The Bittersweet Life

Episode 374: Keep This, Ditch That

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Make-up. Unpleasant social obligations. Commuting. Lots of things fell by the wayside during the pandemic. Lots of things that seemed absolutely neces...

Bittersweet Moment #112: An American Wedding in Italy

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For the second installment in our series of Italian wedding-themed mini-episodes, Tiffany looks back on her wedding in Rome almost exactly ten years a...

Episode 373: The Label Debate Continues (with Keith Cooke)

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week we talked about the labels expat vs immigrant, and specifically, why Tiffany, after nearly 17 years in Italy, still considers herself more o...

Bittersweet Moment #111: Italian Wedding Traditions

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On occasion of her 10th wedding anniversary, Tiffany talks about Italian wedding traditions, particularly the ones popular in the mid-20th century. Ev...

Episode 372: Expat or Immigrant?

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tiffany moved to Italy as an expat in the fall 2004—nearly 17 years ago. Since then, she's married an Italian and started a family, bought an apartm...

Episode 371: Anna Sale Talks About Hard Things, Part 2

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we continue our conversation with Anna Sale, host of the popular podcast Death, Sex, and Money and author of bestselling book Let's Talk About ...

Episode 370: Anna Sale Talks About Hard Things, Part 1

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Can you talk about hard things? Can you negotiate your salary with a new boss? Can you tactfully comfort someone who's just had a devastating loss? Ca...

Bittersweet Moment #110: Italy Welcomes Tourists

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What was it like to work in an international airport in the time of Covid? For this mini-episode, we're joined by someone who can answer that question...

Episode 369: A Day in the Life: One Year Later

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One year ago, we asked our listeners, What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? Listeners from around the world sent us a peek ...

Bittersweet Moment #109: A Boudoir Adventure

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever taken off your clothes for the camera? Today Katy reaches back into the archives of her long career as a radio producer and pulls out an...

Episode 368: Italy Reopens to the World

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The wait is over—at long last, you can finally go to Italy again! But is it a good idea? According to a recent announcement, the Italian government ...

Bittersweet Moment #108: The Spanish Steps in Bloom

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tiffany joins us from the Spanish Steps for this mini-episode, where glorious azalea plants are spilling down the steps and there is nary a tourist in...

Episode 367: Documenting Travel (with Riley Morton)

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sit down with Riley Morton, a freelance documentary producer and cinematographer who kicked off his career two decades ago in the adventu...

Bittersweet Moment #107: Vaccine Hesitancy (with Jess Walter)

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bestselling author and friend of the show Jess Walter joins us for this mini-episode to talk about the reluctance so many people seem to have over get...

Episode 366: Vaccinated

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over in the US, Katy is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Hurrah! Tiffany in Italy, meanwhile, still has a long wait ahead of her. How long is an...

Bittersweet Moment #106: Speed Writing

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Want to write a 90k-word novel? If you've got 46 days (the length of Lent) Tiffany will tell you how to do it. This year during the period of Lent, Ti...

Episode 365: A Day in the Life Revisited

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One year ago, we asked our listeners, What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? Listeners from around the world sent us a peek ...

Bittersweet Moment #105: How to Find Work Abroad (with David McNeill)

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Want to move abroad but have no idea how to support yourself when you get there? For this mini-episode, we are joined by David McNeill, creator of Exp...

Episode 364: Cross-cultural Challenges

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Inspired by our conversation with Elizabeth Miki Brina, author of the new memoir Speak, Okinawa, we turn again to cross-cultural relationships and fam...

Bittersweet Moment #104: Cross-cultural Families

08 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Inspired by last week's episode, an interview with Elizabeth Miki Brian, the author of the new memoir Speak, Okinawa, and the challenges she faced g...

Episode 363: Speak, Okinawa (with Elizabeth Miki Brina)

05 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth Miki Brina's new memoir Speak Okinawa is a "searing, deeply candid memoir about a young woman's journey to understanding her complicated par...

Bittersweet Moment #103: New Life Begins

31 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As a follow-up to Monday's episode, What Do I Want to Do Today?, on this mini-episode, Katy presents a radio piece she produced several years ago, in...

Episode 362: What Do You Want to Do Today

29 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When trying to come up with an idea, whether it's for an article you're trying to pitch, a school assignment, a book you want to write, or any creativ...

Bittersweet Moment #102: Italy Lockdown (Again)

25 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Italy is in lockdown (again), but this time it feels very different. The rules are mostly the same, but the mood on the street is completely changed. ...

Episode 361: How to Move Abroad (with Jessica Drucker)

22 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

So, you've decided you want to move abroad but... where do you start? It's not an easy subject to tackle, so today we've asked an expert. On this week...

Bittersweet Moment #101: Seven Years, Seven Questions

17 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we celebrate seven years of The Bittersweet Life! To mark this milestone, on this mini-episode we ask each other seven questions, each one inspi...

Episode 360: Getting Better, Getting Worse

15 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For much of the pandemic, Italy has been keeping their numbers (relatively) under control, and the United States, on the other hand, has seen their nu...

Bittersweet Moment #100: One Year Later

11 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tiffany looks back on the week that it all changed in Italy—one year ago right now. Did any of us think, a year later, that restrictions, yellow, or...

Episode 359: Diffused Art

08 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Walking through the halls of a museum like the Uffizi Gallery in Florence—when we're not in the middle of a pandemic, that is—is generally about a...

Bittersweet Moment #99: Feedback, Good or Bad? (with Therese Huston)

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Katy gets into the nitty-gritty of feedback from her own point of view, digging into her own past as a senior radio producer. Today's mini-episode fea...

Episode 358: The Art of Feedback (with Therese Huston)

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How can effective feedback change your life? Today, we sit down with Dr. Theresa Huston, author of the new book Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Yo...

Bittersweet Moment #98: The Holiest Place in Rome

25 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Oscar Wilde called it the "holiest place in Rome" and Percy Shelley said it would make someone apt to fall in love with death to think of being buried...

Episode 357: Literary Travel

22 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Reading books can inspire you to travel, and travel can inspire you to read books. It's what we call a delicious cycle. Today we talk about the books ...

Bittersweet Moment #97: The Scariest Cold Call

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On our "super secret" Truth or Dare episode from a few years ago (available only to our Patreon patrons and long-time donors), Katy did something incr...

Episode 356: Anticipating Travel

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Some psychologists say that anticipation of a desired event can often bring more happiness than experiencing the event itself. And if that's the case,...

Bittersweet Moment #96: Disappearing Languages

11 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Every two weeks, an endangered language disappears from the planet, when the last person who speaks it dies. And one third of the world's languages ar...

Episode 355: Losing Language

08 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One of the greatest rewards of being an expat is mastering a foreign language. But what happens when you live in a foreign language so long, so cut o...

Episode 354: Virtual Tour of Rome with Special Guests, Part 2

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we continue our virtual walk through Rome, were we just happen to run into a few more world-famous authors. What are the odds? Katy's brilliant ...

Episode 353: Virtual Tour of Rome with Special Guests, Part 1

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Katy and Tiffany take to the streets of Rome once again, and this time, they encounter a slew of fascinating and important people, all former guests o...

Bittersweet Moment #95: Why I Don't Trust Trip Advisor

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

TripAdvisor might be some people's go-to app for planning their vacations, but Tiffany prefers to steer clear of the anonymous travel review site if p...

Episode 352: Souvenirs

25 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Is there a specific thing you like to buy when you travel to a new place, like a magnet or a snow globe? Or do you seek out unique and locally made ar...

Bittersweet Moment #94: A New President

21 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There's a new man in the White House this morning—and a new woman too! Just like we did four years ago during Donald Trump's inauguration, we record...

Episode 351: Paris By The Book (with Liam Callanan)

16 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A missing person, a grieving family, a curious clue: a half-finished manuscript set in Paris... these are just three of the intriguing ingredients of ...

Bittersweet Moment #93: ItalyGate: Vatican Blackout Conspiracy Theory

14 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Was Pope Francis really arrested by the FBI last weekend? Did all the lights in the Vatican go out to hide this event from the world? And most importa...

Episode 350: Daily Life: Italy vs America

10 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Do Italian parents really take their toddlers out to restaurants at 10pm? Do they really go home for lunch during the work day and take a nap? Thanks ...

Bittersweet Moment #92: A Call for Souvenirs

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whether a funky mug from Prague, a hand-painted ceramic bowl from Mexico, or a random dish picked up off the street in Japan, there's got to be one sp...

Episode 349: A New Year Begins: 2021

02 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After the catastrophe that was 2020, we go back and listen to the resolutions we made one year ago. Did we manage to accomplish ANY of them? You'll ha...

Bittersweet Moment #91: Rome's Restricted New Year

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's finally the end of 2020!! We made it! But the close of what many are calling the worst year in living memory won't be rung in as many people woul...

Episode 348: The Best of the Year: Virtual Tour of Rome

28 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lots of out-of-work tour guides are now offering virtual tours of Rome (and, I imagine, cities all around the world), as a way to keep their businesse...

Bittersweet Moment #90: Merry Christmas from Aurelio

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's Christmas Eve and Tiffany interviews one little child who is looking forward to the big day. Enjoy this mini-burst of holiday cheer and Merry Chr...

Episode 347: A Bookish Christmas (with Nancy Pearl)

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Just in time for last-minute Christmas shopping, the "world's librarian" Nancy Pearl, who is also a best-selling author herself, shares her favorite b...

Bittersweet Moment #89: After After Midnight (with Matthew P. Woerner)

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Katy catches up with Matthew P. Woerner, the writer and director of Monday's audio play "After Midnight," who also happens to be a childhood friend. O...

Episode 346: After Midnight (by Matthew P. Woerner)

14 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Get a cup of your favorite hot drink, find a cozy corner, and sit back and enjoy a totally different kind of show. Today we're  presenting a special ...

Bittersweet Moment #88: An American in Italy—during Covid

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a time when leisure travel (especially international leisure travel) is all but non-existent, some brave and insistent travel-lovers are going anyw...

Episode 345: Now You See It, Now You Don't

06 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There are lots of new sights we are all quickly getting used to during this unprecedented time. People in masks, plexiglass partitions, ubiquitous han...

Bittersweet Moment #87: Slow Winter

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Winter can be long at the best of times. But during a pandemic with no end in sight, it can be brutal. Katy is joined briefly by author Jess Walter an...

Episode 344: Shifting Goals

30 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We all make goals—or, at least most of us do—but what happens when we decide to scratch a goal off the list without ever completing it? Whether be...

Bittersweet Moment #86: Gratitude

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On this extra-short mini-episode, Katy and Tiffany express their thanks for things in their lives that they are unexpectedly treasuring this year. Som...

Episode 343: Joyful News (with Clare Brown)

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

About five years ago, Clare Brown left a predictable life in the UK to move to Split, Croatia in search of writing, exploration, and adventure. A long...

Bittersweet Moment #85: What's Going on in Italy?

19 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Italy is in the midst of a wicked second wave of Covid. In fact, it makes spring's wave seem like a bump by comparison. Instead of instituting a natio...

Episode 342: Sleep

16 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Do you have a hard time falling asleep at night? Or perhaps, like Katy, you sleep fitfully, waking multiple times a night and having trouble falling b...

Bittersweet Moment #84: Biden Wins!

12 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Katy and Tiffany send voice memos back and forth across the Atlantic as one of the most consequential presidential elections in American history is fi...

Episode 341: Around the World in Twelve Months (with Cyndie Burkhardt)

09 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Photographer and visual storyteller Cyndie Burkhardt was living in New York City feeling unsatisfied with her life. Rather than continue to struggle, ...

Bittersweet Moment #83: Election Night 2020

05 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you live abroad, sometimes you have to stay up all night in order to keep an eye on the fate of your home country. And then there are the rare occa...

Episode 340: A World Away

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's the eve of the US presidential election, what the vast majority of Americans consider to be the most important election of their lifetimes. But w...

Bittersweet Moment #82: Rat Laughter and Storytelling

29 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's almost Halloween, and to assuage the fears of anyone who is afraid of rats (like Tiffany, see previous episode!) Katy shares a fascinating and li...

Episode 339: What Are You Afraid Of?

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Are you afraid of the dark? Spider or rats? Being buried alive or drowning? Encountering a wild ferocious beast? Are you afraid of ghosts? Someone lur...

Bittersweet Moment #81: The Veiled Christ

21 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Considered for centuries to be the most mysterious sculpture in the world, The Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sanmartino (1753) is an astoundingly realisti...

Episode 338: Cute and Cuddly

19 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"All things cute and cuddly" was the surprising topic requested by listener Sara, who supports us at the $50 level on Patreon. Choosing the topic of a...

Bittersweet Moment #80: Virtual Book Tour (with Jess Walter)

15 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What are book tours like in the time of Covid? For this week's mini-episode, Katy sits down with bestselling author Jess Walter to discuss what it's l...

Episode 337: Before and After Baby

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we give all our listeners a peek into some of the extra bonus content that our Patreon donors are receiving. Every month we offer one or mor...

Bittersweet Moment #79: Moving Abroad during a Pandemic (with Gabriela Proietti)

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Moving abroad is already a daunting experience at the best of times. Imagine doing it during a deadly pandemic. For this mini-interview we are joined ...

Episode 336: Silver Linings

05 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As devastating as this pandemic has been, to our lives, our loved ones, and our livelihoods, is there a silver lining? In the midst of the suffering a...

Bittersweet Moment #78: Grave-robbing Artists? (with Jennifer Dasal)

01 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's a much-told legend that Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci used to rob graves in order to dissect bodies in secret so they could achieve anatomic...

Episode 335: Art Curious (with Jennifer Dasal)

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Is the Mona Lisa in the Louvre fake? Was impressionist painter Claude Monet a radical? And was Caravaggio—our show's muse—murdered? Art history ho...

Bittersweet Moment #77: Back to School, Covid Edition

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's that time of year again, but this year everything is different. In Italy, kids are now back in the classroom full-time but the rules are complica...

Episode 334: Voting from Home and Abroad

21 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ready or not, election season is upon us! And it's never been easier for Americans living abroad to vote—well, in some states. Tiffany is lucky as A...

Bittersweet Moment #76: Smoke and Good News!

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Katy, and all of our fellow-West Coast listeners, are seeing massive tracts of their states destroyed, smoke blotting out the sun, and highly hazardou...

Episode 333: Numbers

14 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From lucky and unlucky numbers to numbers that make almost magical equations, from significant date to the "perfect" numbers, this week's episode is a...

Bittersweet Moment #75: Exploring Pompeii

10 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pompeii, an entire ancient city preserved exactly as it was when it was covered in lava and ash during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Even for a s...

Episode 332: How We Live Now (with Bill Hayes)

07 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Daily life during a devastating pandemic—something nearly no one alive has ever experienced before—is captured poignantly and artistically by Bill...

Bittersweet Moment #74: More Questions!

03 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Monday's Conversation Starters episode just didn't cover all the things we want to know about each other! In today's mini-episode we continue the ques...

Episode 331: Conversation Starters

31 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you're looking for a great question to break the ice on a first date or just want to get to know your best friend, parent, or spouse even bett...

Bittersweet Moment #73: Mail Bag

27 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When our listeners reach out to us to share how we've inspired them, delighted them, challenged them, or simply kept them company—well, it doesn't g...

Episode 330: America Grounded

24 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A record number of Americans—42%—now hold passports (up from 27% in 2007) but much good it will do them. In the wake of this unprecedented pandemi...

Bittersweet Moment #72: A Long Way to Italy

19 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tiffany is 19 and desperate to meet up with her boyfriend in Italy in the final weeks of summer before heading back to university in the fall. She's w...

Episode 329: Expat Move Time Warp (with Stephanie Fuccio)

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The uncertainty of the expat life is magnified by life during a devastating global pandemic. But how often to you get to hear from the same person, ju...

Bittersweet Moment #71: Looking for the Little Things

13 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A lot of us are walking more these days, in some cases, around and around the same neighborhood. On today's mini-episode, Katy takes us outside to the...

Episode 328: Summer Game: This or That?

10 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes you just need to tune out the cacophony of terrifying news and the anxiety over an uncertain future, and play a silly game. Don't you agree?...

Bittersweet Moment #70: A Birthday Revelation

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On a magical summer evening in Rome to celebrate her birthday, Tiffany has a sudden revelation. She shares it—and what Christian Dior's cologne Fahr...

Episode 327: Rome's New Normal?

03 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Is Rome back to normal? Is that "new normal" what we expected it to be? This week's topic was sparked by an article in Esquire Magazine, "Things Are N...

Bittersweet Moment #69: How's Coping Going?

30 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In response to a listener question, Katy talks about what she's doing during the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown to keep her spirits up and get thr...

Episode 326: Finding Life in the Surf (with Diane Cardwell)

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What's the difference between having fun and having a happy life? This week's guest, award-winning journalist and author Diane Cardwell, tackles this ...

Bittersweet Moment #68: Outside the Vatican

23 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tiffany finds herself just outside the walls of Vatican City on a summer morning and marvels at the dramatic change in the neighborhood. In an area th...

Episode 325: Good Teachers

20 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you tuned in last week, you heard us commiserate about the awful and sometimes destructive teachers of our past. If that episode left a little blue...

Bittersweet Moment #67: Collecting Collections

16 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today Katy looks at collections, and the people who keep them. What makes people collect things—or not? After asking our listeners to write in about...

Episode 324: Bad Teachers

12 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We all remember our favorite teachers, but what about the horrible ones? The ones who crushed our ambitions, treated us unfairly, or were just plain m...

Bittersweet Moment #66: Villa Doria Pamphilj

08 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Have you noticed the birds more during lockdown? If your lockdown is over, do you find you're more aware of them than you were before? On this mini-ep...

Episode 323: Travel Trauma

04 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Has anything traumatic ever happened to you when you were traveling—a natural disaster, a personal tragedy, or maybe even a global pandemic—and as...

Bittersweet Moment #65: A Sleepy Bittersweet Moment (with Drew Ackerman)

02 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Do podcasts put you to sleep? Well, there's one out there that aims to do just that, Drew Ackerman's Sleep With Me podcast. Sleep with Me tells "bedti...