PACK ONE BAG (Deep Dive): September 2024

This month we’re doing a deep dive into a single podcast: Pack One Bag. Pack One Bag is a Tribeca-winning podcast series tells the epic true story of an Italian Jewish family, split apart by love, fascism and war. When documentarian David Modigliani was a kid, his grandfather, Franco, won the Nobel Prize. But, David’s always been more fascinated by the love story that made it possible — his grandparents’ romance on the run from Fascist Italy. When he digs into their story, he uncovers a darker side to their fairytale escape: a brother left behind to face the Nazi occupation – and startling personal connections between his family and Benito Mussolini. In Pack One Bag, he returns to Italy to investigate his family’s past, carrying a pressing question: if Fascism takes over your country, do you stay or do you try to flee? And what happens if you can’t?

SPECIAL EVENT: On September 15, 2024 at 1 PM EST we hosted a discussion with David Modigliani, the journalist behind the podcast, at our global virtual meeting. This was a really exciting opportunity. See the video of the discussion here.

Podcast Playlist on DEEP DIVE: PACK ONE BAG

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

Pack One Bag: “The Fairytale Escape” (June 2024, 38 min)
In 1939, Franco Modigliani escaped Fascist Italy for the United States. He’d go on to win a Nobel Prize, but his grandson, David, is most interested in the romance-on-the-run that made it all possible. When David digs into his grandparents’ fairytale escape, he uncovers a darker side of the story – and a romance of his own.
Pack One Bag: “Mussolini’s Friend” (June 2024, 49 min)
David discovers a surprising personal relationship between his great-grandfather and Benito Mussolini. Stanley Tucci brings this great-grandfather to life, revealing how he witnessed Mussolini’s rise to power – and what happens when a dictator turns against you.
Pack One Bag: “The Lucky Ones” (June 2024, 50 min)
On the ground in Italy, David visits the Prime Minister and digs into the Fascist upbringing of his Nobel-winning grandfather, Franco. Mussolini’s “Racial Laws” raise the stakes of his grandparents’ budding romance and lead their families to confront the hardest question: do you stay or flee?
Pack One Bag: “One Step Ahead” (June 2024, 41 min)
The Fascist regime spies on Giulio, who’s on the run in Paris – and blocks his fortune inside Italy, just as his best friend performs a dramatic act of defiance. In Rome, David’s cousin reveals a haunting dilemma: who has the privilege to actually flee — and who gets left behind?
Pack One Bag: “Enemy Aliens” (June 2024, 41 min)
Aboard a famous ocean liner, Franco, Serena and the “King of the Books” brave a gauntlet of German submarines just days before the outbreak of World War Two. Soon, the United States turns Italian immigrants like them into “enemy aliens,” leading to a whole new persecution – and an encounter with the KKK.
Pack One Bag: “The Brother Left Behind” (July 2024, 40 min)
Trapped inside Italy, Franco’s brother, Giorgio, fends for his young family as the war comes for them – and Mussolini falters. After a near-death experience, Giorgio keeps his ears glued to the radio: will the descending Nazis take Rome?
Pack One Bag: “Wolves’ Weather” (July 2024, 47 min)
The Nazis come for the Jews of Rome — and the family Franco left behind. Heart-pounding twists of fate determine who’s captured and who survives. David’s cousin Sara connects us to the moment through music.
Pack One Bag: “The Rope Game” (July 2024, 43 min)
Squeezed from every angle, Franco’s family fights to survive. From a hill town safehouse to the Roman underground, Giorgio teaches his young children escape drills and false identities. Franco’s cousin Piero faces a shakedown gang of Italian cops, with deportation to Germany hanging in the balance.
Pack One Bag: “A Thousand Hopes” (July 2024, 41 min)
As Franco listens from New York, and his family listens from safehouses inside Rome, the radio broadcasts the Allies’ decisive attack to free the city. David’s cousins recall the day of liberation – and those who didn’t make it. Split apart by war, the two Modigliani brothers, Franco and Giorgio, yearn to reconnect.
Pack One Bag: “Choose Carefully” (July 2024, 1 hr)
As Italy sweeps Fascism’s failures under the rug, the “King of the Books” considers reclaiming his throne. Post-war, Franco and his family revisit the question that could come for us, now, again: flee or stay? David uncovers new letters from his Nonna Serena, with blessings for a love story of his own.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Have you given any thought to leaving your home country for political reasons?
2. One of the main drivers for this podcast was to figure out how to know when to leave before it’s too late. What are the signs that you think David Modigliani’s grandfather saw?
3. If you had to leave the country you are currently living in, where would you go and why?