Massimo Paolillo (Italian Honorary Consul in Phoenix, AZ)
Today we go west, to the Grand Canyon State: Arizona. The story of the Italians here starts with an important explorer, Father Eusebio Kino: we will learn about this incredible hero, another Italian explorer who helped many people, included a lot of Native Americans. Our guest, the person who will lead us through Italy in Arizona, is Massimo Paolil...
Luisa Del Giudice (Author of "Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts")
The story of Sabato Rodia needs to be known by every Italian, wherever they live. When he built the Watts Towers, Rodia achieved something very unique. That must have been why the Beatles decided to put him on the cover of their famous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, together with other famous and celebrated people: he's the one on upper rig...
Ennio Tasciotti (Italian scientist in Houston, TX)
I've done almost 160 interviews in this exciting adventure discovering wonderful people who have described us so many different aspects of how Italy and the United States perfectly match together. I am always happy and glad when I meet young Italians born in Italy who had their success in the United States. They are the proof that Italy needs more...
Paul Canonici (Author of "Delta Italians" Vol. I and II)
In our journey to discover Italy in the 50 states, today we dive between the Delta Italians, our compatriots who with great effort and sacrifice settled in the wide area of the delta of the Mississippi River, which gives its name to the Magnolia State. The adventures of the Delta Italians described by Paul Canonici's books are intriguing and instru...
Michele Cinque (Director of "Sicily Jass")
This February falls the one hundred year anniversary of the recording of the first Jazz song album ever recorded "Livery Stable Blues ", in the history of music. It was an Italian, James Dominick "Nick” La Rocca, who had this honor. To celebrate this controversial artist, whom the great Renzo Arbore told us about when we met him, we speak with Mic...
Gianni Andracchio (President of the Promotion Center for Little Italy Baltimore, MD)
Baltimore has a very lively Little Italy, and a promotion center that does a lot of interesting and important things to represent and promote what's Italian in "The city that reads", as once somebody nicknamed it. The President of this Promotion center is a young successful Italian very proud of his roots. We're thankful to Gianni Andracchio for...
Matteo Pretelli (Writer, Professor, Historian)
As you all know, in our interviews we try to stay as far as we can from politics. It is a very sensitive topic, and We the Italians is completely impartial and unbiased, on both sides of the ocean. This is fundamental to understand the approach we are using regarding the topic of this interview, as to say the relation between Mussolini and the Unit...
Lee Casazza (author of the book "Big Mamma's Italian-American Cookbook")
In our journey between Italy in the US it's time we address one fundamental topic regarding the relationship that links our two countries: the Italian American cuisine. It is a delicate, important topic, and so we decided to interview somebody who has written a book about it. Lee Casazza is the author of "Big Mamma's Italian-American Cookbook",...
Gerald R. Gems (Writer)
Sport is a very important topic in our trip around the US looking for how, when and where Italians have left positive contributions to the growth of the American society. Sport champions are often true heroes, especially in the US: and some of those heroes have been Italian Americans, inspiring a strong and justified sense of pride in those fellow...
Gloria Marina Bellelli (Italian Consul General in Miami)
The South East of the United States is an interesting area, where the state of Florida – the biggest and the most advanced in terms of economy and trade – is surely one of the most representative. Among its cities, Miami is undoubtedly the main one, because of a prosperous rate of tourism, finance, art, and, more generally, culture. In this pictur...
Mary Tedesco (Genealogist)
Genealogy undoubtedly is an important part of how a big number of Italian Americans relate to their Italian roots. As time goes by, the distance between today and the mass migration era between XIX and XX century grows bigger and bigger. This means that grandparents and parents are leaving this earth, the memories of those who are still with us bec...
Anita Bevacqua McBride (NIAF Chair of the Education and Scholarship Committee)
This week our interview tells a story of beauty. Four different beautiful things, actually. The first beauty is the donation of 500,000 $ by the late Italian American Ernest L. Pellegri, one of NIAF's donors. Mr. Pellegri passed away in April 2012 at age 83. He wanted to give back, and – as many other Italian Americans did and do – chose NIAF to be...