Podcast
Venice Talks
Hosted by Monica Cesarato · ENGLISH
🎙️ Venice Talks — Voices, stories, and secrets from the world’s most fascinating city.
Hosted by Monica Cesarato, Venetian author, podcaster, and culinary guide, the show explores the real Venice through the people who shape it — artisans, chefs, historians, dreamers, and custodians of tradition.
Each conversation reveals a side of Venice rarely seen: authentic, creative, and deeply human.
Whether you are exploring the lagoon or simply dreaming from afar, Venice Talks invites you to listen, learn, and fall in love with Venice — one story at a time.
📍New episodes weekly.
🎧 Tune in and discover the soul of Venice through its voices.
113episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
S4 Ep.9 - Where Venetian Wardrobes Become Stories. A chat with Maranteghe Vintage Shop
3w ago00:36:08Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with Laura from Maranteghe, a vintage and second-hand shop in Cannaregio where fashion becomes memory, identity and a small act of resistance.Founded by Miriam, Sara and Laura, Maranteghe was born during the pandemic, among wardrobes to reinvent, forgotten clothes to rescue and the desire to create something with meaning. What began as a shared passion between friends became, in spring 2024, a physical shop in Venice: a “covo”, a little den, filled with pieces that carry stories, character and soul.But Maranteghe is not just about vintage fashion. It is about giving clothes a second life, celebrating Made in Italy, listening to the stories hidden in Venetian wardrobes, and pushing back against fast consumption and the sameness of mass tourism. In a city too often reduced to souvenirs and quick visits, Maranteghe offers something slower, stranger, more personal, and beautifully Venetian.Together Monica and Laura talk about friendship, style, sustainability, female energy, old clothes with new destinies, and the wonderfully ironic meaning of the word “marantega”, rooted in Venetian dialect and linked to witches, old women, sacred female figures and a touch of glorious mischief.Show KeynotesIn this episode, Monica and Laura discuss:How Maranteghe was born during the pandemic from friendship, wine and wardrobe reinventionWhy vintage fashion can be emotional, cultural and sustainable at the same timeThe meaning of the Venetian word “marantega” and why it became the perfect nameHow Miriam, Sara and Laura choose the pieces that enter the shopThe stories hidden inside the wardrobes of Venetian womenWhy second-hand fashion can be a form of resistance against waste and mass-produced styleHow Venice inspires style, theatricality and personal expressionWhy Maranteghe stands against the “mordi e fuggi” tourist economyThe playful Venetian detail behind their logo: a lion sticking out its tongue, inspired by a medieval bas-relief in the Archivio di Stato di VeneziaListen to the new episode of Venice Talks and step inside a shop where clothes are never just clothes. They are fragments of lives, whispers from wardrobes, and tiny spells stitched into fabric.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Laura Gamba from MarantegheIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.8 - The Hidden Life of Venice’s Public Transport. A chat with ACNL
May 1401:02:16Tap to summarizeVenice is a city that moves on water.Every day, thousands of residents, workers, students and visitors step onto a vaporetto without always thinking about what happens behind that simple act of getting from one stop to another.But in Venice, public transport is not a road, a bus lane or an underground line. It is the lagoon. It is the Grand Canal. It is tides, fog, wind, night shifts, crowded landing stages, sudden changes in weather, wave motion, and the constant responsibility of moving people safely through one of the most delicate cities in the world.In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with Lorenzo Boscolo, President of the Associazione Capitani Navigazione Lagunare, and Agostino Benvegnù, Vice President of the association, to explore the world of Venice’s public water transport commanders.Together, they discuss what it really means to command a vessel in the lagoon, the difference between a captain and a commander, the training and skills required for this profession, and the unique challenges of keeping Venice moving 24 hours a day.This conversation also looks at some of the most important issues facing the city today: wave motion, overtourism, respect for public transport, safety on board, and the need to understand that a vaporetto is not just a scenic ride. It is an essential service for the people who live and work in Venice.Through their words, we discover Venice from a different point of view: not from a postcard, not from a tourist map, but from the cabin of those who navigate its waters every day.Key NotesIn this episode we talk about:What the Associazione Capitani Navigazione Lagunare is and why it matters in Venice todayThe difference between a captain and a commanderThe path and training needed to become a commander in Venice’s public water transport systemWhy navigating a public transport vessel in Venice requires far more than simply knowing how to steer a boatThe most delicate areas of the lagoon and the city from a navigation point of viewWhy Venice’s public transport system is unlike buses, metros or trams in any other cityWhat it means to be responsible for a vessel full of passengers in a city where the “road” is made of waterThe beauty and the hidden difficulties of life as a commanderThe importance of remembering that vaporetti are an essential service for residents, workers and studentsWhat it means to guarantee public transport 24 hours a day, through fog, rain, high tides, events and tourist peaksWhy wave motion is such a serious issue for VeniceThe impact of wave motion on safety, boats, landing stages, embankments and the city itselfHow overtourism affects the daily work of commandersThe future of this profession and whether young people are interested in becoming part of itWhich tourist behaviours make the service more difficult, and which ones would help everyoneListen and SubscribeThis episode is an invitation to look at Venice differently.The next time you step onto a vaporetto, you may notice the city in another way: the movement of the water, the precision of an arrival, the patience behind a crowded stop, the responsibility carried by those who keep Venice moving every day.Listen to the full episode of Venice Talks and subscribe to the podcast to discover more stories from the people, places and voices that make Venice extraordinary.Because Venice is not only a city to visit.It is a city to understand.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Lorenzo Boscolo & Agostino Benvegnù from ACNLIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.4 - The Perfume Legacy of Venice. A chat with Joan Giacomin
Apr 2300:50:00Tap to summarizeWhat does Venice smell like?In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica sits down with Joan Giacomin, Brand Ambassador for The Merchant of Venice, for a journey into the fragrant history of Venice. Together they explore how the city became a crossroads for rare ingredients, refined beauty, and perfume culture, and how scent offers a unique way to understand Venice beyond what we see.This conversation moves through history, trade, daily life, and memory, showing how perfume was woven into the story of the Serenissima and how that legacy still lives on today.Show key notesMeet Joan Giacomin of The Merchant of VeniceVenice and its historic role in the world of perfumeThe trade routes, spices, and precious raw materials that passed through the cityRare ingredients, trade, and the global reach of the SerenissimaFragrance in Venetian beauty, ritual, and daily lifeThe scents that best capture historic VeniceThe Merchant of Venice and perfume heritage todayWhy scent is such a powerful storyteller🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Joan Giacomin Brand Ambassador for The Merchant of VeniceIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.6 - Inside a Leather Workshop: Tools, Time, and Texture. A chat with Shanti Ganesha from Meracu
Mar 1200:38:07Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Venice Talks, Monica meets Shanti Ganesha, founder of Meracu, a contemporary leather workshop in Venice.We talk about the first moment leather felt like a language, the leap that led to opening a workshop in 2022, and how living between Venice and India shapes a design identity that feels built into every piece, not added on.From material to method, we explore how a hide is chosen, what certified vegetable tanned leather changes over time, and why some steps cannot be rushed. We also get into the unseen side of independent craft: refusing serial production, learning to say no, and answering the question every artisan hears sooner or later, “Can you make it exactly the same?”A conversation about hands, time, and integrity, with Venice as a living backdrop where making still means something.Show key notesShanti Ganesha, founder of Meracu, on building a leather workshop in Venice (2022)Between Venice and India: how heritage becomes structure, not decorationChoosing a hide, reading grain and scars, and working with certified vegetable tanned leatherThe slow step you cannot rush and the signature gesture that reveals the makerRefusing serial production, learning to say no, and answering “Can you make it identical?”Looking ahead: collaborations, apprentices, and a five year vision for the workshopCall to action🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Shanti Ganesha from MeracuIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.5 - Thinking Venice, Teaching the World with Warwick Venice Centre
Feb 1200:48:17Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Venice Talks, Monica sits down with Bryan Brazeau, Academic Director of the Warwick Venice Centre, to talk about what happens when a university and a city begin to think together.We explore Venice not as a setting, but as a working intellectual environment, and Warwick not simply as an institution abroad, but as a way of approaching knowledge through place, daily life, and lived experience.Episode key notes:What Warwick and Venice genuinely have in common beneath the surfaceWhy Venice works as a living classroom rather than a historical backdropHow place shapes academic thinking, research, and teachingThe experience of studying and teaching with the city, not around itThe dual identity of the Warwick Venice Centre, both local and internationalWhat students carry with them after living and learning in VeniceA shared love for Venetian cuisine, and how food becomes another way of understanding the cityWhy eating, cooking, and sharing meals are part of truly living VeniceThe value of intellectual distance, and why studying elsewhere mattersLooking ahead: the future of the Warwick Venice Centre and place-based educationA conversation about learning, location, and culture, where ideas, flavours, and stories move slowly and stay longer.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Prof. Bryan Brazeau from Warwick Venice CentreIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.4- Where Lace Holds Time - A chat with Sergio Vidal
Feb 500:36:05Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Venice Talks, Monica speaks with Sergio Vidal of Atelier Martina Vidal Venezia, a family atelier that has safeguarded the art of Burano lace for four generations.They talk about patience as a creative act, about heritage that does not live in museums but in the hands of artisans, and about the quiet strength required to carry an ancient craft into the present without losing its soul.This conversation moves through memory, responsibility, beauty, and the fragile power of thread that, stitch after stitch, still tells the story of Venice.Listen slowly. Venice is speaking softly.Episode key notesThe Vidal family history and the roots of their lace tradition in BuranoWhat it truly means to preserve a craft that cannot be rushedThe balance between tradition and innovation inside the atelierThe role of artisans in keeping Venice culturally aliveWhy Burano lace is far more than decoration or souvenirThe human and emotional side of working with a centuries old techniqueThe future of lace and why younger generations should careIf you love Venice, craftsmanship, and the stories behind the hands that make beauty possible, this episode is for you.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Sergio Vidal from Atelier Martina VidalIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (1 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.3 - Not Just Churches, Not the Usual Venice with Monica Gambarotto
Jan 2901:01:04Tap to summarizeBeyond the Facade: Not Just ChurchesIn this episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato sits down with Monica Gambarotto for an informal conversation that drifts away from the usual itineraries and into a quieter Venice.Together, they explore five churches that rarely make it onto must see lists, yet reveal something essential about the city. These are not monuments to rush through, but places shaped by neighborhoods, communities, silence, and time.This is a walk through Venice when the crowds thin out, where churches are not just places of worship, but mirrors of everyday life, forgotten histories, and layered identities.Listen slowly. Venice is speaking softly.Episode key notesWhy Venetian churches still matter beyond faith and tourismWhat it means to look past façades and guidebook highlightsMadonna dell’Orto and the idea of the neighborhood churchTintoretto, daily life, and sacred spaces that feel lived inSan Sebastiano and the power of a single artistic voiceHow Veronese transforms a church into a continuous visual storySan Francesco della Vigna as a place of balance, silence, and authorityArchitecture as a language of power and restraintSan Pietro di Castello, once Venice’s cathedral, now far from the spotlightGeography, distance, and the feeling of being outside the usual VeniceSan Giorgio dei Greci and Venice as a crossroads of culturesWhat lesser known churches reveal about identity, imperfection, and belongingHow slowing down changes the way we see Venice🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Monica GambarottoIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (2 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.2 - The Language of Engraved Glass. A chat with Matteo Seguso
Jan 2200:42:32Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato sits down with Matteo Seguso, Murano glass engraver, to explore the world of engraved glass, craftsmanship, and time.The conversation moves inside the workshop and the gesture. We talk about engraving as a language, about the discipline of the hand, and about what it means to carry a centuries-old craft into the present without turning it into nostalgia.From Murano to the international stage, this episode reflects on tradition as a living practice, on the responsibility of making by hand today, and on why glass, when worked slowly, still has stories to tell.Key NotesMurano glass engraving and its role todayWorking glass by hand: time, discipline, and precisionTradition as a living, evolving practiceCraftsmanship versus mass productionThe relationship between material, gesture, and identityTeaching and passing on knowledgeThe future of handmade work in a fast, digital world🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Matteo SegusoIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (2 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S4 Ep.1 - What Is On in Venice in 2026: The Events You Should Know with RomInVenice
Jan 1500:48:49Tap to summarizeVenice never stands still. It simply changes rhythm.In this episode of Venice Talks, Monica Cesarato sits down with Romena Brugnerotto to walk through Venice’s 2026 cultural calendar, one month at a time. From the first signs of Carnival to the quiet glow of Christmas, this conversation follows the city as it moves through exhibitions, festivals, celebrations, and shared rituals.No lists to memorise, no pressure to see everything. Just a clear, human overview of what will shape Venice in 2026, told through events that matter and moments that define the year.Whether you live in Venice, return to it often, or are planning your next visit, this episode is an invitation to listen closely and choose your own season.Key NotesHow Carnival opens the cultural year in VeniceThe most anticipated exhibitions and art spaces of 2026The Biennale across art, dance, and musicSummer concerts in Piazza San MarcoCinema, craftsmanship, and creativity in early autumnFashion, glass, and design in the quieter monthsChristmas in Venice and the city’s winter mood🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaGuest: Romena Brugnerotto from RomInVeniceIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (2 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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S3 Ep.20 - Not Just Canals — The Museums That Make Venice Breathe
Nov 1300:46:09Tap to summarizeVenice is a museum without walls — but behind her doors, each palace tells a different story.In this episode, Monica takes you through the city’s most fascinating museums — places where beauty, history, and imagination still breathe.In this episode:🕯️ Ca’ Rezzonico — the Museum of Eighteenth-Century Venice, where frescoes, chandeliers, and candlelight revive the world of Tiepolo and Longhi.🎭 Casa di Carlo Goldoni — the intimate home of Venice’s great playwright, filled with laughter, marionettes, and the rhythm of daily life.💎 Palazzo Mocenigo — a sensual journey through silk, scent, and Venetian elegance.🌙 Palazzo Fortuny — Mariano Fortuny’s poetic atelier, where fabric, light, and invention meet.🏛️ Palazzo Grimani — a Renaissance collector’s dream, filled with myth, marble, and classical echoes.📚 Fondazione Querini Stampalia — art, architecture, and reflection in perfect balance, with Carlo Scarpa’s serene touch.🦴 Museo di Storia Naturale — fossils, skeletons, and the living science behind the lagoon.🎨 Ca’ Pesaro — a Baroque palace reborn as a home for modern art, where Klimt, Rodin, and Boccioni share space with the shimmer of the Grand Canal.🪞 Palazzo Cini Gallery — an elegant Dorsoduro haven of Renaissance treasures, from Botticelli to Piero di Cosimo.🧵 Museo del Merletto, Burano — a hymn to patience and grace, where women turned thread and air into lace.💬 A gentle walk through palaces, studios, and stories — discovering the many ways Venice keeps her art alive.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.✨ Credits:Hosted by Monica CesaratoProduced by Monica Cesarato, Sentire MediaIf you love hearing the voices of Venice, subscribe and leave a review — it helps others discover these stories too.💌 Want to share your own Venice?Send me a short audio clip (2 minutes max) telling me what you loved most about the city — at info@monicacesarato.com.
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