Thoughts and opinions on all things Italian

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John Mancini – Founder and Executive Director

Don Vito Goes to College

Higher learning is such an empty phrase these days. A recent lecture at my local community college should have billed the event as “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” Instead, it was “Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli.” Jesus would have ...

Bill Dal Cerro, Senior Analyst

MAN WITH A CAMERA

Peter Santenello (r) with cousin Anthony As of September 2026, video blogger Peter Santenello has over 4 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, where viewers follow his travels to various nooks-and-crannies (i.e, neighborhoods or neglected regions) within America. His accumulated ...


Rosario A. Iaconis
, Senior Analyst

The Seed of Aeneas: From the Coast of the Gods to the Bay of Naples

U.S. Ambassador to Rome, Tilman J. Fertitta, has got nothing on me. Having sojourned last year to Calabria’s majestic Costa degli Dei—the Coast of the Gods—where the pristinely transparent sea meets the vast cerulean sky, I found myself, one year ...

Bob Masullo, Guest Author

THEIR SONGS ENDED TOO SOON

Frank Sinatra lived to 82, Connie Francis to 87 and Tony Bennett to 96. Like many other Italian-American singers they were blessed with longevity. At least three, however, were not. They apparently were under a maledizione (Italian curse). Russ Columbo ...

ITALIAN-AMERICAN FIRSTS

Alfred E. Smith Who were the pioneer U.S. government officials with Italian roots? The answers are more than names that belong in history books. In a tangible way they provide a measure of how far Italian-Americans have come in the ...