The Bittersweet Life

Latest Episodes:

Episode 348: The Best of the Year: Virtual Tour of Rome Dec 28, 2020

Show notes

Lots of out-of-work tour guides are now offering virtual tours of Rome (and, I imagine, cities all around the world), as a way to keep their businesses alive, keep their knowledge fresh, and help people who are stuck at home feel like they are traveling. But way back in April, while we were all stuck inside and not even permitted to go for a walk more than 200 meters from home (at least in Rome), we created an auditory virtual tour of Rome. And the coolest part? We did it from our own homes—halfway across the world from each other.

Katy drew on her vast collection of sounds she has captured over the years, Tiffany brought her knowledge of Rome and its history, and Katy put it all together with her exceptional sound-editing skills. The result has to be heard to be believed. When we originally posted this episode back in April, several listeners actually thought we had indeed taped it on the streets of Rome.

Today, for our very last episode of 2020, we decided to repost our most popular episode of the year, and, not surprisingly, this was it.

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NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Bittersweet Moment #90: Merry Christmas from Aurelio Dec 23, 2020

Show notes

It's Christmas Eve and Tiffany interviews one little child who is looking forward to the big day. Enjoy this mini-burst of holiday cheer and Merry Christmas from your friends at The Bittersweet Life.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Episode 347: A Bookish Christmas (with Nancy Pearl) Dec 18, 2020

Show notes

Just in time for last-minute Christmas shopping, the "world's librarian" Nancy Pearl, who is also a best-selling author herself, shares her favorite books for giving (or reading yourself) this holiday season (find titles and links below).

Nancy also shares her advice for testing out a new friendship: give your new friend a book for Christmas, and whether they bother to read it (or love it or hate it) might inform whether your friendship has longterm potential.

Here our Nancy's picks for this holiday season:

The Company: A Novel of the CIA by Robert Littell

The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War-a Tragedy in Three Acts by Scott Anderson

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (illustrated) by Gertrude Stein and Maira Kalman

Here We Are by Graham Swift

Hench: A Novel by Natalie Zina Walschots

Set My Heart to Five: A Novel by Simon Stephenson

Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown

Find Nancy on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or at her website.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Bittersweet Moment #89: After After Midnight (with Matthew P. Woerner) Dec 17, 2020

Show notes

Katy catches up with Matthew P. Woerner, the writer and director of Monday's audio play "After Midnight," who also happens to be a childhood friend. On this mini-episode, they discuss their mutual love for old-time radio, and hypothesize on what makes radio theater unique. Matthew talks about his inspiration for "After Midnight," and how he got the radio bug. They also reminisce about their childhood and what Katy was like as a kid.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Episode 346: After Midnight (by Matthew P. Woerner) Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

Get a cup of your favorite hot drink, find a cozy corner, and sit back and enjoy a totally different kind of show. Today we're presenting a special radio play inspired by the Golden Age of radio drama, the very medium that made Katy fall in love with radio and go into a career as a public radio producer and podcaster.

After Midnight was written and directed by Matthew P. Woerner, a childhood friend of Katy. During the long, solitary months of lockdown, as many people were pursuing new creative endeavors (or reviving ones that had long been left dormant), Matthew built a sound studio in his basement, wrote a radio drama, and recorded it, complete with live actors and home-made sound effects. Close your eyes and imagine you're in a different time as we present this suspenseful and delicious piece of theater of the mind.

Find Matthew Woerner on Instagram and Facebook.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Bittersweet Moment #88: An American in Italy—during Covid Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

In a time when leisure travel (especially international leisure travel) is all but non-existent, some brave and insistent travel-lovers are going anyway.

Today we chat with long-time listener and past guest Lynn Fortunato, who flew to Italy from her home in San Francisco just before the second wave hit, with a one-way ticket and not much of a plan.

Hear in her own words her experiences with Italy's strict quarantine for foreign travelers, where she's been, and how she's been filling her time in a country that is all but locked-down.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Check out their latest release, Georges Bank by Bradley Bagshow, a maritime novel set in a 19th-century fishing village in New England. Find it on Amazon, IndieBound, Bookshop.org, or at your favorite local bookstore.**

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Episode 345: Now You See It, Now You Don't Dec 06, 2020

Show notes

There are lots of new sights we are all quickly getting used to during this unprecedented time. People in masks, plexiglass partitions, ubiquitous hand sanitizer dispensers... but what about all the things we used to see everywhere that are now just gone?

This week we remark on what sights have disappeared from our streets, and if they'll ever come back, which leads to a broader conversation about how the world is changing.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Bittersweet Moment #87: Slow Winter Dec 03, 2020

Show notes

Winter can be long at the best of times. But during a pandemic with no end in sight, it can be brutal. Katy is joined briefly by author Jess Walter and the two try and come up with ways to get through this long, dark, and solitary winter.

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Episode 344: Shifting Goals Nov 30, 2020

Show notes

We all make goals—or, at least most of us do—but what happens when we decide to scratch a goal off the list without ever completing it? Whether because we're simply not interested in having a particular experience anymore, our passions have led us in another direction, or we have (sob!) "aged out" of the possibility of achieving a dream, it's ok to change our minds. What we are determined to do when we're 14 (or 40) might not be what we were meant to do. This week we talk about how revising and changing our goals is a better strategy than sticking to something we may have outgrown.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers. Their newest release is Facing Death: Finding Dignity, Hope, and Healing at the End by former guest Jim DeMaine. You can purchase the book on Amazon, IndieBound, Bookshop.org, or at your favorite local bookstore.**

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

Bittersweet Moment #86: Gratitude Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

On this extra-short mini-episode, Katy and Tiffany express their thanks for things in their lives that they are unexpectedly treasuring this year. Sometimes it's the little things, sometimes it's the big things, but we can all find something to be grateful, even in the midst of the craziest year of our lives.

**This episode was sponsored by Clyde Hill Publishing—partner and publisher for founders, innovators, thinkers, and tinkerers.**

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ADVERTISE WITH US: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

BECOME A PATRON: Pledge your monthly support of The Bittersweet Life and receive awesome prizes in return for your generosity! Visit our Patreon site to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. Click here to find us on a variety of podcast apps.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

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