A History of Italy

Episode Show NotesLove poems that sound like a lovestruck teenager wrote them, but whose author has become a byword for scheming? In this episode we meet the real Niccolò Machiavelli, the Renaissance ...

3 Nov 24min

So, over the years perhaps my greatest pleasure in interacting with you, my dear listener, has been the times someone has been to Italy and stopped off to see me. Actually, my star actress Lucy believ...

1 Sep 6min

Episode SummaryForget the whip and the fedora — the real story of archaeology is a 500-year glow-up from rich-guy hobbyism to laser-equipped aircraft revealing lost cities. In this episode, we trace h...

31 Jul 24min

We speak with Margherita Berti, founder of Italian Matters, an online Italian language school that helps adult learners build confidence and make consistent progress in Italian through a practical, st...

16 Jun 28min

Just a quick message to let you know that the podcast may be slowing down a bit over the next month or so as i am studying for the exam to become a recognised Italian tour guide.Also to give you a lit...

9 Jun 5min

In this episode of A History of Italy, we explore the extraordinary life of Isabella d’Este, one of the most influential women of the Italian Renaissance and arguably the closest thing the 15th and 16...

26 Mai 21min

We are opening a new section of the podcast website with contributions from you, dear listener!You can send in articles, thoughts, family stories and so on.They should be:Pertinent to Italy, trips to ...

14 Mai 3min

When the president of the brand new Republic of Italy, Luigi Einaudi decides in 1946 he wants to exercise his right to select 5 illustrious Italians to be senators for life, one of his choices falls o...

5 Mai 28min