The inventor of plastic and the ethics of innovation. A presentation by Luca Cottini (PhD) * Oslo, December 10, 1963. The only Italian #scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry * Achievement & fragility. From the invention of plastic to the management of waste * The imaginative mind of Giulio Natta. On #literature and #chemistry (Primo Levi) * A groundbreaking lab of innovation. Montecatini: from nylon to Moplen * The new material that God forgot to create. The birth and misuse of pla...
Sep 05, 2023•12 min
The woman behind Italy’s greatest wine (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The call to serve. The beginning of Giulia Falletti’s mission in Turin’s prisons * The story of Juliette Colbert de Maulevriér. From the French revolution to the Parisian encounter with Carlo Tancredi Falletti * From Napoleon’s rule to the Risorgimento. The growth of Turin in the 19th century, between anticlericalism and religious renewal * Carlo and Giulia’s effort in the betterment of the city, from the monumental c...
Aug 01, 2023•15 min
The Masters of Italian Publishing (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The Martinitt orphanage in Milan, home of 3 great #innovators * From poverty to entrepreneurship. The parallel path of Angelo Rizzoli and Arnoldo Mondadori * The project of the Italian encyclopedia (Rizzoli, Bocconi, and Treccani) * The Borletti-Mondadori partnership. The rights of D’Annunzio and the birth of detective novels * A long-lasting rivalry. From magazines to literary classic series * Mondadori, America, and the ...
Jul 01, 2023•14 min
Liquore Strega and the bewitching power of literature (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The fascination for "La" Strega (the witch) and the apprenticeship at "Lo" Strega liqueur factory * Poster #advertising and the aura of Strega. The blue, green, and red "witch" by Marcello Dudovich * The Roman city of Benevento, the legends of witchery, and the #drink of Giuseppe Alberti * A Southern Italian excellence from 1860 to the present. Guido Alberti as #entrepreneur * The passion for #storytell...
Jun 01, 2023•15 min•Season 5Ep. 97
A presentation by Luca Cottini (PhD). Keynote address of the International Conference of the Canadian Association of Italian Studies (CAIS). Delivered on July 5, 2022. * The culture behind the label. What model lies behind the Italian "impresa"? * The three components of the Italian "incanto": limit, #design, the chorality of "works" (#opera) * 1. The creative power of limit: care, respect, and #sustainability * 2. Design as #storytelling. The characters of the "speaking object" (genealogy, vita...
May 01, 2023•28 min
The creative compass of Ferrero (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * Finding the recipe. How Pietro Ferrero arrived to the hazelnut and cocoa paste * The early years. The marriage of Piera and Pietro, the birth of Michele, three entrepreneurial failures, and the return to Alba * The Langhe and Italy’s civil war. From WWII to reconstruction (1943-1945) * The post-war birth of the Giandujot (the forerunner of Nutella) and the foundation of the Ferrero chocolate company * A new model of social r...
Apr 01, 2023•13 min
The father of Italian design (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * Domus. The theory and practice of “industrial design” (What is design? Who is the designer?) * Designing life: a worldview in an object; a particular character in a space * Ponti and Milano. From formation to expositions, from practice to theory * Object-worlds. The passion for ceramics and glass. Lightness as brightness and weightlessness * Secular and religious architecture. The “continuity” of opposites * Vivere all’italiana...
Mar 01, 2023•17 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Marco Baldocchi, Neuromarketing research director at NINA (the Italian Association of Applied Neurosciences), author, public speaker, and visionary entrepreneur in consulting and advertising. * From Lucca to Miami. From advertising to #neuroscience (1:05) * What is neurobranding? Why is neuroscience a key tool for #marketing? (2:35) * The understanding of emotions. Our decisions take place at the unconscious level (6:00) * The powerful impact of #sto...
Feb 15, 2023•18 min
The pursuit of legend (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The finish line at the 1908 Targa Florio. How it all started * The birth of Italy's #automobile industry. Nazzaro (#Ferrari); Trucco (#Maserati); Ceirano (#fiat) * The mechanic of Isotta Fraschini who became a pilot. The story of Alfieri Maserati * Visionary entrepreneurship, competition, and elegance. At the core of Maserati * Maserati's most legendary models and Alfieri's legacy * What (really) happened that day in Palermo in 1908 C...
Feb 01, 2023•15 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Michael F. Moore, PhD (freelance translator, interpreter, and author of a wonderful English version of Alessandro Manzoni’s novel “The Betrothed") * A novel (and a language) for the Italian nation. Manzoni's I promessi sposi (1:00) * From Manzoni's characters to Italy's character. A prototype of the Italian psychology (6:20) * The American reception of Manzoni's masterpiece (13:40) * Reading Manzoni to read the pandemic. The narration of the bubonic ...
Jan 17, 2023•39 min
The secret language of shoes (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The mission to make #shoes visible. * The journey of a young #shoemaker from Campania to America * Italian immigrants and American #shoemaking * The immigrant's mindset. Rooted openness (from Boston to California) * Shoemaking and the cinematographic industry. The first Ferragamo store in #hollywood * Return to Italy. #florence and the crisis of the 1930s * Limit and #creativity. How the wedge heel was invented. How the rainbow...
Jan 01, 2023•13 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Paolo Ciuccarelli (architect, communication designer, professor of design at Northeastern University, and founder of the Density Design Research Lab at Politecnico di Milano) * The impact of Italian education on a professional career (1:26) * The Italian cultural model as an archetype of design thinking (6:41) * Architecture and communication. The inside and the outside of an object (10:27) * Communication design and rhetorics (17:55) * Data visualiz...
Dec 15, 2022•43 min
What's in a leather purse? (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The #houseofgucci movie. Story-branding, Italian family businesses, the founder's story * What an elevator attendant at a fashionable hotel learned about #celebrity. How Guccio Gucci really started his entrepreneurial adventure in 19th century #London * #Florence, 1921. The foundation of the House of Gucci and its Italian growth (Rome, Milan) * Scarcity and #creativity. How the diamond shaped #leather and the GG logo were ideated...
Dec 01, 2022•13 min
The joy of Italian dresses. The art of Italian living (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * A stroll through #Florence. From the 13th century (Dante's house, the Bargello) to 15th century city (Brunelleschi's dome, Palazzo Pucci) * Aristocracy & #fashion, Renaissance & #modernity. The Florentine upbringing of Emilio Pucci * Pucci's American discovery. From the winter olympics of 1932 to his studies Reed College * From #sports to #aviation. How a pilot become a smuggler and a spy. Pucci...
Nov 01, 2022•15 min
Forever Modern. Jewels are laboratories of lasting originality (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * From Studio 54 to Tiffany's. How a young Italian model became NYC's top jewel #designer * An independent and unexpected path, from Italy to Japan, from Spain to New York City * An extraordinary career at Tiffany's. The most remarkable pieces of Peretti's creative imagination * The aesthetics of Peretti's style. Translating ideas into forms, forging life in matter * Catalonia as a creative labor...
Oct 10, 2022•14 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Andrea Prencipe (Professor of Organization and Innovation, and Rector of Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome) * The founding vision of Luiss Guido Carli University. To establish a #university requires trust and the willingness to invest in the future (1:45) * What makes the institution distinctive in the Italian #academic landscape (6:45). * The #pandemic as an occasion to re-design #universities. On #datascience and the process of #internationaliza...
Oct 07, 2022•30 min
From Naples to Milan. The Birth of Alfa Romeo (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The road to Naples. From the periphery to the big city, from poverty to #education * The formation as civil #engineer and the start of #business (air compressors, train tracks) * The great war and the great occasion. The acquisition of the #automobile company Alfa * Alfa Romeo. The growth of the company, the creation of a legend * The dream to manufacture automobiles in Southern Italy. The factory of Pomigliano...
Oct 05, 2022•13 min
A presentation by Luca Cottini (PhD). Delivered on June 24, 2022 at the Superyacht Design Festival, organized in Milan by Boat International Media Company. * Industria (industriousness) and cultura (cultivation): the 2 concomitant faces of value creation * Italian #design is not "Made in Italy". What makes on object Italian? What does "Italian" add to it? * The origin of Italy's distinction. From an incomplete industrialization to a unique industrial model * The Italian vs the anglo-salon approa...
Aug 01, 2022•48 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Alberto Milani (entrepreneur & creator of the jewelry & lifestyle luxury brand Alberto Milani "a love affair with Italy", president of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of New York, and co-founder of Piazza Italia Market) * A leader in jewelry. The path to entrepreneurship (1:10) * Between tradition and innovation. What's in a jewel? (3:00) * How does the Italian obsession for beauty translate into jewelry design? The 3 qualities of Made ...
Jul 21, 2022•29 min
The epic of boating (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The joy of a boat ride. From Dante to the 21st century * #boating as a #storytelling metaphor and a long-lasting craft * Four generations of #boat making. The Riva story from Sarnico to the world. From racing to luxury * The vision of a bold entrepreneur. The synthesis of wood craft and American engine technology * Carlo Riva's transformation of the boat into an object of lifestyle. Celebrities and glamour * The historic Riva models (Tr...
Jul 01, 2022•14 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Gianfranco Zaccai (designer, architect, innovator, founder of the design firm Continuum, president of the Foundation for Augmented Intelligence) * A story in between worlds. From education to the establishment of Continuum (1:26) * The genesis of Reebok Pump (5:50) * The migrant's mindset as a key to originality (7:40) * Design & food (8:12) * How is an idea born? The explorative and creative process behind P&G's Swiffer (11:36) * How does an...
Jun 15, 2022•38 min
From female entrepreneurship to cultural diplomacy (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * An American woman in Italy at the turn of the 20th century. The marriage with Ruggero Ranieri * Pioneering female entrepreneurship in Italy. The Arti decorative italiane from Umbria to New York * Education and female emancipation. The school of Pischiello and the Montessori method * A living legacy. The Sorbello foundation (NYC) and the Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello (Perugia) * Uguccione and Romeyne's bri...
Jun 01, 2022•33 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Chiara Montanari (Antarctic expedition leader, manager, researcher, coach, consultant in strategic mindset, TEDx speaker and author of “Ice chronicles. 90 days in Antarctica"). * The Antarctic mindset as a metaphor of entrepreneurship (2:05) * The success of an "impresa" in an extreme environment: a balance of rigor and flexibility (4:00) * How to see the unforeseen as not an obstacle but as an opportunity (9:10) * Dynamism, mutability, and the need ...
May 16, 2022•27 min
The extraordinary adventure of a cultural explorer (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * Across the Gustav Line. How a scholar became a war hero (1943-1945) * A man in between worlds, from his upbringing in Perugia to his travels to his first trip to the US * The long journey to anti-Fascism and republicanism * American in Italy and Italian in America. The creation of the bulletin "The Italian Scene" * The Verrazzano campaign. How the Verrazzano bridge got its name * The Sorbello Foundation. T...
May 01, 2022•21 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Luigi Crema (associate professor of international law at the University of Milan) * Roman law and the foundation of modern legal systems (0:45) * The post-war making of Italy's constitution and the primacy of labor (7:00) * A comparative analysis. The young Italian constitution and the old American constitution (12:30) * The Italian constitution and the status of contemporary Italian democracy (18:00) * The necessary relationship of law and culture. ...
Apr 20, 2022•33 min
The father of Italian automobiles. The birth of Fiat (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The 1898 exposition of Turin. The cradle of Italian photography and cinematography * The bicycle workshop of Ceirano, the new trend of "horseless coaches" and the "automobile club" of Caffè Burello * The creation of Italy's first #automobile company (Ceirano GB & Co) in 1898 and the release of Italy's first #car (the "Welleyes") in 1899 * A board of investors acquires Ceirano's patent and business, f...
Apr 01, 2022•15 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Simone Cinotto (professor, author, and food scholar at University of gastronomic sciences in Pollenzo, Italy) * Local and global. Italian and American. A clarification of terms and a brief history of culinary culture in Italy (3:10) * A cuisine of exchange, hybridization, and creativity (9:15) * The post-war Americanization of Italian cuisine. New modes of consumption (11:50) * A brief history of the Mediterranean diet. From the Italian problem to th...
Mar 20, 2022•51 min
What can a father give a child? The gift of Chicco (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * The fathers of great Italian innovators and artists (“like father like son” cases; the influence model; accidental gifts) * The gift of a chicco. Pietro Catelli’s gift to his son Enrico and the deeper meaning of “chicco” * How Chicco became the global leader in childcare products * An integrated approach. Building not the parts but the eco-system of a child’s life. * At the intersection of medicine and fas...
Mar 01, 2022•17 min
A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Jessica L. Harris (assistant professor of history at Saint John’s University, author, and scholar of African-American history, women’s history and modern Italy). * Italy in the aftermath of WWII. The Marshall Plan between aids and economic opportunity (1:15) * The emergence of Mrs. Consumer and the Americanization of Italy (4:10) * The American model in Italy. The case of Mondadori and La Rinascente (7:25) * The diffusion of American refrigerators an...
Feb 20, 2022•32 min
The Italian reinvention of coffee (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD) * A lost harvest and the start of an adventure. From #Turin to the world * 1895. The opening of the #Lavazza store * Importing and treating #coffee. The re-invention of coffee as a transformed good * The innovation & art of #blending and the design of #aroma * Packaging and sustainability. From Luigi Lavazza to the company today Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter ...
Feb 01, 2022•18 min
