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 did traveling stop being about the place you are visiting and instead become about you in that place?
And how much do shows like The White Lotus have to do with this mental shift?
When ordinary travelers flock en masse to a tourist site made famous by a popular television show, pushing the location well past the limits of its capacity, what is the damage?
Today we tackle this topic, inconvenient though it may be to travel-love...
Rome not only has more fountains than any city on earth, it also has the most beautiful ones, from the delicate Fountain of the Turtles (nispiration for Tiffany's book Midnight in the Piazza), to the massive Fontanone on the Gianicolo Hill and so many others.
In fact, the early 20th-century Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was so inspired by Rome's fountains (four in particular) that he wrote a symphonic poem about them.
On this...
*but didn't know who to ask.
In today's mini-episode, Tiffany fills you in on the history of this fascinating election, unique in the wolrd, as well as all the rules and ceremonies involved, just in time for Conclave 2025, which starts today!
What's it like to move abroad, all the way from Texas to Florence, Italy, learn the language to perfection, and establish yourself there so fully that you become known internationally simply as the "Girl in Florence," only to find yourself moving to a new country where you're unfamiliar with the culture and don't speak the language—in the midst of a worldwide pandemic no less?!
That's what today's gue...
This special author interview pulled from our archives is Part 2 of our conversation with bestselling writer Anthony Doerr, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, as well as best-sellers Cloud Cuckoo Land and Four Seasons in Rome.
Be sure to listen to Part 1 if you haven't already!
As the conversation continues, Anthony tells the story of finding out he had won the prestigious Rome Prize literally the same da...
Did you know that ancient Roman statues used to smell like roses?
Or that ancient temples and palaces used to be painted with bright colors?
What other things from the deep, dark past are vastly different from how we imagine them today?
We discuss on this fun, eye-opening episode.
*** Read more
In this very special episode from our archives, we are joined by the award-winning, best-selling writer, Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and Four Seasons in Rome, among others.
Anthony shares his writing journey with Katy, from his earliest beginnings as an amateur writer to the challenges of writing from the perspective of a young blind girl in All the Light We Cannot See. He also shares ho...
On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our Patreon supporters, Katy gives an update on her sister Dana's stage 4 agressive brain cancer.
Are romance languages sexist? On this episode, we discuss the puzzling and seemingly discriminatory aspects of languages like Italian and French.
For example:
Why do inanimate objects have a gender?
Why, in Italian, must you refer to a group of people as entirely male even if there is only one man and 99 women?
Why, in French, are there only recently female versions of professional occupations?
Join us for this probing yet light-he...
When you come back after several years to a city where you used to live, what do you notice? What has change? What has stayed the same? What have you forgotten about in your time away?
In this episode from our archives, Katy arrives in Rome after four years away, and immediately notices something that—once ubiquitous on the streets of Rome—is now missing: accordi...
Where did Lord Byron and Percy Shelley come to sip coffee while they jotted down their verses? Where did Bizet and Berlioz go to discuss their work? Where could Casanova be found trying to pick up girls?
Caff...
Need help falling asleep?
This week, therapist and bestselling author Lori Gottlieb joins us to talk about change, loss, self-examination...and when you should really talk to someone. If you’ve ever wondered what your therapist was thinking, this is a conversation you’ll want to hear.
Lori and Katy discuss everything from what you should look for in a therapist to what your therapist is listening for—and why it’s often not what you tell them the problem is....
For a leisurely stroll that is full of artistic gems and delightful curiosities hidden in plain —and somehow overlooked by tourists—join us for a walk down Via Giulia, one of the most historic...
The Bittersweet Life Podcast went on an unexpe...
This week, we explore the underground world with Robert MacFarlane of Cambridge University in England. Robert is the best-selling author of Landmarks and The Old Ways, and was awarded the EM Forster Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His latest book, UNDERLAND, is an “epic exploration of the Earth’s underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.” The book also details the ...
Did you know that your favorite podcast hosts are also writers?
On this week's bonus episode—available exclusively to our supporters on Patreon—we talk all about our various writing processes.
Katy reveals that she has been sobbing while writing lately as she comes to the end of her novel, and prepares to say goodbye to her characters.
And speaking of characters, Tiffany talks about what it's like to have a fully formed character p...
Five years after the world came to a grinding halt—when Italy and shortly after much of the globe went into a full or partial lockdown—Katy and Tiffany have a conversation about that unique and momentous time.
Do we really remember what it was like or are the memories vague and unreliable?
How did the pandemic and the lockdowns change our perception of time?
And have we, as a society, changed since then? Did living through a glob...
Continuing our month-long look back at life during the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are re-airing Part 2 of our peek into our lives—and the lives of our listeners all around the world—while we live under the restrictions of our various countires.
Katy offers a rare glimpse into what it’s like to edit and a long piece of tape, extracting its gems to transform it into something engaging.
Karen, a US expat in the Dolo...
Popular Podcasts
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com