A podcast about the Italy that doesn’t make it onto the tourist trail — the art, history, culture, and stories that reward the curious. Hosted by Italy News Online editor Deborah Cater and her sister, Sarah Cater, a licensed tour guide in Florence, aka Floeasy.
New episodes every fortnight.
What the podcast is about
Italy Beyond the Guidebook is a fortnightly podcast produced by ItalyNews.Online. Each episode takes a single subject — a figure, a place, an idea — and explores it in depth, drawing on history, art history, culture, and lived experience of Italy. The tone is conversational and knowledgeable, aimed at curious listeners who want more than the surface.
Topics range from Renaissance masters and medieval saints to Italian coffee culture and the women history forgot. If you’ve ever stood in front of a Caravaggio and wanted to know the full story, this is the show for you.
Season 1 – Episode 2 – 800 years of Sta Francis of Assisi
St Francis of Assisi: The Man Behind the Myth
He’s one of the most recognisable figures in Western history but most of what people think they know about Francis of Assisi is legend, not life. In this episode of Italy Beyond the Guidebook, we go beyond the birdbaths and the blessing of the animals to find the real Francis: a rebellious young man from Umbria who walked away from wealth and built a movement from nothing.
We explore his world, his Assisi, and why the 800th anniversary of his death in 2026 — now marked by a special Papal Jubilee Year — has put him back at the centre of global conversation.
Essential listening for anyone interested in Italian history, medieval Christianity, or travel to Umbria and Assisi.
Italy Beyond the Guidebook — Italian history and culture, told the way it deserves to be.
Season 1 – Episode 1 Caravaggio: Genius & Rebel
Our first episode looks at the life of Caravaggio, a genius with a talent for trouble.
