15 with Fosca

Fosca D'Acierno

15 with Fosca takes you on a journey to contemporary Italy and, through a plurality of voices, offers insights into Italian culture today and prepares you, in a meaningful way, for your time here. The podcast features authentic stories from Italy in real time and strives to create and build a sense of community across space and borders through conversations about what’s going on in Italian society right now.

  1. 5d ago

    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.” We talk about what each place gives her, raising and launching children into the world (or, as Karena prefers, becoming a “bird launcher”), and the unexpected connections that can change the direction of a creative life. Karena shares the story behind her acclaimed creative writing books, including Rip the Page! and Write Back Soon!, and what years of teaching young writers have taught her about creativity, self-trust, and letting go of the need to do things “right.” We also dive into her forthcoming book, Lunch at Lola’s, created with Matilde Pettini of Florence’s beloved Trattoria da Lola. Part cookbook, part memoir, it grew out of friendship, neighborhood life, Florentine food traditions, and an extraordinary connection with Stanley Tucci. We talk about writing without rules, recipes without measurements, the disappearing Florence neither of us is ready to let go of, and the “creative light” Karena finds in this city. It feels like just the right conversation to close this chapter of 15 with Fosca: a reminder to stay curious, trust yourself, keep creating, and pay attention to the people you happen to meet along the way. Karen Benke Author / Writing Guide Biography  Karena is the creator of the museletter, a collection of observations, stories, and photographs from Tuscany that reaches 1000+ readers a month. The author of four books of creative non-fiction from Shambhala /Penguin Random House, Rip the Page! is used by children, teens, parents, and teachers internationally with editions in English, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and soon Italian. Other books in the series include Leap Write In, Write Back Soon, and Rip ALL the Pages! Originally from California’s Bay Area where she worked for the non-profit, Poets in the Schools, she founded The Writer’s Nest in 2015, a mentorship program for young writers. She is co-author with Matilde Pettini of Lunch at Lola’s (Rizzoli, 2027) about the rising star’s trattoria, Dalla Lola, that was featured on National Geographic’s Tucci in Italy.  Her books have received favorable and starred reviews from Guernica: A Magazine of Global Art & Politics, ForeWord Reviews, Toronto Star, FamilyFun Magazine, School Library Journal, The Children’s Book Review and other publications. She has presented at Book Passage Bookstore, Poets House NYC, The Library of Congress Lunch Poem Series, and at numerous libraries and independent bookstores across the United States. A recipient of a few awards and several fellowships, including a Poets & Writer’s Teaching Grant, she is dual American-Italian citizen who lives between the San Francisco Bay Area and Florence, Italy where she lives and writes across the road from Dalla Lola and is always at work on a creative project. Find her at karenbenke.com and @razziwrites

    Creative Light featuring Karena Benke 

  2. Jul 31

    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 including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone before moving into luxury real estate. In 2019, she and her family came to Florence intending to stay for just nine months. Like so many before them, they never left. In Florence, Alatia returned to a practice she had first encountered years earlier in Los Angeles: Kundalini yoga. Her desire to understand why it affected her so deeply eventually took her to festivals, intensive training, and hundreds of hours of study. Becoming a teacher, however, was never part of the plan. In this warm, candid conversation, Alatia describes the unexpected fear she experienced before teaching her first class, and the realization that this vulnerability may have been a sign that she had finally found her vocation. We talk about the welcoming community she has created in Florence, why she believes knowledge should be shared freely, and how movement, breathwork, meditation, chanting, and even play can help us step outside the relentless noise of our own minds. Alatia also reflects on discipline, sobriety, self-love, and the importance of making time for ourselves,cnot as an indulgence, but as the foundation that allows us to show up fully for everyone else. This is a conversation about much more than yoga. It is about fear and calling, joy and generosity, the freedom that comes from consistent practice, and the courage to get quiet enough to discover whose life we are actually living. Biography  A lifelong seeker, intrepid traveller and natural teacher, Alatia Bradley Bach’s passions and talents culminated in teaching Kundalini yoga, an ancient technology for quieting the mind and working the body to achieve serenity. @alatiabyoga   Instagram E-mail: Alatiabyoga@gmail.com Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency

  3. Jul 24

    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 decades. We first met as Italian students in college, never imagining that we would both eventually make our lives on opposite sides of the Alps. Manjula shares how a plan to spend one year in Germany became a marriage, a doctorate, a family, and a life. We talk about the moment a foreign place begins to feel like home, and what happens when the country you left no longer feels entirely like home either. At the heart of our conversation is Manjula’s current essay project, Language as a Lens for Living. Her work explores how language influences the way we define ourselves, judge our abilities, make decisions, and imagine what might be possible. A discouraging comment from a teacher can follow someone for decades, shaping careers and limiting opportunities long after the original words were spoken. We also explore the strange in-between identity that comes from living abroad: feeling more intelligent or funnier in one language, developing a different relationship with humor and sentimentality, and discovering that friendship, privacy, and belonging mean different things across cultures. Using the image of a tapestry, Manjula invites us to look beyond the polished surface and consider the knots, effort, contradictions, and unfinished threads on the other side. Language can be a bridge or a barrier, a vision or a mirage, a carrot or a stick. Biography  Dr. Manjula Dias-Hargarter is an editor, educator, and writer based in Hamburg, Germany. She holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College (B.A.), The University of Texas at Austin (M.A.), and Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität (Dr. phil.). For over two decades, she has shared her expertise and enthusiasm about the English language and art in settings ranging from museums to production facilities to Fortune 500 companies. Throughout, her mission has always remained the same: to offer pragmatic yet elegant solutions by engaging meaningfully with her clients, understanding their needs, and demystifying topics that appear inaccessible or intimidating. Her contributions to art, architecture, and culture appear in over 50 publications, including The Bible of Caravaggio, Time to Travel – Travel in Time, and Licht-Raum-Farbe. She is currently at work on a series of essays about language as a lens. www.words-count.com Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency

  4. Jul 17

    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 of online dating. In this episode, I read an excerpt from the first essay in a new series exploring modern dating, identity, empty nesting, and the questions that emerge when life changes in ways we never anticipated. I also share some personal news about the future of 15 with Fosca and preview the final three episodes of the season before the podcast goes on hiatus. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re looking for love, looking for answers, or simply trying to understand yourself a little better, I hope this episode resonates. Coming up this season: Manjula Dias-Hargarter on language, identity, and building a life in Europe Alatia Bradley Bach on Kundalini yoga and finding home in Florence Karena Benke on creativity, poetry, and the stories that shape us Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency Comment here or DM me if you’d like to read the entire essay.

    The Algorithm & Me featuring Fosca D’Acierno

  5. Jul 10

    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 Molino di Grace.  His debut novel, In the Wake of Golgotha, is a literary thriller that reimagines Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate in modern-day New York City, condemned to revisit the consequences of one of history’s most charged moments. This is not Christian fiction, nor a simple historical retelling. Instead, Daniel asks what happens when ancient figures become flattened by time — turned into symbols, villains, verbs — and what fiction can do to restore complexity, discomfort, and humanity. We talk about Tuscany as a place of beauty and blood, wine as storytelling, the relationship between religion and law, capital punishment, addiction, and the moral weight of myth.  Biography  Daniel Grace is a London-born, California-bred former owner of an international advertising agency who now produces critically acclaimed Tuscan wines at his family winery, Il Molino di Grace, in Panzano-in-Chianti, Italy.  A storyteller by trade, a winemaker by day, and a mythologist at heart, Daniel spent decades building brands and crafting stories before turning to literary fiction.  His debut novel, In the Wake of Golgotha, published by Koehler Books in March 2026, is a literary thriller that reimagines Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate in a violent, modern collision of crime, punishment, guilt, and possible redemption. Links Daniel Grace official website: https://danielmarkgrace.com/ Book page: https://danielmarkgrace.com/book Author bio: https://danielmarkgrace.com/about Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielmarkgrace/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/243299522-in-the-wake-of-golgotha Publisher page, Koehler Books: https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/in-the-wake-of-golgotha/ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wake-Golgotha-Daniel-Grace/dp/B0FY3WCZWR Il Molino di Grace: https://www.ilmolinodigrace.it/Home.html Il Molino di Grace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilmolinodigrace/ Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency

    In the Wake of Golgotha featuring Daniel Grace 

  6. Jul 3

    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 eventually led her to Florence, the Pazzi conspiracy, Savonarola, and the ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary historical events. We talk about the delicate balance between fact and imagination in historical fiction, the responsibility writers have toward the past, and why Angela loves helping readers “learn something without being told they’re learning.” We also discuss her novels The Rose of Florence and Hiding the Flame, her use of food and recipes as a way into culture, and the importance of finding your writing tribe. Angela also shares what it means to begin a creative life later, the permission women often need to give themselves, and her next project: a novel set around the 1966 Florence flood, with a parallel connection to the Aberfan disaster in Wales. This week’s conversation is about Florence, reinvention, research, imposter syndrome, and the stories that keep calling us. Biography Angela is a writer (and reader) of “compelling and extensively-researched” historical fiction. Now retired, she spent her working life in the field of healthcare and higher education, having worked in clinical cardiology for almost thirty years and as a university lecturer for fifteen years. Outside of work, she has always had a keen interest in art and history, particularly the Italian Renaissance. This followed several visits to the beautiful city of Florence, where the seeds for her first book were sown. The Rose of Florence bloomed and was published by Romaunce Books Ltd in 2023, and the second book, Hiding the Flame, was published in 2025. On a personal level, Angela lives in Cardiff, Wales (UK) with her husband. They have two grown-up daughters and two beautiful grandchildren. At every opportunity, she enjoys travelling to Italy to eat, drink, read, and absorb the wonderful atmosphere. She likes to call this research! Facebook: Angela M Sims – Author (@angelamsimsauthor) Instagram: angelamsims1 Website: https://angelamsims.co.uk The Rose of Florence: https://amzn.eu/d/05GQ6zrf Hiding the Flame: https://amzn.eu/d/0fDIIeok Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Production Intern: Nicole Stevens Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency

    Second Acts featuring Angela M Sims

  7. Jun 26

    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 about Florence as a living city rather than a postcard, the hidden histories behind its streets and buildings, and the women whose scientific curiosity and intellectual labor have too often been pushed to the margins. At the center of Gigi’s novel is Bianca Capello, the great love of Francesco de’ Medici, a scientist and alchemist searching for space, resources, and a cure. Our conversation touches on Medici alchemy, convents as spaces of women’s work, the power of storytelling, the danger of flattening Florence into a tourist fantasy, and why we need to be travelers, not tourists. We also talk about writing across disciplines, the complexity of female characters, and what it means to preserve the cultural heritage of Florence by telling stories that are still alive in the city today. Biography and Links  Gigi Berardi teaches food and writing classes at Western Washington University and in Global Learning Programs. A Fulbright scholar, she holds three graduate degrees, but considers herself mostly a professional writer. She has authored over 300 popular articles and reviews for print and broadcast media—much of these on the arts and in reference to her widely-read book, Finding Balance. As one reviewer noted, “Once in a while a book comes along which makes me wish I had written it—such a book is Finding Balance.” Her book, FoodWISE, received a DOZEN WRITING AWARDS and over 30 endorsements, including from Michael Pollan, “[it’s] full of wisdom” and Forbes, hailing it as one of nineteen noteworthy food books. Her newest work is historical fiction, a chilling retelling of a woman scientist’s search for a malarial cure in Renaissance Florence.  Gigi’s newest work, Bianca’s Cure, is a deep-dive into the Renaissance feminist character of Bianca Capello, mistress to the Medici. Alchemist and chemist, too, she works on a cure for malaria that rejects the occult practices of her aunties in Venice and the duke she marries. In a time when neither Church nor alchemy authorities allow it, can a woman do science and make medicines, much less test them, before the heat disease kills them all? Links  https://gigiberardi.com/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580352734240 https://www.instagram.com/gigimberardi/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGIfTBA0eIsV4I3Rujh-czQ Get your copy: https://gigiberardi.com/biancas-cure/ Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency

    Bianca’s Cure featuring Gigi Berardi 

  8. Jun 19

    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 Valley, through the dot-com boom and bust, into entrepreneurship, and ultimately to Italy. Along the way, she learned that success is rarely linea, and that some of life’s most meaningful opportunities emerge from unexpected setbacks. We talk about the realities of startup culture, the pressures of corporate America, the loneliness that can accompany professional success, and the moment she realized she needed a different life. Jodi also reflects on the rise and fall of her vegan shoe company, the book she’s writing about that experience, and why she believes we need more honest conversations about failure. We also explore the challenges and rewards of building a new life abroad, finding community in Florence, and embracing reinvention at every stage of life. This is a conversation about resilience, friendship, creativity, and the courage to choose a path that feels true, even when it doesn’t make sense on paper. If you’ve ever questioned your career, dreamed of making a major life change, or wondered whether it’s too late to start over, this episode is for you. Biography  Jodi Koskella spent twenty years in Silicon Valley marketing, working through startups and enterprise technology companies, most of the time wishing she was somewhere else. Years ago she co-founded a Made in Italy vegan shoe company with a dear friend as a way to escape the cubicle blues, and fell in love with the design world and Italy along the way. After a roller coaster adventure with shoes, she returned to Silicon Valley just long enough to pay off her company debts while plotting her next move, which turned out to be relocating to Florence, Italy. She is currently consulting in marketing and fashion design, while continually deepening her long-term relationship with Italy.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodi-koskella-b63b1/ Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis  Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency

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About

15 with Fosca takes you on a journey to contemporary Italy and, through a plurality of voices, offers insights into Italian culture today and prepares you, in a meaningful way, for your time here. The podcast features authentic stories from Italy in real time and strives to create and build a sense of community across space and borders through conversations about what’s going on in Italian society right now.

Information

  • Creator
    Fosca D'Acierno
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    127
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Fosca D'Acierno
  • Show Website
    15 with Fosca