This short, 20 minute video will explain the basics of the Roman Empire, from it's beginnings to its fall. Very concise, informative and with enough information to inspire you to learn even more about the Ancient Romans. I can't recommend it enough. Pour an espresso, relax and open your mind...

I first discovered Nonna Paola while surfing through videos on my smart TV's YouTube app. Immediately, I called over my wife and son and we lost ourselves in laughter for the next hour or more as we played video after video.

This diminutive Calabrian nonna puts up with the provocations, jabs and teasing of her Australian comedian son, Greg, as he records videos of her reactions to the the world around her: telemarketers, smart phones, "sooshi" ("Do I eat-a the paper?"), politics, and priests. In one episode she asks her son to play Metallica in the car. In another, she explains how she bottles and labels her own holy water. One of my all-time favorites is when her son catches her drying chili peppers in the washing machine's spin cycle!

The mix of a loving, prodding son and a thick-accented energetic Nonna is hysterical. The videos has made Nonna Paola a YouTube sensation, with nearly 24,000 subscribers with some of her videos reaching over half a million views!

In many ways (especially in stature) she reminds me of my maternal Grandmother: the way I would always tease her about her "boyfriend", the Pope;  trying to put a helmet on her and telling her "today is the day" I was taking her for a ride on my motorcycle; and I perpetually blamed her tomato sauce (overloaded with onions and peppers) as the reason my appendix almost killed me when I was 12 years old. 

Their videos are addictive, but I'm trying to pace myself for when I really need to take my mind off of everyday problems of life. When I need it, I'll load up their video channel on Youtube and laugh at the way Nonna fights back at her son by calling him "Dick-a-head", soothing my soul with laughter...

--Jerry Finzi