Italy From The Inside

Archive for the ‘podcasts’ Category

I CantaMilano are an Italian folk group performing traditional and popular songs from Milan. The lyrics are sometimes in local dialect and they tend to narrate romantic and fun stories of how simple people used to live in the past. I had the pleasure to record a few songs from them during a brief visit to Milan a few months ago.

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(12Mb – 16:41 mins)

Don’t miss future podcasts!

Podcasts are a wonderful way to learn a new language, and luckily there are several good shows that focus on Italian. My favorites are My Daily Phrase Italian and LearnItalianPod. If you own an iPod or other MP3 player, you can take advantage of this medium to listen to Italian conversations while you are driving, commuting to work or just walking your dog.
It’s powerful, effective and free.

In this episode, I interviewed Max Braglia, producer of the popular and successful language show LearnItalianPod.
Max shared with me some interesting insights on his podcast, how it all started and how he plans to evolve it in the future. Enjoy!

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(11Mb – 15:37 mins)

Don’t miss future podcasts!

The truffle (tartufo in Italian) is a rare type of edible mushroom, or fungus that develops underground in relation to and dependent on the root of a tree. In ancient times truffles were considered the food of the Gods, with powerful aphrodisiac properties, much favoured by the passionate Jove.

The subject matter expert of this podcast is Mauro Mencaroni of Giuliano Tartufi, an Italian shop specialized in truffle products. He’ll share some interesting insights about this very expensive garnish.

Please note that this interview is conducted in Italian.
We’d love to hear your feedback if you like us to continue producing from time to time some podcasts in Italian too.

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(6Mb – 8:21 mins)

Don’t miss future podcasts!

Torino (or Turin in English) is the capital of Piemonte, a region in Northern Italy surrounded on three sides by the Alps. Piemonte hosted the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and is renown for its local specialties such as Alba’s white truffle, prestigious wines such as Barolo and Asti Spumante, the Gianduja chocolate, and a whole lot more.

In this podcast interview, Angelo Feltrin of the Piemonte Tourism Office, summarizes some of the key attractions that this area has to offer to foreign visitors.

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(7Mb – 10:02 mins)

This podcast is a recording of the folk group Ciuri d’Acantu performing traditional Sicilian songs and dances on the floor of the International Travel Expo. Originally from Campobello di Mazara, the Ciuri d’Acantu performers picture in their representations the rural lifestyle of farmers and fishermen, as well as love stories of young people.

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(9.4Mb – 13:19 mins)

Are you considering an ‘active vacation’ in Italy such as a bike tour of Tuscany? Then listen to this audio interview with Massimo Ostrouska, a former bicycle tour lead who shares his insights on getting to know Italy on two wheels.
Bicycle tour companies mentioned in this podcast are Ciclismo Classico, BackRoads, Bike Riders and Butterfield & Robinson.

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(11Mb – 15:09 mins)

I’d like to share some positive facts regarding our New Media efforts to disseminate useful tips and information about Italy and its culture. Since we listed our podcast on iTunes just 3 months ago, we have been enjoying a steady growth in our audience.
In fact, under the iTunes category Places & Travel, we rank #8, ahead of bigger brands like Frommers and Lonely Planet.
More important, the 35 customer reviews received so far rate our shows a 4.5/5 stars. Here is an excerpt from their comments:

“Very fun and informative. And never boring as many podcasts can easily lean that way.”

“The author and his wife have the unique ability to offer an insight from both American & Italian perspective. The podcasts offer many insights not available from the usual travel guides.”

“Excellent. This is exactly what I was looking for. I’ll be living in Italy for 3 years and wanted something besides the standard travel book to go a little deeper into the culture and sights. This is it!”

“Love it! I live in Italy and this podcast is right on the mark. Very entertaining and accurate.”

“Subscribe to this podcast if you plan on going to Italy!”

“I highly recommend this podcast because it’s for people who hate being tourists.”

My daughter Silvia has started podcasting too. Her passion is to communicate Italian tips to the younger audience. Every audio episode takes on average 3 hours to plan, record and publish. Video episodes usually require twice as much time.

If you own an iPod and/or have iTunes installed, it’s easy to subscribe to our podcast. And if you want to help us keep our shows ad-free, we always welcome your support thru the purchase of our eBook. Grazie!!

Capri is a very popular tourist location for both Italians and foreigners. Situated on the southern side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region, it has been a celebrated beauty spot and resort since the time of the Roman Republic.
In this epsiode, Lorena de Pascale of the Capri tourism office is guiding us through some important facts and attractions of the island. Don’t miss their photo gallery too.

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(7.7Mb – 10:58 mins)

In this podcast I interview Gaetano Gambardella of Napoli Mare, a new project that mixes cultural initiatives, events and itineraries linked to the theme of the sea. The goal is to introduce tourists to the spectacular beauty, cultural and gastronomic traditions of the Bay of Naples.

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(6.8Mb – 9:42 mins)