The story of Adriano Olivetti and his development of the family business, which expanded from typewriters to computers. This first segment shows CIA officers who consider Olivetti's electronic brain a great threat to American business. The segment also features a flashback to Adriano's childhood in Ivrea, when he was not too eager to learn the ropes.

The second part of Via dell’inferno (Hell Road/Road to Hell) where songwriter Davide Ravera creates an atmosphere of cold winter, tears, music, freedom, longing for home, and beginning again.

Pupazzo is the word for "doll," but Federica has transformed it (as she likes to do with words) into pupezza because pezzo means "piece," and as you will see, she uses pieces or scraps to make these dolls. Federica uses these rag/paper dolls as a means for looking deeper inside herself, at the dark as well as the light parts. It is part of a kind of therapy she uses to help others discover hidden areas inside themselves, by means of creative imagination.

We can see that the battle against using "Lei," the common, formal, second-person form of address, was taken very seriously by the fascists. In fact they went too far when it came to a popular women's magazine called "Lei" (she, her).

Mussolini continues to get rid of any traces of foreign words, and even mounts an exhibit against the use of the common formal second person singular address "Lei" (you) in favor of "Voi." See this lesson about "Voi" to get some background.

A great deal of effort went into purging foreign words from the Italian language under the fascist regime. Newspapers, magazines, and book publishers were at the forefront of the effort and were tasked with finding Italian replacements for foreign words and expressions. Many fascist-era terms have fallen by the wayside, but some succeeded and are still in use today. As an example, the word manifesto [poster] was successfully introduced to replace the French term affiche.

The segment looks at how Mussolini patterned his fiercely nationalist rhetoric after poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, while harkening back to the glory of Imperial Rome. The song in the segment refers to Balilla, an 18th century Genoese boy. In 1746, Balilla threw a stone at an Austrian official of the occupying Hapsburg Empire, which led to the War of the Austrian Succession.

Mussolini forbade the use of dialects and the minority languages that were spoken in the regions bordering the countries to the north in favor of one language for all. Italians were bombarded by fascist propaganda and Mussolini's very frequent speeches.

Me Ne Frego [I don't give a damn], was one of the mottoes of Fascism, coming originally from the writings of Gabriele d'Annunzio and employed by storm troops during World War One as a war cry for courage and daring, with the meaning, "I don't mind dying for freedom." The motto gives the title to this documentary about the influences of Italian Fascism on the Italian language. It was produced by the Istituto Luce Cinecittà, with materials from the historical Luce archives, and narrates the obscure attempt by the Fascist regime to create a new and unique language, a new “Italian” that fit the dogma of the dictatorship.

What does it mean to be a European? Is the variety of languages in Europe an obstacle to actual unification? Umberto Eco explores these questions and offers some interesting insight.

Anna describes her delivery, from the first contractions to that magic moment when nothing else matters.

Anna speaks about her prenatal and postpartum experience with the Italian National Health Service. She also discusses the five-month maternity leave that working women receive.

Anna has recently become a mother! She shares with us some of the experiences she had during her pregnancy.

Marika's friend, Anna, is back to wish us all a Merry Christmas, and to share what Christmas means to her.

Silvia is an editor (in real life) for Il Fatto Quotidiano (The Daily Event), a national newspaper with some special characteristics. Silvia tells us what kind of news she covers, and some of the problems she encounters.