Never Skip the Passeggiata with Susan Van Allen

Dr. Steven Masley has spent his career at the intersection of medicine, nutrition, and the kitchen. He started as a family physician seeing thirty patients a day, then became one of the first doctors in the country to run group visits. He went on to direct the Pritikin Longevity Center, founded his own clinic, and spent a year training as a chef at the Four Seasons because his patients kept asking for recipes they could actually make.Now retired from clinical practice, he spends his summers sailing the Mediterranean with his wife, Nicole. This year they went from Lisbon to Sicily, shopping the morning markets and recreating each port’s dishes back on the boat.In our conversation, we talk about why the Mediterranean way is a method rather than a diet, why he’s never had a lunch in Europe that lasted under 90 minutes, and where he believes our healthcare system misses the mark on prevention. As a pharmacist, I found that last part especially close to home.🎧 Listen to the full episode above, or watch on YouTube.Find Dr. Masley’s books and resources at drmasley.com, and follow his Mediterranean travels on Facebook at Steven Masley, MD. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

There’s a moment in every Italian home I’ve loved when I realize I’ve stopped rushing. Maybe it’s the light on the walls, or the table that seems built for lingering. I’ve always felt it, but I could never quite name it. This week’s guest names it beautifully.Charlotte Cropper is a color consultant and interior designer based in Milan. She describes her life as “living Italian, working Anglo-Saxon,” and that mix is what makes her perspective so useful for the rest of us. She sees Italian design with an outsider’s curiosity and an insider’s understanding.Her central idea stayed with me long after we stopped recording: Italians don’t design for an aesthetic. They design for a ritual. Before choosing a single paint color, Charlotte asks how you actually want to live in the space, and builds from there.A few ideas from our conversation:Look outside before you look at paint chips. In Italy, nothing is done just for the sake of it. Homes in the south are white to stay cool, Tuscan farmhouses show their exposed brick, and Alpine houses are built for the cold. The palette comes from the landscape.Meet plaster pink. It’s the earthy, dusty pink Charlotte sees all over Liguria, and it’s nothing like the pink you’re imagining. Nobody expects pink when you talk about the Mediterranean, which is exactly why I loved this part of our conversation.Make a room for doing nothing. Charlotte loves a “snug”: a cozy room with no TV and no screens, just a place to read, talk or simply be. And if you want more people around your table, she suggests a round one, because it’s always easy to pull up another chair.Choose brown, not black. Charlotte reaches for warm browns where many of us default to black. It’s a small change that softens a whole room.We also talked honestly about what it’s really like to build a business in Italy, including why Charlotte focuses on services rather than products and why an open mind matters more than a perfect plan. If you’ve ever dreamed of making the move, this part of the episode is worth your time.As someone who designs retreats in Italy, I think about this constantly. The setting is never just decoration. A long table under the right light changes how people talk to each other. Charlotte shows how to bring that feeling home, one room at a time.Find Charlotte:Substack: A Casa with Charlotte, including her A Tavola section on gathering around the tableInstagram: @charlottecropperdesignWebsite: charlottecropper.comWhich room in your home would you redesign for slowing down? Tell me in the comments. I read every one. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

I have studied Italian grammar, done the exercises, and memorized the rules, and I still freeze when it’s time to speak. So I was thrilled to sit down with Margherita Berti, my own former Italian teacher, to talk about why that happens and what the language itself can teach us.Margherita is a linguist with a BA, MA, and PhD in languages and linguistics, the founder of Italian Matters, and the author of Speak the World Italian (Simon & Schuster). She grew up in Italy, studied English from age six, and discovered as an exchange student in the U.S. that she knew all the rules but couldn’t really speak. That experience shaped everything about how she teaches.The idea I can’t stop thinking about: in Italian, you don’t say you’re scared, cold, or 35. You have fear, you have cold, you have 35 years. These are things you’re experiencing in a moment, not who you are. It’s a small grammar choice with a big, almost spiritual, implication.In this episode, you’ll hear:* Why Italians “have” fear and age instead of “being” them* Everyday expressions from her book, including in bocca al lupo (and the one reply you’re supposed to give) and allungare il brodo, “don’t lengthen the broth”* Why the passeggiata needs its own word* Why so many English speakers treat language like a test, and how to start speaking imperfectly* Her answer to “We’d all live a little better if we understood the Italian idea of...”If you’ve ever wanted to learn Italian, Margherita’s advice is simple: start where you are. Her free podcast at italianmatters.com publishes a new episode every Thursday, sorted by level, and her next course round opens in January.Grazie mille, Margherita.Watch on YouTube · Listen on your podcast app This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

Wendy Pojmann’s book started with a raised eyebrow. She was on her way into the state archives in Rome and stopped at her usual bar. The barista heard her American accent and asked, gently, whether she was sure she didn’t want an Americano.She was sure. But the question stayed with her: why do Italians drink espresso, and why do the rest of us drink something so different? Three years later, she had written Espresso: The Art and Soul of Italy. She researched bars and roasteries in Rome, Turin and Naples, with her Roman husband as her insider guide.In our conversation, Wendy explains why the Italian coffee break is short by design. It’s a real pause from work and a few minutes of genuine connection with the people around you. Then everyone goes back to their day.She also explains the cappuccino rule (spoiler: it’s about milk and sleep), what’s in her own kitchen, and why the moka pot isn’t really espresso.The part that stayed with me most was her mother-in-law. She is 94, an artist who had a show in Helsinki this summer, and she still goes out every day for the market, the pharmacy and her espresso at the bar. Small errands, close to home, each one a reason to move and to see people. It’s longevity without a program, just a life built around the piazza.🎧 Listen to the full conversation: 📖 Wendy’s info: https://siena.academia.edu/WendyPojmann🇮🇹 Want to experience this rhythm firsthand? https://avantihealth.github.io/avanti-immersion/#join This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

I recorded this conversation on the first day of fall. It happened to be Giulia’s wedding anniversary, and it was grape harvest week in Tuscany. It felt like the perfect timing.Giulia was born and raised in the same farmhouse where she lives today, in a quiet town between Siena and Florence. She learned to cook from her grandmother and her mother. She turned that into a life’s work: cookbooks, cooking classes, her beloved newsletter Letters from Tuscany, and a blog that Saveur named the best food culture blog.We talked about the things that make Italian food feel alive. Seasonal treats appear in bakeries for a few weeks and then disappear until next year. She once photographed her grandmother making lasagna, because “four tablespoons” meant nothing until she saw which spoon Nonna used. And her six-year-old daughter now calls dinner a “family meeting.”What stayed with me most is this: Italians don’t just eat seasonally, they look forward to seasons. That kind of anticipation is its own form of wellbeing, and it’s something we can all borrow.🎧 Listen or watch the full conversation above.🍋 Find Giulia’s cooking classes at julskitchen.com and subscribe to Letters from Tuscany. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

Ask an American how they're doing and the answer is often "busy." It ends the conversation, because busy means you're thriving. Ask an Italian, and you'll find the language doesn't quite cooperate: the words closest to "busy" (occupato, impegnativa) lean toward occupied, demanding, binding. Italy has a different phrase for a life well lived: dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing. That contrast is where my conversation with Carl Honoré begins. Carl is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and two-time TED speaker, and his books on the power of slowness have been published in 36 languages. Our theme is one I don't hear discussed enough in healthcare, where I spend my working life: our relationship with time. Carl calls doing nothing one of the great superpowers of being human, and by the end of our conversation, I agreed. We talk about: - The night Carl caught himself speed-reading Snow White to his son, and nearly ordered a "one-minute bedtime story" - How children learn to hurry, and why one of his son's first sentences was "hurry up" - Why the phrase "You have the clocks, we have the time" says so much about how cultures treat time - Why "busy" became a badge of honor in English, and the lost art of dolce far niente - What a hurry-up culture does to medicine, from 10-minute appointments to the case for sometimes doing nothing at all - Why, as Carl puts it, we're often not running toward something but away from ourselves ## Carl's seven ways to slow down 1. Do less. Rank your schedule, then cut from the bottom, and keep a "not-to-do list" you revisit a few weeks later. 2. Turn off notifications, so you decide where your attention goes. 3. Go gray. Switch your phone's screen to black and white for a day and compare your screen time. 4. Hide the phone in any conversation. Even a visible phone keeps talk on the surface. 5. Build in one slow ritual: knitting, sketching, poetry, ten quiet minutes in the car. 6. Spend a little time in nature. It doesn't need to be three hours. 7. Break bread with people you love, phones and TVs off. That last one is the most Italian. As Carl notes, in Italy no one rushes you at the table, while in London, many restaurants hand you a time limit before the starters arrive. ## About Carl Honoré Carl covered Europe and South America as a foreign correspondent for the Economist, Observer, Time and other publications. He presented the TV series Frantic Family Rescue on Australia's ABC and the BBC radio series The Slow Coach, and created the TED Course "How To Slow Down." He lives in London. While researching his first book on slowness, he got slapped with a speeding ticket. ## Links Carl Honoré: https://www.carlhonore.info Carl's TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_in_praise_of_slowness If this episode gave you permission to do one thing less this week, hit reply and tell me what it was. Why Italians Live Well is a conversation series exploring the habits, culture, and mindset behind Italian wellbeing — from the passeggiata to the long lunch to the art of doing less, better.🔗 To Join my Dolomites 2027 Waitlist: https://avantihealth.github.io/avanti-immersion/#joinClaudia This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

She healed stage 3 Lyme disease with a cutting board and a laptop. Here’s how.Amy Riolo is an award-winning chef, culinary anthropologist, and best-selling author of 26 books named Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy and called “The Ambassador of Italian Cuisine in the US.” But before any of that, she was legally disabled for three years, battling stage 3 Lyme disease with 42 medical symptoms and temporary paralysis. A therapist’s question (not “if” but “when you survive this, what will you do?”) sent her back to the only two things she still loved: cooking and writing. Within a year, she’d healed completely.In this conversation, Amy and I talk about:* Growing up in an Italian-American household where food, family, and the garden were the whole world* Why a trip to her grandparents’ hometown in Calabria upended everything she thought she knew about health and genetics* The health crisis that led her to heal herself through cooking and writing — and the promise she made if she survived it* Amy Riolo Selections, her line of imported Italian ingredients — a Calabrian olive oil, a Sofi Gold Award–winning pesto, a white balsamic, and a rare heirloom-wheat pasta* The one Mediterranean habit she believes could do more for American wellbeing than almost anything else: communal eatingFollow Amy Riolo:X & LinkedIn: @amyrioloInstagram: @aasrioloFacebook: @amyrioloofficialYouTube: @amyrioloPinterest: @amyrioloWhy Italians Live Well is a conversation series exploring the habits, culture, and mindset behind Italian wellbeing — from the passeggiata to the long lunch to the art of doing less, better.🔗 To Join my Dolomites 2027 Waitlist: https://avantihealth.github.io/avanti-immersion/#join This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

Susan Van Allen grew up on the Jersey Shore with the food and drama of an Italian American household. Her maternal grandparents emigrated from southern Italy, and that inheritance became the compass for her life's work. For fifty years she's been returning to Italy, up and down the boot, chasing its beauty, its culture, and — always — its deliciousness.Her award-winning travel writing has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, BBC Travel, and AFAR, and she's the author of four books on Italian travel, including 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go. She also designs and leads Golden Weeks in Italy: For Women Only Tours, giving travelers an insider's, femme-friendly way into the Bel Paese.In this episode, Susan and I talk about what fifty years of returning to the same homeland has taught her — about roots, about women traveling on their own terms, and about why some places get under your skin and never let go.🔗 LINKSwww.susanvanallen.com📌 ABOUT WHY ITALIANS LIVE WELLWhy Italians Live Well is a conversation series exploring the habits,culture, and mindset behind Italian wellbeing. New episodes feature authors, experts, and everyday Italians unpacking what the rest of us can actually borrow from la dolce vita.#WhyItaliansLiveWell #ItalianLifestyle #DesigningYourLife🔗 To Join my Dolomites 2027 Waitlist: https://www.consultavanti.com/summit-stillness This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

What happens when a Google exec trades Silicon Valley hustle for a Roman passeggiata? Katy Mogal did it and found that giving herself permission to slow down was the real unlock.In this episode, Katy Mogal, a 20-year Silicon Valley veteran (Google,Fitbit) turned certified Designing Your Life facilitator, joins us to talkabout moving her family to Rome, the surprising legal differences between US and Italian layoffs, and how a workshop in Matera set her on an entirely new path. We cover what it actually takes to uproot a family for Italy, why Italy’s labor laws protect senior workers in ways the US doesn’t, and the Saturday afternoon that taught her to stop hustling.🔗 LINKSHer Bold Adventure: https://www.herboldadventure.com📌 ABOUT WHY ITALIANS LIVE WELLWhy Italians Live Well is a conversation series exploring the habits,culture, and mindset behind Italian wellbeing. New episodes feature authors, experts, and everyday Italians unpacking what the rest of us can actually borrow from la dolce vita.#WhyItaliansLiveWell #ItalianLifestyle #DesigningYourLife🔗 To Join my Dolomites 2027 Waitlist: https://avantihealth.github.io/avanti-immersion/#join This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com

As part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Visionaries of the Year fundraising campaign, I will be highlighting the humans in front of blood cancer. This week, we highlight Kristen!  To donate to our fundraising campaign, go to: https://pages.lls.org/voy/sun/sun25/ccometa To watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/IKdqGiPJjV4 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claudiacometa.substack.com