Literary Italy

Nov 12 2023 64 ep. 35 mins 18

Literary Italy Podcast artwork

Anne and Jim welcome you to Literary Italy, a joyous romp through the books and the landscape of the bel paese. Join us as we share our love of the literature, the people, the land, and the experience that is Italy.

Arts Society & Culture Leisure

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Ep. 63: Castiglione's Book of the Courtier / Urbino, Le Marche

Nov 12 2023 45 mins

Baldassare 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!

Ep. 62: Purgatorio, Canto I

Aug 06 2023 44 mins

Ep. 61: Dante's Vita Nuova / Florence

Jun 18 2023 38 mins

Can'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 (onli

Ep. 60: Italo Calvino's "Italian Folktales"

Mar 26 2023 31 mins

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 t

Ep. 59: Frances Mayes’ “Under the Tuscan Sun” / Cortona

Mar 06 2023 50 mins

Liam 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

Ep. 58: Veronica Gàmbara / Brescia

Feb 26 2023 42 mins

Another episode in Lombardy, this time featuring poet, politico, and salon host Veronica Gàmbara.

Ep. 57: Cesare Beccaria / Milan

Feb 19 2023 47 mins

Cesare 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!

Ep. 56: Leonardo notebooks - Milan and Florence

Feb 05 2023 44 mins

Coming 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!

Ep. 55: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard, Palermo, Sicily

Jan 22 2023 29 mins

We read The Leopard, a novel of the Risorgimento, a tragic-comic story of romance, war, and a stuffed dog.

Ep. 54: Vincent Schiavelli's "Many Beautiful Things" / Polizzi Generosa, Sicily

Oct 02 2022 38 mins

Vincent 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.