Suffern natives create Italian American podcast
Notable "paesans" like Mike Piazza have told stories about their heritage
SUFFERN — About a year ago, two Italian-Americans from Suffern — or “paesans,” as they would say — decided to try something new.
Anthony Fasano had an idea to start a podcast that focused on Italian-American culture, and it didn’t take much convincing to get family friend Dolores Alfieri on board. Then came what they figured would be the hard part: Lining up recognizable guests to give the show some credibility.
As it turned out, there were many paesans who were more than willing.
“Here we are, two people doing a podcast, and we have no episodes yet,” Alfieri recalled at Marcello’s Restaurant in Suffern on Tuesday. “We reach out to Mary Tedesco, the host of a popular TV show (PBS’ 'Genealogy Roadshow'), and tell her what we’re doing. And she said yes. You’ll always remember somebody like her. She’ll always be a favorite in our hearts because she really helped us to get started."
“Sometimes it’s just the right people at the right time being generous and supportive.”
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Tedesco was the first guest on “The Italian American Podcast,” but many notables would follow. The list includes celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich, ESPN host Tony Reali, best-selling author Adriana Trigiani and most recently, New York baseball hero Mike Piazza, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Their eagerness to share their stories and family history has helped the podcast gain listeners.
“The Italian-American culture is alive and vibrant in America,” Bastianich said. “Sometimes it transcends two, three generations. 'The Italian American Podcast' is a contemporary way to continue to share experiences, information and culture for the Italian-American community and those that want to know more about it. I loved being interviewed (by) young, enthusiastic, passionate interviewers interested in their roots.”
Fasano and Alfieri have produced seven months’ worth of podcasts so far, which are released every other Sunday, and already have nearly 40,000 downloads.
Listen: Find episodes of "The Italian American Podcast"
“We’re steadily climbing and having sustained listeners,” Fasano said. “In some ways, I’m surprised. When I had the idea for the show, it just hit me right in the face. This kind of stuff — your heritage and your background — people just love to talk about it.”
The immediate success has exceeded their expectations and opened doors for them to think bigger and bolder. But at its core, “The Italian American Podcast” is meant to be casual and conversational, like a family sitting around the table for Sunday dinner.
The celebrities have propelled the show, but one of the most popular episodes came around Christmas when they recorded family members baking at Alfieri’s mother’s house.
“We made Christmas cookies,” Alfieri said. “That’s it, but it’s so Italian — the act of having all of these generations of people in the kitchen, baking or cooking, and everybody told stories. There was all of this background noise, the kids were running around, and people loved that episode. It just caught traction.”
Reali, who invited Fasano and Alfieri to ESPN's Manhattan-set “Around the Horn” to record their episode with him, believes the podcast has attracted an audience because it brings out a feeling of pride for Italian-Americans.
“Look at everything being Italian-American means to people: family, food, art, music, style, hair — all the good stuff in life,” Reali said. “There’s one common theme among all my friends who aren't Italian: envy. This happens whenever we watch (Martin) Scorsese’s Copacabana scene in ‘Goodfellas,’ and it peaks when I talk about the seven fish dinner we have on Christmas Eve.”
Organizations such as the National Italian American Foundation have taken notice, with NIAF now serving as the podcast’s official sponsor.
“When we heard about (the podcast), we were super-pumped,” NIAF president John Viola said. “We’re multiple generations removed from the immigrant experience and we’re still finding people who are taking interest in preserving it. I love the idea that people listen to it and then interact with it. They want to tell you their version of the story. That’s so wonderful because people, young and old, can really relate.”
As their reputation continues to grow, Fasano and Alfieri are planning to expand their presence. They already have a website, italianamericanpodcast.com, where they publish blog posts about genealogy, food and culture. In the future, they plan to introduce memorabilia, video and even publish books and memoirs.
But ultimately, they view their chief responsibility as providing a medium for Italian-Americans who want to stay connected with their ancestries and maintain their family values.
“Italian-Americans really understand the natural order of things and the love of family and the love of community,” Piazza said during his interview on the podcast. “My father always made sure that at the end of the night we had dinner together. We talked. There were no phones, no video games, there were no computers. We just talked as a family. … If communities did that, I think a lot of the problems that are in society today would be mitigated in a way.”
Twitter: @vzmercogliano