Many countries fall silent to honour their war dead at the start of November, but the rituals of remembrance are very different here in Italy. Nothing seems settled. There’s no single event or occasion, only rival dates, ceremonies and stories. …
America is grooming Meloni
Two years ago, a neo-fascist gained power in Rome. That, at least, is the impression you’d have gained from the Western establishment’s paroxysm of hand-wringing at Giorgia Meloni’s elevation. From her erstwhile praise for Mussolini to her fierce Euroscepticism, Meloni …
The tragic life of Brian Clough
The winter of 1962-63 was bitter. So many football matches were postponed that the FA Cup final had to be put back three weeks. In Sunderland, Boxing Day was raw and cold, “the kind of day when seagulls flew backwards …
Italy’s bridge to nowhere
There has been talk of building a bridge to link Sicily to the Italian mainland for so many decades that the project has become a synonym for a pipe dream and a source of infinite satire. “There will be a …
Julius Evola: the far-Right’s favourite philosopher
On 25 November 1970, the great Japanese novelist and playwright Yukio Mishima arrived for an appointment with the commandant of the Tokyo barracks of the Japan Self-Defence Forces, Eastern Command. With the help of four others who joined him on …
Why Meloni is rewriting Italy’s constitution
At first glance, the Italian constitution reads like soulless legalese: a thicket of jargon and impenetrable articoli. But the power it wields should not be underestimated. La Costituzione dictates the way the peninsula is governed — and, if rewritten as …
Taxi drivers are corrupting Italy
Recently, an octogenarian couple from the UK came to visit me in Parma. Theirs was an all-day journey: a three-hour car trip, a two-hour flight, then a three-hour train journey. By the time they finally arrived, they were exhausted.
But …
Taxi drivers are corrupting Italy
Recently, an octogenarian couple from the UK came to visit me in Parma. Theirs was an all-day journey: a three-hour car trip, a two-hour flight, then a three-hour train journey. By the time they finally arrived, they were exhausted.
But …
The coming civil war on Europe’s Right
With the European Parliamentary elections just two months away, the final result seems all but decided. “A far-Right takeover is underway,” warn the experts of Foreign Policy. “This time, the far-Right threat is real,” add the prophets of Politico. And, …
Is Meloni enabling Italy’s new blackshirts?
On a warm night in January, Romans staged a revival of their fascist past. At an event in the southern suburb of Acca Larentia, commemorating three fascist youths killed in 1978, hundreds of men in dark shirts were photographed doing …
What snobs get wrong about Venice
Venice has a cruel habit of defeating her admirers. Even her most confident suitors, who arrive via water taxi intent on enjoying all her charms and treasures, return home heavy with second-rate vongole and the humiliation of that unseen Titian. …
Europe has betrayed Lampedusa Man
When the histories of Europe are written, they will write at length about Lampedusa. This small Italian island has become not only the barometer for the permanent migration crisis which now defines the continent’s condition, it has become the metaphor …
The populist Right are fake revolutionaries
Predictions that the pandemic would spell the end of populism and thrust voters back into the political mainstream have turned out to be little more than wishful thinking. In the US, polls show Trump creeping up on Biden. In Europe, …
Were the unprecedented excess deaths curves in Northern Italy in spring 2020 caused by the spread of a novel deadly virus?
Originally published September 2022 on PANDA Uncut Substack
I have learned so many new things during the past few years — one of the few, possibly the only, redeeming features of the “pandemic”.
These lessons span many disciplines: technology, immunology, …
A heatwave isn’t the end of the world
As I write this, in my favourite local café in Rome, the temperature outside is close to 40°C. So yes, it’s hot. Yet, thanks to a relatively old invention — air conditioning — I’m able to work in comfort. The …