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 day his twin sons were born, and what it took for he and his wife...
May 02, 2025•24 min
There’s one museum in Rome that has it all—and it’s not the Vatican. The Capitoline Museums are comprised of a collection of nearly everything you could hope for in a museum—sumptuous frescoed rooms, Caravaggio paintings, Bernini sculptures, ancient bronze and marble statuary, panoramic views of the Roman Forum, fascinating artifacts, and the ruins of Rome’s oldest and most important temple. And believe it or not, it’s never crowded. Not even in high season. On this mini-episode, Tiffany talks a...
Apr 30, 2025•18 min
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. *** Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To help with the staggering medical costs—her specialist is outside her insurance network—as well of the costs of temporarily relo...
Apr 28, 2025•31 min•Season 12Ep. 580
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 how he got the idea for this book that would go on to become a ...
Apr 25, 2025•26 min
On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our Patreon supporters, Katy gives an update on her sister Dana's stage 4 agressive brain cancer. This is just an excerpt, and if you want to hear more, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting just on Patreon ! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month. You'll hear conversations that would never take place on the main show, you'...
Apr 23, 2025•7 min
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-hearted discussion. *** Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagno...
Apr 21, 2025•29 min•Season 12Ep. 579
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: accordionists. This sparks a conversation about what we notice, what we take for granted as being an eternal aspect of the city, and how a cit...
Apr 18, 2025•17 min
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? Caffè Greco, where else? Having opened in 1760, Antico Caffè Greco is the oldest café in Rome and the second-oldest in all of Italy! And you can still go there and sit where Hawthorne, Ibsen, Gogol, Goethe, Canova, and many many other literary, art, and musical greats rubbed elbows and drank cof...
Apr 16, 2025•25 min
Need help falling asleep? That's not usually our forte—at least we hope it isn't!—but this week the legendary sleep-podcaster Drew Ackerman, better known to his listeners as Dear Scooter, of the popular Sleep with Me podcast, has used not one but two of our past episodes as a script for his sleep-inducing show. We are reposting his somnolent take on Episode 441 The Oldest Cafe in Rome and Episode 440 Where Are All the Accordions? right here (and we'll be posting the original versions of those ep...
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 12Ep. 578
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. Lori explains how patients often try to impress their therapists...
Apr 11, 2025•34 min
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 and sumptuous streets in Rome. Don’t miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener trip , coming up in October 2025. Find out all about it here , or email us for more information! ***As you know if you have listened to our recent episodes , Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagn...
Apr 09, 2025•12 min
The Bittersweet Life Podcast went on an unexpected and unprecedented month-long hiatus. As you can imagine, only something life-threatening could have caused us to take this break. Katy sits down with her sisters Dana and Sara to have an honest and vulnerable conversation about the tragedy that has occurred in their family, and why it’s a journey that’s only beginning. And a journey with an unknown ending. ***Katy's sister Dana has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 agressive brain cancer. To ...
Apr 07, 2025•55 min•Season 12Ep. 577
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 three major things that humans do with or in the underground worl...
Apr 03, 2025•34 min
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 pop up in a scene without any warning. We chat all about our odd ...
Apr 02, 2025•6 min
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 global pandemic have lasting changes, and are they positive or negative...
Mar 31, 2025•47 min•Season 12Ep. 576
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 Dolomites, cycles home from work, hoping not to be stopped by the Ca...
Mar 28, 2025•22 min
Who remembers what life felt like during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, when cities and entire countries were shutting down right and left? Believe it or not, it all started five years ago this month! So we are digging back into our archives to bring you episodes from that momentous time all month long. On this episode, which originally aired on April 5th 2020, we ask our listeners: What does a day in the life of someone under lockdown look like? And they responded, offering a peek int...
Mar 21, 2025•34 min
Exactly five years ago this month—March 2020—the world went through something that no one living had experienced in their lifetimes: a global epidemic that affected the entire world, and forced much of the population into their homes for weeks and months at a time, unable to socialize, go to work, and in some cases (like Italy) even take walk around the neighborhood. This month, we are re-airing, every Friday, the episodes that we recording during that momentous and unforgettable time, unique to...
Mar 14, 2025•29 min
Our regularly scheduled episode is going to be delayed this week. Katy makes a hard announcement on this much abbreviated episode to explain why The Bittersweet Life is going on a (hopefully very short) hiatus. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Remember, we have a vast archive of episodes that you may never have listened to, so take this time to dig back into our plethora of earlier episodes (all 12 seasons of them!). Also remember that specially selected past episodes are now being...
Mar 10, 2025•5 min•Season 12Ep. 575
Do you remember what life was like during the first days and weeks of lockdown following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost exactly 5 years ago? This month, we'll be airing four episodes from our archives, one every Friday, during that momentous, uncertain, and historic time. In this episode, which originally aired on March 16th 2020, Italy has recently entered lockdown. There was no going out except for basic necessities or medical reasons—or work if you had an essential job that cou...
Mar 07, 2025•29 min
Everybody who visits Rome knows about the Mouth of Truth—and many of them line up for up to an hour (or more!) to stick their hand in its mouth and snap an iconic photo. But what most visitors fail to do is to take the time to visit the incredible church that lies just beyond this monument of dubious importance, Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Today, Tiffany tells you all about it, and what to look for when you are there. And don’t miss your chance to visit Rome with us, on our intimate Rome listener t...
Mar 05, 2025•6 min•Season 12Ep. 219
Just over 12 years ago, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis in the conclave of 2013. And Tiffany was in St. Peter's Square when it happened. She saw the white smoke pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, she heard those famous words "Habemus Papam!" and she, along with the other thousands of people that had by that time gathered in St. Peter's Square that rainy March night, was among the first to see the newly elected Pope in person. With Pope Francis seriously ill, and many be...
Mar 03, 2025•47 min•Season 12Ep. 574
On this eye-opening interview with special guest Lisa Wilcox, taken from our archives, we explore the science of language learning through linguistics and speech pathology. Sound boring? Turns out, it is actually really funny. And you might just discover a new angle from which to tackle your language-learning goals. ***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airin...
Feb 28, 2025•31 min
On this bonus episode, available exclusively to our Patreon supporters, random questions like "What is your dumbest scar?" are answered by us with a great amount of laughter. This small excerpt is in our regular feed, but if you want to hear the entire episode, become part of the Bittersweet Life community by supporting us on Patreon ! For as little as $5 per month—less than the price of a coffee in some places—you will have access to multiple bonus episodes every single month. You'll hear conve...
Feb 26, 2025•4 min
What happens when you get sick in Italy? How much does medical care cost? As an expat, how does the Italian medical system differ from that of the United States? Is Italian healthcare really as disorganized as it can sometimes seem? And is European socialized medicine really as wonderful and stress-free as it might seem from across the pond? Also: does an old, dingy hospital subconsciously affect how you perceive the quality of care you will receive there? After a month battling bronchitis and p...
Feb 24, 2025•36 min•Season 12Ep. 573
Katy moved to Rome once. Does that mean she'd be brave enough to do it again? Are you brave enough to move to a brand new city? What about a brand-new country? Katy and Tiffany use a listener email to kick off this episode from our archives . If you like this topic, don't miss Part 1 of this episode! *** The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode fr...
Feb 21, 2025•30 min
On this Bittersweet Moment, taken from our archives, Tiffany and Aurelio chat about their recent visit to one of Rome’s most secret and best-hidden gems: the Tempietto of Bramante. Find out what makes this minuscule “temple” so utterly sublime, which ancient temple it was inspired by, and which domes around the world have been inspired by it. Aurelio also chimes in about his favorite thing about visiting the Tempietto. (Hint: it rhymes with Tempietto but begins with C-O-R-N.) And don’t miss your...
Feb 19, 2025•16 min
Have you ever lost your mind over a foreign language? This week's guest, Melissa Muldoon, did just that over 15 years ago, when she dove head first into studying the Italian language. She was so crazy about Italian in fact, that she dubbed herself the " Studentessa Matta " (crazy student) and started blogging about her Italian-learning journey... in Italian . What began as a blog to flex her Italian writing skills has turned into a career as an Italian language teacher and coach, an Italian cult...
Feb 17, 2025•29 min•Season 12Ep. 572
In this episode from our archives, Tiffany and Katy both say goodbye to their old lives: Tiffany moves out of her Trastevere apartment and braves the Roman outskirts for the first time in over a decade as an expat, and Katy's beloved Seattle home is torn down. On this surprisingly vulnerable episode, we explore life, loss, and the pain and annoyance of moving. ***The Bittersweet life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our ea...
Feb 14, 2025•26 min
On this bonus episode, released exclusively for our Patreon supporters , we're joined by Tiffany's son, 9-year-old Aurelio—our redheaded mascot and "third co-host" who answers our Patreon supporters' burning questions! Find out where he'd rather live, the US or Italy, which language he prefers to speak, and what it's like, as an American, having to take English lessons from an Italian teacher. This is just a short preview of the full bonus episode. If you want to hear more, become part of the Bi...
Feb 12, 2025•6 min
