15 with Fosca takes you on a journey to contemporary Italy and, through a plurality of voices, offers insights into Italian culture today and prepares you, in a meaningful way, for your time here.
The podcast features authentic stories from Italy in real time and strives to create and build a sense of community across space and borders through conversations about what’s going on in Italian society right now.
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Données mises à jour le 04/07/2026
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The Stories that Find Us: Featuring Katherine Mezzacappa
Saison 5 · Épisode 19
vendredi 13 mars 2026 • Durée 46:06
“When I write under different names, I can be a different person. So, if I got stuck on whatever I was writing as Katherine Mezzacappa, that was a bit more literary, then I could dive off into a romance, if you like, and be Kate Zarrelli, and that does feel a bit different.” Katherine Mezzacappa
In this episode, I’m joined by author Katherine Mezzacappa, the Irish-born, Tuscany-based novelist behind The Maiden of Florence and a wide-ranging body of work written under more than one name.
We talk about Katherine’s long relationship with Italy, from her first trip to Florence as a child to the life she eventually built in Tuscany, and about the beauty, history, and cultural inheritance that shape her work. We also discuss her path to writing seriously later in life, and why her fiction so often returns to women and working people whose stories official history has ignored, distorted, or erased.
Katherine shares the surprising ways books begin, how she researches the worlds she writes, and the unusual method she uses to understand her characters from the inside out. We also talk about discipline, time, artistic community, and what aspiring writers need to hear most: that there is no single right way to write a book, only the way that allows you to keep going.
Biography
Katherine Mezzacappa is an Irish author of mainly historical fiction, long resident in Carrara. Ten of her novels have been published under three different names. The Maiden of Florence (Fairlight, 2024, also available in Italian translation with Piemme) was shortlisted for the Historia Gold Crown award, 2025 and this month achieved first place in Kindle sales in the US in the Italian Historical Fiction category.
Katherine is also a manuscript assessor for a London literary consultancy, lead organiser for this year's Historical Novel Society's conference in Maynooth, Co Kildare, and is an executive committee member of the Irish Writers Union. She's also proud to be a member of the Florence Literary Society.
Katherine holds degrees from East Anglia, Durham and Canterbury Christ Church universities.
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Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
The Art of the Moment featuring Sheean Hanlan
Saison 5 · Épisode 17
vendredi 6 mars 2026 • Durée 51:14
“People don’t just want the result; they want the experience of the work coming to life.” Sheean Hanlan
In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I’m joined by Sheean Hanlan, a live event illustrator based in Florence whose work captures people not as perfect replicas, but as their essence, gestures, moods, microexpressions, and spirit.
We talk about how Sheean first encountered Florence as a Pepperdine study abroad student, and how she felt, almost immediately, that something in her was going to shift. At the time she was pre-med, but the city’s art, history, and beauty cracked something open. She returned again and again until 2020 when she took the leap that changed everything.
Sheean shares the behind-the-scenes truth: getting to Italy during COVID, training intensively in classical techniques, and then realizing that mastery doesn’t automatically equal alife. There was a gap between learning and making a career until she began trusting what felt natural; a style that embraces the human hand, the beauty of imperfection, and the thrill of watching art come alive in real time.
We also talk about deeper questions like what it means to create while surrounded by Renaissance greatness, how a Henry James story (“The Madonna of the Future”) shaped her thinking about originality, and why the rise of AI has only increased the hunger for real artists and real presence.
Sheean Hanlan Biography and Links
Sheean is a live event illustrator splitting her time between Italy and the Bahamas. She creates watercolor portraits at luxury weddings across Europe, and her work has been featured in British Vogue and commissioned by Amazon and the National Gallery of London.
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Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Essential Astonishments
vendredi 27 février 2026 • Durée 47:03
“It’s not about what happens to us, it’s about who we become going through it.” Gina Mazza
In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I sit down with author, editor, and self-described “word provocateur” and “creative alchemist”, Gina Mazza, for a grounded and expansive conversation about writing, fear, consciousness, and why storytelling may be the most powerful force we have.
Gina has built a career not only as a writer, but as a guide for other writers. She helps authors shape their ideas, find their voice, and navigate the often intimidating world of publishing, whether traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing.
We talk about her award-winning poetry collection, Essential Astonishments, which was born in an extraordinary way, through 3 a.m. awakenings where she felt called to “take dictation” from something beyond herself. Listening to her describe that experience reminded me of my own early-morning writing sessions, those moments when the words seem to arrive fully formed, as if they’ve been waiting for us.
Gina asks a question that I haven’t stopped thinking about: “What must I say before I die?” It’s a powerful way to frame the writing process; not as something we “should” do because it looks impressive, but as something that feels necessary.
We also talk about the emotional reality of publishing. How vulnerable it feels. How rejection stings. How launching a book can feel like stepping off a cliff. And how important it is to have both creative support and practical strategy, because books aren’t just written, they’re raised.
What I loved most about this conversation is Gina’s duality: she moves easily between the spiritual and the strategic, the intuitive and the practical. She understands that writing is both art and product, soul-work and marketing reality.
5 Chairs, 5 Choices featuring Louise Evans
vendredi 20 février 2026 • Durée 45:10
“When you’re triggered, you always have a choice: reactive or responsive.” Louise Evans
What if every difficult moment in your life came down to one simple truth: you have a choice?
In this rich and deeply human conversation, I sit down with Louise Evans, creator of the Five Chairs Framework, a powerful behavioral model that has transformed workplaces, schools, families, and relationships around the world.
Louise’s TEDx talk (with over 6 million views) introduced millions to five archetypal “chairs” that represent our possible responses when we’re triggered:
🟥 Red Chair (Jackal): Represents reactive, aggressive, and blaming behavior.
🟡 Yellow Chair (Hedgehog): Represents self-judgment, insecurity, and defensiveness.
🟢 Green Chair (Meerkat): Represents pause, awareness, and observation.
🔵 Blue Chair (Dolphin): Represents empathy, connection, and understanding.
🟣Purple Chair (Giraffe): Represents authenticity, courage, and high consciousness.
Louise reminds us that when we are triggered, we are not trapped. We can react or we can respond.
Biography
Founder and Director of The 5 Chairs project, Behavioral Coach, Corporate Trainer and Facilitator, Speaker, and Author of 5 Chairs 5 Choices.
Louise’s audiences routinely describe her as “captivating,” “inspiring,” “entertaining,” and “life-changing,” These qualities have been a throughline of her life.
Shifting the Paradigm featuring Jennifer Brunton
Saison 5 · Épisode 16
vendredi 13 février 2026 • Durée 39:48
“Seek information led by autistic voices. We are scientists, writers, teachers, and we are here.”Jennifer Brunton
In this episode, I’m joined by Jennifer Brunton, autism and neurodivergence expert, author, activist, advocate, and keynote speaker, for a deeply human conversation about language, identity, and what it truly means to build a more inclusive world.
We explore how the way we talk about autism shapes everything from diagnosis to belonging, and why shifting the narrative away from fear, deficit, and “fixing” is not just necessary, but urgent. Jennifer introduces the social model of disability, reframing it not as something wrong with an individual, but as something created, or alleviated, by culture, systems, and environments.
Our conversation moves through her books, practical, autistic-led handbooks on advocacy and independence, and the radical power of centering autistic voices. We discuss libraries as sanctuaries, the myth of independence versus the reality of interdependence, and why adjustments are not “special treatment” but part of how society already works.
Jennifer also shares deeply personal reflections on navigating diagnosis within families, raising neurodivergent children, confronting stigma in professional spaces, and what gives her hope for the future, particularly the role of younger generations and online communities in fostering connectedness and pride.
We close by looking ahead to her forthcoming book, What Sustains You, a collection of comfort, wisdom, and grounding practices created by and for autistic people, a powerful reminder that sustenance, like humanity itself, takes many forms.
Biography
is the co-author, with Jenna Gensic, M.A., of and .
It Happened in Florence featuring Nita Tucker
Saison 5 · Épisode 15
vendredi 6 février 2026 • Durée 57:44
“There’s a fine line between being selfish and being true to yourself.” Nita Tucker
In this episode, I’m joined by Nita Tucker, author, executive coach, and the founder of The Florentine, the English-language newspaper that has shaped and served Florence’s international community for more than twenty years.
We begin with Nita’s first encounters with Florence, from hitchhiking through Europe in her twenties to making the bold decision, at fifty, to move abroad and build a life rooted in curiosity, courage, and community. What followed was the unlikely birth of The Florentine: a newspaper that started quite literally from a bathroom conversation and grew into a vital bridge between the city and its global residents.
Our conversation moves through themes of belonging, leadership, and boldness – from building community around a dinner table, to taking professional and personal risks, to staying true to oneself even when it’s misunderstood. Nita reflects candidly on love, partnership, grief, and why wanting a relationship is nothing to be ashamed of at any age.
We also explore her latest book, Nobility: The Essence of Leadership, where she reframes leadership not as dominance or management, but as an intentional way of being, one rooted in dignity, principle, and the ability to elevate others.
This episode is a meditation on Florence, on relationships, on purpose, and on what it really means to live a life with no regrets, even when the path is uncertain.
Biography
Nita Tucker is an author, executive coach, speaker, and leadership thinker who lives between Florence, Italy, and California. She is the founder and former editor of the English-language publication , a magazine that has served the international community in Florence for decades.
Power, Money, Truth featuring Jamie Fiore Higgins
Saison 5 · Épisode 14
vendredi 30 janvier 2026 • Durée 54:46
“Curiosity and humility are the only things that change toxic workplaces, and they have to come from the top.” Jamie Fiore Higgins
In this episode of 15 with Fosca, I sit down with Jamie Fiore Higgins, former Goldman Sachs executive and author of Bully Market, for an honest conversation about power, ambition, identity, and the quiet damage toxic workplaces can do.
Jamie shares what it was like rising to the top of Wall Street as one of the few women in the room, and how a culture built on silence, fear, and performance slowly reshaped her sense of self. We talk about how environments normalize behavior we never imagined accepting, how money complicates moral clarity, and why leaving can feel more terrifying than staying.
We also explore what it took for Jamie to write Bully Market, the reactions it sparked, and why telling the full truth, including her own complicity, mattered.
This is a conversation about success, survival, who we become inside powerful systems, and what it takes to reclaim your voice after you leave.
Biography
Jamie Fiore Higgins worked as a managing director at Goldman Sachs. One of just 8 percent of Goldman employees to earn the managing director title, she was the highest-ranking woman in her department. An active member of the Women’s Network Committee, Fiore Higgins spent her workdays running the trainee and internship programs, recruiting, and managing top equity clients and $96 billion in stock. Living in New Jersey with her husband and four children, she is a trained coach, working with teens to hone their leadership skills, high school, and college graduates as they begin careers, professionals as they navigate the workforce, and those in midlife looking to reinvent themselves. Jamie was named one of the Financial Times “Top 25 Most Influential Women of 2022!”
The Future of our Cities featuring Karin Templin
Saison 5 · Épisode 13
vendredi 23 janvier 2026 • Durée 01:03:06
“Cities are not historic objects; they are places we live in right now.” Karin Templin
In this episode, I sit down with practitioner of architecture and urban design, academic, design lecturer, writer, editor, and urban historian, Karin Templin, for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation about cities, housing, and what it means to truly live in Florence today.
Karin has played a behind-the-scenes role in shaping Florence’s urban landscape, from her involvement in the Novoli regeneration project to teaching generations of architecture students how cities are formed by social, political, and economic forces, not just buildings. Having lived and worked between Florence, London, and beyond, she brings a rare international perspective to the challenges cities are facing right now.
Together, we explore Florence’s housing crisis, the impact of overtourism and short-term rentals, the transformation of neighborhoods, and the growing disconnect between city centers and the people who once called them home. Karin speaks candidly about Airbnb, influencer tourism, wine windows, golf carts, and the erosion of Florence’s social
fabric, while also reminding us why this city still matters, and why it’s worth fighting for.
We also discuss Karin’s lifelong fascination with urban housing, her books on street architecture and London mansion blocks, and her current work on a new atlas of London housing. Finally, she shares the thinking behind Salon Urban Architecture, a community-driven initiative bringing residents, architects, scholars, and curious minds together to talk about cities at the human scale.
This conversation is a call to awareness, and to action, for residents, visitors, policymakers, and anyone who cares about the future of our cities.
Back to Yourself featuring Rachel Zitin, part 2
Saison 5 · Épisode 12
vendredi 16 janvier 2026 • Durée 42:05
“Italy gives people permission; permission to slow down, to enjoy themselves, and to live with less urgency.” Rachel Zitin
In part two of my conversation with Rachel Zitin, we go deeper into what it means to live, travel, and create in a way that is truly embodied and humane.
Rachel reflects on how life in Italy has reshaped her relationship to time, productivity, rest, and desire.
We explore the contrast between American urgency and Italian permission; permission to slow down, to enjoy, and to be less defined by achievement and more rooted in presence.
We talk about how shame around rest and pleasure is culturally constructed, and what becomes possible when it falls away. Rachel shares how Italian culture has taught her to think in decades rather than deadlines, and to reconnect with a more expansive, human-centered understanding of wellness.
The conversation also turns to creativity and writing. Rachel shares her intuitive journey from memoir to novel, reflecting on writing without formulas, credentials, or permission, and trusting what wants to emerge.
Her novel-in-progress, set between Italy and the U.S., explores love, place, and the ways travel changes us.
At its heart, this episode is an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember that being fully human is already enough.
Biography
Rachel is a retreatleader, somatic coach, yoga instructor, and writer based in Rome for over 15years. She leads transformational retreats for women rooted in somatics, yoga,pleasure, and Italian culture. Her passion it to create embodied, joyful, andnourishing experiences. A former tour guide with a gift for storytelling, shebrings warmth, wisdom, and a reverence for fun and beauty to everything sheoffers—from women’s circles and 1-on-1 coaching to yoga classes and luxuryretreats.
Links
https://www.rachelzitin.com/
Back to Yourself featuring Rachel Zitin, part 1
Saison 5 · Épisode 11
vendredi 9 janvier 2026 • Durée 44:59
“Wellness is being well, and being well is being in touch with yourself.” Rachel Zitin
In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Zitin, a U.S. expat, somatic coach, yoga
instructor, and retreat leader based in Rome. Rachel leads transformational retreats for
women, blending somatics, yoga, pleasure, and Italian culture into experiences that
nourish the body, mind, and soul.
We discuss the evolution of wellness, the importance of community, and how to
reconnect with the person you truly are, beyond societal rules, social media pressures,
and “wellness trends.” Rachel shares her philosophy of creating retreats that are joyful,
non-judgmental, and grounded in authenticity, offering space for women to explore
pleasure, play, and self-discovery.
Whether you’ve considered attending a wellness retreat or simply want guidance on
living more fully in your body and community, this conversation is full of insight, warmth,
and practical wisdom.
Biography
Rachel is a retreat leader, somatic coach, yoga instructor, and writer based in Rome for
over 15 years. She leads transformational retreats for women rooted in somatics, yoga,
pleasure, and Italian culture. Her passion it to create embodied, joyful, and nourishing
experiences. A former tour guide with a gift for storytelling, she brings warmth, wisdom,
and a reverence for fun and beauty to everything she offers—from women’s circles and
1-on-1 coaching to yoga classes and luxury retreats.
Links
Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
At its heart, this episode is about courage; the courage to listen to that quiet voice, to follow the spark when it arrives (even if it’s at 3 a.m.), and to trust that our stories matter.
If you’ve ever felt the pull to write, or the fear that stops you, this conversation is for you.
Gina Mazza Biography and Links
Gina Mazza has worked and played with words on a professional basis for nearly four decades. She’s an award-winning journalist and author of five books in the personal growth category, including Everything Matters, Nothing Matters (St. Lynn’s Press), which was praised in Publisher’s Weekly. Her latest release, Essential Astonishments: Poetic Reflections for Awakening, answers the soul’s longing to speak with intimacy about the bliss and bewilderment of the human experience.
Gina runs a company that helps other writers bring forth their creative expressions, particularly in the spirituality/consciousness/wellness space. Her offerings include ghostwriting, editing, publishing consulting, “creative musing”, book promotion and branding.
Gina also has a solid background in PR and advertising, media writing, corporate communications, entrepreneurship and the use of intuitive guidance to elucidate one's work, mission, passion and purpose.
https://ginamazza.com
Facebook: gina.mazza
Insta: @ginamazza_poetry
LinkedIn:ginamazza
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Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
Since childhood, Louise has had a determination and an enthusiasm for life. Three things have always been dear to her heart: people, travel, and the performing arts. A large part of her happiness today comes from being able to combine all three in bringing The 5 Chairs to the world.
Born in England to Welsh parents, she left home in her early 20s to work in the South of France which marked the beginning of her passion for travel. After France, she moved to Germany. Then, in 1986, she settled in Florence, Italy which she considers her spiritual home.
Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, makes a perfect backdrop for Louise’s artistic vision: to bring forth a revolution in the way people behave and interact with each other — each person able to develop into their wiser, more noble and compassionate selves. In short, Louise’s modern Renaissance is to make the world a better place through “behavioral agility.”
Her professional journey began in educational organizations offering language and communication training to the corporate world.
This suited her well. In this environment, she was able to use the skills she developed in the performing arts. Since, her audiences always remark about how much more entertaining she is than the average corporate trainer.
Her move to Italy marked the beginning of her life as an entrepreneur and as a serious world traveler. Her passion for exploring other cultures inspired her to specialize in Cross-Cultural Diversity Management and Global Leadership, which she offers to multinational companies across the world as a facilitator, trainer, and coach. Having visited 85 countries and experienced culture shock three times, Louise enjoys bringing multiple perspectives to the present moment to help people connect across their differences.
Brunton holds a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University. At Columbia, she was a fellow throughout her many years of graduate school based on the quality of her academic work but struggled to navigate departmental dynamics. She decided early on that she wanted to be a community college professor, both to teach underserved students and to be in a presumably less difficult environment.
She then spent 10 years teaching ethics, bioethics, religion, and philosophy at the Community College of Vermont, while working as a freelance editor on Fulbright proposals and academic books. In 2016, she pivoted to full-time editing and writing.
Jennifer has written and edited for some of the most distinguished names in publishing, including Content Innovo, Guidehouse, Forbes, Random House, and Mirabella. She collaborated with Carlos Davidovich, M.D. on Five-Brain Leadership: How Neuroscience Can Help You Understand Your Team, Master Your Instincts, and Become a Better Leader. She has also owned her own yoga centers and real estate company, and wrote a literary mystery under a pen name. In her free time, she loves to paint, hike, and practice yoga.
The Autistic parent of an Autistic son and a Neurotypical daughter, Jennifer is passionate about making the world a better place for people who think, learn, and experience life in unique ways. Her parenting blog, Full Spectrum Mama, has been advancing civil rights for all—with a focus on neurodiversity and intersectionality—for more than 10 years.
Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Recorded via Zoom, post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
The Florentine
Nita’s brand, “Realizing the Possible”, has helped thousands of leaders fulfill their potential. Over the course of forty years as a management consultant, Nita has worked at the senior level for clients such as Motorola, Cisco Systems, Flextronics, and Hewlett Packard, mainly applying her Technology of Transformation to create unstoppable leaders and teams.
Tucker is the author of several books spanning relationships, travel, and leadership, including How Not to Stay Single After 40, Beyond Cinderella, It Happened in Florence, Essential Florence, and her most recent leadership work, Nobility: The Essence of Leadership (2025). Her writing and coaching help individuals and leaders cultivate purpose, clarity, and authentic impact.
Nita has given countless seminars across the globe, bringing her down-to-earth approach and sense of fun to topics related to performance, collaboration, and leadership development. As a speaker, Nita has appeared on The Today Show, CBS This Morning, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and CNN.
Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
Biography
Karin Templin is a practitioner of architecture and urban design, academic, design lecturer, writer, editor, and urban historian. Her work focuses on the development of urban form through architecture with an emphasis on the research and design of urban housing types. As a practitioner in architecture and urban design, she has worked
internationally on large-scale urban regeneration projects and is an expert in urban housing.
Karin has taught at a number of universities, most recently as a Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna (Cesena), Senior Lecturer at Kingston University, and a Design Fellow at the University of Cambridge. She currently leads the architecture summer course at the Florence Institute of Design International (FIDI). She has lectured and
served as a guest critic at universities in Europe including USI Mendrisio, RWTH Aachen, TU Eindhoven, Rotterdam Academie van Bouwkunst, University of Liechtenstein, and EPFL Lausanne.
Karin is the author of Street Architecture: Work by Hans van der Heijden and At Home in London: The Mansion Block, commissioned by The Architecture Foundation and published by Mack Books.
Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
https://www.instagram.com/rachelzitin
https://www.facebook.com/RachelPilarZitin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelzitin/
https://substack.com/@rachelzitin
Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Jasmine Kim
Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore
https://www.rachelzitin.com/
https://www.instagram.com/rachelzitin
https://www.facebook.com/RachelPilarZitin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelzitin/
https://substack.com/@rachelzitin
Share, like, comment, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Jasmine Kim
Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency
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