Creative Light featuring Karena Benke
“Creative writing is really about teaching people how to trust themselves.” Karen Benke For my final episode before taking a hiatus, I’m joined by author, writing guide, and fellow Florence transplant Karena Benke. Karena divides her life between Florence and the San Francisco Bay Area, a life she describes as leaving her heart “forever divided.” […]
Practicing Joy featuring Alatia Bradley Bach
“If you are not getting quiet and getting to know who you are, there is no free will.”- Alatia Bradley Bach What happens when the thing that frightens you most turns out to be exactly what you are meant to do? Alatia Bradley Bach spent more than three decades in New York, working at publications […]
Language as a Lens featuring Manjula Dias-Hargarter
“We slip into different identities depending on the language we speak.” — Manjula Dias-Hargarter What happens to our identity when we build a life in another language? In this episode, I reconnect with my old Bryn Mawr friend, Manjula Dias-Hargarter, an educator, editor, writer, and art historian who has lived in Germany for nearly three […]
The Algorithm & Me featuring Fosca D’Acierno
This week, I’m taking a break from guest interviews for a more personal episode. After putting out a call for stories about love and dating in Italy—and hearing plenty from women but surprisingly little from men—I decided to hit pause on that project and instead share something unexpected: my own recent plunge into the world […]
In the Wake of Golgotha featuring Daniel Grace
“It shouldn’t be taboo to tango with history.” Daniel Grace This week on 15 with Fosca, I sit down with Daniel Grace: novelist, winemaker, former advertising agency owner, and mythologist at heart. Daniel divides his time between San Francisco and Panzano in Chianti, where he produces critically acclaimed Tuscan wines at his family’s estate, Il […]
Second Acts featuring Angela M Sims
In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I speak with author Angela Sims, whose richly researched historical fiction brings Renaissance Florence vividly to life. Angela’s path to writing began after long careers in clinical cardiology and higher education. What started as academic writing later became what she calls an “itch to write” — one that […]
Bianca’s Cure featuring Gigi Berardi
In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I speak with professor, scholar, and author Gigi Berardi about her latest novel, Bianca’s Cure, a richly imagined story set in Renaissance Florence. Gigi’s work moves between science, food systems, sustainability, dance, storytelling, and the arts, and in this conversation, all of those worlds come together. We talk […]
The Long Way Home featuring Jodi Koskella
Jodi Koskella never planned to work in Silicon Valley. She certainly never planned to launch a vegan shoe company, write a book about business failure, or leave a successful corporate career to start over in Florence. And yet that’s exactly what happened. In this candid conversation, Jodi shares her remarkable journey from Minnesota to Silicon […]
In her Hands featuring Jacqueline Harberink
What happens when you leave behind a successful career and choose a completely different path? In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I sit down with Dutch ceramic artist Jacqueline Haberlinck, founder of JHA Porcelain, to talk about reinvention, craftsmanship, and the unexpected turns that shape a life. Trained as a lawyer and once firmly […]
The Astonishing Odyssey of Emilio Pucci, Part 2, Featuring Terence Ward & Idanna Pucci
What does it take to reinvent not only yourself, but an entire nation? In Part 2 of my conversation with acclaimed authors and cultural historians Idanna Pucci and Terence Ward, we continue exploring the extraordinary life of Emilio Pucci—a man whose story reaches far beyond the world of fashion. Before his vibrant prints became synonymous […]