This week we are coming at you from Cleveland, Ohio, one of America’s most passionate Italian communities!

In celebration of Italian American Heritage Month, our favorite moderator John M. Viola has been invited to speak to the Northern Ohio Italian American Foundation (NOIA Foundation) about the history of Southern Italy and its impact on the Italian American story.

Recorded from a live presentation, join our friends in Cleveland as they explore a brief history of a united Southern Italy, from the Golden Age of the Norman Kingdom, through the Bourbon era and the end of the Kingdom’s 731 year sovereignty.

In this beginners overview of two of the most dynamic and important periods of the history of the Two Sicilies, you’ll discover some fascinating historic trivia, and as John shares the shocking statistics of what the South was really like on the eve of the Risorgimento, you’ll begin to understand the long-lost counter-history that explains why the nation that in 1860 had Europe’s lowest rate of emigration, would lose nearly 40% of its population within 50 years of the Italian Reunification.

Next week, we’ll return to the discussion around Columbus Day, but we couldn’t let this important examination of the roots of the Italian American story be kept to just our friends in Cleveland!