Episodes
June 2, 2021
Special: Republic Day 2021
A repeat episode on the vote that changed Italian History, abolishing the Monarchy and creating the Italian Republic on 2nd June 1946, with all the complications and tensions leading up to and following the vote.
June 1, 2021
115 – Hard times for Venice, a very naughty doge and some funny names (1339 – 1356)
We catch Venice up to the mid 14th century following storms, floods earthquakes, plagues and all other kinds of lovely things. Then we see a trattori doge, a big nose and a dolphin ruler. All this while trying keep up the str...
May 23, 2021
Anti-mafia martyrs: Giovanni Falcone
One of the Mafia's most dangerous foes was killed on 23rd May 1992. Anti.Mafia investigative magistrate Giovanni Falcone was responsible for putting hundreds of mafiosi behind bars and his investigation into a tender fixing o...
May 19, 2021
114 – More Milan and popey come home (1345 – 1385)
The continuing consolidation of Milan under Bernabò and Galeazzo Visconti and the start of the Great Western Schism
May 15, 2021
F100: 01 What is Fascism?
in this first episode of the mini series we explore the meaning of fascism, with particular reference to the Italian experience up until the death of Benito Mussolini in 1945.
May 11, 2021
Coming soon: Fascism 100
A new miniseries tracing the rise and fall of Italian Fascism to uncover some of the important lessons that can be learned for the present.
May 9, 2021
Special: The Aldo Moro assassination with Lorenzo Paluan
We attempt to unravel the complicated threads of one of the darkest and most intricate affairs of modern Italian history: the kidnapping and assassination of Also Moro
May 5, 2021
113 – The definitive death of communal Milan (1339 – 1354)
Milan passes from Azzone Visconti to Giovanni and Luchino, expanding among the constantly warring city states of Northern Italy.
March 30, 2021
112 – Queen Joanna of Naples (1345 – 1382)
We follow Queen Joanna of Naples as she goes through three more husbands, ever searching for the right one, but getting ambitious power grabbing insensitive men or total nut jobs until she finally settles on the one who will ...
March 23, 2021
Crossover: Colombus and Genoa with the History of North America
The famous/notorious Italian explorer and the city of his birth in this interview with Mark Vinet of the "History of North America podcast
March 8, 2021
Interview: Jennifer Anton, author of "Under the Light of the Italian Moon"
We had a great chat with Jennifer Anton, author of the novel "Under the Light of the Italian Moon"
March 2, 2021
111 – Joanna of Naples, teenage queen with a boring husband (1326 – 1345)
the rise to the throne of Joanna of Naples, from her marriage at a young age to Andrew. son of the Angevine king of Hungary to her coronation as a teenager after the death of her grandfather Robert of Naples. We will see how ...
Feb. 17, 2021
110 – Cola fizzes and goes flat (1347 – 1354)
After his great rise to power in Rome, we see Cola di Rienzo crash and burn... literally
Feb. 10, 2021
109 – Popeless Rome and the rise of Cola (not the drink)
We take a look at what was happening in Rome while the popes were off in Avignon. We quickly see how Clement V dealt with the movement of Fra Dolcino (spoiler: violently) and then how John XXII and his successor, Gregory XII ...
Feb. 7, 2021
Fill-in episode – 2021 Italian government crisis
While waiting to get back on track with the regular podcast (back soon), we take the opportunity to update you on history in the making: the current mid-pandemic government crisis
Jan. 19, 2021
108 – Italians against stairs
Mastino II Della Scala gets too big for his own good and Venice, Florence and Milan move in to bring him down a rung or two
Jan. 12, 2021
107 – An unexpected king
While everyone (the Pope, the king of France, Milan, Verona, Venice, Florence etc.) is manoeuvring in northern Italy along comes an unexpected king, John of Luxembourg, king of Bohemia. Will he be able to unite the northern c...
Jan. 5, 2021
106 – An imperial tour of Italy (1327-1329)
We follow the descent into Italy of Holy Roman Emperor Luis IV to visit with the Visconti in Milan, the Dalla Scala in Verona, the Este of Ferrara, the Castracani in Lucca and the Gonzaga in Mantua. At the same time we see th...
Dec. 23, 2020
105 – The battle of the Bucket (1325)
We take a look at the 1325 battle of Zappolino between Modena and her Ghibelline allies and Bologna and her Guelph ones and how, after one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Iyaian middle ages, the Modenese cam home ...
Dec. 15, 2020
104 – The last Sardinian Judicate (1323-1326)
After a quick recap of what was going on around Italy in 1323, we get to the Aragonese invasion of Sardinia that put a definitive end to the presence of the Republic of Pisa on the island leaving the Judicate of Arborea as th...
Dec. 8, 2020
103 – Catching up with Genoa (up to 1310's)
It's about time we stop ignoring poor old Genoa up in the top left-hand corner of the country and bring her up-to-date. We take a really quick race from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to Genoa in the 14th century: it's ...
Dec. 1, 2020
102 – Venice kicks off its 14th century (up to 1310's)
We go back to one of our favorite destinations: Venice, which we last left at the start of the 13th century to bring the maritime republic up to the 14th. We see some crazy laws as the republic move more and more to an oligar...
Nov. 28, 2020
The first great MEGA-RECAP launch
After 100 episodes you might want a general overview of the story so far from 476 - 1310: The emperors, the naughty popes and who got a word stuck in which orifice. All of the things you may have forgotten in this over one ho...
Nov. 17, 2020
101 – The many paths to communal demise (up to early 1300's)
As we really dig into the 14th century, we look at an overview of the different ways in which the communes turned into the signorie, cities and groups of cities ruled over by a single hereditary ruler.