The Italian Radio Hour

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Today we're traveling through Italy in a way that most tourists never do—not through famous landmarks or crowded attractions, but through the heart and soul of local communities: Italy's sagre, festivals, historic celebrations, religious processions, and food traditions.Our guest is Katerina Ferrara, travel writer, podcaster, and author of the acclaimed Ultimate Festival and Travel Guide series. For more than twenty-five years, Katerina has explored Italy one festival at a time, documenting everything from centuries-old religious celebrations and medieval reenactments to truffle fairs, wine festivals, and village sagre that preserve traditions passed down through generations. Through her books, podcast, and travels, Katerina helps visitors experience an Italy that exists far beyond Rome, Venice, and Florence—an Italy where entire towns come alive to celebrate their history, their food, their saints, and their identity.
#TheItalianRadioHour #KaterinaFerrara #ItalyTravel #ItalianFestivals #Sagre #TravelItaly #ItalianCulture #VisitItaly #HiddenItaly #AuthenticItaly #ItalianTraditions #FoodFestivals #ItalianFood #ItalyPodcast #SlowTravel #CulturalTravel #DiscoverItaly #ItalyLovers #ItalianHeritage #festivaltravel To learn more about Katerina's giudes, visit: https://katerinaferrara.com/

What do Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, and Puglia have in common?Volcanoes. Ancient vines. Greek history. Rugged landscapes. And some of the most extraordinary wines in Italy — wines that, for far too long, have remained overlooked outside their own territories.While much of the wine world continues to focus on Tuscany and Piedmont, Southern Italy has quietly preserved something deeply authentic: indigenous grapes, ancient farming traditions, dramatic volcanic terroir, and a profound connection between wine, culture, and identity.Our guest today has dedicated more than twenty years to documenting that world.Maria Christina Liotta is the author of the newly published Places of Origin: Wines of Southern Italy — Campania, Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia, an extraordinary journey through the vineyards, villages, volcanic slopes, and hidden wine territories of Italy’s South.Through years of travel, hundreds of producer interviews, and visits to all 65 protected wine appellations of Southern Italy, Maria has created one of the most comprehensive explorations ever written on the wines and cultures of the Italian South. Today we’ll explore not only wine, but also the deeper meaning of place, heritage, resilience, and what Southern Italy can still teach us about authenticity in a rapidly globalizing world.#MariaChristinaLiotta#PlacesOfOrigin#WinesOfSouthernItaly#ItalianWine#SouthernItaly#CampaniaWine#CalabriaWine#BasilicataWine#PugliaWine#ItalianCulture#WineStories#ItalianHeritage#Terroir#IndigenousGrapes#VolcanicWine#WineTravel#TheItalianRadioHour#MadeInItaly#ItalianWineCulture#DiscoverSouthernItaly

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - It is my great pleasure to welcome the Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia, Nico Frandi.Since beginning his mandate in the fall of 2025, Consul General Frandi has focused on strengthening the ties between Italy and the Italian-American communities throughout the region, promoting Italian culture and language, supporting business and academic collaborations, and highlighting the enduring friendship between Italy and the United States.With a diplomatic career that has taken him from multilateral economic negotiations to public diplomacy here in the United States, he brings a global perspective — but also a deep appreciation for local communities and cultural connections.🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations celebrating Italian culture, heritage, food, language, travel, and community.#TheItalianRadioHour #NicoFrandi #ItalianAmerican #italianculture #ItalianAmerican #ItalianHeritage #ItalyUSA #ItalianLanguage #MadeInItaly #RootsTourism #Diplomacy #ItalianIdentity #Philadelphia #Pittsburgh #ItalianCommunity #culturaldiplomacy

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - Today we’re traveling to Calabria—not only the Calabria of beautiful landscapes and family roots, but a hidden Calabria.A Calabria of caves, megaliths, forgotten civilizations, sacred symbols, ancient astronomy, and mysteries carved into stone.My guest today is Giuseppe Oliva, president of the cultural association Mistery Hunters, a group dedicated to researching and documenting the hidden historical and symbolic heritage of Calabria and beyond.Through documentaries, field research, photography, and storytelling, they explore places that seem suspended between archaeology, memory, myth, and mystery.To learn more about the Association and/or to donate, visit: https://misteryhunters.it/#Calabria #Italy #ItalianHeritage #ItalianAmerican #MisteryHunters #GiuseppeOliva #Templars #KnightsTemplar #AncientMysteries #LostCivilizations #Megaliths #AncientHistory #Archaeology #HiddenItaly #SouthernItaly #Castrovillari #Zungri #SacredGeometry #ItalianCulture #CalabrianRoots #HistoryMystery #AncientCivilizations #TravelItaly #DiscoverCalabria #ItalianPodcast #TheItalianRadioHour #CulturalHeritage #Mystery #AlternativeHistory #italytravel

This week on The Italian Radio Hour - We are going on a journey across America—but not the America you think you know.Our guests are two Italian journalists who have lived in New York for over 25 years, writing for Corriere della Sera and La Stampa. But instead of staying in the familiar world of big cities, they decided to do something radical: they left it.Maria Teresa Cometto and Glauco Maggi took a 105-day journey—over 30,000 kilometers—through what many call ‘flyover country,’ the America that is often ignored, misunderstood, or simplified. Their book, “Qui non è Nuova York”, now in English as (Re)Covering America, is not just a travel diary—it’s a sociological, political, and deeply human portrait of a country that may be far more complex—and far more united—than we are led to believe.But today, we’re not here for the usual questions.We’re here to go beyond the postcard—and maybe challenge a few assumptions along the way.”Order you copy here: https://asterismbooks.com/product/recovering-america-two-italians-one-epic-roadtrip-from-new-york-to-the-pacific-105-days-breaking-stereotypes-maria-teresa-cometto-glauco-maggi?fbclid=IwY2xjawRgrl1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFlc0VsS1MzcVAyTlV6dGhFc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHkzXpuORg84xENyQ7XAgFKSlgRbtouT6nSmZYmy-OQ_OzMtpi5v8Ma4w2UjD_aem_Hu62yjvIKiFTqfksyki8-w