“It was just a fascinating time, I was learning so much, and then my eyes were opened to the international side of it when I was working during the harvest in ‘97 at Kendall Jackson. I found out they had a winery in Tuscany and said, that's where I'm going, I'm going to have to try and go there.” Alyson Morgan  This week’s special, full-length episode features Alyson Morgan, winemaker and manager at Podere Capaccia, a 13th century wine estate perched high upon a steep slope in a magical...

You have Time: Slow Life Lessons, Part 2 featuring Sandrine Kom  “We need to change our relationship with time because we really see time as our enemy. It's never enough and sometimes we get angry because we know we don't have enough time. We would like to have 30 hours of time and not 16, there is always this frustration. What we can do is repeat to ourselves that we have time, and this daily slowness tool will help you do what you need to do and more.” Sandrine Kom In part two of...

You have Time: Slow Life Lessons, Part 1 featuring Sandrine Kom  “We need slowness. We need it to enjoy our life, to enjoy the people who are around us, to avoid misunderstanding, to find harmony with ourselves, to take care of our values. And we also need slowness to take care of our deepest needs.” Sandrine Kom This week’s guest, Sandrine Kom, believes that slow life is quiet luxury. So much so that it's the motto of her company, SlowLife Coaching and SlowLife Yoga, which embodies an...

“I think what’s most important is how you hold yourself. People make immediate assumptions based on it and keep them for a long time. That’s why I decided to do my TED Talk on some small tweaks that can radically change the way people view you and treat you.” Elia Nichols In this week’s episode with Elia Nichols, we speak at greater length about her recent TED Talk and what she was feeling as she prepared for this milestone event – after having professionally coached TEDx speakers for over...

“Nowadays we have 7 seconds to get the audience’s attention. It used to be 5 minutes. With the advent of social media, with all the swiping, our attention span has gone down to 7 seconds. If you don't get your audience’s attention in 7 seconds, that's it, they're gone.” Elia Nichols  Join me for the first part of my informative and lively chat with my charming guest, Elia Nichols, actress, public speaking and communication coach, TEDx speaker, and fellow US expat in Florence.  We...

Approaching Dante  Inferno to Paradise, part 2  Featuring Riccardo Bruscagli   “Dante addresses the core of our humanity and his message is your life matters. Take care of it. Your life matters.” Riccardo Bruscagli   Last week Professor Riccardo Bruscagli delighted us with his reading of and reflections on The Divine Comedy, led us on a discovery of the poet’s masterpiece,and invited us into the world of the PBS two-part documentary film Dante: Inferno to Paradise directed by Ric Burns...

Approaching Dante Inferno to Paradise, part 1 Featuring Riccardo Bruscagli “Dante at a certain point wakes up, looks around, and doesn’t recognize the physical and the moral landscape around him. This is a moment of fracture in his existence, and it is a moment of fracture which implies naturally not only his private life, but the life around him, which makes no sense anymore.” Riccardo Bruscagli What a pleasure to sit down with Riccardo Bruscagli, Professor Emeritus of Italian...

“A bottle of wine represents culture and history and language and people, and my love affair for wine has come from getting to know the story behind every wine that I taste. I think that is just magic, that's the magic of wine.” Savannah Boylan This week’s episode takes us on an even more profound journey into the wonderful world of wine in the expert hands of Savannah Boylan and Ashwin Muthiah of unPINNED.  In addition to speaking more about their innovative approach to wine...

Season 3, Episode 17 unPINNED! A Wine Revolution  featuring Savannah Boylan & Ashwin Muthiah   “Wine has brought people together since its invention 8,000 years ago. F*** the industry that’s using wine to drive people apart.” Ashwin Muthiah, unPINNED It’s the height of harvesting season here in Italy so what better time to tune in to my chat with Savannah Boylan and Ashwin Muthiah, who, with unPINNED, an unconventional wine course and innovative venture, are diffusing wine...

Season 3, Episode 16 Riding the Tide in Venice  featuring Julia Curtis  “I think that there's an etiquette that every tourist that travels the world should have. And I think that there's a conscientiousness that cities like Venice or Florence, that are really unique in the world, need to step back and say, how do we have more sustainable tourism?” Julia Curtis  In this special, long episode, recorded via Zoom this past May, Julia Curtis and I converse about her personal and...

Season 3, Episode 15 Fashioner of the Law: Craftsmanship, Luxury & Made in Italy, Part 2 featuring Claudia Del Re  Last week Attorney Claudia Del Re and I touched on how to protect one’s creations, intellectual property, and the world of luxury. In this episode we dig deeper into the above and reflect further upon the future of fashion and fashion beyond Italy.  We also discuss cultural property law and the implications that reproductions of great Italian masterpieces, like...

“A lawyer is not just the one who is going to defend you in court but is also a kind of guide that pushes you in the correct way, to enhance and to explore your ideas. That is exactly my role in the context of beauty.” Claudia Del Re  In this first part of my conversation with Claudia Del Re, she shares with us why she thinks she’s one of the luckiest lawyers ever, defining herself as the “attorney of beauty”. Claudia brings us into her world and illustrates the work that she does by...

Whether you are a first time voter, a seasoned one, or are voting from abroad for the first time, you will not want to miss this special episode of 15 with Fosca, featuring special guests, Leyani Redditi and Jane Zaloga, respectively Chair and Vice Chair of Central Italy for Democrats Abroad.    If you are a US citizen living abroad you can vote and this podcast episode gives you a simple, step by step non-partisan guide to what you need to do to make your voice heard by casting your vote...

“Another way, in addition to Speakeasy, which I really suggest that worked for me is doing an activity that people who are like minded might do. That's the best way to build community because everyone's looking for it. It's one of those ironies of modern life that people feel disconnected and lonely, but we all have the same needs.” Miriam Hurley, on finding community in Florence.  In the second part of my conversation with cer Miriam Hurley we go beyond the intricacies of her métier and...

“Even if you've done it for 24 years, every translation, almost every sentence, is a challenge, and that's what makes it fun.” Miriam Hurley  It was such a treat to sit down with Miriam Hurley to discuss her path to Italy, why she came and stayed, the ins and outs, and challenges and rewards of her more than two decades of experience as an American Translators Association certified Italian to English translator.  Join us for the first part of our conversation which traces Miriam’s path from...

“From my experience, there's a very different attitude towards careers here; generally speaking, your job doesn't define you. Whenever I speak to Italians, they never ask that as their first question, it’s never ‘what do you do,’ or ‘what's your job’? They're more interested in the life that you live around your job, which is a great thing, it's very commendable, so different from the way we are, so different.” Eleanor Walker Join us this week for part two of my chat with Eleanor Walker,...

“My plan was to stay in Italy until I was due to go back to work on the 1st of November, because that was when the furlough scheme was due to end. So, I thought, ok, fine, I'm going to stay. I don't need to be back in London, I'm going to stay here. I'll take some Italian classes, visit some museums, live a life of leisure in Italy because why not?” Eleanor Walker  In the summer of 2020, in the midst of the global pandemic, Eleanor Walker, an art historian originally from the UK, took a...

Registrato il 12 Marzo 2024 a Musikalmente Firenze   “Chi di noi non si è trovato in una situazione di incertezza, sfiducia, incapacità di decidere, non vedere la strada, non riuscire a capire? Quali sono le cose per cui vale la pena impegnarsi? Chi di noi non si è trovato mai in una situazione di questo genere?” Matteo Perchiazzi   In questa seconda parte della mia conversazione con Matteo Perchiazzi continuiamo ad affrontare temi legati al ruolo cruciale che il mentoring ha in tutti...

Il Mentoring: Ascolto, Riflessione & Fiducia, Part 1 Featuring Matteo Perchiazzi     Registrato il 12 Marzo 2024 a Musikalmente Firenze   “La metodologia del mentoring da costrutto, proprio come base iniziale, fa sì che il Mentor metta a disposizione la propria esperienza non solo professionale, ma anche di vita.” Matteo Perchiazzi  Oggi giorno sentiamo tanto parlare di mentoring ma che cos’è realmente e che importanza ha il mentoring nelle nostre vite professionali, scolastiche e...

We are celebrating one year of the podcast with an entire episode dedicated to you, our listeners, and to your questions about Italy, Italians, and Italian culture.  Don’t miss this q&a with Mark Scott, a University of Missouri journalism major and Ask Fosca’s very first intern. Mark not only came up with the idea for the podcast, but he also selected your questions, and interviewed me for this very special episode which is really a tribute to my listeners and a sincere thank you for the...

“We call it a retreat because we want people to get away from what they're normally doing and thinking. You don't have to be a foodie to go there, but you'll probably leave as one”. Rebecca Christophersen Gouttenoire on Campo Sasso  In part two of my conversation with Rebecca Christophersen Gouttenoire we speak more about leaps of faith, chance encounters, and the fortunate twists of fate that have brought her to where she is today.  We also chat in greater detail about Grape Tours, the...

Recorded at Formaggioteca Terroir on April 2, 2024  “I really wanted to get into the culture and learn the language, which I did. I wasn't just here to visit and superficially sit and watch what was going on around me. I wanted to immerse myself and become like the locals, live like the locals, to know in my own skin what that is like and that's the only way I could understand how to create a life for myself here.” Rebecca Christophersen Gouttenoire This past April I sat down at...

“Italy changed my DNA in a sense. After a career spanning several different things, a year ago, I launched my executive coaching business. I'm working with execs, founders, and rising leaders. Through a coaching perspective I wanted some of the same things that I love about Italy, like slowing down and really connecting and getting to the heart of it with people, and I’m finding that to be a really meaningful way to tap into business and leadership.” Emma Wood This past January, Emma Wood...

“You have a relationship with the artist. This was a painting in which she put an idealized version of her face, so I am looking at her and working on her and we were communicating on so many different levels.” Elizabeth Wicks on restoring Artemisia Gentileschi’s Allegory of Inclination. This past March, Elizabeth Wicks, renowned fine art conservator, and fellow Florentine by adoption, invited me over to talk about her life and work.    Our conversation begins with Liz’s journey to...