The 15 Best Italian Podcasts (2026)

Coffee Break Italian is one of the most recognized Italian learning podcasts in the world, and for good reason. Teacher Mark guides learners from absolute zero alongside native speaker Francesca, building vocabulary and grammar through 15-minute lessons that actually fit into a busy schedule. In Season 1, learner Katie joins the mix, asking the kinds of stumbling questions that real beginners have. By Season 2, Isla takes the learner seat, and the difficulty notches up.

The show launched in 2015 as part of the Coffee Break Languages family (the same team behind Coffee Break Spanish and French), and it has grown to over 205 episodes across 15 seasons. The newer seasons get more ambitious — "Scenes from the Coffee Break Cafe" uses immersive storytelling to teach intermediate Italian through narrative scenarios and treasure hunts. Episodes typically run about 15 minutes, though some specials stretch to 40.

With 1,834 Apple ratings and a 4.7 star average, the audience is large and loyal. The free episodes cover core grammar and vocabulary thoroughly, while premium course materials through Coffee Break Academy add worksheets, extended audio, and video lessons. Mark's teaching style is patient without being condescending — he explains grammar points clearly, lets Francesca model natural pronunciation, and builds in plenty of repetition. If you are starting Italian from scratch and want a structured, classroom-style approach that still feels relaxed, this is probably the most proven option available.

Podcast Italiano is what happens when someone who genuinely loves both language and storytelling decides to make a show for Italian learners. Host Davide Gemello, an experienced polyglot and online teacher based in Turin, treats his listeners like intelligent adults who happen to be learning a new language. The content spans pop culture, Italian history, social commentary, interviews, and personal essays — all delivered in Italian that is clear enough for intermediate learners but natural enough to prepare you for real conversations.

With 293 episodes and counting, the back catalog is enormous. Recent episodes have covered the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, Italian demographic shifts, and the country's complicated relationship with fascist-era memory. Episodes run 20 to 40 minutes and drop regularly. Every episode comes with free transcripts and glossaries on podcastitaliano.com, which makes it a genuine study tool and not just background listening.

Davide also runs a separate beginner version called Podcast Italiano Principiante with over 100 episodes for those not yet ready for intermediate content. The main show holds an impressive 4.9 star average from 444 Apple ratings. Listeners consistently point to his natural speaking pace and interesting topic selection as the main draws. If you are past the beginner stage and want to absorb Italian through content that actually holds your attention — not repetitive textbook dialogues — Podcast Italiano is hard to beat.

Lucrezia Oddone built a massive following on YouTube teaching Italian, and her podcast is the audio companion that many learners did not know they needed. The format is intimate and unscripted — Lucrezia talks about her daily life in Rome, her travels, book recommendations, Italian customs, and answers questions from her audience. It feels less like a language lesson and more like eavesdropping on a thoughtful friend who happens to speak beautiful, clear Italian.

The podcast has 96 episodes, with lengths ranging from quick 6-minute segments to longer 26-minute explorations. Topics bounce between grammar explainers, cultural deep-dives into traditions like the Sanremo music festival, practical advice on overcoming speaking anxiety, and personal reflections that give you a window into modern Italian life. Lucrezia brings a linguist's precision — she studied languages formally — but wraps it in a warmth that keeps you listening.

With a 4.7 star average from 422 Apple ratings, the audience is strongly positive. Reviewers consistently praise her clear pronunciation and the way she speaks at a pace that is natural but still comprehensible. The podcast works best for intermediate learners; absolute beginners may find the full-Italian format challenging. But that is precisely the point. Lucrezia creates an immersion environment where you learn by listening to someone talk about real things in real Italian, and that approach builds comprehension faster than most textbook-style podcasts manage.

Simone Pols built Simple Italian Podcast on a single idea borrowed from language acquisition research: if you listen to enough comprehensible Italian, you will acquire the language naturally without memorizing grammar tables. That theory — comprehensible input — drives every episode. Simone speaks entirely in Italian, but adjusts his vocabulary, pacing, and sentence complexity so that learners at roughly A2 to B1 level can follow along without a transcript in hand.

With 340 episodes, the show is one of the most prolific Italian learning podcasts available. Topics range from Italian cinema history and the story of the Knights Templar to personal travel stories from Simone's nomadic lifestyle and interviews with other language educators. Episodes run 17 to 30 minutes and drop weekly. The variety keeps things fresh — you are not stuck repeating the same tourist phrases across dozens of episodes.

The show holds a 4.8 star average from 203 Apple ratings, and listeners frequently credit it with helping them push past the intermediate plateau where many learners stall out. Simone's speaking style is calm and deliberate without sounding slow or patronizing. He pauses naturally, repeats key phrases in context, and uses simple synonyms when introducing harder vocabulary. There are no English explanations, no grammar drills, no quizzes — just sustained, engaging Italian that trains your ear. For learners who believe the best way to learn a language is to actually spend time in it, this podcast delivers hundreds of hours of exactly that.

Alberto Arrighini started Italiano Automatico with a bold promise: stop translating in your head and start thinking directly in Italian. His method leans heavily on natural acquisition — listening to engaging content repeatedly until the patterns stick — rather than traditional grammar-first instruction. Alberto speaks in clear, energetic Italian, and his enthusiasm is infectious enough to keep you listening even when the topic is Italian prepositions.

The podcast has 101 episodes covering Italian grammar through real-world context (the difference between "volerci" and "metterci," when to use "per" versus "da"), Italian history and culture (the Medici family, Rome's founding myths, carnival traditions), and practical advice on how to study more effectively. Episodes run 7 to 21 minutes, making them easy to stack during a commute or workout. New episodes drop weekly, and the latest was just days ago as of February 2026.

With a 4.9 star average from 249 Apple ratings, the audience response is overwhelmingly positive. Listeners highlight Alberto's clear articulation and his ability to explain tricky grammar concepts without switching to English or dumbing things down. The free podcast stands on its own, though Alberto also offers courses and community resources through his website. For upper-intermediate learners who want to break the habit of mentally translating everything and start processing Italian as Italian, this show provides a practical, repeatable method that actually works.

Katie Harris and Matteo Alabiso make one of the most effective beginner Italian podcasts around, and they do it by keeping things short and practical. Each episode of Learn Italian with Joy of Languages runs 7 to 18 minutes and focuses on a single, usable concept: how to order coffee in Italy, the difference between "essere" and "stare," Valentine's Day vocabulary, or how to navigate Italian transportation. The dialogue format — Katie as the learner, Matteo as the native speaker — creates a natural back-and-forth that mirrors how you would actually practice with a language partner.

The show has grown to 222 episodes and releases new content weekly, with the latest dropping in February 2026. Topics lean heavily toward practical, travel-ready Italian. You will learn to ask for directions, order food, shop at markets, and talk about your family. But the show also covers grammar fundamentals, Italian dialects, regional expressions, and cultural quirks that textbooks tend to skip.

With 859 Apple ratings and a 4.8 star average, this is one of the most popular Italian podcasts for beginners, and the ratings reflect genuine quality rather than just brand recognition. Listeners praise the clear explanations, the manageable episode lengths, and the way Katie asks exactly the questions a real beginner would have. Matteo's pronunciation modeling is precise and easy to mimic. If you are just starting out and want a podcast that teaches you phrases you can actually use on your next trip to Italy, this one delivers consistently.

News in Slow Italian solves a specific problem that many intermediate learners face: Italian news broadcasts move too fast, but beginner content feels boring. The solution is exactly what the name suggests — real Italian news stories read at a deliberately slowed pace, with grammar explanations and vocabulary breakdowns woven into each episode. The show is produced by Linguistica 360, the same team behind the popular News in Slow Spanish and French versions.

Episodes run about 9 to 11 minutes and drop weekly, covering international current events, European politics, science developments, and Italian cultural stories. Each episode also includes a grammar segment focusing on a specific structure — adverbs, interrogatives, the subjunctive mood — illustrated through the news stories you just heard. It is a clever format because you are learning grammar in context rather than through abstract exercises.

The show has 47 episodes in the intermediate tier available on Apple Podcasts (more content lives behind the premium subscription on their website), with a 4.2 star average from 162 ratings. Some listeners note that the free tier is limited compared to the paid version, which includes interactive transcripts and exercises. That is a fair point — you get the most value with a subscription. But even the free episodes provide solid listening practice for B1-level learners who want to train their ears on current events while picking up vocabulary and grammar simultaneously. The slow pacing is the key feature, and it works.

ItalianPod101 is the Italian branch of the massive Innovative Language Learning network that also produces JapanesePod101, SpanishPod101, and dozens of other language podcasts. The operation has been running since 2008, and the formula is well-established: short, focused lessons covering vocabulary, grammar, and conversational phrases, with cultural context mixed in to keep things interesting.

The Apple Podcasts feed shows 67 episodes, but that is just a sample — the full library on their website contains thousands of lessons organized by proficiency level, from absolute beginner to advanced. Recent free episodes focus on vocabulary builders (Italian bird names, common phrases for specific situations) and verb conjugation drills. Episodes are short, typically 1 to 5 minutes, making them easy to fit into dead time throughout the day.

The show holds a 3.9 star rating from 398 Apple reviews. The mixed scores reflect a common complaint about the Pod101 model: the free content serves mostly as a teaser for the paid subscription, which unlocks the real depth of lessons, line-by-line transcripts, and study tools. If you subscribe, you get an enormous, well-organized curriculum. If you stick with free episodes only, the experience can feel fragmented. That said, the teaching quality is solid, the native speaker audio is clear, and the structured approach works well for people who prefer bite-sized lessons with a clear progression path rather than long-form immersion content.

Marco created this podcast specifically for learners stuck at the intermediate level who want to push into advanced Italian. The tagline says it directly: stop being an intermediate student and become a champion of Italian. Each episode is delivered entirely in Italian, covering topics that are intellectually stimulating enough to hold an adult's attention — the invention of the microprocessor by Italian-American Federico Faggin, the history of Italian winemaking, 1970s citizen band radio culture, how the Earth's geology evolved, and multi-part science fiction narratives.

With 229 episodes and weekly releases, the back catalog is substantial. Episodes run 7 to 25 minutes, with most landing in the 14 to 17 minute range — long enough to develop a topic properly, short enough to listen during a lunch break. Marco provides free transcripts for episodes on his website, which turns each episode into a genuine study session where you can read along, look up unfamiliar words, and re-listen.

The show has a 4.8 star average from 20 Apple ratings. The audience is small but dedicated, and Marco also offers private tutoring through Italki for learners who want personalized instruction. His speaking style is measured and articulate without being stiff — he enunciates clearly but does not slow down artificially, which means you are training your ear on something close to natural Italian speech. For B2+ learners who are tired of simplified content and want to listen to real Italian about real subjects, Marco consistently delivers.

Francesco Cositore named his podcast after the iconic Venetian water buses, and there is something fitting about that — each episode carries you through Italian language and culture at a comfortable pace, making regular stops at interesting destinations. The show is 100% in Italian, covering a wide range of topics: Luigi Pirandello's literary works, Italian idiomatic expressions, Christmas traditions, travel stories from Tanzania, TV culture, relationship dynamics, and Italian stereotypes examined with humor and honesty.

The podcast has 95 episodes, with new content dropping frequently — the latest episode aired in February 2026. Episodes run 14 to 28 minutes, and most come with free transcripts on vaporettoitaliano.com. The transcripts are a big selling point, especially for learners who want to verify what they heard or study vocabulary after listening.

With a perfect 5.0 star average from 46 Apple ratings, the audience response is about as enthusiastic as it gets. Francesco's delivery is conversational and warm. He speaks at a natural pace that is challenging enough for intermediate learners to grow but clear enough that you can follow without constant pausing. The cultural content is what makes the show special — rather than recycling the same tourist-Italian topics, Francesco talks about aspects of Italian life that you would normally only learn by living there. If you want to understand Italy through the eyes of an Italian who is passionate about sharing his culture, and improve your listening comprehension in the process, Vaporetto Italiano is an excellent choice.

Con Parole Nostre captures something most Italian learning podcasts miss entirely: what it actually sounds like when Italian friends sit down for drinks and talk about whatever comes to mind. Hosts Elfin (based in Cremona), Silvia (in Tuscany), and Barbara (living in England) meet twice a month to chat about everyday life, and the result is the closest thing to eavesdropping on a genuine Italian conversation without booking a flight.

The 68 episodes cover a surprisingly broad range of topics — Italian actresses and actors, the concept of "bella figura" and why Italians care so much about making a good impression, traditional "cucina povera" cooking, Italian island life, digital wellness, sports, pets, and sensitivity to weather. Episodes run 6 to 20 minutes, keeping things conversational rather than lecture-like. The show also offers paid transcription bundles for learners who want to read along and catch every word.

The podcast holds a 4.6 star average from 42 Apple ratings. Reviewers praise the natural speaking pace, which sits right in the sweet spot for intermediate-to-advanced learners — not slowed down for educational purposes, but not so rapid that you lose the thread. One honest caveat: the show has not released new episodes since May 2022, so the back catalog is what you get. But 68 episodes of authentic Italian conversation is still a rich resource. Some listeners note occasional background music and volume inconsistencies, which is worth knowing. If your goal is to train your ear on how real Italians actually talk — complete with crosstalk, laughter, and informal vocabulary — Con Parole Nostre delivers that authenticity better than most competitors.

Postcards from Italy takes a travel-first approach to teaching Italian that makes it perfect for anyone planning a trip. Co-hosted by Erin (an American Italian learner) and Elisa (a native Italian teacher), the show builds language skills around real situations you will face in Italy — ordering at restaurants, checking into hotels, asking for directions, navigating public transport, handling money, and understanding Italian menus without accidentally ordering something you did not want.

Season 1 features scripted dialogues between American tourists and Roman locals, followed by roundtable discussions that break down the vocabulary and grammar. Season 2 shifted to absolute beginner content focused squarely on travel survival skills. A third season is planned for early 2026. Episodes run 27 to 41 minutes, giving each topic thorough treatment rather than a superficial gloss. Across 46 episodes and two seasons, the coverage is genuinely useful for trip preparation.

The show holds a 4.6 star average from 97 Apple ratings. Listeners highlight the practical focus and the chemistry between Erin and Elisa. The learner-teacher dynamic works well because Erin represents exactly the kind of person listening — someone who loves Italy and wants to communicate better while there. Elisa provides native pronunciation, cultural context, and corrections in a supportive way. The story-based format in Season 1 is particularly effective because it gives you context for the language, making vocabulary stickier than flashcard-style repetition. If Italian travel is your motivation for learning, this podcast is built specifically for you.

Teacher Stefano and Prof. Mascia co-host this beginner-focused Italian show that uses conversational immersion from day one. Instead of starting with grammar charts and pronunciation drills, they talk to each other about everyday topics — holiday traditions, childhood memories, the Italian school system, daily routines, personal goals — and build language skills through the conversation itself. Downloadable transcripts and exercises are available for learners who want to study more actively after listening.

The podcast launched relatively recently and has 49 episodes so far, with new ones dropping weekly as of February 2026. Episodes are compact at 9 to 16 minutes, which makes them easy to repeat — and repetition is part of the method. Stefano also runs separate Intermediate and Advanced Italian Podcasts for learners who outgrow the beginner level, creating a clear progression path across three shows.

With a 4.9 star average from 41 Apple ratings, the response is very strong for a newer podcast. Listeners praise the natural, friendly teaching style and the way Stefano and Mascia make beginners feel comfortable rather than overwhelmed. The conversational approach means you hear Italian being used naturally from the start, even if the vocabulary is simple. That early exposure to natural speech patterns — intonation, linking between words, colloquial phrasing — gives beginners an advantage that shows built around isolated vocabulary lists cannot match. If you are just starting out and want to hear Italian spoken warmly and clearly while learning the basics, this is a strong choice.

Melissa Muldoon calls herself "Studentessa Matta" — the crazy student — and that nickname captures the infectious energy she brings to teaching Italian through culture, art, and history. Her podcast is not a traditional language course. Instead, it is a cultural tour of Italy delivered in Italian (with English support), covering medieval jousting festivals in Arezzo, Renaissance painters, Italian legends, language immersion programs, contemporary Italian life, and book club discussions about Italian literature.

The show has 72 episodes spanning several years, with the most recent from April 2023. Episode lengths vary widely — some quick 5-minute cultural snapshots, others stretching to 42 minutes for in-depth interviews with native Italian speakers. The format keeps shifting, which can feel unpredictable but also means you never get bored. Transcripts in both Italian and English are available on her website, making episodes accessible to learners at different proficiency levels.

With a 3.8 star average from 23 Apple ratings, the audience is modest but the cultural depth is significant. Melissa's perspective as an American who fell deeply in love with Italian language and culture gives the show an outsider's enthusiasm paired with genuine knowledge. She interviews native speakers, covers regional traditions that even many Italians do not know well, and connects language learning to the art, food, and history that make people fall in love with Italy in the first place. If your motivation for learning Italian is rooted in a passion for Italian culture rather than just practical communication, this podcast speaks directly to that motivation.

Rossella hosts Lady Italy as a bilingual podcast for advanced Italian learners, and the dual Italian-English format gives it a distinctive flavor. The show is framed as a journey through Italian culture — music, literature, cinema, history, and language itself — with Rossella serving as a knowledgeable guide who clearly loves sharing her country's cultural heritage with the world.

The 88 episodes cover impressive ground. Rossella has dedicated episodes to Italian songwriting legends like Fabrizio De Andre, Pino Daniele, Lucio Dalla, and Luca Carboni. She has explored Italo Svevo's novel "La coscienza di Zeno," examined Italian stereotypes with both humor and critical thinking, discussed the history of the Italian Resistance during World War II in Reggio Emilia, and analyzed how Italian football culture shapes national identity. Episodes range from quick 10-minute segments to substantial 54-minute explorations.

The show holds a 5.0 star average, though from just 2 Apple ratings — so the audience is small. The most recent episode aired in February 2025, suggesting the show may be on hiatus. But the existing catalog is a rich resource for advanced learners who want cultural content delivered in sophisticated Italian. Rossella's bilingual approach means she can explain nuanced cultural concepts in English when needed without breaking the immersion entirely. For learners at B2 or above who want to explore Italian culture through music, literature, and history — and improve their advanced comprehension at the same time — Lady Italy offers content that most Italian learning podcasts never attempt.