Take On Life Thu, 05 Mar 2026 15:48:34 -0500 http://www.fkclementi.com en-us © 2026 Take On Life yes 9a51c2c4-6451-581a-9dcd-1bd1df9ca941 F. K. Clementi episodic false A podcast companion to South of My Dreams: Finding My American Home - A memoir by F. K. Clementi, TAKE ON LIFE is that special space where imagination meets expatriation.

Listen in to learn about the life experiences of many interesting people from all over the world.

www.fkclementi.com 


Contact: takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com


https://amzn.to/3UXQUWN 


]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Immigration, American experience, memoir writing, New York City, expats in America F. K. Clementi https://storage.buzzsprout.com/2sqp2tp3nggxarfd8uqklz7wtzgf?.jpg Take On Life http://www.fkclementi.com Episode 6: You Choose Who You Want Me to Be Episode 6: You Choose Who You Want Me to Be Garane Garane, a Somali-born Italian author who lives in the American South, tells us about what it means to be a nomad in a world that cherishes only permanence, unmovable possessions, and a monolithic sense of self. 

This is only part of what I hope will be a longer and more in-depth conversation with Garane.


Music by:

Mike Franklyn

Sillaba

Heath Cantu

Sahara Skylight

J.S.Bach/Laura Metcalf

Sight of Wonders

Megan Wofford

Ebo Krdum


I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Garane Garane, a Somali-born Italian author who lives in the American South, tells us about what it means to be a nomad in a world that cherishes only permanence, unmovable possessions, and a monolithic sense of self. 

This is only part of what I hope will be a longer and more in-depth conversation with Garane.


Music by:

Mike Franklyn

Sillaba

Heath Cantu

Sahara Skylight

J.S.Bach/Laura Metcalf

Sight of Wonders

Megan Wofford

Ebo Krdum


I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-18198417 Sun, 16 Nov 2025 10:00:00 -0500 1466 6 full false Episode 5: East, West, and the All the Borscht In-between Episode 5: East, West, and the All the Borscht In-between My first Slavic guest, Olga Ivashkevich, from Minsk, contributes her interesting and hyper-aware take on "whiteness" (and its tempting yet vicious shiftiness) in the Western world, our role here as "good troublemakers," and women's status in America compared to what she saw in the Soviet countries growing up.

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> My first Slavic guest, Olga Ivashkevich, from Minsk, contributes her interesting and hyper-aware take on "whiteness" (and its tempting yet vicious shiftiness) in the Western world, our role here as "good troublemakers," and women's status in America compared to what she saw in the Soviet countries growing up.

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-17211364 Fri, 23 May 2025 16:00:00 -0400 3665 5 full false Episode 5: Teaser Episode 5: Teaser I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-17217630 Fri, 23 May 2025 06:00:00 -0400 187 5 trailer false Episode 4: In Poetry We Trust Episode 4: In Poetry We Trust Michal Rubin joins me to talk about her identity, her fraught relationship with her homeland (Israel), and to read some of her poems. Brace yourselves! This is a painful one.


Music by

Yinon Muallem: Dark Side of the Oud

Mike Franklyn: Movin' with It

Valeria's Klezmer Chariot: A Terkisher in the Majestic Harbour; Der Bleter Vals

Roy Edwin Williams: Tenor Guitar Blues

Rune Dale: Scented Nectar

Ali Sabah: Khanabat

Luella Gren: The Heart Knows

Vendla: Verano

Medite: The Secret Life of Pigeons


I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Michal Rubin joins me to talk about her identity, her fraught relationship with her homeland (Israel), and to read some of her poems. Brace yourselves! This is a painful one.


Music by

Yinon Muallem: Dark Side of the Oud

Mike Franklyn: Movin' with It

Valeria's Klezmer Chariot: A Terkisher in the Majestic Harbour; Der Bleter Vals

Roy Edwin Williams: Tenor Guitar Blues

Rune Dale: Scented Nectar

Ali Sabah: Khanabat

Luella Gren: The Heart Knows

Vendla: Verano

Medite: The Secret Life of Pigeons


I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-17023486 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:00:00 -0400 3899 full false Episode 4: Teaser Episode 4: Teaser Music by

Stationary Sign: Walking the Tiger

Mike Franklyn: Scorpion Dance

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Music by

Stationary Sign: Walking the Tiger

Mike Franklyn: Scorpion Dance

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-17023106 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 15:00:00 -0400 162 4 trailer false Episode 3: Arroz con Cosas, Y'all! Episode 3: Arroz con Cosas, Y'all! In this episode, I chat with Carolina Castillo, from Málaga, Spain. A Brooklyn-based talented artist, and mother of two amazing daughters, Carola reflects on how she is seen by her kids and by others in this new country. . . and learns, through gentle Karma, what her own mother must have gone through as an immigrant to Spain and, like herself, a mother with a strong foreign accent.


EPISODE #3 MUSIC: 

The Secret Life of Pigeons – Medite

Animal – Suffer City

Barcelona – Rune Dale

Augusto Caliente – Los Principes del Flamenco

Movin’ with It – Mike Franklyn

Verano – Vendla

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> In this episode, I chat with Carolina Castillo, from Málaga, Spain. A Brooklyn-based talented artist, and mother of two amazing daughters, Carola reflects on how she is seen by her kids and by others in this new country. . . and learns, through gentle Karma, what her own mother must have gone through as an immigrant to Spain and, like herself, a mother with a strong foreign accent.


EPISODE #3 MUSIC: 

The Secret Life of Pigeons – Medite

Animal – Suffer City

Barcelona – Rune Dale

Augusto Caliente – Los Principes del Flamenco

Movin’ with It – Mike Franklyn

Verano – Vendla

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Fania Buzzsprout-16704563 Thu, 27 Feb 2025 12:00:00 -0500 2041 3 full false Episode 3: Teaser Episode 3: Teaser I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-16711128 Thu, 27 Feb 2025 10:00:00 -0500 152 3 trailer false Episode 2: Grim? No, Schopenhauer. Episode 2: Grim? No, Schopenhauer. In this episode, I read a short excerpt from my memoir and follow it up with a conversation with Andrea Malaguti, an old friend, a fellow expat, a grumpy genius.



Music in this episode:

Movin' With It - Mike Franklyn

Both Shoes Gone Walkin' - Moss Harman

Moonlight Mystery - Alexandra Woodward

Ain't misbehavin’ - by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr., played by Andrea Malaguti

A Walk in Marais - The Fly Guy Five

Verano - Vandla

The Secret Life of Pigeons - Medite

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> In this episode, I read a short excerpt from my memoir and follow it up with a conversation with Andrea Malaguti, an old friend, a fellow expat, a grumpy genius.



Music in this episode:

Movin' With It - Mike Franklyn

Both Shoes Gone Walkin' - Moss Harman

Moonlight Mystery - Alexandra Woodward

Ain't misbehavin’ - by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby Jr., played by Andrea Malaguti

A Walk in Marais - The Fly Guy Five

Verano - Vandla

The Secret Life of Pigeons - Medite

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Fania Buzzsprout-16068394 Thu, 07 Nov 2024 19:00:00 -0500 2982 2 full false Episode 2: Teaser Episode 2: Teaser I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Fania Buzzsprout-16072989 Thu, 07 Nov 2024 16:00:00 -0500 180 2 trailer false Episode 1: Help Me Say My Name - A Flawed Prologue Episode 1: Help Me Say My Name - A Flawed Prologue In this episode, I serendipitously discover the title for the podcast that will be.

I also try to tell you something about myself but, I fear, I fail epically. You will however find out more about who I am, even if not quite "why" I am the way I am and, most of all, why I ended up where I am. For all that, you'll need to listen in to Take on Life. 

The memoir I talk of in this short introduction is out, by the way! Read it, if you are too curious to find out more faster than I release podcast episodes. 

Thanks for being there with me.


Moonlight Mystery – Alexandra Woodward

And There You Go – Stationary Sign

Bar Mitzvah in Haifa – Joe E. Lee

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> In this episode, I serendipitously discover the title for the podcast that will be.

I also try to tell you something about myself but, I fear, I fail epically. You will however find out more about who I am, even if not quite "why" I am the way I am and, most of all, why I ended up where I am. For all that, you'll need to listen in to Take on Life. 

The memoir I talk of in this short introduction is out, by the way! Read it, if you are too curious to find out more faster than I release podcast episodes. 

Thanks for being there with me.


Moonlight Mystery – Alexandra Woodward

And There You Go – Stationary Sign

Bar Mitzvah in Haifa – Joe E. Lee

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> F. K. Clementi Buzzsprout-16714496 Thu, 10 Oct 2024 11:00:00 -0400 466 1 full false Episode 0 - INTRO Episode 0 - INTRO Follow me on this journey of self-exposition, unflattering truths, unsustainable lies: in sum, my life in all its complexity, ugliness, and surprising wonderfulness.

"Take on Life" is a podcast companion to South of My Dreams: Finding My American Home -- A Memoir by F. K. Clementi





Music 
“The Heart Knows” by Luella Gren 

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Follow me on this journey of self-exposition, unflattering truths, unsustainable lies: in sum, my life in all its complexity, ugliness, and surprising wonderfulness.

"Take on Life" is a podcast companion to South of My Dreams: Finding My American Home -- A Memoir by F. K. Clementi





Music 
“The Heart Knows” by Luella Gren 

I'd love to hear from you. Send a text, get in touch!

  • See what's up with me at www.fkclementi.com
  • takeonlifepodcast@yahoo.com
  • Instagram: @fkclementi


]]> Fania Buzzsprout-15721479 Mon, 09 Sep 2024 12:00:00 -0400 151 full false