The Bittersweet Life
WARNING: This show might change your life. What began as a podcast about what it means to live abroad has become a dynamic examination of what it means to live. Public Radio's Katy Sewall and Italy expert, Tiffany Parks, guide you on a vulnerable, entertaining journey to discover a more wondrous and adventurous life. Their famous guests, topic-based conversations, and visits to Rome will tweak how you see the world, keep you company, and expand your life view.
Episodes
When a writer moves abroad, how do they find a literary community in their new country, especially when that country speaks (and reads) in a different language?
They create it themselves of course!
This week we sit down with writer, editor, and tour guide Lauren Mouat, who has created a literary life for herself in Florence and Livorno, from co-founding a literary society to starting a literary magazine, from creating a direct chan...
The Mongol Rally is a one-of-kind intercontinental car race, the "greatest motoring adventure on the planet" according to the organizers. Participants must drive from London to eastern Russia, across Mongolia, in a small engine car (1000-1200cc) at their own pace and their own peril.
To celebrate the New Year, we ask ChatGPT to create a party for us! Is A.I. a good party planner? Or do the humans do it better? Listen in and send us your vote!
This is just a sneak peek of a much longer bonus episode, available exclusively to our generous Patreon supporters.
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Have you heard the news? The City of Rome will now be charging a 2 Euro fee to tourists who want to access the Trevi Fountain.
Want to throw your coin in? You're going to have to pony up a few more coins that you'd counted on.
This week, we talk about the ways a city can change, thanks to rampant over-tourism as well as other factors, and why seeing our city change before our eyes—for better or for worse—often makes us nostalgic fo...
This January, our archive episodes—presented every Friday—will cover the theme of ADVENTURE! Because we could all use a little more adventure in our lives, and January is the perfect time to start thinking about the adventures we want to take during the new year.
The Camino de Santiago is a popular pilgrimage route across Spain. On this episode from our archives, our guest Aarin Wright set off on the Camino with her father after fi...
It's that time of year—New Year's Resolution time!
If you're a longtime listener you know that at every turn of the year, Katy and Tiffany revisit the New Year's Resolutions they made for the previous year, and assess (with brutal honesty) how they did. They end the episode with the announcement of their resolutions for the year to come.
This year, Tiffany share the ingenious yet simple hack that makes crushing your resolutions muc...
Has Christmas lost its magic now that you're all grown up?
In this episode from our archives, Katy and Tiffany brainstorm ways to bring that holiday magic back even if you don't believe in Santa anymore. Katy tells the story of the time she played Santa's secret helper to someone she barely knew and they muse on those magical moments when heaven and earth seem closer than usual.
If you're already feeling the post-Christmas blues, s...
You know it. You love it. You hear it every Christmas, and if you're like us, you never get sick of the classic holiday song, White Christmas.
But did you know that the song has a very special, and very poignant, history?
On this mini-episode, Katy tells you all about it.
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COME TO ROME WITH US: Our third annual Bittersweet Life Roman Adventure is in the books! If you'd like to join...
Christmas traditions can be grounding when you're living in a brand-new place. Tiffany and Katy talk about the joys and challenges of being untethered during the holidays. They also discuss which of their traditions come from childhood and which were added after living in a foreign culture.
Do I deserve to live a bigger life? Sarah McColl, author of the memoir Joy Enough, joins us to talk about the beautiful life she discovered while living alongside her dying mother.
...
The holidays aren't all fun and games. Sometimes you have to go to work. But is there any sort of magic to work this time of year?
We discuss this topic on our latest bonus episode, and share some of the memories of times we had to work over Christmas.
This is just a sneak peek of a much longer bonus episode, available exclusively to our ge...
The Christmas season starts earlier and earlier every year. Pretty soon we'll be setting up our tree before Halloween!
What do you think about this? Are you shamelessly here for it, or do you cringe when you hear Bing Crosby crooning White Christmas in early November?
Is the joy that the Christmas season brings enough of an excuse to indulge in it two months before the actual event? Or is there something to be said for the delight...
Why do you like what you like? Journalist Tom Vanderbilt joins us to explore how our likes and dislikes are formed. His new book is You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice.
Find Tom Vanderbilt at his website or on Instagram. His other books include Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and what It Says about Us)
What's the best time of year to visit Rome?
That's a truly impossible question to answer, but Tiffany has an ideal time that might surprise you. Listen to this mini-episode to discover the unlikely perfection of a season you've probably never considered.
A sudden change of plans, an unexpected surgery—these are the kinds of things that can throw your world into temporary disarray, and often cause no little anxiety in the process.
On this personal and vulnerable episode, Tiffany and Katy discuss their recent experiences with the anxiety of the unexpected, and how best to deal with those inevitable times that life throws you a curve ball.
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Can studying fine art keep you safe?
According to today's guest Amy Herman it can.
Lawyer and art historian, Herman uses works of art to "sharpen observation, analysis, and communication skills. By showing people how to look closely at painting, sculpture, and photography, she helps them hone their visual intelligence to recognize the most pertinent and useful information as well as recognize biases that impede decision making."
A...
Tiffany made a big promise last month about her video watching habit. Here's an update on what's happened since that episode aired.
This is just a sneak peek of a much longer bonus episode, available exclusively to our generous Patreon supporters.
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Today we catch up with Katy's sister Dana to hear the latest on her battle with aggressive brain cancer.
Among the plethora of emotions that plague expats, one of them is guilt.
What happens when you know you should go home, but don't?
Guest Jessica Scott-Reid tackled just this subject for an article in the Wall Street Journal's Expat Blog. On this episode from our archives, Jessica joins Katy and Tiffany to discuss this often unpleasant subject.
***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In orde...
For some travelers, visiting the sites just isn't enough.
One of our listeners wrote to express her longing to go deeper when traveling, far beyond the monuments, art, cuisine, and local culture. Into the very life and people of the place she's visiting.
But how do you go about that? Today we offer our practical tips.
Got a question? Send us an email (or better yet, record a voice message asking the question yourself) here and if t...
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