-10-2549 minLiterary ItalyEp. 26: Elena Ferrante's "Story of a New Name" / Amalfi, Ischia, PisaA little bit of everything as we chat some more about Elena Ferrante, the Amalfi Coast, the island of Ischia, even Pisa! And Jim (nervously) talks about his plans to spend two weeks walking from Siena to Rome! That's three regions in one episode--a record! (Campania, Tuscany, and Lazio)2021-10-1829 minLiterary ItalyEp. 25: Pellegrino Artusi / Art of Eating WellWith his cookbook "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well," Pellegrino Artusi revolutionized the idea of Italian home cooking, and 130 years later the book is *still* a bestseller in Italy. But in addition to offering delicious recipes, the book is just a fun read, as Artusi offers anecdotes about cooking, eating, and life in general! Buon appetito!!!2021-10-1136 minLiterary ItalyEp. 24: Pavese / PiedmontIn this episode we’re talking about Cesare Pavese and the Piedmont region. Poetry and prose, city and country, wine and chocolate, love and loss: it’s all here!2021-10-0434 minLiterary ItalyEp. 23: Morante / ProcidaI guess we can't get enough of islands! This time it's the island of Procida, just off the coast of Naples. Tucked between the more famous islands of Capri and Ischia, Procida quietly offers small fishing villages, stunning beaches and amazing seafood. Procida also plays a starring role in Elsa Morante's novel, Arturo's Island, and is set to hit the big time as Italy's Capital of Culture for 2022. 2021-09-2728 minLiterary ItalyEp. 22: Camilleri's "Inspector Montalbano" series / SicilyToday we're off to the beautiful isle of Sicily, for sea, sun . . . and murder. Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series of novels, and the entertaining RAI/BBC series that was made from them.2021-09-2031 minLiterary ItalyEp. 21: Collodi's Adventures of Pinocchio / TuscanyThis week we're hoping to become a real boy! That's right, it's The Adventure of Pinocchio. The fourth most translated book in the world, it's a work for children and adults the world over. Anne and Jim go back to Tuscany with this episode, the birth place of Pinocchio's author Carlo Collodi.2021-09-0635 minLiterary ItalyEp. 20: Machiavelli / TuscanyMachiavelli: It's complicated. Today's readings: The PrinceThe Mandrake2021-08-3048 minLiterary ItalyEp. 19: Grazia Deledda / SardiniaYou say, "Sardinia," but I say, "Sardegna" . . . Today, we read Grazia Deledda's Il Paese del Vento (Land of the Wind). Sadly, we haven't located an English translation, but Anne is working on that now! We also eye the island of Sardinia covetously and ask, "When can we get there?"2021-08-2344 minLiterary ItalyEp. 18: IntervalloCari Ascoltatori!We’re taking a week of for a much needed vacation; we’ll be back with a story from the Bel Paese next week.Thank all of you for listening, and for sharing ideas for upcoming shows! Here’s how to reach us:Email: mail@literaryitaly.com Facebook: LiteraryItaly Twitter: @LiteraryItaly, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/literaryitalypodcast/Let us know how things are going: should we do more old classics, more contemporary works, more poetry, more fiction, more culture and music, more travel information? Should we talk more...2021-08-1602 minLiterary ItalyEp. 17: Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu / Puglia (Polignano a Mare)With a song in our hearts, the wind sweeping through the window, and our hands and faces inexplicably painted blue, this week Anne and Jim swing along with Domenico Modugno's international hit record, "Nel blu dipinto di blu" (also known as "Volare!"). Often covered (see this Spotify playlist or this Apple Music playlist), it was winner of the inaugural Grammy for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Listen as we tell this song's strange story, relate our memories of Modugno's hometown of Polignano a Mare in Puglia, and somehow work both painter Marc Chagall and...2021-08-0931 minLiterary ItalyEp. 16: Via Francigena / Tuscany and LazioThis week, we take a hike...on the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England to Rome, passing through some marvelous scenery along the way. Anne walked part of it in 2019, and Jim is planning a walk this autumn, so we chat about what a pilgrimage walk is, how to prepare, and what to see (and eat!) along the way!2021-08-0240 minLiterary ItalyEp. 15: Giacomo Leopardi/Le MarcheThis week we tackle the great Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi and the region of Le Marche, his birthplace and source of both inspiration as well as despair. In one of his most famous poems, "L'Infinito" ("The Infinite"), Leopardi describes the view of the immense sky from his childhood home, partially blocked by a hedge and a hill. Perhaps precisely because of this limitation, the view is all the more dear to him because of what it leaves to the imagination. Leopardi did eventually overcome both his restrictive upbringing as well as his poor health, and traveled quite...2021-07-2640 min