He became popular in Italy as the host of several shows dealing with mysteries and cases of the past, such as Telefono giallo and Enigma.

In 2006, in collaboration with scholar Mauro Pesce, he published a work dealing with the gospel's description of the life of Jesus (Inchiesta su Gesù), which became a bestseller in Italy.

The book elicited many reactions, for example Pietro Ciavarella and Valerio Bernardi wrote Risposta a Inchiesta su Gesù,[2] aiming to provide "informed and constructive apologetics".

[6] In December 2020, he renounced his Knight Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honour, after the decoration was awarded to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

(Presented on July 5, 2012, at Villa del Vascello, Rome, by the library service of the Grand Orient of Italy)[7]