Our Naples-based Dottoré teaches the art of “double volunteering” to one of her bipolar patients.
country: Italy
Stay updated with comprehensive news on Italy from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Italian politics, economic developments, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Rome, Milan, Venice, the Italian film industry, modern cuisine, and events like the Venice Biennale.
A spurious happy ending and a focus on the marvels of the exotic East characterize our understanding of The Travels of Marco Polo, the book about the 13th-century Italian explorer. But the Italian writer who worked on the book’s latest translation reveals how focused on war, profit and money the explorer was — and how translators sugarcoated the work through the centuries.
Francesco Profumo, a former Italian education minister and the current rector of the Open Institute of Technology, explains why artificial intelligence needs a voice like Father Paolo Benanti, the only theologian on the UN Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
Our Naples-based psychiatrist laments the state of Italy’s treatment of autistic patients.
To avoid succumbing to machines, we must understand the difference between risk and danger, argues noted Italian technology ethicist Paolo Benanti.
After two months of war, experts in Ukraine are starting to consider what plan could work to restore the local infrastructure and economy, looking at the experience of Germany, Japan and Italy — countries that went down in history for their economic miracles after being destroyed by war.
New Year’s Eve can be challenging for her patients, but our Naples-based psychiatrist puts a sunny spin on end-of-year wishes.
Originally from Tuscany, Sara Barsotti has spent the past decade leading the task force monitoring Iceland’s major volcanic eruption threat. Evacuations may have saved lives after a major eruption Monday night.
For some with communication skills and charisma, likes on social media can turn into lavish earnings. But influencers face a crisis of trust, as well as algorithms that often discriminate — particularly against women.
Thanatology or the study of death has entered Italian academia, led by the University of Padua, which is taking an interdisciplinary approach to our fascination with mortality.
In fatherhood, like in life in general, reality often surpasses our expectations, writes Argentine journalist Ignacio Pereyra. Whenever we have a feeling that we know what is going to happen, life proves us wrong — often for better.
It is not only the health of the Pope that worries the Holy See. From the collapse of vocations to the conservative wind in the USA, there are many ills to face.
The femicide of Giulia Cecchettin has shaken Italy, and beyond. Argentine journalist Ignacio Pereyra looks at what lies behind femicides and why all men must take more responsibility.
The Refugees in Libya movement has posted shocking images to awaken our consciences. But here, all is silent, and the hope for humanity is entrusted to a Europe that is reborn from the bottom up.
Our Naples-based psychiatrist talks one of her patients through the possible source of his wife’s discontent.
The Italian cyclist, Omar Di Felice, is setting out across Antarctica in the ultimate test of athletic endurance and mental fortitude. In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa, Di Felice shares how he keeps himself going during the endless hours of total solitude as well as the activism that fuels his extreme adventures.
Trashing politics and politicians is a classic tool of populists to seduce angry voters, and take countries into quagmires far worse than the worst years of democracy. It’s a dynamic Argentina appears particularly vulnerable to.
Our Naples-based Dottoré gets mildly insulted by a well-meaning patient.
Italy’s highest-profile nemesis of organized crime networks, prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, discusses the mob’s use of social networks, and how TikTok allows criminal organizations to advertise their lifestyle to impressionable viewers. Sound familiar?
Inside an old watchtower dangling over the crashing waves of the port of Capraia, dwell 6,000 books and their keeper: 33-year-old Viola, a librarian who took the time during the COVID-19 pandemic to ask herself, “What makes you truly happy?”
Inspired by a new book on vampires, Italian writer Chiara Valerio analyzes how the figure of the vampire has come to represent life and death over centuries of science, art and culture. When understood through a modern lens, what can the vampire tell us about our own Gothic concerns?
Last week, Italy was caught in the uproar of Giorgia Meloni’s break-up, a swirl of TV scandal and political controversy. But now that the dust is settled, what does this mean for a single mother standing strong, though alone, on the political right.
With the social value of sports having recently been officially acknowledged in the Italian constitution, writer Simonetta Sciandivasci reflects on the cult of excessive health, and rants about the impossibility of keeping up beauty trends masked as self-care.
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War, Children And Snapshots Of Terror
Our Naples-based psychiatrist thinks back at a moment that has forever remained frozen in her mind. In the expression of her son’s terror, she sees all the grieving mothers who can do nothing in the face of war.
Italian philosopher Umberto Galimberti says it is a tragedy to photograph a life into existence rather than living it.
Our Naples-based psychiatrist thinks about a little girl she met in the rain, one of two sisters burdened with the unfairness of uncaring parents and a struggle with Italian nationality.
As Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh are forced to flee their homes, is culture or corruption or something more sinister forcing a people to suffer so greatly a century after a genocide tried to wipe them out?
Mothers everywhere are struggling with the pressures of parenting in an increasingly individualistic culture. Enter the rapidly growing empire of parenting influencers who promise to help – at a price. In Italy, where mothers have long been seen as models of strength, the novelty is particularly acute.
This is the case of chef Mareme Cisse, a black woman, who was called a slur after a couple found out that she was the one who would be preparing their meal.
Pasta may not be considered controversial today, but it played an important role during Italy’s fascist years, particularly in one family’s celebration of community and liberation.
Eight months after being arrested, following 30 years on the run, Matteo Messina Denaro died Monday. The son of a mobster and successor of Sicily’s notorious boss of bosses, he had tried to transform Cosa Nostra into a modern criminal enterprise — with only partial success.
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The Benefits Of “Buongiorno”
Our Naples-based psychiatrist reflects on her morning walk to work, as she passes by people who simply want to see a friendly smile.
Spanish, Italian, Greek, Provençal: in the land of butter and cream, olive oil is all the rage! Buoyed by the wave of the Mediterranean diet, demand has soared in recent years. But production is threatened by drought in Spain, the world’s leading producer.
It has been five years since Starbucks first opened in Milan, where the company’s CEO first got the idea that the world wanted quality coffee. Today they set their sights not on retreat but expansion. The path ahead in this mecca for “caffé” for the Seattle-based coffee shop is a rosy one.
The European migrant crisis is once again making headlines, this time from the small island of Lampedusa, Italy. It exposes not only the far right’s eagerness to exploit the issue of immigration, but also the delicate balance of power in electoral terms.
There are many frontiers being crossed by AI lately, sparking debate and anxiety. But now, we’re entering strange, new territory: an algorithm that lets bereaved family members communicate with deceased loved ones in the most realistic of ways. Yet it comes with very real and complicated risks.
Women in Italy are living longer than ever. But severe economic and social inequality and loneliness mean that they urgently need a new model for community living – one that replaces the “one person, one house, one caregiver” narrative we have grown accustomed to.
At first, Find My iPhone was a nifty feature that would help keep your cellphone safe. Now, with new location sharing technology, the app has become a new panopticon of control for Gen-Z couples, with their every move recorded by watchful eyes, nestled away in back pockets.
Our psychologist discusses schooling struggles and deep inequalities with her Neapolitan patients.
After the fall of the Sicilian Mafia boss of bosses Matteo Messina Denaro, it’s time for Cosa Nostra to rebuild, and they’ll be taking inspiration from their own past, but also must face the rising power of the ‘ndrangheta in the neighboring region of Calabria