Podcast
15 with Fosca
Hosted by Fosca D'Acierno · EN
15 with Fosca takes you on a journey to contemporary Italy and, through a plurality of voices, offers insights into Italian culture today and prepares you, in a meaningful way, for your time here.
The podcast features authentic stories from Italy in real time and strives to create and build a sense of community across space and borders through conversations about what’s going on in Italian society right now.
25episodes
Episodes
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Creative Light featuring Karena Benke
6d ago00:39:37Tap to summarize“Creative writing is really about teaching people how to trust themselves.” Karen Benke For my final episode before taking a hiatus, I’m joined by author, writing guide, and fellow Florence transplant Karena Benke.Karena divides her life between Florence and the San Francisco Bay Area, a life she describes as leaving her heart “forever divided.” We talk about what each place gives her, raising and launching children into the world (or, as Karena prefers, becoming a “bird launcher”), and the unexpected connections that can change the direction of a creative life.Karena shares the story behind her acclaimed creative writing books, including Rip the Page! and Write Back Soon!, and what years of teaching young writers have taught her about creativity, self-trust, and letting go of the need to do things “right.”We also dive into her forthcoming book, Lunch at Lola’s, created with Matilde Pettini of Florence’s beloved Trattoria da Lola. Part cookbook, part memoir, it grew out of friendship, neighborhood life, Florentine food traditions, and an extraordinary connection with Stanley Tucci.We talk about writing without rules, recipes without measurements, the disappearing Florence neither of us is ready to let go of, and the “creative light” Karena finds in this city.It feels like just the right conversation to close this chapter of 15 with Fosca: a reminder to stay curious, trust yourself, keep creating, and pay attention to the people you happen to meet along the way.Karen Benke Author / Writing Guide Biography Karena is the creator of the museletter, a collection of observations, stories, and photographs from Tuscany that reaches 1000+ readers a month. The author of four books of creative non-fiction from Shambhala /Penguin Random House, Rip the Page! is used by children, teens, parents, and teachers internationally with editions in English, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and soon Italian. Other books in the series include Leap Write In, Write Back Soon, and Rip ALL the Pages! Originally from California’s Bay Area where she worked for the non-profit, Poets in the Schools, she founded The Writer’s Nest in 2015, a mentorship program for young writers. She is co-author with Matilde Pettini of Lunch at Lola’s (Rizzoli, 2027) about the rising star’s trattoria, Dalla Lola, that was featured on National Geographic’s Tucci in Italy. Her books have received favorable and starred reviews from Guernica: A Magazine of Global Art & Politics, ForeWord Reviews, Toronto Star, FamilyFun Magazine, School Library Journal, The Children’s Book Review and other publications. She has presented at Book Passage Bookstore, Poets House NYC, The Library of Congress Lunch Poem Series, and at numerous libraries and independent bookstores across the United States. A recipient of a few awards and several fellowships, including a Poets & Writer’s Teaching Grant, she is dual American-Italian citizen who lives between the San Francisco Bay Area and Florence, Italy where she lives and writes across the road from Dalla Lola and is always at work on a creative project. Find her at karenbenke.com and @razziwrites
Transcribe →Practicing Joy featuring Alatia Bradley Bach
2w ago00:55:14Tap to summarize“If you are not getting quiet and getting to know who you are, there is no free will.”- Alatia Bradley BachWhat happens when the thing that frightens you most turns out to be exactly what you are meant to do?Alatia Bradley Bach spent more than three decades in New York, working at publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone before moving into luxury real estate. In 2019, she and her family came to Florence intending to stay for just nine months. Like so many before them, they never left.In Florence, Alatia returned to a practice she had first encountered years earlier in Los Angeles: Kundalini yoga. Her desire to understand why it affected her so deeply eventually took her to festivals, intensive training, and hundreds of hours of study. Becoming a teacher, however, was never part of the plan.In this warm, candid conversation, Alatia describes the unexpected fear she experienced before teaching her first class, and the realization that this vulnerability may have been a sign that she had finally found her vocation.We talk about the welcoming community she has created in Florence, why she believes knowledge should be shared freely, and how movement, breathwork, meditation, chanting, and even play can help us step outside the relentless noise of our own minds.Alatia also reflects on discipline, sobriety, self-love, and the importance of making time for ourselves,cnot as an indulgence, but as the foundation that allows us to show up fully for everyone else.This is a conversation about much more than yoga. It is about fear and calling, joy and generosity, the freedom that comes from consistent practice, and the courage to get quiet enough to discover whose life we are actually living.Biography A lifelong seeker, intrepid traveller and natural teacher, Alatia Bradley Bach’s passions and talents culminated in teaching Kundalini yoga, an ancient technology for quieting the mind and working the body to achieve serenity.@alatiabyoga InstagramE-mail: Alatiabyoga@gmail.comShare, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
Transcribe →Language as a Lens featuring Manjula Dias-Hargarter
3w ago00:43:30Tap to summarize“We slip into different identities depending on the language we speak.” — Manjula Dias-HargarterWhat happens to our identity when we build a life in another language?In this episode, I reconnect with my old Bryn Mawr friend, Manjula Dias-Hargarter, an educator, editor, writer, and art historian who has lived in Germany for nearly three decades. We first met as Italian students in college, never imagining that we would both eventually make our lives on opposite sides of the Alps.Manjula shares how a plan to spend one year in Germany became a marriage, a doctorate, a family, and a life. We talk about the moment a foreign place begins to feel like home, and what happens when the country you left no longer feels entirely like home either.At the heart of our conversation is Manjula’s current essay project, Language as a Lens for Living. Her work explores how language influences the way we define ourselves, judge our abilities, make decisions, and imagine what might be possible. A discouraging comment from a teacher can follow someone for decades, shaping careers and limiting opportunities long after the original words were spoken.We also explore the strange in-between identity that comes from living abroad: feeling more intelligent or funnier in one language, developing a different relationship with humor and sentimentality, and discovering that friendship, privacy, and belonging mean different things across cultures.Using the image of a tapestry, Manjula invites us to look beyond the polished surface and consider the knots, effort, contradictions, and unfinished threads on the other side. Language can be a bridge or a barrier, a vision or a mirage, a carrot or a stick.Biography Dr. Manjula Dias-Hargarter is an editor, educator, and writer based in Hamburg, Germany. She holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College (B.A.), The University of Texas at Austin (M.A.), and Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität (Dr. phil.). For over two decades, she has shared her expertise and enthusiasm about the English language and art in settings ranging from museums to production facilities to Fortune 500 companies. Throughout, her mission has always remained the same: to offer pragmatic yet elegant solutions by engaging meaningfully with her clients, understanding their needs, and demystifying topics that appear inaccessible or intimidating.Her contributions to art, architecture, and culture appear in over 50 publications, including The Bible of Caravaggio, Time to Travel – Travel in Time, and Licht-Raum-Farbe. She is currently at work on a series of essays about language as a lens.www.words-count.comShare, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
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The Algorithm & Me featuring Fosca D’Acierno
4w ago00:07:40Tap to summarizeThis week, I’m taking a break from guest interviews for a more personal episode.After putting out a call for stories about love and dating in Italy—and hearing plenty from women but surprisingly little from men—I decided to hit pause on that project and instead share something unexpected: my own recent plunge into the world of online dating.In this episode, I read an excerpt from the first essay in a new series exploring modern dating, identity, empty nesting, and the questions that emerge when life changes in ways we never anticipated.I also share some personal news about the future of 15 with Fosca and preview the final three episodes of the season before the podcast goes on hiatus.If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re looking for love, looking for answers, or simply trying to understand yourself a little better, I hope this episode resonates.Coming up this season:Manjula Dias-Hargarter on language, identity, and building a life in EuropeAlatia Bradley Bach on Kundalini yoga and finding home in FlorenceKarena Benke on creativity, poetry, and the stories that shape usShare, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound AgencyComment here or DM me if you’d like to read the entire essay.
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In the Wake of Golgotha featuring Daniel Grace
Jul 1000:37:47Tap to summarize“It shouldn’t be taboo to tango with history.” Daniel GraceThis week on 15 with Fosca, I sit down with Daniel Grace: novelist, winemaker, former advertising agency owner, and mythologist at heart.Daniel divides his time between San Francisco and Panzano in Chianti, where he produces critically acclaimed Tuscan wines at his family’s estate, Il Molino di Grace. His debut novel, In the Wake of Golgotha, is a literary thriller that reimagines Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate in modern-day New York City, condemned to revisit the consequences of one of history’s most charged moments. This is not Christian fiction, nor a simple historical retelling. Instead, Daniel asks what happens when ancient figures become flattened by time — turned into symbols, villains, verbs — and what fiction can do to restore complexity, discomfort, and humanity.We talk about Tuscany as a place of beauty and blood, wine as storytelling, the relationship between religion and law, capital punishment, addiction, and the moral weight of myth. Biography Daniel Grace is a London-born, California-bred former owner of an international advertising agency who now produces critically acclaimed Tuscan wines at his family winery, Il Molino di Grace, in Panzano-in-Chianti, Italy. A storyteller by trade, a winemaker by day, and a mythologist at heart, Daniel spent decades building brands and crafting stories before turning to literary fiction. His debut novel, In the Wake of Golgotha, published by Koehler Books in March 2026, is a literary thriller that reimagines Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate in a violent, modern collision of crime, punishment, guilt, and possible redemption.LinksDaniel Grace official website: https://danielmarkgrace.com/Book page: https://danielmarkgrace.com/bookAuthor bio: https://danielmarkgrace.com/aboutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielmarkgrace/Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/243299522-in-the-wake-of-golgothaPublisher page, Koehler Books: https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/in-the-wake-of-golgotha/Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wake-Golgotha-Daniel-Grace/dp/B0FY3WCZWRIl Molino di Grace: https://www.ilmolinodigrace.it/Home.htmlIl Molino di Grace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilmolinodigrace/Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
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Second Acts featuring Angela M Sims
Jul 300:43:03Tap to summarizeIn this episode of 15 with Fosca, I speak with author Angela Sims, whose richly researched historical fiction brings Renaissance Florence vividly to life.Angela’s path to writing began after long careers in clinical cardiology and higher education. What started as academic writing later became what she calls an “itch to write” — one that eventually led her to Florence, the Pazzi conspiracy, Savonarola, and the ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary historical events.We talk about the delicate balance between fact and imagination in historical fiction, the responsibility writers have toward the past, and why Angela loves helping readers “learn something without being told they’re learning.” We also discuss her novels The Rose of Florence and Hiding the Flame, her use of food and recipes as a way into culture, and the importance of finding your writing tribe.Angela also shares what it means to begin a creative life later, the permission women often need to give themselves, and her next project: a novel set around the 1966 Florence flood, with a parallel connection to the Aberfan disaster in Wales.This week’s conversation is about Florence, reinvention, research, imposter syndrome, and the stories that keep calling us.BiographyAngela is a writer (and reader) of “compelling and extensively-researched” historical fiction. Now retired, she spent her working life in the field of healthcare and higher education, having worked in clinical cardiology for almost thirty years and as a university lecturer for fifteen years. Outside of work, she has always had a keen interest in art and history, particularly the Italian Renaissance. This followed several visits to the beautiful city of Florence, where the seeds for her first book were sown.The Rose of Florence bloomed and was published by Romaunce Books Ltd in 2023, and the second book, Hiding the Flame, was published in 2025.On a personal level, Angela lives in Cardiff, Wales (UK) with her husband. They have two grown-up daughters and two beautiful grandchildren. At every opportunity, she enjoys travelling to Italy to eat, drink, read, and absorb the wonderful atmosphere. She likes to call this research!Facebook: Angela M Sims – Author (@angelamsimsauthor)Instagram: angelamsims1Website: https://angelamsims.co.ukThe Rose of Florence:https://amzn.eu/d/05GQ6zrfHiding the Flame:https://amzn.eu/d/0fDIIeokShare, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Production Intern: Nicole StevensRecording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
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Bianca’s Cure featuring Gigi Berardi
Jun 2600:36:15Tap to summarizeIn this episode of 15 with Fosca, I speak with professor, scholar, and author Gigi Berardi about her latest novel, Bianca’s Cure, a richly imagined story set in Renaissance Florence.Gigi’s work moves between science, food systems, sustainability, dance, storytelling, and the arts, and in this conversation, all of those worlds come together. We talk about Florence as a living city rather than a postcard, the hidden histories behind its streets and buildings, and the women whose scientific curiosity and intellectual labor have too often been pushed to the margins.At the center of Gigi’s novel is Bianca Capello, the great love of Francesco de’ Medici, a scientist and alchemist searching for space, resources, and a cure. Our conversation touches on Medici alchemy, convents as spaces of women’s work, the power of storytelling, the danger of flattening Florence into a tourist fantasy, and why we need to be travelers, not tourists.We also talk about writing across disciplines, the complexity of female characters, and what it means to preserve the cultural heritage of Florence by telling stories that are still alive in the city today.Biography and Links Gigi Berardi teaches food and writing classes at Western Washington University and in Global Learning Programs. A Fulbright scholar, she holds three graduate degrees, but considers herself mostly a professional writer. She has authored over 300 popular articles and reviews for print and broadcast media—much of these on the arts and in reference to her widely-read book, Finding Balance. As one reviewer noted, “Once in a while a book comes along which makes me wish I had written it—such a book is Finding Balance.” Her book, FoodWISE, received a DOZEN WRITING AWARDS and over 30 endorsements, including from Michael Pollan, “[it’s] full of wisdom” and Forbes, hailing it as one of nineteen noteworthy food books. Her newest work is historical fiction, a chilling retelling of a woman scientist’s search for a malarial cure in Renaissance Florence. Gigi’s newest work, Bianca’s Cure, is a deep-dive into the Renaissance feminist character of Bianca Capello, mistress to the Medici. Alchemist and chemist, too, she works on a cure for malaria that rejects the occult practices of her aunties in Venice and the duke she marries. In a time when neither Church nor alchemy authorities allow it, can a woman do science and make medicines, much less test them, before the heat disease kills them all?Links https://gigiberardi.com/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580352734240https://www.instagram.com/gigimberardi/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGIfTBA0eIsV4I3Rujh-czQGet your copy: https://gigiberardi.com/biancas-cure/Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
Transcribe →The Long Way Home Featuring Jodi Koskella
Jun 1900:46:58Tap to summarizeJodi Koskella never planned to work in Silicon Valley. She certainly never planned to launch a vegan shoe company, write a book about business failure, or leave a successful corporate career to start over in Florence.And yet that’s exactly what happened.In this candid conversation, Jodi shares her remarkable journey from Minnesota to Silicon Valley, through the dot-com boom and bust, into entrepreneurship, and ultimately to Italy. Along the way, she learned that success is rarely linea, and that some of life’s most meaningful opportunities emerge from unexpected setbacks.We talk about the realities of startup culture, the pressures of corporate America, the loneliness that can accompany professional success, and the moment she realized she needed a different life. Jodi also reflects on the rise and fall of her vegan shoe company, the book she’s writing about that experience, and why she believes we need more honest conversations about failure.We also explore the challenges and rewards of building a new life abroad, finding community in Florence, and embracing reinvention at every stage of life.This is a conversation about resilience, friendship, creativity, and the courage to choose a path that feels true, even when it doesn’t make sense on paper.If you’ve ever questioned your career, dreamed of making a major life change, or wondered whether it’s too late to start over, this episode is for you.Biography Jodi Koskella spent twenty years in Silicon Valley marketing, working through startups and enterprise technology companies, most of the time wishing she was somewhere else. Years ago she co-founded a Made in Italy vegan shoe company with a dear friend as a way to escape the cubicle blues, and fell in love with the design world and Italy along the way. After a roller coaster adventure with shoes, she returned to Silicon Valley just long enough to pay off her company debts while plotting her next move, which turned out to be relocating to Florence, Italy. She is currently consulting in marketing and fashion design, while continually deepening her long-term relationship with Italy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodi-koskella-b63b1/Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
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In her Hands featuring Jacqueline Harberink
Jun 1200:43:18Tap to summarizeWhat happens when you leave behind a successful career and choose a completely different path?In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I sit down with Dutch ceramic artist Jacqueline Haberlinck, founder of JHA Porcelain, to talk about reinvention, craftsmanship, and the unexpected turns that shape a life.Trained as a lawyer and once firmly rooted in the corporate world, Jacqueline eventually found herself drawn to the tactile, demanding, and deeply rewarding art of working with porcelain. Our conversation explores the beauty and discipline of making things by hand, the lessons hidden in an unforgiving material, and the importance of slowing down in an increasingly digital world. We also discuss her journey from Amsterdam to Florence, the community she has helped build through Female Artists in Florence, and the role that creativity can play in helping us find our place in the world.Biography Jacqueline Harberink was born in Enschede, The Netherlands.Graduated in law in Amsterdam, she was enjoying her career as a lawyer when she realized she was missing an extra purpose in life. Always fascinated by the power of beauty in making people happy, she fell in love with porcelain and when she moved to Madrid she decided to follow a ceramic course at the Moncloa School of Ceramics. After a long reflection and many courses in Spain, Holland and Italy, she decided to follow her passion and dedicate herself full time to porcelain. When she moved to Florence, she founded JHA Porcelain.She was selected to expose her collection at the prestigious Meesterlijk Design en Ambacht exhibition in 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2018 she was selected as one of the designers representing The Netherlands at the Masterly in Milan during Milan Design week, where her non-translucent chandelier was exposed for the first time followed by the Design Festival in London, the Design Week in Eindhoven and Design Language, during Milan Design Week in 2019.In 2020 she was one of the founders of the FAF – Female Artists in Florence where she exposed permanently her artworks. In April-June 2021 she did an artist-in-residency at Numeroventi in Florence where she had the chance to expose her artistic works inspired by the time spent at the residency together with other guest artists. Rich of such a great experience, at the end of 2021 she decided to make the big step: opening her own atelier and shop at the Via Pandolfini 5r in Florence, close to the Santa Croce square where she is located today.Since 2022 JHA Porcelain is proud to be part of the prestigious Homo Faber Guide, an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces.Links https://jhaporcelain.com/https://www.instagram.com/_jhaporcelain_/
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The Astonishing Odyssey of Emilio Pucci, Part 2 Featuring Terence Ward & Idanna Pucci
Jun 500:34:14Tap to summarizeWhat does it take to reinvent not only yourself, but an entire nation?In Part 2 of my conversation with acclaimed authors and cultural historians Idanna Pucci and Terence Ward, we continue exploring the extraordinary life of Emilio Pucci—a man whose story reaches far beyond the world of fashion.Before his vibrant prints became synonymous with glamour, Pucci found himself at the center of one of World War II’s most dramatic and dangerous intelligence operations. Drawing on newly uncovered OSS and CIA documents, Idanna and Terence reveal how Pucci helped smuggle Galeazzo Ciano’s explosive diaries out of Italy, preserving evidence that would later shed light on the inner workings of the Fascist regime and contribute to the historical record surrounding the Nuremberg Trials.Yet what emerges most vividly in this conversation is not simply Pucci’s courage, but his remarkable outlook on life. Again and again, Emilio chose optimism over bitterness, possibility over fear, and creativity over despair.We discuss how postwar Italy transformed itself from a nation scarred by dictatorship and conflict into a global symbol of beauty, innovation, and style, and how Emilio Pucci helped lead that transformation.This is a story about resilience, reinvention, and the enduring power of imagination.Biography Terence Ward and Idanna Pucci are writers and cultural historians whose non-fiction works explore social justice, and cross-cultural exchange. Ward was raised in Tehran while Pucci grew up in Florence where she witnessed the creativity of her uncle, Emilio Pucci, and later worked for him in New York City. Idanna is the author of The Lady of Sing Sing and The World Odyssey of a Balinese Prince. Terence is the author of Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran and The Guardian of Mercy: How an Extraordinary Painting by Caravaggio Changed an Ordinary Life. He serves on the international board of The Markaz Review, a literary review that embraces all Middle Eastern cultures. Their award-winning documentaries include Black Africa White Marble and Talk Radio Tehran. They live in Florence. Links terenceward-idannapucci.comhttps://www.instagram.com/terenceward.idannapucci/NYU CASA ITALIANA with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, MARCH 13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv0vlgkJ32c&t=4691sSAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN CULTURAL CENTER with Alfonso Montuori MARCH 24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvzoyYnIs8A&t=290s Get your copy of The Astonishing Odyssey of Emilio Pucci: https://www.amazon.com/Emilio-Pucci-Astonishing-Odyssey-Fashion/dp/125028967XShare, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
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