Best Untold Italy Podcasts (2024)

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231. Roman Pizza: Get the lowdown on what to try and where to taste 47:23

5d ago47:23

47:23

Move over Naples, Rome has some delicious pizza too. Listen along to discover the different types of pizza you can try in the Eternal City, what makes them delicious in their own way and of course where you can try the perfect slice or round.. depending on your preference. Read the full episode show notes here > untolditaly.com/231 Support the show…

1
Young THAI GIRL Entrepreneur SUCCESS STORY || PEARL WP (E136) 1:02:45

1d ago1:02:45

1:02:45

Young Thai Girl Entrepreneur Shines in the Supplement Industry - Featuring Pearl, Founder of Bruce Supplements. Meet Siwanad Tampanon, known to her fans as Pearl, a young Thai girl entrepreneur who is making waves in the supplement industry. Born and raised in Phuket, Thailand, Pearl's passion for health and wellness led her to create Bruce Supplem…

1
Ed Simon, "Devil's Contract: A History of the Faustian Bargain" (Melville House, 2024) 50:31

1d ago50:31

50:31

From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain—the exchange of one’s soul in return for untold riches and power—has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations. In Devil's Contract: A History of the Faustian Bargain (Melville House, 2024), Dr. Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, fro…

1
Tabitha Stanmore, "Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic" (Bloombury, 2024) 33:13

3d ago33:13

33:13

Imagine: it's the year 1600 and you've lost your precious silver spoons, or maybe they've been stolen. Perhaps your child has a fever. Or you're facing a trial. Maybe you're looking for love or escaping a husband. What do you do? In medieval and early modern Europe, your first port of call might have been cunning folk: practitioners of “service mag…

1
Tabitha Stanmore, "Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic" (Bloombury, 2024) 33:13

3d ago33:13

33:13

Imagine: it's the year 1600 and you've lost your precious silver spoons, or maybe they've been stolen. Perhaps your child has a fever. Or you're facing a trial. Maybe you're looking for love or escaping a husband. What do you do? In medieval and early modern Europe, your first port of call might have been cunning folk: practitioners of “service mag…

1
Elizabeth Storr Cohen and Marlee J. Couling, "Non-Elite Women's Networks Across the Early Modern World" (Amsterdam UP, 2023) 47:33

4d ago47:33

47:33

Elizabeth Cohen, Professor Emerita at York University, joins Jana Byars to talk about her new volume, Non-Elite Women's Networks Across the Early Modern World (Amsterdam University Press, 2023), edited with Marilee Couling. Non-elite or marginalized early modern women-among them the poor, migrants, members of religious or ethnic minorities, abused …

1
Timothy Grieve-Carlson, "American Aurora: Environment and Apocalypse in the Life of Johannes Kelpius" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:05:11

4d ago1:05:11

1:05:11

American Aurora: Environment and Apocalypse in the Life of Johannes Kelpius (Oxford UP, 2024) explores the impact of climate change on early modern radical religious groups during the height of the Little Ice Age in the seventeenth century. Focusing on the life and legacy of Johannes Kelpius (1667-1707), an enormously influential but comprehensivel…

1
Jeremy Black, "Defoe's Britain" (St. Augustine's Press, 2023) 24:15

5d ago24:15

24:15

The Weight of Words Series continues with Defoe's Britain (St. Augustine's Press, 2023), as historian Jeremy Black uses this writer to interpret Britain in the late 1600s, and likewise looks to the times to interpret the fiction. As seen in previous studies on Christie, Smollett, Fielding, and the Gothic novelists, Black tells the story of the stor…

1
Peter Murray Jones, "The Medicine of the Friars in Medieval England" (Boydell & Brewer, 2024) 53:22

10d ago53:22

53:22

Friars are often overlooked in the picture of health care in late mediaeval England. Physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, barbers, midwives - these are the people we think of immediately as agents of healing; whilst we identify university teachers as authorities on medical writings. Yet from their first appearance in England in the 1220s to the disp…

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Denva Gallant, "Illuminating the Vitae Patrum: The Lives of Desert Saints in Fourteenth-Century Italy" (Penn State UP, 2024) 52:54

11d ago52:54

52:54

During the fourteenth century in Western Europe, there was a growing interest in imitating the practices of a group of hermits known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Laypeople and religious alike learned about their rituals not only through readings from the Vitae Patrum (Lives of the Desert Fathers) and sermons but also through the images that b…

1
Denva Gallant, "Illuminating the Vitae Patrum: The Lives of Desert Saints in Fourteenth-Century Italy" (Penn State UP, 2024) 52:54

11d ago52:54

52:54

During the fourteenth century in Western Europe, there was a growing interest in imitating the practices of a group of hermits known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Laypeople and religious alike learned about their rituals not only through readings from the Vitae Patrum (Lives of the Desert Fathers) and sermons but also through the images that b…

1
Matthew Goldmark, "Forms of Relation: Composing Kinship in Colonial Spanish America" (U Virginia Press, 2023) 39:32

12d ago39:32

39:32

Drawing on literary texts, conversion manuals, and colonial correspondence from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain and Peru, Forms of Relation: Composing Kinship in Colonial Spanish America (University of Virginia, 2023) shows the importance of textual, religious, and bureaucratic ties to struggles over colonial governance and identities. Dr.…

1
Nicola Clark, "The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women Who Served the Tudor Queens" (Norton, 2024) 59:57

12d ago59:57

59:57

Every Tudor Queen had ladies-in-waiting. They were her confidantes and her chaperones. Only the Queen's ladies had the right to enter her most private chambers, spending hours helping her to get dressed and undressed, caring for her clothes and jewels, listening to her secrets. But they also held a unique power. A quiet word behind the scenes, an a…

1
Nicola Clark, "The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women Who Served the Tudor Queens" (Norton, 2024) 59:57

12d ago59:57

59:57

Every Tudor Queen had ladies-in-waiting. They were her confidantes and her chaperones. Only the Queen's ladies had the right to enter her most private chambers, spending hours helping her to get dressed and undressed, caring for her clothes and jewels, listening to her secrets. But they also held a unique power. A quiet word behind the scenes, an a…

1
230. Vatican Jubilee 2025 - What to expect in Rome and Italy 18:19

14d ago18:19

18:19

Thinking of traveling to Italy in 2025. Make sure to tune in and hear all about what to expect when you visit Rome and beyond during the Vatican Jubilee year. Many pilgrims are expected to visit Rome throughout the year so we give you tips and advice for navigating this busy time for travelers to the Eternal City. Read the full episode show notes h…

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The CRAZIEST Triad Gangster FIGHT Story || FLASH DADDY (E135) 51:09

15d ago51:09

51:09

Flash Daddy, a former Triad Gangster from Hong Kong, shares his incredible journey from gang life to becoming a professional Muay Thai fighter in Thailand. Growing up in Hong Kong, Flash faced constant bullying, which led him to join the notorious Triads. After countless street fights and dangerous encounters, he left his gangster past behind to pu…

1
Welcome to Untold Italy 1:36

14d ago1:36

1:36

Welcome to Untold Italy travel podcast, the show that brings you captivating Italy travel, culture, food and wine stories and ideas for your Italian adventures Support the show Join our mailing list and get our FREE Italy trip planning checklist - subscribe here | Join us on tour: Trip schedule | Discover our Trip Planning Services | Visit our onli…

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Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī and Abū ʿAlī Miskawayh, "The Philosopher Responds: An Intellectual Correspondence from the Tenth Century" (NYU Press, 2019/22) 1:28:14

14d ago1:28:14

1:28:14

Today I talked to James Montgomery, one of the translators of The Philosopher Responds: An Intellectual Correspondence from the Tenth Century, two volumes (NYU Press, 2019 and 2022). About the book: Why is laughter contagious? Why do mountains exist? Why do we long for the past, even if it is scarred by suffering? Spanning a vast array of subjects …

1
Matthijs Lok, "Europe Against Revolution: Conservatism, Enlightenment, and the Making of the Past" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 56:51

16d ago56:51

56:51

Contemporary Europe seems to be divided between progressive cosmopolitans sympathetic to the European Union and the ideals of the Enlightenment, and counter-enlightened conservative nationalists extolling the virtues of homelands threatened by globalised elites and mass migration. Europe Against Revolution: Conservatism, Enlightenment, and the Maki…

1
Henry Reece, "The Fall: The Last Days of the English Republic" (Yale UP, 2024) 36:11

17d ago36:11

36:11

Why did England's one experiment in republican rule fail? Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658 sparked a period of unrivalled turmoil and confusion in English history. In less than two years, there were close to ten changes of government; rival armies of Englishmen faced each other across the Scottish border; and the Long Parliament was finally dissolve…

1
Judith Vitale et al., "Drugs and the Politics of Consumption in Japan" (Brill, 2023) 1:13:15

18d ago1:13:15

1:13:15

In early modern Japan, upper status groups coveted pills and powders made of exotic foreign ingredients such as mummy and rhinoceros horn. By the early twentieth century, over-the-counter-patent medicines, and, more alarmingly, morphine, had become mass commodities, fueling debates over opiates in Japan's expanding imperial territories. The fall of…

1
Genji Yasuhira, "Catholic Survival in the Dutch Republic: Agency in Coexistence and the Public Sphere in Utrecht, 1620-1672" (Amsterdam UP, 2024) 1:04:49

21d ago1:04:49

1:04:49

Even in adversity, Catholics exercised considerable agency in post-Reformation Utrecht. Through the political practices of repression and toleration, Utrecht’s magistrates, under constant pressure from the Reformed Church, attempted to exclude Catholics from the urban public sphere. However, by mobilising their social status and networks, Catholic …

1
229. From Grit to Grapes: How Puglia is Redefining its Wine Culture 27:08

20d ago27:08

27:08

Wines from Puglia are on the ascendancy. Once the workhorse of the Italian wine industry, providing bulk wines to cut with other varieties, today the Pugliese wine industry champions indigenous grapes and is forging a bright future based on local techniques and ingenuity. Read the full episode show notes here > untolditaly.com/229 Support the show …

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Why He Escaped THIS COUNTRY and MOVED to THAILAND? || MATT FOX (E134) 1:14:25

20d ago1:14:25

1:14:25

Meet Matt Fox, a dedicated father, husband, and cancer survivor, committed to reshaping fitness for individuals restricted by time, accessibility, and the misconception that gym membership is essential. With over 600,000 followers on Instagram, Matt Fox has become a viral revolutionary in the fitness industry. He started Bodyweight Built which focu…

1
Suganya Anandakichenin, "For My Blemishless Lord: Commentaries on Tiruppāṇāḻvār's Amalaṉ Āti Pirāṉ" (de Gruyter, 2023) 35:03

20d ago35:03

35:03

For My Blemishless Lord (de Gruyter, 2023) presents the text and translation of the exquisite poem Amalaṉ Āti Pirāṉ by Tiruppāṇ Āḻvār, which is part of the Śrīvaiṣṇava canon, the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham (6th- 9thcenturies CE), as well as of the three Śrīvaiṣṇava commentaries in Tamil-Sanskrit Manipravala (13th- 14th centuries) by key figures in t…

1
Harry R. McCarthy, "Boy Actors in Early Modern England" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 44:27

23d ago44:27

44:27

Boy Actors in Early Modern England: Skill and Stagecraft in the Theatre (Cambridge University Press, 2022) by Dr. Harry McCarthy provides a new approach to the study of early modern boy actors, offering a historical re-appraisal of these performers' physical skills in order to reassess their wide-reaching contribution to early modern theatrical cul…

1
Tahera Qutbuddin, trans., "Nahj al-Balāghah: The Wisdom and Eloquence of ʿAlī" (Brill, 2024) 1:43:41

23d ago1:43:41

1:43:41

Nahj al-Balagha is among the most powerful, consequential, and linguistically brilliant masterpieces of Arabic and of Islamic thought and literature. Based on the orations, letters, and sayings of wisdom of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661), the first Imam or successor to Prophet Muhammad in Shi‘i Islam and the fourth caliph in Sunni Islam, this oral tre…

1
Carlos M. N. Eire, "They Flew: A History of the Impossible" (Yale UP, 2023) 53:57

24d ago53:57

53:57

In the early modern era, seemingly impossible stories of levitation, bilocation, and witchcraft were common and believable. The important question of the time was not if these things happened, but why. This was particularly true as the rise of Protestantism began to challenge Catholic beliefs in miracles and continued to be the case even after scie…

1
228. Top 5 Experiences to Have in Florence 24:10

27d ago24:10

24:10

Florence is one of Italy's most favorite destinations with a long list of must dos for many travelers. In this episode we suggest a different approach and identify our favorite Florentine experiences and where to go for them - both classic and off the beaten path locations. Read the full episode show notes here > untolditaly.com/228 Support the sho…

1
Sudev Sheth, "Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 52:36

27d ago52:36

52:36

Running and securing an empire can get expensive–especially one known for its opulence, like the Mughal Empire, which conquered much of northern India before rapidly declining in the eighteenth century. But how did the Mughals get their money? Often, it was through wealthy merchants, like the Jhaveri family, who willingly—and then not-so-willingly–…

1
Chloe Wigston Smith, "Novels, Needleworks, and Empire: Material Entanglements in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World" (Yale UP, 2024) 51:22

28d ago51:22

51:22

In the eighteenth century, women’s contributions to empire took fewer official forms than those collected in state archives. Their traces were recorded in material ways, through the ink they applied to paper or the artefacts they created with muslin, silk threads, feathers, and shells. Handiwork, such as sewing, knitting, embroidery, and other craf…

1
THAILAND'S HEAT WAVE: Where to Move Next? || KEIS ONE (E133) 43:06

28d ago43:06

43:06

Prepare to embark on a journey with Adam Jones, the Australian born travel vlogger and content creator behind the popular YouTube channel @keisone Adam has been sharing his travel experiences, showcasing the stunning beauty of Thailand and from time to time other nearby Asian countries such as; Philippines, China and Japan. Born and raised in Austr…

1
Bronagh Ann McShane, "Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700: Suppression, Migration and Reintegration" (Boydell & Brewer, 2022) 37:56

29d ago37:56

37:56

Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700: Suppression, Migration and Reintegration (Boydell & Brewer, 2022) by Dr. Bronagh Ann McShane investigates the impact of the dissolution of the monasteries on women religious and examines their survival in the following decades, showing how, despite the state's official proscription of vocation living, rel…

1
Joseph A. Skloot, "First Impressions: Sefer Hasidim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing" (Brandeis UP, 2023) 56:29

1M ago56:29

56:29

Joseph A. Skloot joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, First Impressions: Sefer hasimdim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis UP, 2023). First Impressions uncovers the history of creative adaptation and transformation through a close analysis of the creation of the Sefer Hasidim book. In 1538, a partnership of Jewish silk makers in the…

1
227. Pesto Perfection: A Local's Guide to Italy's Favorite Green Sauce 35:42

1M ago35:42

35:42

Pesto is a zingy basil based sauce that is served throughout the region of Liguria. It's one of our favorite sauces of all time and our guest Enrica Monzani is here to share what makes it so delicious. The local variety of basil is a key ingredient out of just a handful of critical recipe elements. Listen to hear how you can adapt the pesto recipe …

1
Vince Brown, Caribbean Vectors (EF, JP) 45:51

1M ago45:51

45:51

The largest slave uprising in the 18th century British Caribbean was also a node of the global conflict called the Seven Year’s War, though it isn’t usually thought of that way. In the first few days of the quarantine and our current geopolitical and epidemiological shitshow, John and Elizabeth spoke with Vincent Brown, who recently published Tacky…

1
Claire Weeda, "Ethnicity in Medieval Europe 950-1250: Medicine, Power and Religion" (Boydell and Brewer, 2021) 58:44

1M ago58:44

58:44

Students in twelfth-century Paris held slanging matches, branding the English drunkards, the Germans madmen and the French as arrogant. On Crusade, army recruits from different ethnic backgrounds taunted each other’s military skills. Men producing ethnography in monasteries and at court drafted derogatory descriptions of peoples dwelling in territo…

1
Stephanie Joy Mawson, "Incomplete Conquests: The Limits of Spanish Empire in the Seventeenth-Century Philippines" (Cornell UP, 2023) 47:34

1M ago47:34

47:34

"When the Spanish colonization of the Philippines began in 1565, early reports boasted of mass conversions to Christianity and ever-increasing numbers of people paying tribute to the Spanish crown. This suggests an uncomplicated story of an easy imposition of Spanish sovereignty. But as Stephanie Mawson shows in her book, Incomplete Conquests: The …

1
Thea Gomelauri, "The Lailashi Codex: The Crown of Georgian Jewry" (Taylor Institution Library, 2023) 1:08:03

1M ago1:08:03

1:08:03

From a remote mountain village in the Caucasian mountains of Georgia came the most surprising discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls: a rare, beautiful, and valuable Hebrew Bible known as the Lailashi Codex. In ancient tradition, scribal art possesses supernatural powers. The provenance of this Codex is shrouded in mystery. Questions about the author…

1
Matthew Kadane, "The Enlightenment and Original Sin" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 55:14

1M ago55:14

55:14

Matthew Kadane, Professor of History at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, talks about his just new book, The Enlightenment and Original Sin (University of Chicago Press, 2024). An eloquent microhistory that argues for the centrality of the doctrine of original sin to the Enlightenment. What was the Enlightenment? This question has been endlessly d…

1
226. Discover Turin: The Local's Guide to Must-See Sights and Experiences 45:07

1M ago45:07

45:07

Ready to uncover the beautiful city of Turin? Join us as we explore the city with two of our favorite people who love and fell in love with this wonderfully charming northern Italian city. They reveal the best things to do and see, where to stay and more when you visit the capital of Piedmont. Read the full episode show notes here > untolditaly.com…

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Sohini Pillai, "Krishna's Mahabharatas: Devotional Retellings of an Epic Narrative" (Oxford UP, 2024) 43:19

1M ago43:19

43:19

Between 800 and 1700 CE, a plethora of Mahabharatas were created in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, and several other regional South Asian languages. Sohini Pillai's Krishna's Mahabharatas: Devotional Retellings of an Epic Narrative (Oxford UP, 2024) is a comprehensive study of premode…

1
Daniel Matt et al., "The Zohar: Pritzker Edition" (Stanford UP, 2004-2017) 1:04:50

1M ago1:04:50

1:04:50

Sefer ha-Zohar (The Book of Radiance) has amazed readers ever since it emerged in Spain over seven hundred years ago. Written in a lyrical Aramaic, the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah, features mystical interpretation of the Torah, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (Stanford UP, 2004-2017) volumes present the first transla…

1
Iris Moon, "Melancholy Wedgwood" (MIT Press, 2024) 1:12:18

2M ago1:12:18

1:12:18

Melancholy Wedgwood (MIT Press, 2024) is an experimental biography of the ceramics entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood that reveals the tenuous relationship of eighteenth-century England to late-capitalist modernity. It traces the multiple strands in the life of the ceramic entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood (1730–1795) to propose an alternative view of eightee…

1
Helen J. Nicholson, "Women and the Crusades" (Oxford UP, 2023) 35:30

2M ago35:30

35:30

The crusade movement needed women: their money, their prayer support, their active participation, and their inspiration. Helen J. Nicholson's book Women and the Crusades (Oxford UP, 2023) surveys women's involvement in medieval crusading between the second half of the eleventh century, when Pope Gregory VII first proposed a penitential military exp…

1
Yehonatan Eybeshitz, "Pearls of Wisdom from Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz: Torah Giant, Preacher & Kabbalist" (Gerber's Miracle Publishers, 2021) 31:14

2M ago31:14

31:14

Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz was one of the greatest rabbis of the eighteenth century. Even as a child, he was renowned as one of the rare geniuses of his time. Among the most revered Torah scholars of the last 300 years, Rabbi Eybeshitz was also a prolific writer, preacher, and Kabbalah master. His innumerable writings cover all areas of Jewish Learn…

1
225. Top Mistakes to Avoid When Planning Your Italy Trip #2 45:03

2M ago45:03

45:03

We noticed a few little mistakes creeping into the trip planning of our online community so today we're sharing some tips on how to plan your Italy travels to avoid this trip ups. Travel has changed a lot since before the pandemic so it's worthwhile understanding some of the challenges you will face so you can address them, relax and dream of Italy…

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Jason A. Kerr, "Milton's Theological Process: Reading de Doctrina Christiana and Paradise Lost" (Oxford UP, 2023) 32:42

2M ago32:42

32:42

This volume proposes a method for reading Milton's De Doctrina Christiana as an artifact of his process of theological thinking rather than as a repository of his doctrinal views. Jason A. Kerr argues that reading in this way involves attention to the complex material state of the manuscript along with Milton's varying modes of engagement with scri…

1
Assaf Tamari, "God as Patient: The Medical Discourse of Lurianic Kabbalah" (Magnes Press, 2023) 40:56

2M ago40:56

40:56

In a broken world, in which even God Himself is in a state of deep crisis, what is required in order to mend the rupture? How can one heal God and His world? Moreover, what might allow our actions to be effective? These questions stand at the heart of the Lurianic Kabbalah, the apex of the Safedian intellectual and religious renaissance of the sixt…

1
Priya Satia, "Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution" (Bloomsbury, 2019) 53:36

2M ago53:36

53:36

From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution transformed Britain from an agricultural and artisanal economy to one dominated by industry, ushering in unprecedented growth in technology and trade and putting the country at the center of the global economy. But the commonly accepted story of the industrial revolution, anc…

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