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What happens when curiosity turns into responsibility—and saving stories becomes the work?

In this moving episode, Stephanie Detton, a 4th-grade teacher in Colorado and co-host of Italian American Stories Podcast reflects on growing up Italian American in the West. But this conversation cracks opens something much larger: how family history lives in newspapers, memory, silence—and what’s at stake when no one pays attention.

Stephanie talks about losing her grandfather, discovering genealogy, and realizing that forgotten lives don’t resurface on their own. Together with her mother Sandy, she finds Italian American stories that demand to be told—tender, difficult, and often overlooked. Crime, courage, scandal, migration, survival. Nothing sanitized. Nothing erased.

This episode is about storytelling, and responsibility- about history not as a textbook, but as real people living real lives. And about the power of recording what came before us- before it disappears.

If you’ve ever wondered where you come from—or what might be lost if no one asks—this conversation is for you.

Today's episode is brought to you by the Joan of Arc Scroll Medal, a beautiful brass alloy medal, designed by award-winning artist, Pat Benincasa. This uniquely shaped medal is ideal for holiday or as a special occasion gift! Visit www.patbenincasa-art.com

Please Note: The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcaster.

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What if the songs that shaped you could one day save you? When Justin Russo watched 4,000 people wave back at him in perfect rhythm during a music festival, he discovered something profound about connection—but it would take years before he understood music's deeper power.

Now, as Director of Programming at the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, he's part of a mission asking: how far can music reach into a person's neurologic world, and what can it bring back?

Justin reveals why your teenage soundtrack never leaves you, shares the moment a woman with dementia stood up and danced to a song she hadn't heard in decades, and explains how a simple playlist can help someone recognize their family again. From the "long goodbye" of dementia to caregivers juggling impossible demands, this episode reveals what awakening actually looks like—and offers practical tools you can use today. Because sometimes healing arrives not in milligrams, but in melodies that know the way home.

Links:

Institute for Music and Neurologic Function

Music & Memory Program

Today's episode is brought to you by the Joan of Arc Scroll Medal, a beautiful brass alloy medal, designed by award-winning artist, Pat Benincasa. This uniquely shaped medal is ideal for holiday or as a special occasion gift! Visit www.patbenincasa-art.com

Please Note: The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcaster.

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Tired of doom scrolling? Try life scrolling. This episode tracks down the wild cards- moments that flip the script, rewrite what’s possible, and proves that the future is still wide open. No spoilers — just know this: you’re about to hear ten stories you didn’t see coming! Quiet, bold, disruptive… and absolutely real.

When the world feels predictably dark, hit the reset button, and expect the unexpected!

*To see full podcast sources, please go to my website: https://benincasa-pat.squarespace.com/config/pages/647de73982ba465e47aba72f

Please Note: The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcaster.

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